Just as Itachi was shocked,
Kisame in the distance was naturally also frozen.
He held Samehada in his hand, on the spot dumbfounded.
Watching the battle peacefully,
How could he have expected... to suddenly witness such an outrageous scene...
If he didn't know the two brothers were focused on their one-on-one, Kisame would have suspected he was under a Genjutsu...
This Sasuke,
Could actually use his body to unleash power imitating Samehada...
No…
Wait!
This fundamentally wasn't imitation, it was surpassing!
One must know, although Samehada could absorb Chakra to replenish itself, it was full of limitations.
Because, it couldn't absorb complex Ninjutsu combined with Chakra Nature Transformation.
For example, when sparring with Itachi back then, facing his Great Fireball, Samehada couldn't devour it, instead splitting it down the middle, and even showed a fear of heat...
But,
Sasuke just now,
Had simply forcefully devoured and absorbed it...
Completely unreasonable...
The scene suddenly fell silent.
A cold wind blew past.
A smile curled at the corner of Sasuke's mouth,
He looked at Itachi ahead, slowly withdrew his hand, grinned, and sneered:
"What's wrong, Itachi?"
"What's with that surprised look...?"
"Confused? Or afraid?"
"If you're really only this strong..."
"Then I understand,"
"No wonder back then, Orochimaru said..."
"The gap between you and that man is like [ant] versus [crow]."
"—!!!???"
As the words fell, everyone was dumbfounded.
...That man!?????
The gap between Itachi and that man...
Like an ant versus a crow...
Sasuke's words clearly reached everyone present.
However,
They couldn't help but freeze.
What's going on?
Who does Orochimaru's referred to "that man" point to?!
One must know,
Itachi's strength, not to mention within Akatsuki,
Even looking across the entire Shinobi World and the Five Great Villages, he was absolutely a top-tier expert, certainly not weaker than any of the Five Kage.
And back then, Orochimaru, wanting to seize the Sharingan, was directly defeated by the young Itachi...
Logically, Orochimaru should have been very clear about Itachi's strength.
But,
Sasuke said,
Orochimaru once said the gap between Itachi and that man was like a crow and an ant...?
Crow and ant...???
This fundamentally couldn't be considered a gap in strength anymore... it was a gap between dimensions, right?!
No matter how one thought,
An ant's strength could absolutely not be compared to a crow...
That is to say,
Orochimaru believed Itachi's strength was completely unable to be mentioned in the same breath as that man...
Realizing this,
Itachi and Obito, who had been frozen, suddenly felt a chill in their hearts.
"!!!"
Because at this moment, involuntarily, the same name suddenly appeared in their minds simultaneously
True Eye of the King user, Kyo!
That man... could it be him again???
This deduction was naturally not groundless.
Firstly, Orochimaru had disappeared from Akatsuki's sight long ago, with almost no interaction.
But not long ago, he was suddenly pulled out by Kyo as a tool to expose Obito and brought back to Amegakure...
From this, it was clearly visible.
Orochimaru,
Must have interacted with Kyo.
They might have even fought and reached some agreement.
Secondly,
It was also a well-known fact among those present that Sasuke had been forcibly taken from Konoha by Orochimaru three years ago.
That is to say, besides Itachi, Sasuke's only interaction with Akatsuki was through Orochimaru.
Considering all this,
Kyo and Sasuke, two seemingly completely unrelated existences, could very likely have come into contact through Orochimaru's connection...
And most importantly —
That was... strength.
That's right.
The connection might be hard to speculate on,
But,
Strength could not be faked.
As everyone knew, Itachi's strength surpassed Kage-level.
Then, who among them could, in his eyes, form such an absolute gap with Itachi...
Undoubtedly,
Kyo was very suspect...
Realizing this,
Obito and Zetsu suddenly exchanged glances, then said somewhat gravely:
"Zetsu…"
"When you were investigating Sasuke's location,"
"Did you find any sign of him coming into contact with Kyo...?"
"?"
Hearing this,
Zetsu thought for a moment,
Then helplessly shook his head and honestly replied:
"It seems not."
"On Sasuke's side, besides Orochimaru, there seems to be no contact with any other outside existence..."
As the words fell, Obito instantly fell into thought.
To be honest,
He did have a moment just now where he strongly suspected Kyo.
However,
After calming down and thinking carefully, it seemed a bit unreasonable.
After all, one must know,
Sasuke could be said to be Akatsuki's current number one enemy.
And Kyo was a core member of the Akatsuki.
There was simply no need for him to nurture an opponent for himself...
Thinking this,
Obito shook his head, abandoning this guess.
And at this moment,
On the battlefield below,
Kisame in the distance also had a flickering gaze, unknowingly pondering something.
His expression seemed a bit strange, and somewhat grave.
And on this side,
Itachi's pupils also condensed slightly.
He was naturally not because of Sasuke's taunt, but also because he was thinking about the "that man" Orochimaru mentioned.
After a moment of deep thought,
Itachi's gaze fell on Sasuke again, and he said indifferently:
"It seems..."
"In the past few years,"
"You have had quite a few special encounters, Sasuke."
"However,"
"You seem to be underestimating me a bit."
The moment the words fell,
Itachi's eyes suddenly emitted a strange red light, and the next moment, the three tomoe in his eyes instantly began to change.
Finally, they transformed into the shape of a shuriken!
This was Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan.
"?"
Seeing this,
Sasuke's heart stirred slightly, then his expression returned to indifference, and he said flatly:
"Tch."
"Want to use your Mangekyo Sharingan to fight my Rinnegan..."
"I'm quite looking forward to it."
"I wonder to what extent the so-called 'Tsukuyomi' and 'Amaterasu' can reach?"
"Can they stop me... from killing you?"
Sasuke said expressionlessly. As his words fell, he suddenly leaped!
Whoosh!!
Holding the broken Kusanagi Sword, he charged directly at Itachi without any dodge or evasion!
Instead, he chose the most risky frontal assault!
"...!?"
However,
Seeing this,
Itachi, who had been preparing to make a move, couldn't help but pause again.
Huh?
Wait...
Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu?
He knows the names of my Mangekyo abilities???
This...
Itachi was puzzled.
One must know,
Ever since he awakened Amaterasu back in the Land of Water, he had never used it once in front of Sasuke...
Even Orochimaru completely didn't know about the power of Amaterasu...
So how was it possible now,
Why... would he know these things?
Could it be that that man told him...?
Although Itachi sensed something off,
However,
There was no time to think carefully now,
Sasuke, holding the broken sword, had already charged forward, raised his hand, and slashed directly. His speed was as fast and sharp as lightning!
And at this moment, his broken sword was immediately wrapped with constantly surging and crackling blue-purple Lightning Release Chakra.
It was his Chidori!
Before,
When facing Kyo, although the Kusanagi Sword was snapped,
It did not affect the normal release of Chidori.
In fact, Chidori's Lightning Release Chakra just happened to compensate for the blade's shortcomings, extending the attack range.