The deafening metallic shriek of their katanas clashing didn't just stay inside the walls of the dango shop.
Outside, on the main street of the Konoha, the air suddenly vibrated. A pair of patrolling Konoha village guards stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes widening as the distant sound of grinding steel reached their ears. The ground beneath their boots trembled slightly.
"What... what is that chakra?" one of the guards whispered, his hand instantly flying to his pouch. "It feels heavy. Like the sky is falling."
They looked toward the tea shop. The wooden structure was groaning. A few roof tiles slid off the edge and shattered on the dirt road below.
They wanted to sprint forward, to draw their weapons and investigate, but a deep, primal instinct kept their boots glued to the ground.
The invisible chakra leaking from the building was so thick, so completely suffocating, that moving closer felt like walking straight into a blade. They could only stand there, teeth gritted, hoping whatever monster was inside wouldn't unleash that power onto the rest of the village.
Inside the dead center of the shop, the world had shrunk down to mere inches.
Sparks flew wildly between Sasuke's six-pointed star Eternal Mangekyo and Hikaru's multi-layered star eye.
Their blades were locked in a vice grip, the steel screaming under the immense physical pressure.
Neither of them blinked.
Then, Hikaru's grin widened, and his body suddenly blurred into thin air.
Swish!
He didn't just step back; he used a flawless, high-speed Body Flicker, vanishing from Sasuke's field of vision entirely. But Sasuke didn't even hesitate.
His combat genius brain didn't look for Hikaru with his human eyes—he tracked the sudden displacement of air.
In the exact same microsecond, Sasuke's body blurred out of existence too.
CLANG!
An explosion of white sparks erupted near the kitchen door. The two katanas had smashed together again, but the moment the blades touched, both men vanished instantly before a single drop of sweat could hit the floor.
CLANG!
Another heavy strike rattled the rafters near the ceiling.
To any normal ninja watching, the room would have looked completely empty. It was a ghost fight. The human eye could not keep up with the sheer frequency of their consecutive Body Flickers.
Instead of two men moving, the room was filled with a terrifying dance of phantom sounds and sudden flashes of light.
A sharp metallic ring on the left side of the counter. A brutal throw right in front of the window booth. A heavy slash that cleanly divided a wooden pillar in half near the back exit.
They were shifting their coordinates so fast that their position began to blend in the air. For a single frame of time, it looked like three different versions of Sasuke were striking three different versions of Hikaru all at once across the bloody floorboards.
Every single time they reappeared, their swords met with absolute, killing intent, each trying to find a single millimeter of open skin to end each other.
The room was filled with a terrifying dance of phantom sounds and sudden flashes of light as their katanas smashed together over and over.
Left corner—CLANG!
Right corner—CLANG!
They blurred out of existence again, both using a high-speed Body Flicker to leap high into the air near the ceiling, their blades raised for another brutal clash.
But right in the middle of the leap, mid-air, Hikaru did it.
Slowly, his left eye closed completely, shutting out half the world. Only his right eye snapped open, locking its absolute focus directly onto the center of Sasuke's chest.
The multi-layered star pattern inside that single red iris began to spin with a quiet, terrifying speed.
Before their swords could even touch, a horrific sensation slammed into Sasuke's body.
It was a strange, sudden short-circuit in his nerves. Sasuke's survival instincts instantly told his muscles to swing his blade harder to block. But the moment his brain thought 'swing the blade,' his fingers completely loosened their grip.
He tried to adjust his balance in the air, but his legs kicked out in the exact opposite direction.
Because his physical intentions were completely flipped upside down, his control vanished. He couldn't hold his stance in the air at all.
THUD!!!
Sasuke crashed heavily onto the hard wooden floorboards, laying across the blood-stained room and smashing into a broken table. His Kusanagi sword clattered against the ground next to him.
'Damn it...!' Sasuke's mind roared in absolute panic as he pushed against the floor, trying to scramble back up. But the more his brain screamed 'get up' the harder his limbs pressed him down into the dirt.
'I let my guard down! It's the right eye... Takemikazuchi[1]!'
The realization hit his brain like a physical blow. He knew exactly what this power was. It didn't freeze him like stone; it completely inverted his nervous system.
Hikaru dropped lightly from the air, landing perfectly on his feet. The unhinged, mocking grin returned to his face, wider and meaner than ever before as he walked toward the fallen Black Devil.
"Look at you..." Hikaru whispered, his voice dripping with an evil, playful delight. "The great, terrifying protector... scrambling around on the floor like a broken doll. You really thought you could plan your way out of my sight?"
Hikaru's single right eye kept spinning rapidly, keeping the invisible hold locked tightly onto Sasuke's chest.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, trying to force his legs to leap backward to create some distance.
But the moment his brain thought 'leap backward' his muscles did the exact opposite. His legs aggressively propelled him forward instead, bringing him straight into Hikaru's striking zone.
"Too easy!" Hikaru laughed.
With a brutal swing, Hikaru slammed the hilt of his katana right into Sasuke's jaw.
CRACK!
The heavy blow sent Sasuke crashing to the floorboards. Blood splattered from his lip. Pain shot through his face, and his instincts immediately screamed, 'Get up! Stand up right now!'
But because his brain desperately wanted to get up, the eye power made him do the reverse, it pushed him down even harder. His limbs felt heavy, pressing him flat against the bloody wood. He was literally trapped by his own desires.
Hikaru walked over, a cruel, mocking smile on his face. He didn't even use a weapon. He kicked Sasuke hard in the ribs, sending him rolling across the ruined floor of the shop.
BANG! THUD!
"What's wrong, Black Devil?" Hikaru taunted, raising his hand as heavy lightning chakra began to crackle around his fist. "Raiton: Raikiri!"
Hikaru drove his lightning-covered hand straight down toward Sasuke's chest.
In pure survival mode, Sasuke tried to raise his right hand to form a defensive shield.
But his left hand moved instead, leaving his right side completely open. Hikaru's lightning attack grazed Sasuke's shoulder, tearing through his dark traveling cloak and burning his skin.
Sasuke gasped in agony, sliding across the floor as wood splinters tore into his back. He was taking a massive beating, his body bruised and bleeding, completely overwhelmed by the chaotic rules of the eye.
But inside the darkness of his mind, Sasuke's legendary tactical intelligence was working at a million miles per hour. He wasn't panicking. He was analyzing the failure.
'Think... analyze the pattern—' Sasuke told himself, staring at Hikaru's spinning lotus eye through his bloodshot Sharingan.
'When I tried to back away, I moved forward. When I tried to get up, I stayed down. When I wanted to use my right hand, my left hand moved.'
A spark of realization flashed in his mind.
'It's a perfect inversion. It doesn't freeze me—it flips my intentions. To do what I want, I have to desire the exact opposite.'
Hikaru stepped forward again, gathering a massive swirl of blue chakra in his palm. The chakra expanded wildly, turning into a giant, roaring ball of destruction. "Massive Rasengan!" he yelled, sprinting forward to finish the job.
Sasuke stayed flat on the ground. His brain wanted to scream, 'Dodge to the left!'
The brilliant, blinding blue light of the spinning massive Rasengan reflected brightly across Sasuke's face, lighting up his wide, intense Sharingan. The sphere of pure destruction was just inches away from crashing into his chest—
A few hundred meters away from the dango shop, the dusty streets of Konoha were filled with chaotic movement.
Orochimaru and Kawaki were sprinting at full speed through the shadows, completely unaware of the life-or-death battle happening inside the nearby tea shop. Kawaki's face was twisted in deep irritation as he kept pace with the legendary Sannin.
"Out of all the people in the whole world, you had to disguise yourself as a woman?!" Kawaki shouted angrily, throwing his arms up as they ran.
Orochimaru did not even slow down. He simply let out a soft, hissing chuckle, his long pale tongue lightly flicking across his lips with a playful grin.
"Oh, my dear Kawaki-kun... gender is such a boring, limited concept..." Orochimaru teased, his voice sounding fake-sweet and smooth.
"Besides, don't you think I look absolutely beautiful like this? You should appreciate the art of a perfect disguise."
"Shut up! You are disgusting!" Kawaki shouted, his face turning bright red with pure anger as veining popped on his forehead.
Orochimaru's cheeky response only made him want to punch the snake right in the face.
Behind them, quite far away, Kakashi was leading a desperate chase. Alongside him, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai were running hard, trying their best to catch up to the fleeing pair.
"Wait! Hold on!" Gai yelled at the top of his lungs, his face covered in sweat.
Asuma suddenly skidded to a halt on the dirt road, bending over and huffing heavily. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. "It's impossible... there is no way we can outrun them at this pace!"
"No! Never! Wait!" Kakashi screamed, refusing to slow down for even a single second.
BOOM!!!!!
A massive, deafening explosion ripped through the air, shaking the entire sector.
The front entrance of the dango shop completely blew apart, exploding outward into a million flying pieces of wood and dust. The violent blast wave rushed down the street.
A big, bright flash of light lit up the alleyway.
The sudden gust of wind caught Kawaki and Orochimaru's hair, sending it flying wildly across their faces. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes wide with pure shock as they stared at the ruined building.
"What the hell was that?!" Kawaki questioned, his hand dropping to his weapon as he stared at the rising smoke.
Orochimaru's playful smirk instantly vanished, replaced by a dark, knowing look. "Hikaru-kun's Massive Rasengan..." he murmured softly.
Kawaki frowned deeply, looking over at him in disbelief. "How can you be so sure? And a massive one? How do you know it isn't someone else?"
Orochimaru let out a soft, hissing laugh, his golden eyes gleaming in the dark. "What do you expect, Kawaki-kun? Does a sensei not know the very jutsu his own pupil can perform?"
He tilted his head back toward the smoke, his expression turning deeply academic. "I told you about this before. Hikaru possesses an absolutely massive amount of chakra, but his control over small amounts of energy is terrible. He cannot compress or stabilize a normal, small Rasengan. The energy simply overflows. Because of that poor control, a massive, giant-sized sphere is the only form of the Rasengan he can actually yield."
Kawaki listened, his eyes narrowing as the heavy pressure of the blast wave faded. "If he's unleashing that kind of destructive power right now... aren't we going to go in and confront him?"
Orochimaru's lips curled back up into a wicked smirk. "No.First, we will get the intel from the one fighting inside. We need to watch from the shadows and see exactly how much Hikaru-kun has improved under pressure. Only then will we confront him."
Orochimaru looked back at the ruined shop, his grin widening into something truly sinister. He didn't say it out loud to Kawaki, but he knew exactly who was trapped in that room.
He knew Sasuke was in there.
In the next fraction of a second, before the dust could even settle on the road, both Orochimaru and Kawaki vanished into the thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Behind them, Kakashi's group froze too. As the thick dust began to clear, a horrific sight caught their eyes. A thick, dark stream of fresh red blood was slowly leaking out from underneath the ruined doorway, pooling onto the main road.
"Oh my god..." Kurenai gasped, her face turning pale.
Horrified by the sight of the blood, Kurenai and Asuma instantly turned around and ran back toward the dango shop.
Kakashi quickly looked back over his shoulder to check on his team, but in that split second, Kawaki and Orochimaru vanished completely into the shadows.
They were gone.
Gai rushed up to Kakashi's side, his expression dead serious as he looked at the thick stream of blood running down the street.
"Kakashi!" Gai shouted, slamming a heavy hand onto his friend's shoulder. "I am going to the center of the village toward the police headquarters right now. I will give them the intel on everything that has happened here and call for immediate reinforcements!"
Gai didn't wait for an answer. He pointed a sharp finger back toward the destroyed building. "Kakashi! You go straight back to the shop to check on the situation inside along with Kurenai and Asuma. Go, now!"
With a massive burst of speed, Gai kicked off the ground and sprinted away toward the village center, disappearing over the rooftops in a flash.
Left behind on the dark road, Kakashi felt a wave of helpless anger crash over him. Realizing he had lost his targets and that an absolute massacre had just happened right under his nose, Kakashi dropped to his knees. He sat on the hard dirt road, violently digging his clenched fist straight into the ground.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Kakashi growled, slamming his fist against the earth in pure, helpless frustration.
Back inside the ruins of the dango shop, the air was completely filled with a thick, suffocating cloud of grey dust and smoke. The entire front wall was shattered.
Hikaru stood in the center of the damaged shop his single right eye still spinning. He looked down at the massive hole created by his attack, expecting to see Sasuke's crushed body.
But there was nothing there.
CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP!
Suddenly, a sharp, chaotic sound pierced through the heavy silence. It was the unmistakable, deafening shriek of a thousand birds.
Deep inside the thickest part of the dust cloud, a brilliant, blinding glove of blue lightning exploded into view.
Hikaru's jaw dropped. His unhinged grin completely vanished. 'That's impossible...!' his mind screamed. 'He was flat on his back! He couldn't have moved!'
Through the clearing smoke, Sasuke stepped forward. The bright blue Chidori was crackling furiously around his right hand, lighting up his cold, calm face. He hadn't struck yet; he just held the lightning blade steady, staring directly into Hikaru's shocked eye.
"You are wondering how I escaped...." Sasuke said, his voice low, steady, and chillingly calm.
He took a slow step forward, letting the lightning sparks dance across the broken floorboards.
"... right? " Sasuke smirked. "Your eye... it's a perfect inversion. It targets my nervous system."
Hikaru gritted his teeth, his grip tightening on his sword.
"When the light of your Rasengan reflected on my face..." Sasuke continued, his Sharingan spinning smoothly, "my natural survival instinct was screaming at me to move to the left. To dodge to the left."
Sasuke paused, a cold, triumphant look in his eyes.
"But I realized the secret of your technique. If my brain desires to go left... my muscles will force me to go right. And if I try to use my right hand to form signs... my left hand will move instead."
Hikaru's right eye widened in absolute horror. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So, I didn't fight the power," Sasuke whispered, his voice dripping with absolute tactical genius.
"I tricked my own brain. While lying on the floor, I looked at the right side of the room. I forcefully screamed inside my own mind, 'Move to the right! Change direction and slide deep to the right!'*
Sasuke raised his crackling Chidori slightly, the blue lightning illuminating the darkness of the ruined shop.
"The moment my brain accepted the command to go right... your technique automatically flipped it. And my body violently snapped to the left. I zipped right out of your line of destruction before your attack could even touch a single hair on my head."
Sasuke took one final step, locking his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan directly onto Hikaru's single open eye.
"You are trapped in this room with a master tactician, Hikaru. And now... your trick is completely useless."
Before Hikaru could even form another raikiri, Sasuke used the same reverse logic on his legs. He commanded his muscles to stop moving and stay perfectly still.
The inverted signal flipped instantly, and his legs exploded forward with terrifying speed.
He closed the gap in a millisecond. With a fierce, roaring shout, Sasuke drove his crackling Chidori straight into Hikaru's exposed shoulder!
CRACKLE!!!!
"AGH!!!" Hikaru screamed as the Chidori tore through his cloak and scorched his flesh.
The pure force of the Chidori blast sent Hikaru stumbling backward over the broken tables, his right eye widening in absolute fury and annoyance as blood dripped from his new wound. He gripped his smoking shoulder, glaring at Sasuke in pure disbelief.
"You... you monster," Hikaru shouted, his amusing grin completely gone, replaced by deep irritation. "You figured out how to move your own body under my sight?!"
Sasuke stood tall amidst the smoke and falling wodd dust, the chidori still dancing around his fingers, his Eternal Mangekyo glowing with a cold, triumphant light.
"I told you—" Sasuke whispered, his voice sending a chill through the ruins. "Your tricks won't save you from me."
Hikaru stood frozen for a second, his head lowered as the smoke swirled around his feet. Then, very slowly, his shoulders began to tremble.
The deep irritation on his face melted away, replaced by a low, soft chuckle that gradually grew into a loud, echoing laugh. The sound was completely hollow, chilling, and stripped of any real emotion.
He didn't even bother to wipe the blood dripping down his arm. Instead, he tilted his head up just enough for his single open eye to catch the dim light through the dust.
His star-shaped iris wasn't spinning anymore. It was completely still, staring blankly ahead.
"A master tactician..." Hikaru repeated, his voice dropping into a fake-sweet, mocking whisper that seemed to echo from every single corner of the ruined room at the exact same time.
He raised his uninjured hand, gently tapping his own chin as if he were deeply amused by a clever joke.
"Your logic is absolutely flawless, Sasuke. Truly brilliant."
He paused, his wide, bloodshot eye locking directly onto Sasuke's face with a terrifyingly calm expression. The evil grin returned to his lips, wider and darker than ever before, stretching across his face in a way that didn't look human.
"But tell me..." Hikaru whispered, his voice sending a sudden, icy shiver straight down Sasuke's spine.
"What if the one you attacked right now..."
"....is not me —?"
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⚡NEXT CHAPTER ⚡
The battle takes a horrifying turn.
As Sasuke believes he has finally cornered Hikaru, a single mistake changes everything.
A hidden observer enters the battlefield.
An illusion beyond imagination is unleashed.
Friend and enemy become impossible to distinguish.
The blood of Konoha is spilled inside the ruined dango shop.
As grief, rage, and guilt collide, old allies are forced to choose sides while the true mastermind watches from the shadows.
And when Kakashi finally arrives...the battlefield descends into complete chaos.
👉Chapter 38: Checkmate
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
'The Sharingan..Two of them?!'
"Oh my god, Kakashi!"
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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[1] Note: Takemikazuchi is Uchiha Hikaru's right Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan's visual power.