Ever since he was little, Sasuke had dreamed of one day roaming the Shinobi World unchallenged.
Even after graduating from the Ninja Academy and starting to carry out missions, he had never felt that the outside world was all that dangerous.
But things were different now. He realized that without Konoha's shelter, without Kakashi-sensei's warnings and protection, anyone would dare to kill him-and had the ability to do it.
At the end of the day, he was merely a slightly stronger Genin.
Sasuke panted heavily. Blood ran down his forehead and into his eyes, but he did not dare wipe it away, much less blink.
Only by keeping his Sharingan fixed on his opponent could he fight for a sliver of a chance to survive.
Although his opponent was not particularly fast, his explosive bursts were astonishing, and his strength was far beyond anything Sasuke could withstand.
That very first strike, in particular, had nearly broken his arm outright. It was badly swollen now, and barring anything unexpected, the bone was probably cracked.
The only good news was that his opponent had shown no intention of using ninjutsu. Whether out of disdain or because he simply knew none, he was crushing Sasuke with close combat alone.
Maybe I could try working from that angle...
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke flung out a string of shuriken, then began running diagonally, maintaining his distance while preparing his next ninjutsu.
Despite the unbearable pain in his left arm, he still began forming hand seals with trembling hands.
Clang, clang, clang.
Hidan swung the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe in his hands and knocked down every shuriken in just a few strokes.
Then, with a savage laugh, he charged straight at Sasuke.
Taking this seriously?
This was just playing around!
Otherwise, he would not have struck with