Chapter 87 - Susanoo!
.
.
.
Sasuke who was fighting with Itachi was breathing in difficulty as he stared at Itachi who was standing far away. Meanwhile, Itachi smiled and disappeared.
Sasuke saw it at the corner of his eye with his [Sharingan] but he couldn't avoid it when Itachi suddenly kicked him from the side so he could only block it with his arms.
Thud!
Sasuke was sent flying, he tried looking for Itachi as he was mid air if he would attack again but saw him heading in the direction of Sakura. Causing him to scream angrily "ITACHI!"
He disregarded the pain and backflipped. The moment his foot reached a tree's body, he immediately used [Lightning Chakra Mode] and moved to intercept Itachi.
Boom! Clang!
He immediately appeared in front of Sakura, catching the kunai of Itachi that he used to attack with a Kunai of his own. He yelled out "Run!"
Sakura with a pale face could only nod and use [Body Flicker] immediately. It looked like Sasuke was protecting him from Itachi, it touched her heart but she couldn't help but worry.
Itachi chuckled and asked playfully "Is that girl that important to you?"
Sasuke ignored him as he snorted and kicked Itachi applied with [Chidori].
Itachi in response, used [Susanoo] "Susanooo!!!!"
A huge red skeleton formed around Itachi as Sasuke's [Chidori] was about to hit his body.
The Susanoo that formed around Itachi waved one of its hands and hit Sasuke's entire body.
Thud! Boom!
Sasuke, who was hit, was sent flying away through trees.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Multiple crashes due to the force of the Susanoo caused Sasuke to suffer internal injuries and as well break a few of his bones.
He coughed out blood as he crashed to the last tree "Blergh!"
Sasuke could only stare at Itachi who was far away in anger. He was helpless!
But he didn't let it get to him and held onto the pain 'What was that ability? Is that the Mangekyou Sharingan's ability that Itachi showed me when he massacred the clan?'
Sakura unexpectedly appeared at his side and asked in worry "Are you alright? Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke was dumbfounded to see him and responded angrily "What are you doing here?! I told you to run!"
Sakura flinched at Sasuke's words but held it in and replied "I'm worried about you…"
Sasuke honestly replied albeit loudly "I'm worried about you too so run now!"
"But…" Sakura couldn't even finish and Itachi appeared by Sakura's side with a wicked smile as he looked at Sasuke playfully before sending her flying and crashing into a tree.
Thud! Boom!
Sakura fell to the ground lifelessly.
Sasuke who saw it stared at Itachi blankly and realized what just happened. In his mind, Sakura was undoubtedly dead from that amount of force. His 3 tomoe sharingan joined together to form a 6 pointed star.
Meanwhile he recalled a memory 'No wonder… Naruto said flirting made him stronger… It was love… but the price… this pain… it's too exorbitant…'
Before shouting and a huge purple skeleton forming all around his body "Itachi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will never forgive you!!!!!!!!!! Susanooo!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Roar!!!!!!!!!
As if synchronizing with Sasuke's emotions. The Susanoo roared angrily almost like it had its own emotions.
Itachi jumped away with a smile on his face thinking 'It looks like I was successful.'
Blink! Blink!
Itachi's ring lit up, calling all of the members of the Akatsuki to retreat and meet at once.
Their tasks were only to participate in the fight and figure out the strength of each village to suffer less losses according to the instruction of Pain.
With a thought, Itachi used [Body Flicker] to retreat.
Sasuke stared at Itach angrily. He couldn't run after him because a few of his bones had been broken. Upon seeing Susanoo's body he had an idea. He'd reconstruct his bones with Susanoo's chakra. He focused but couldn't do it.
'My chakra control wasn't enough! I won't make it in time! Itachi will escape!'
"S-Sasuke-kun…"
This voice… Sasuke immediately turned his attention to the direction of the voice and stared at Sakura in shock "H-How are you alive?"
"Hehe… I wrote a seal in my body that activates when I'm hit, protecting all my vital points so… I have a few broken bones and that's it." Sakura bragged but turned red immediately seeing Sasuke hug her.
"S-Sasuke-kun@#!@?#!?@#!!!!!?"
Sakura felt that she was in heaven but heard Sasuke whisper "I'm glad you're okay."
Sakura smiled and hugged him too. "I'm glad you're okay too."
Sasuke closed his eyes and activated his [Mangekyou Sharingan] again to reconstruct his broken bones with Susanoo's unique chakra.
He carried Sakura in his arms causing Sakura to scream "Kyah!"
Sasuke chuckled and used [Body Flicker] to move with Sakura on his arms back to Konoha's camp.
…
Clang! Clang!
Asuma breathed heavily and lifted his face to see that Kisame wasn't even a little bit fazed. He was obviously in a disadvantage in this fight.
In a few moments, he saw Kisame's ring blink lights as Kisame sheathed his great sword on his back before saying "Kekeke! Looks like I gotta go. Let's continue this next time, I hope you entertain me more at that time."
He weaved hand seals and a great white shark made out of water surrounded his body.
[Water Style: Great Shark Bullet Technique].
"Wait!" Asuma yelled out but couldn't stop him as the Great Shark fled the battlefield, no… more like he'd been spared! He could only let out a wry smile.
A few moments later, Shikamaru appeared by his side and said "Sensei. The akatsuki members had all retreated. Ino informed me when she was informed by the head of the intel division, Inoichi."
"What? Why? They obviously overpower us."
Shikamaru shook his head and replied "I don't know their intentions at the moment but they had clearly fled the battlefield. Every single one of them. Almost like they were simply here to scout for the strength of each village. Their members were all spread throughout the battlefield for a moment of time and now they're all retreating."
Asuma nodded and replied "In any case, it's a blessing for us."
Shikamaru couldn't help but agree. In this fight, it was indeed a blessing for them but… the akatsuki members were clearly planning for something.
…
A who was also informed of this information, snorted and replied "I already expected this! Proceed with Plan B!"
Killer B who was with A rapped "Got it!~ Brother A!~ We can't let Konoha beat you ag…!"
A didn't even let him finish and grabbed his collar as he used [Lightning Chakra Mode] before throwing him away in anger "You get the fuck out of here and support the war!!"
Killer B couldn't help but sigh at his brother's temper and thought 'How impatient…'
Gyuuki chuckled and replied "You keep teasing him. What'd you expect?"
"I guess you're right…" Killer B replied before equipping all his swords and crashing down on enemy ninjas and killing some of them.
1 year and 6 months ANL…
The war was proceeding smoothly and cautiously besides a few casualties of elite jounins from time to time and fighting between kages, the war didn't have any huge impact. Clearly the two alliances are wary of the other alliance and also some unstable factors like the akatsuki.
Konoha's camp.
Asuma sat cross legged as Shikamaru asked "How's your progress? Asuma-sensei?"
Asuma who was meditating jolted for a bit then sighed before saying "Don't call me out like that. What'll you do if I was absorbing Natural Energy from the wind and ended up damaging my chakra pathway?"
Shikamaru chuckled and replied "Sorry, sorry. Looks like it's going well."
"Well… pretty much. How about yours?"
Shikamaru sat down beside Asuma and replied "Well… the theory is simple enough but my chakra is still a bit short. I can't create a hundred genin clones and remain okay. The most genin clones I can make are 82 if I want to be left with only a genin's level of chakra. Well… I'll take my time when my chakra is enough."
Asuma's eyelids twitched as he heard Shikamaru 'First it was Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and now Shikamaru? What's wrong with this generation? It's full of geniuses.'
He could only sigh as he thought 'I guess It's good for the village with a lot of strong ones to shoulder the village in the future.'
He decided to forget about it and ask "So? What about the war?"
Shikamaru put on a serious face unlike his usual lazy attitude as he now saw the severity of war with his own eyes and explained "The war is at a standstill at the moment. The Kumo and Iwa are testing the strength of Konoha and the other allied villages. Almost like fishing. I assume the war will resume in another 6 months. Although there are occasional attacks from time to time, Both villages are still recovering the losses they made during the war."
Asuma stared at the sky for a bit with a smile on his face and closed his eyes as he said "Isn't that good? More peaceful time and training time for us. Who will you teach the Sage Mode Manual that Naruto kid invented next?"
Shikamaru chuckled and nodded before sitting cross legged himself to try and detect Natural Energy "I'll think about it later. People in my generation are either too strong or too weak at the moment."
Asuma quietly listened and knew he had to become strong to buy enough time for the younger generation to become stronger. He had to master [Wind Sage Mode]! He experienced it himself how powerless he was during the war. He already had a method, he only needed to practice!
.
.
.