Adult Sasuke's entire body was protected by a skeletal rib, preventing Sasuke's Heavy Xuan Ruler mid-swing.
At the same time, a skeletal arm formed beside the ribcage and violently swung at Sasuke in midair.
"The third Dojutsu..."
"Susanoo!"
Adult Sasuke snorted coldly, and the skeletal rib around him instantly expanded into a full-bodied skeleton.
The size is much larger than before.
Sasuke twisted his body in the air, somersaulted several times to dodge the attack before landing a foot on the skeleton's fist and kicking off, using the recoil to leap backward.
Within two seconds, he had already put distance between them.
When Sasuke saw the other party's appearance at this moment, his face no longer held any trace of mockery toward the 'one-armed cripple'.
Sensing the surging Pupil Power radiating from Adult Sasuke, his mind was engulfed in shock.
'Damn it!!'
'The Mangekyo's Dojutsu can actually use Pupil Power to transform into armor!?'
'Which means…'
'Itachi still had a trump card he never used!?'
While Sasuke was shocked, he also once again reassessed his understanding of Itachi's strength.
As far as he knew, the last time he faced Itachi, he had been this close to killing him.
The only reason he failed was because of some white-haired middle-aged slacker screwing things up.
'But now, it seemed…'
'Itachi wasn't even serious!'
'I couldn't even force him to reveal this Pupil Power Armor!'
Naruto sat in the distance, looking at Sasuke with interest.
After years of getting along with each other, Naruto knew what the boy was thinking just by looking at his expression.
'Looks like he's feeling crushed by the middle-aged version, huh?'
"Just how far can those three-tomoe Sharingan of yours see?"
"What can you even do right now?"
"Revenge is nothing but a joke."
Adult Sasuke smirked. Right now, he felt eerily similar to how Itachi had been back then.
'It was time to make this world's version of myself understand the gap between three-tomoe and the Mangekyo.'
"Tch."
"How far can I see? I don't need a cripple like you to interfere!"
Sasuke's words were still arrogant, but his mindset was no longer the same as before.
His earlier attack with the Heavy Xuan Ruler had been completely ineffective, and he knew that ordinary attacks could not break through this defense.
'Looks like it's time to use my trump card…'
Sasuke's expression turned solemn. He picked up the Heavy Xuan Ruler, activated the Three Thousand Lightning Movements and rushed forward again.
His extreme speed left multiple afterimages in his wake.
Adult Sasuke still did not move. Hearing the other party's defiant words, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly…
'While this world's version of me is a bit odd, his personality is still the same as mine back then.'
'He won't admit the gap between us until the very end, huh?'
"Give up!"
"Everything you're doing is pointless."
"You sure talk a lot."
Sasuke, who was running around the middle-aged uncle, coldly retorted before appearing behind him and casually tossing out a scroll.
With a bang, a black iron canister appeared in his hand.
Compared to the things that were summoned with previously, this one seemed rather unremarkable.
However, what was inside was anything but ordinary.
It contained charcoal, flour, and a portion of quicklime powder… Most of them are flammable powders.
Once these things are thrown out and ignited by a Fire Release Ninjutsu, they could create a devastating explosion.
Sasuke found the right opportunity to swing his arm and hurled the canister high above his opponent.
Just as he was about to shoot a kunai to shatter it midair, Adult Sasuke reacted faster. He instinctively swung the skeletal fist upward to smash the canister.
If one doesn't know, they would think this guy has a pair of eyes behind him.
"Put away your ridiculous Ninja Tools."
"Do you think tricks like this can defeat me?"
"Or is this how you plan to get your revenge?"
Adult Sasuke's tone was dripping with disdain.
Looking at this world's version of himself, Adult Sasuke felt both satisfaction and disappointment.
'If this was all the strength he had, not only would he fail to kill Itachi… he wouldn't even stand a chance against the Otsutsuki Clan in the future.'
But…
The Lightning Release Ninjutsu used by Sasuke just now really surprised the middle-aged uncle.
'If he continues like this, he might even master Lightning Release: Kirin sooner than I had back then...'
'But why the hell does this kid have such insane Lightning Release's talent...'
'But he keeps using Fire Release Ninjutsu!?'
'Normal Fire Release can't even kill anyone!'
Adult Sasuke used his skeleton to punch and smashed the canister thrown by the opponent.
The next second, black powder scattered across the sky, instantly shrouding the entire battlefield.
The father-son duo watching from the sidelines could no longer see the two fighters clearly within the black haze.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
As Sasuke's voice rang out, a massive fireball erupted within the swirling black dust.
In an instant, the flames violently reacted with the powder, igniting the entire battlefield.
Boom…
The dust explosion turned the surroundings into a sea of red.
Sasuke's eyes remained locked on the center of the flames, while his grip on the Heavy Xuan Ruler hadn't loosen at all.
He always felt that turning Pupil Power into armor was not as simple as it seemed.
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a massive purple hand tore through the flames, slamming into Sasuke and sending him flying.
Thankfully, he had blocked with the Heavy Xuan Ruler in time, which also absorbed a portion of the opponent's Chakra in the process.
"Drop that pathetic Fire Release!"
"Do you really think it can hurt me?"
As the smoke cleared, the purple Susanoo appeared. Adult Sasuke still had that same condescending expression as he looked at Sasuke.
However, Naruto, who is watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but think Adult Sasuke was just being stubborn.
'If you have the guts, why didn't you just keep using the skeleton form instead of upgrading to the humanoid Susanoo?'
'This is just bullying your younger self?'
"Dad..."
"Is Xiao Yan going to lose?"
There was a hint of disappointment in Boruto's eyes. He knew just how strong Adult Sasuke was.
How could a teenage version of Sasuke possibly stand a chance against his future self?
But…
'Uchiha Xiao Yan is so cool!'
"Not necessarily. Uchiha Xiao Yan isn't that weak."
Naruto smirked mysteriously.
He remembered all the explosions the kid had been causing around the village while he was away...
At that time, he asked Sasuke what he was doing, but he just refused to tell him.
Naruto strongly suspected that Sasuke had been secretly developing a trump card to use against him.
"Cough... cough…"
After landing, Sasuke struggled to support his body with the Xuan Heavy Ruler and spat out large mouthfuls of blood.
As he looked up, he saw the giant in purple armor.
At this moment, he really wanted to curse.
'What the hell!'
'How come there is a third stage of this turning Pupil Power into armor?!'
Even though he had blocked the punch with the Xuan Heavy Ruler and absorbed some of the opponent's Chakra, the impact had still left him severely injured.
He now felt a stirring inside him with every breath he took.
When Adult Sasuke, hiding in the Susanoo, saw that Sasuke below had not fallen down yet, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
'How could he still stand up after this blow?'
He had to admit that this version of himself at thirteen was far stronger than he had been at that age.
The explosion caused by the Fire Release just now even forced him to use the humanoid form of Susanoo.
If he continued to defend with just the skeleton form, he would definitely be injured by the Fire Release Ninjutsu.
But even so, Adult Sasuke still maintained his previous mocking look.
"What's wrong?"
"I haven't even used my full strength yet, but you're already this battered?"
Sasuke looked up at the guy's arrogant appearance, then turned his head to look at Naruto, who was watching the battle.
'Damn it!'
'Do I really have to use that move in front of Naruto?!'
"Do you think you can defeat Uchiha Itachi like this?"
"With that joke of a Fire Release?"
"F***! You cripple, you're a *****!!"
When he heard the name Itachi from the other party's mouth, the last bit of rationality in Sasuke's heart disappeared.
He no longer cared about anything else and just wanted to beat the living hell out of this cripple in front of him.
Bang…
Sasuke pulled out a sealing scroll and summoned two palm-sized canisters.
"A joke of a Fire Release?"
"Heh…"