Breaking the Deadlock

In the sky, Sasuke wanted to lead everyone down first, because Naruto had temporarily lost the ability to protect himself. Seeing his best friend sacrifice so much for him, Sasuke naturally wanted Naruto to rest for a while.

But the White-Robed Man had become relentless. While dodging the attacks launched by the White-Robed Man, Sasuke considered whether his ability to float in midair also came from his ocular power.

The opponent merely used basic release techniques, yet forced the two strongest people in the Shinobi World to dodge in embarrassment, not daring to take the attacks head-on.

Earlier, a single Fire Release attack had shattered Susanoo's defenses. Now, ninjutsu rained down from the sky as the opponent tirelessly unleashed the most monotonous attacks, all of them area-of-effect attacks.

The opponent's ocular power seemed to be related to altering damage values, allowing the lowest-level ninjutsu to deliver the strongest possible blows.

Sasuke analyzed things rationally, occasionally asking Naruto for every detail of his battle with the White-Robed Man. Although they had been attacking one-sidedly the entire time, both of them discovered a fundamental issue.

That was, the opponent could not move while evading attacks. Or perhaps moving accelerated the consumption of his Mangekyō ocular power, because when Naruto had first found the White-Robed Man, he had tried to stop him with a Tailed Beast Ball.

The opponent had used his ocular technique at that time as well, and he had been moving.

Although they now knew the flaw in the opponent's ocular technique—or perhaps it could not even be considered a flaw, since consuming ocular power was simply a basic requirement for using ocular techniques—they had found no other weakness. They could only seek a breakthrough from this point.

But... what if the opponent simply never moved?

During their discussion, they had already descended close to the ground. At this height, they could safely jump down from the hawk's back. The White-Robed Man also landed, remaining opposite Naruto and Sasuke.

Boruto casually walked to one side with Naruto. Naruto still needed time to recover.

Sasuke stared at his opponent. The White-Robed Man's demeanor could only be described as relaxed and leisurely, as though he were playing a game. And he was playing around in the most unreasonable way possible!

Sasuke had never expected that, with his current strength and standing, he would still encounter an enemy who left him feeling so powerless.

Maintaining peace in the Shinobi World truly did not allow for even a moment of relaxation!!

Casting aside his complicated thoughts, Sasuke launched an attack. He wrapped Chidori around the Kusanagi Blade and charged toward the enemy, slashing at him.

The opponent clearly intended to deal with Sasuke in the same manner. It was both unsolvable and capable of breaking an opponent's mentality, while barely consuming any Chakra. Why not?

So the White-Robed Man silently took out some dry rations and began eating them right in front of Sasuke, while Sasuke swung the Kusanagi Blade at him and used the Rinnegan to observe spatial disturbances in the area.

Sasuke was confident that, with his current strength, even if he encountered Kamui again, he could open the opponent's alternate space and force his way in to deal with him.

But to Sasuke's disappointment, he could not sense any disturbance around the White-Robed Man. Aside from the faint ripples in space caused by his own high-frequency swings of the Kusanagi Blade, nothing else affected the space.

"Mirage."

Boruto, who was watching from afar, suddenly spoke.

Naruto froze at those words. Looking at Sasuke wildly swinging his sword, every attack passed straight through the opponent's body, as though he were striking a holographic projection. It was not that the opponent lacked substance—the real body simply was not here at all!

In an instant, Naruto's thoughts cleared up. But Sage Mode seemed to have been blocked here, making sensing completely impossible.

So they could only search with their eyes. Yet the sky covered so little area and was completely unobstructed; there was nowhere for anyone to hide.

"Sasuke, use your Sharingan to carefully search the surroundings. The opponent's real body might be hidden somewhere."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"The enemy before us might not be his real body. It seems more like a holographic projection," Naruto warned.

Seeing that Naruto had made a discovery, Sasuke decisively stopped attacking. He retreated to a safe distance and began carefully examining the surroundings. Even every blade of grass on the lawn stood out clearly, unable to escape the Sharingan's sharp gaze.

Noticing Sasuke's actions, the White-Robed Man remained unusually calm and made no move to stop him, giving him ample time to search. He was confident that his method would not be easily discovered, so he let them search as they pleased.

Only after they had exhausted every unwilling struggle would they understand what true despair was!

Suddenly, Sasuke withdrew his gaze and turned back toward Naruto. "Couldn't find him."

Naruto frowned. The general direction of their deduction was not wrong. It seemed the method the opponent used to conceal his real body was the support behind his fearlessness.

Boruto suggested, "How about it, Uncle Sasuke? Try attacking with Genjutsu?"

Naruto: ?!!! (How the hell hadn't I thought of that?)

Sasuke immediately froze, shooting Boruto a surprised look. Then he locked eyes with the White-Robed Man. Sensing trouble, the White-Robed Man immediately avoided his gaze.

At that moment, they had finally found a way to deal with him.

"Nice one, Boruto! Just as expected of my son!!" Naruto praised him single-mindedly.

The situation on the battlefield instantly reversed. The White-Robed Man's gaze toward Boruto was undoubtedly filled with killing intent, so tangible that he wished he could glare Boruto to death.

The White-Robed Man's situation had now become delicate. At most, he could use his ability to evade damage, but he could no longer remain perfectly still, because Genjutsu was undoubtedly a point of breakthrough!

And moving would undoubtedly intensify the consumption of his Mangekyō ocular power. As long as they fought a battle of attrition and exhausted his ocular power until it failed, this battle would undoubtedly be won!

Even Sasuke could not help feeling his blood boil. The more miserable he had been earlier, the more desperately he now wanted to regain his pride.

Sasuke directly used Shadow Clones to surround the White-Robed Man from every direction. Either fight head-on or compete in Genjutsu. With Rinnegan-level ocular power, surely he did not want to use his Mangekyō to resist it head-on?

The battlefield instantly shifted into a different situation, but the White-Robed Man's physical attacks remained incredibly powerful. Ordinary Fire Release could deal the damage of a Tailed Beast Ball, which gave Sasuke a massive headache.

At this point, the White-Robed Man no longer hid his strength. A white Susanoo rapidly grew, rising from the ground to a certain height.

After all, it was not an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. He could not activate the Complete Body Susanoo.

Seeing this, Sasuke grew even angrier. He realized the opponent was getting serious. At the same time, his gaze drifted over to Boruto, who was using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal Naruto with all his strength.

Physical exhaustion could be temporarily numbed with the Mystical Palm Technique, but mental fatigue was unavoidable. Naruto needed proper rest.

After understanding the general situation, Sasuke knew that defeat in this battle was unavoidable. But still unwilling to give up, he asked, "Where is Sarada?!"

"She's still alive. For now, you won't be seeing her," the White-Robed Man suddenly replied out of apparent kindness.

Naruto: ...

After learning the details, Sasuke still wanted to struggle. He rushed toward the White-Robed Man's Susanoo as Amaterasu's flames burned across it. Sasuke once again empowered the Kusanagi Blade, Chidori winding around its blade.

Amid a piercing cry, Susanoo's defenses were weakened by Amaterasu. Sasuke gripped the Kusanagi Blade tightly and delivered his final thrust.

The White-Robed Man did not surrender in place. With a simple hand seal, he watched Sasuke's body draw ever closer, a flash of icy coldness appearing in his eyes.

Clang—

The Kusanagi Blade displayed astonishing piercing power as it stabbed into Susanoo. With Amaterasu's flames continuously weakening it, a few more strikes might truly break through Susanoo's defenses.

But—Wood Release: Impaling Technique!

Sasuke, standing close before Susanoo, had no time to react. Sharp wood shot up from the ground and violently pierced through his body!

Under the activation of the White-Robed Man's ocular power, the damage of this technique was amplified a hundredfold. A roaring scream tore through the sky.

Aah! Aah! Aah!

The White-Robed Man's attack was far from over. He slowly took out a kunai. Sasuke was pinned within the gaps between the wooden spikes, and the pain left him unable to draw out even the slightest strength.

"Don't!!!"

The cry made Sasuke pause slightly. Then he felt an even deeper injury as the White-Robed Man drove the kunai through his heart, blood splattering across the white Susanoo.

Like a bleak crimson shore staining a pristine white canvas.

Sasuke's vision went dark. He clearly felt his life force draining away, while the White-Robed Man clearly had no intention of sparing him. He violently swung the kunai, intending to slice Sasuke's throat open.

Everything was about to end. In the gap before that final motion, a girl's cries shattered the sky. Few present could bear to hear such a terrified and despairing voice.

Slowly, the girl's sobs were suppressed by pain. She closed her eyes in despair. Everything was too late!

"Uncle Sasuke! Use the Rinnegan!!!" Boruto shouted in reminder.

Sasuke's eyes abruptly brightened. Just as the opponent's kunai was about to cut his throat, Amenotejikara activated instantly, and Boruto's Shadow Clone that had been transferred there was killed by the opponent.

"That was close!!!" Boruto said, still shaken.

Seeing that the two greatest combat forces were one unconscious and one near death, Boruto immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take them away from the area.

From somewhere unseen came a choked sob. Tears flowed together with blood, and in that despair, life force quietly slipped away.