"So, you weren't as immortal as you claimed," Sasuke remarked coolly, surveying the ash-free ground.
Hidan's so-called immortality was merely relative. In the original timeline, even with his body torn into pieces, he couldn't move or regenerate his severed limbs.
Without the ability to eat or drink, he would eventually starve to death.
His immortality could be more accurately described as the nullification of all human vulnerabilities, rather than true immortality.
When every cell of his body had been incinerated by the Black Flame,
unless Hidan possessed the ability to conjure matter from nothingness or resurrect himself from a single drop of blood, as seen in the cultivation novels of Sasuke's past life,
he was utterly and irrevocably dead.
As he spoke, Sasuke retracted Kagutsuchi and the Black Flame, withdrawing from his Mangekyō Sharingan state.
Surprisingly, using the Sharingan and its dōjutsu felt completely natural, as if he had long been familiar with and mastered them. He wielded them with ease and fluidity.
It was nothing like the behavior of an Uchiha who had only awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan a month prior.
Unlike other Uchiha who used their Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke's eyes didn't become bloodshot or bleed black tears after using his dōjutsu.
Sasuke had no way of knowing how the strength of his Mangekyō Sharingan, awakened through a special method, compared to others.
But one thing he was certain of:
His mastery and proficiency in using his dōjutsu far surpassed anyone else's.
After abandoning Amenominakanushi and Takamimusubi, Sasuke had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and acquired his own unique dōjutsu.
However, he didn't awaken on the first day. Instead, he spent countless years in the illusory world of his mind.
Because it was merely a phantom realm, training there couldn't increase his chakra or strength. But this also meant he didn't need to worry about chakra or dōjutsu energy depletion.
Sasuke treated those endless years as a training ground to hone his techniques to perfection.
He practiced his combat skills and two dōjutsu tirelessly, over and over again!
Strictly speaking, his Kagutsuchi-no-Mikoto and Takefutsu-no-Mikoto only had two effects: controlling shape transformation and enhancing nature transformation.
Everything else—flame wings, merging with Yin Release to create unique Black Flames and Purple Lightning—were innovations he developed within his dream world.
Even in his dream realm, Sasuke could manifest Black Flame and Purple Lightning without relying on both dōjutsu.
The reason he couldn't do so in reality was simply because Black Flame and Purple Lightning were too dangerous.
Without the perfect control afforded by his dōjutsu, they could easily backfire and harm him.
Moreover, fusing these two elemental attributes required his body to adapt to deep-seated genetic changes.
Once he could control Black Flame and Purple Lightning in the real world without activating his Mangekyō Sharingan, it would signify that he had truly created his own unique Kekkei Genkai.
His body's genes would undergo a mutation, allowing him to pass these abilities on to his descendants.
Having mastered the Mangekyō Sharingan countless times in his dreams, Sasuke bypassed the typical requirement.
Normally, an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan could only summon Susanoo after prolonged practice and mastery of their dōjutsu.
Yet Sasuke casually summoned Susanoo immediately upon returning to the real world.
'There's still one enemy left!'
A cold glint flashed in Sasuke's eyes. He stomped his foot, transforming into a swift, ghostlike afterimage as he sped toward Kakashi's location.
Boom!
A thunderous impact shook the ground as a figure slammed heavily into the earth, instantly cracking the ground and sending debris flying.
Kakashi!
When Sasuke arrived, he found Kakashi covered in wounds, blood flowing like a stream, staining the ground crimson.
Rushing forward, Sasuke helped Kakashi up while simultaneously using Medical Ninjutsu to heal his injuries. He murmured softly, "Are you alright, Teacher Kakashi?"
"Sasuke...?" Kakashi mumbled, his vision blurring. His left eye was tightly shut, while his right eye, barely able to lift its eyelid, was bloodshot and exhausted.
"You're no match for him either... Run... Don't worry about me," Kakashi gasped. With those final words, his hand fell limp, and he sank into a deep coma.
Kakashi had fallen.
And not just defeated—utterly crushed, his injuries so severe he nearly died on the spot.
"I'd love to run, but after all we've been through as master and student, I can't just leave you here to die, can I?"
As he spoke, Sasuke's expression remained grim as he glared at Kakuzu in the distance.
Kakuzu had already shed his Akatsuki robe, revealing a body crisscrossed with black, threadlike scars.
Three white-masked monsters, connected to a dark, writhing mass of thread, formed a triangular barrier around him.
"Managed to take out a heart, huh?"
Kakuzu, the man who internet jokesters in Sasuke's previous life mocked for throwing a shuriken at the First Hokage from 800 miles away and then running away.
Sasuke himself had participated in these jokes, but mockery aside, he never underestimated Kakuzu's true strength.
In fact, three years later in the original timeline, Kakashi, now wielding the Mangekyō Sharingan, would be even more formidable.
During their one-on-one close-quarters combat, Kakashi had unleashed the full force of his Leaf-Style Body Techniques, learned from Guy, and his family's White Fang Sword Techniques, yet he was still completely outmatched.
Against the Earth Grudge Fear's relentless assault, Kakashi had nearly died twice: once when his idiotic teammate Hidan had sabotaged the mission by destroying one of Kakuzu's hearts, and again when the protagonist Naruto had intervened to save him.
Without these two interventions, Kakashi's heart would have belonged to Kakuzu long ago.
And back then, Kakashi had been far stronger than he was at the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
He had effortlessly defeated his former equal, Zabuza, and his ally Haku, without breaking a sweat.
Given this context, one could imagine just how overwhelmingly powerful Kakuzu was to have completely dominated Kakashi in battle.
Managing to destroy even one of Kakuzu's hearts at this stage was already an extraordinary feat.
"What a dangerous dōjutsu. Who would have thought that Hatake Kakashi, a foreigner, could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
After Sasuke arrived, Kakuzu noticed him but paid little attention, instead muttering to himself with lingering unease.
Though Kakashi was strong, Kakuzu didn't consider him a real threat.
Initially, Kakashi had managed to hold his own, but as Kakuzu grew serious, he quickly fell into a precarious situation.
Just as Kakuzu lost patience and prepared to kill Kakashi and claim his heart, Kakashi's Sharingan eye suddenly transformed, evolving into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and unleashed a Dōjutsu that could tear through space.
If Kakashi hadn't been using the Dōjutsu for the first time—inexperienced, slow, and slightly off-target—Kakuzu felt he would have narrowly avoided being caught off guard.
Even so, Kakashi's Dōjutsu managed to destroy one of his water-attribute hearts.
After a moment of silent contemplation, Kakuzu turned to Sasuke, his eyes glinting with amusement as he murmured, "Uchiha Itachi's younger brother? Heh, how interesting. So, you're the one who took down Hidan, aren't you?"
Kakuzu stared impassively at Sasuke. "It's hard enough finding a reliable partner, and now he's just... dead."
Hearing Kakuzu's utterly flat tone, Sasuke smiled faintly. "Why don't we call it a day? Let's part ways and meet again if fate wills it?"
___
This Sasuke Is Strange 240 advanced chapters: (5 ch updates everyday)
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