Hearing what Itachi said,
Sasuke, who had been pondering opposite him, was momentarily stunned.
And at this moment,
In the darkness in the distance,
Obito, watching the battle from the shadows, suddenly stiffened, completely dumbfounded.
What the hell kind of thought process is this?!
Me??!
I would give him the Rinnegan??
If I had the Rinnegan, I would have already started the Infinite Tsukuyomi, alright?!
Would I have time to mess around with you guys here???
However,
Although thinking this in his mind,
Obito's thoughts suddenly became serious.
Originally,
He thought that Sasuke's Rinnegan must have awakened on their own, unrelated to anyone else...
But now,
It seemed something was off.
After Itachi's words, that kid clearly fell into a moment of thought.
That is to say,
His Rinnegan were definitely connected to some mysterious existence!
But...
Who could it be?
Who could possess the strange power to make someone awaken the Rinnegan?
In an instant,
Thousands of thoughts surged through Obito's mind.
And at that moment,
Suddenly, a bold guess appeared in his mind.
...Las Noches!
The most mysterious existence in the Shinobi World!
Possessing countless various secret techniques, and extremely powerful organization members, and even possessing almost the entire Uchiha Clan's Sharingan!!
If it were them,
Then, even if they had another pair of Rinnegan...
It wouldn't be surprising!
Thinking this,
Obito's gaze suddenly flashed, revealing a strange light.
He suddenly thought,
Ever since he was severely injured by Kyo back then, and that Kitsune Ogre of Las Noches left recovery items before completely disappearing...
There had been no contact since.
He wondered,
Whether Las Noches might be related to this matter of Sasuke's Rinnegan...
Just as Obito was pondering,
At this moment,
Sasuke below suddenly frowned, his gaze somewhat grim and said:
"Tch,"
"Who is this Uchiha Obito you speak of?"
"Wasn't the entire Uchiha Clan killed by you alone... Itachi?"
"Or do you have other accomplices...?"
As he finished speaking,
Sasuke's gaze suddenly became sharp.
Like a blade, its keen aura was hard to look at!
Every time he mentioned his dead clansmen,
The flames of revenge in his heart burned brightest.
And at this moment,
Hearing this, Itachi was suddenly taken aback.
He actually... doesn't know Uchiha Obito?
What's going on...
After a moment of pause,
Itachi suddenly realized,
Back when Obito "died in battle" during the Third Shinobi World War, Sasuke wasn't even born yet...
There was indeed no possibility of contact.
Moreover, back then, Obito was indeed just an inconspicuous dead-last in the Uchiha clan.
After his death, unless one deliberately inquired, people generally wouldn't know of his existence.
And after the night of the massacre,
Even less would anyone tell him about the history of this Uchiha Clan's war hero...
Not knowing him was reasonable and understandable.
Thinking this,
Itachi lowered his eyes slightly, involuntarily letting out a sigh of relief.
At least,
As long as Sasuke hadn't gotten mixed up with that dark Obito,
There was still room for redemption...
Thinking this,
He looked up again at Sasuke ahead.
After silently gazing for a moment, with an expression like ice, he said calmly:
"In that case..."
"Then there's no need for further words, Sasuke."
"Come —"
"Let me see what progress you've made over the years."
As the words fell,
Whoosh!!
Suddenly,
Itachi's figure unexpectedly turned into an afterimage, vanishing from the spot!
And the next moment,
Unbeknownst, he appeared behind Sasuke!
It was the... Body Flicker Technique!
And the next moment,
With a slight flicker of the Sharingan light in his eyes, he somehow took out a sword and, without hesitation, slashed down at Sasuke's back!!
Clang!!!!
The clashing sound of steel and iron rang out!
The silver blade swung down, stopping three centimeters from Sasuke!
And in Sasuke's hand,
He held a blade in a reverse grip, blocking Itachi's slash.
But,
Strangely, the sword in his hand...
For some reason, the tip was completely broken...
And moreover,
Judging from the cross-section at the break, it didn't look like a cut mark, but rather like it had been snapped off by some visible force...
"!?"
Seeing this,
Itachi was momentarily stunned.
Because at that moment,
Besides the abnormality of the blade, he also noticed that Sasuke's right hand seemed to have traces of being injured by some kind of attack before...
Like burns, or like lightning...
However, it seemed to have mostly healed...
Seeing this,
Itachi's gaze flickered slightly, surprised inwardly.
With his discerning eye and meticulous mind, he naturally couldn't miss this.
He slightly narrowed his eyes, staring at Sasuke, and said in a low voice:
"You fought someone before coming here..."
"Did that person bring you these Rinnegan, Sasuke?"
Having fought countless battles,
He bluntly stated his thoughts.
However,
As his words fell,
He was only met with Sasuke's cold, icy gaze, which said solemnly:
"You talk too much, Itachi."
"Chidori Current!"
Before he finished speaking,
He suddenly raised his other left hand,
On his palm, amidst the gathering Chakra, crackling blue lightning instantly appeared!!
The principle of Chidori was to concentrate Chakra in the hand and perform Lightning Chakra Nature Transformation to achieve a one-hit kill, its attack power strong enough to pierce a human body.
And Chidori Current was a derived technique Sasuke created based on Chidori.
The moment it was released, the nature-transformed Lightning Release Chakra would cover his entire body and convert into a wide-range Chidori, paralyzing the enemy with lightning and causing damage!
In close combat, this unexpected Lightning Release achieved quite good results!
Although not very powerful offensively, its control was extremely strong!
Even Itachi didn't dare to be careless!
His pupils contracted, and without hesitation he used the Body Flicker Technique, instantly leaping into the air!
Boom!!!
The crackling lightning Chidori Current spread outwards!
And at this moment,
Itachi in the air fell silent...
He already understood,
His speculation just now must be close to the truth.
For this very reason, Sasuke was unwilling to say more and instead attacked...
If that was the case,
It seemed,
Fighting was the only way left...
Thinking this,
Itachi in the air raised his left hand, quickly forming a one-handed seal, completing it instantly!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Boom!!!!
Accompanied by an incredibly fierce wave of heat, a huge flame gushed from Itachi's hand and mouth, instantly condensing into an enormous fireball, blasting towards Sasuke below!
As a hereditary Ninjutsu of the Uchiha Clan, the Great Fireball Technique was indeed a signature move.
In the past when they were children,
The two brothers often practiced with it.
However,
At this moment,
Facing Itachi's incoming fireball,
Sasuke on the ground made no hand seals at all, and even showed an indifferent expression on his face.
He merely raised his right hand and, invisibly, activated the power of the Rinnegan!
Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!
Clang!!!
The next moment,
That originally fierce Great Fireball Technique,
The moment it was about to touch Sasuke's body, instantly transformed into Chakra Flow, directly surging into Sasuke's palm!!
Within two short seconds, it was completely absorbed!!
Not even a spark remained in the air!
"!?!!!"
Seeing this,
Itachi in the sky above suddenly felt his pupils contract, completely frozen!
Wait...?!
My Great Fireball... was absorbed?!!
Wh-what's going on...
Why does this... this form of absorbing Chakra feel a bit like Kisame's Samehada...????
However,
It seemed even more overbearing than Samehada...
Could this also be an ability granted to Sasuke by the Rinnegan?!!