Sasuke's second free attempt part 1/2

Just when Amaterasu's black flames were about to appear, a small piece of ice formed between Sasuke and Yuna, blocking Sasuke's view.

Black flames engulfed the ice piece, but one of Yuna's ice chains pierced into it before it could melt, sending hundreds of minuscule seals into the ice.

The burning piece of ice started glowing, and moments later, the black flames were sucked into the ice while the ice clump turned into a perfectly round, transparent sphere with a tiny black ember burning inside it.

While Sasuke was utterly dumbfounded that his Amaterasu was blocked so effortlessly, Yuna grabbed the still floating sphere and started inspecting it before nodding in approval.

"Instant Amaterasu? Or maybe, One-Shot Amaterasu? Meh, since it can only be used once, I'm not interested in giving it a proper name. Besides that, are you interested in starting a business, Sasuke? I'm sure that there are quite a few shinobi out there that are interested in a one-time-use tool that engulfs the target in Amaterasu's flames when thrown at someone."

Sasuke opened his mouth, kept the position for a short moment, and then closed it again. He had no idea what he was supposed to say to what he had just witnessed.

Naturally, Yuna was not someone who needed the other person to actually answer her questions to hold a conversation, so she happily continued talking.

"Nah, that won't work out. Since these require my ice and your eyes to make, we would have to spend time together making more, and there are like hundreds of things I would rather do."

While Yuna was talking to herself, Sasuke managed to get out of his stupor and decided to resume his attack. Yuna might have blocked his Amaterasu, but he could still feel more power dwelling in his eyes, which meant that his confidence and arrogance were still burning brightly.

He used Amaterasu yet again, but this time, his other eye got involved as well and directly manipulated the black flames to spread out and surround Yuna's current position.

Yuna sighed deeply when she saw Sasuke continuing his assault. If he had stopped, she would have been willing not to count this as his second attempt, but that chance was out of the window now.

Ice started rising around Yuna, contesting with Amaterasu's flames. Amaterasu was a fire that could burn everything, but Yuna's ice had a similar feature. Just like Amaterasu, it kept growing endlessly until everything was frozen. Three years ago, after Yuna killed Danzo, Tsunade feared that the snowstorm Yuna left behind would never stop growing, and she was actually correct with her assumption.

So, right now, endlessly burning flames and endlessly freezing ice were clashing with each other, pushing back and forth without the other party gaining any ground.

However, despite seemingly being of equal strength, Yuna's ice was created through her will alone, while Sasuke actually had to sacrifice some of his visual prowess to start his fire, so it was evident that Sasuke couldn't continue like this.

He unsheathed his sword and approached Yuna at high speed, ducking and diving through the clashing fire and ice while fully activating his curse seal, causing Yuna's eyes to widen in surprise.

'Damn, the pattern in his eyes actually turned heart-shaped after transforming!'

[Really? Really!? Are you seriously pretending that this has nothing to do with you right now?]

'*Cough* Sorry about that.'

Sasuke slashed down his sword, but Yuna blocked it easily with an ice sword that materialized out of nowhere, and moments later, the duo had already clashed dozens of times.

"Really, Sasuke? Swordsmanship? Against me of all people?"

"It seems to be working rather well. I don't see you handling me as easy as your words make it out to be."

"Is that how you perceived our clashes? Very well then."

Yuna's sword started changing mid-clash, becoming longer, bigger and covered with an intricate network of finely carved ornaments. The moment Yuna and Sasuke's swords separated, Sasuke could instantly feel that something was wrong.

While he previously could easily follow and predict the movement of Yuna and her sword, now, everything was obscured. It felt like everything around Yuna was captured by his Sharingan's abilities except Yuna herself. All those tiny movements his Sharingan would usually capture process and remember no longer pooled into his mind.

"As if a baby's eyes could trace my swordsmanship."

Before Sasuke could understand what Yuna meant, she moved again, seemingly not faster nor stronger than she previously did, but despite that, Sasuke was instantly driven into a corner.

Strong shinobi relied on predicting their enemy's movement even if they didn't have the Sharingan to help them, so now that Sasuke couldn't read Yuna's actions at all, he had to react the moment he saw Yuna move, which usually was already too late.

Reading and predicting your enemy's actions heavily depended on the experience of the people fighting. Naturally, someone with about three to four years of actual combat experience like Sasuke stood absolutely no chance against Yuna.

And so, bloody gashes kept appearing on Sasuke's body, every little cut reducing his confidence and arrogance a little more. Additionally, the fact that Yuna's clothes were unruffled while she had a leisurely smile on her face didn't help improve Sasuke's condition either.

Another clash happened, but instead of continuing the fight, Yuna and Sasuke separated and stood opposite each other.

"Well, you can always put away your weapon and accept your beating, Sasuke."

Sasuke's frown deepened when he heard Yuna's words. Considering the mess with Itachi, he didn't have any time to think about his current situation yet. But now that he had an idle moment to think about it, something certainly was weird.

'I attacked her with the intent to kill, but it seems like she is entirely unbothered by that. Heck, she even knocked me out after my first attack, so she had all the chances in the world to kill me for trying to kill her. Why didn't she do it? Is there another promise between big brother and her?'

Yuna noticed the gears in Sasuke's head-turning and patiently waited for him to finish his thoughts, and a few seconds later, Sasuke opened his mouth.

"When I attacked you the first time, you said something about the first attempt, and after I attacked you the second time, you mentioned a second attempt. What is that about? Did you make another deal with Itachi?"

Yuna nodded in acknowledgment after hearing Sasuke's words.

"Correct! Since I knew you would try to get your revenge on me as well and would very likely attack me the moment you see me, I gave Itachi another promise. Since me killing you would defeat the purpose of Itachi's request, I promised him that I would allow you two attempts to get your revenge against me without any consequences. Obviously, you are currently on your second attempt."

Sasuke widened his eyes in surprise when he heard Yuna's words before gritting his teeth in anger. After all, Yuna's words pretty much meant that she wasn't worried about Sasuke trying to kill her at all and instead saw it as something she could easily handle.

"In other words, you perceive me as no threat at all. Even though I am after your life, you are willing to let me go simply because you do not believe I could do anything against you?"

A kind smile appeared on Yuna's face as she answered Sasuke's question.

"Yes."

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

Sasuke's anger burst forth as his hatred for Yuna increased even further.

"SUSANOO!!!"

A chakra rib cage started forming around Sasuke as both of his eyes started bleeding like crazy. Then, two bone arms appeared, closely followed by a skeleton head, creating a complete upper torso entirely made out of bones around Sasuke.

When Yuna saw that, she nodded her head with a satisfied smile on her face.

"So it was Susanoo and not Susan, huh? That name is still not to my taste, but I guess it's better than Susan."