Within the Akatsuki, Uchiha Itachi's eyes flickered with anticipation.
Yes—anticipation.
He was eager to see what kind of jutsu Sasuke would unleash next, what he could possibly do to completely overturn the situation. As for whether the version of himself in the video could withstand it, that wasn't a concern.
Because Sasuke wasn't the only one with hidden cards.
He had his own.
The power known as the third force—Susanoo.
It was clear that his future self was also waiting for Sasuke's final strike.
Using Fire Release to deliberately heat the air and trigger a thunderstorm… without prior knowledge, almost no one would have thought of something like that.
At that moment, the Itachi in the footage also realized what was happening. Watching the overwhelming lightning gathering above, he understood that Sasuke's earlier actions had all been preparation—creating storm clouds to harness the power of nature.
As expected, Sasuke used the last of his chakra to leap upward, landing atop the high wall of the rooftop, where the Uchiha Clan crest was carved. Chidori crackled in his hand, its lightning linking him to the sky itself.
"This jutsu calls down lightning from the heavens," Sasuke said calmly. "All I'm doing is guiding that power toward you. This jutsu is called Kirin."
A lightning strike took only one-thousandth of a second to fall. It was an attack no one could evade, let alone Itachi, who was already injured and nearly drained of strength.
High above, countless bolts of lightning converged, forming a massive beast that resembled a mythical kirin.
"Disappear with the thunder!"
As Sasuke guided the lightning downward with Chidori, the terrifying force crashed onto the rooftop, shattering it and leaving it half destroyed.
After unleashing that attack, Sasuke had completely exhausted both his stamina and chakra.
Everyone stared intently at the scene. Could Itachi survive an attack comparable to an S-rank jutsu?
"What an incredible Lightning Release technique," Hatake Kakashi murmured, astonished by Sasuke's ingenuity.
Strictly speaking, any jutsu ranked A-class or above was lethal if it connected. The real problem was landing the hit.
The three fundamental ninja techniques—Body Replacement Technique, Clone Technique, and Transformation Technique—existed precisely to deal with situations like that.
Even his own Raikiri had its flaws. It required a long, high-speed charge, giving opponents time to react. That was why only he and Sasuke could truly use it effectively.
But this jutsu eliminated the problem of missing entirely.
Although it required careful setup and specific conditions, ninja battles were wars of information. If you didn't know what was coming, you would fall for it.
Against an attack like this, even he would be struck without fail, let alone an already weakened Itachi.
Among the shinobi Kakashi knew, perhaps only his teacher could escape using Flying Thunder God. Everyone else would have to endure it head-on.
He himself had methods to counter Lightning Release, after all. Both Chidori and its evolved form, Raikiri, were techniques that cut through lightning. That was how Raikiri had earned its name.
But against something on this scale—true natural lightning—it was far beyond anything Kakuzu had ever used.
Surviving it would already be a miracle.
Had Itachi really fallen here?
Since everyone knew Sasuke would ultimately win, it wouldn't be surprising if Itachi had died to this attack.
Kakashi fixed his gaze on the screen.
There, Itachi lay on the ground, motionless, as though all life had left him.
"Is… Itachi dead?" White Zetsu said, shock evident in his voice.
Without chakra to sustain it, Sasuke's Sharingan faded back into ordinary eyes.
He muttered under his breath, "It's over… it's finally over…"
He had completed his revenge. The purpose of his life had been fulfilled.
"Is this… the image of my death… that you wanted to recreate?"
Just as everyone believed the battle had been decided, Itachi's voice echoed once more.
Sasuke's expression froze in shock. Under his horrified gaze, Itachi slowly rose to his feet.
After taking that devastating blow, he had not died.
The fact that he could still stand was terrifying enough.
Sasuke immediately activated the Cursed Seal again, while before him, a crimson Susanoo began to form around Itachi's body.
"If I didn't have this, I really would've been finished," Itachi said with a faint smile.
He could die now.
But not yet.
There were still things he had to do.
"So it really is Susanoo… just like Sasuke's," Namikaze Minato murmured, jotting down notes.
At this point, he was not yet Hokage. Despite his reputation, his access to information was limited, and he had no knowledge that the Mangekyō Sharingan possessed a third power.
All he could do was infer from what he had seen.
Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and even Sasuke's Amaterasu and Flame Control—these seemed to be abilities unique to each individual's eyes.
But Susanoo appeared to be something all Mangekyō Sharingan users could awaken, differing only in color.
Sasuke's was purple.
Itachi's was red.
"Even now, you're still going to push yourself?" Tsunade sighed as she watched.
She was no stranger to Susanoo. The Senju Clan had long recorded its existence.
She had even begun to suspect that Itachi was acting as a spy for Konoha. Seen from that perspective, what Itachi had done looked very different than it did through Sasuke's eyes.
As an older brother, had he really come this far, only to keep going?
"You've grown stronger, Sasuke," Itachi said, one eye open, the other closed.
"This time, I'll show you my final trump card—Susanoo."
It was clear Sasuke had never seen this technique before. Fear flickered across his face.
"Susanoo?"
"It's another jutsu that resides within these eyes, awakened alongside Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. Sasuke… is that all you've got?"
Itachi explained it to him calmly.
"If you still have any hidden power, don't hold back. The real show is just beginning."
At that moment, the storm clouds covering the sky began to disperse. The first rays of sunlight broke through, spreading across the rooftop like countless fish tearing through a net.
Everyone understood what that meant.
The conditions Sasuke had relied on were gone. The S-rank jutsu Kirin, which borrowed the power of nature, could only be used once.
All jutsu required chakra as a foundation, and Sasuke had already used his last reserves.
It was unlikely he had any strength left for another move.
And after unleashing something of that magnitude, it seemed certain that Itachi now held the advantage.
So how had Sasuke turned this around in the end?
Everyone watched, waiting for the answer.
Meanwhile, Itachi's Susanoo continued to evolve. Flesh formed over its skeletal frame, and it grew into a towering armored giant.
For those watching through the diary, this was their first time seeing Susanoo in such a form.
"So the skeletal version wasn't even its limit…" Kakashi murmured, staring at the massive figure that loomed like a colossal Summoned Beast.
During the Nine-Tails' attack, if someone from the Uchiha Clan had possessed this power, they might have been able to contend with it. The destruction might not have been so severe.
"So this is the true power hidden within the Uchiha bloodline," Minato said, seeing the Sharingan in a completely new light.
Before this, whether it was the standard Sharingan's insight, copying ability, or hypnotic power, or even the Mangekyō abilities like Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Flame Control, there had always been ways to deal with them.
But Susanoo was different.
Breaking through it would be extraordinarily difficult.
Danzo had once tried to stab it with a kunai, an act Kaede Kitahara had ridiculed as laughable.
Clearly, Sasuke's earlier Susanoo had been only a basic form—a skeletal frame.
What Itachi displayed now was far beyond that.
It had flesh. It wore armor.
This level of power was comparable to a Tailed Beast.
Ordinary attacks would hardly be effective.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan hides power like this… then Uchiha Madara's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan must be even stronger. His Susanoo would surpass even Itachi's. How did my grandfather ever defeat him?" Tsunade stared at the towering figure, unable to conceal her shock.
It was nearly as large as the giant Summoned Beasts of the Three Sannin.
She couldn't imagine how such a monster had been defeated. Could Wood Release alone have been enough?
She didn't know.
She had never inherited that power.
"Are you out of options now that you've run out of chakra?" Itachi asked calmly from within the Susanoo.