Chapter 49: Uchiha Sasuke's Realization and Battle Spirit

"Gulp…"

Staring at Kin, who was embedded in the tree trunk, her life or death uncertain, Dosu and Zaku couldn't help but swallow hard.

If you looked closely, you could see beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads and near their temples.

They weren't terrified by Kin's dire state but by the jutsu Yagyu had just used.

No... no hand signs at all! And yet, it was such a powerful jutsu without any hand signs.

Dosu, having gathered his wits, wasted no time in pulling out the scroll with the character "Earth" on it. He addressed Yagyu, saying, "We surrender. Take this scroll. Can we leave?"

"No. You're all going to leave your lives here as well."

Another highly concentrated spinning ball of energy appeared in Yagyu's hand.

"Decapitating Airwaves… Ahhh!"

Seeing Yagyu refuse the trade, Zaku clapped his hands together to unleash his strongest sonic attack.

But before he could even gather chakra and convert it into sound waves, he let out a piercing scream, his expression twisting in agony.

Startled by Zaku's sudden cries, Dosu looked over to see him twitching uncontrollably, his face contorted in pain, his eyes bloodshot, yet nothing appeared to be wrong with him.

"Zaku, you're trapped in a genjutsu! Break free, quickly!" Dosu yelled.

But Zaku didn't seem to hear Dosu's voice. He had already collapsed to the ground, rolling around in agony. "Ahhh… I'm burning! Put out the fire! Put it out!"

In Zaku's view, the entire forest had turned into a sea of flames, and his body was engulfed in fire.

Being burned alive, one of the most excruciating ways to die, left Zaku in unbearable pain, unable even to break the genjutsu.

The technique Yagyu had used was the Illusion: Shiranui (Illusion of Invisible Flames).

"How could you be so careless?"

While Dosu was distracted by Zaku's torment, Yagyu swiftly moved in and slammed a Rasengan into Dosu's body.

Boom!

With a loud blast, Dosu's body shot back like a cannonball, spinning in mid-air just like Kin had, his body swirling with blue chakra as he slammed hard into a massive tree.

A deep crater instantly appeared on the tree's trunk, and Dosu's body was embedded in it, his fate unclear.

Swish, swish, swish—

Without a shred of hesitation, Yagyu retrieved three kunai, which he expertly threw with precision, hitting the heads of all three members of the Sound trio, ending their lives.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

White lights flashed from their bodies, and as beams of light flew off, several glowing orbs floated above the ground near their corpses.

Yagyu merely glanced at the glowing orbs before turning and walking toward Sakura.

At this moment, Sakura had her back to Yagyu, and a faint green light was glowing in front of her as she treated her injuries.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

Yagyu patted Sakura's head from behind and asked with concern.

Sakura, hiding her face with one hand that glowed with green healing chakra, replied with her head lowered, "Don't look at me, Yagyu. I look ugly right now."

"Not at all, you looked really cool just now."

Yagyu chuckled and tousled her hair. "You're healing yourself too slowly. Let me help."

"No way! You've got a camera on you. What if you secretly take a picture?" Sakura teased in a playful, slightly sulky tone. "Hinata told me you always take pictures of her. I don't want you snapping a photo of me looking like this."

"I won't, I won't. Geez, Hinata tells you guys everything, huh?" Yagyu said with a sheepish smile.

"Hmm?"

Before Sakura could respond, Yagyu's brow furrowed as he turned his attention toward a cave.

Sakura also paused her healing and looked toward the cave where Naruto and Sasuke were, her eyes filled with shock. "Sasuke's awake. What happened to his chakra?"

"Sakura, who hurt your face?"

Sasuke's voice echoed from the cave.

Emerging from the shadows of the cave was Sasuke, his body radiating purple chakra and exuding an ominous aura. Half of his face was covered in the black markings of the cursed seal, and his dual tomoe Sharingan was activated. His gaze landed on Yagyu and Sakura, but his focus immediately shifted to Sakura's bruised face, prompting him to ask.

"An enemy came by earlier, but Yagyu took care of them," Sakura explained simply, before asking worriedly, "Sasuke, are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

Sasuke glanced at the black curse mark spreading across his left arm and, feeling a surge of exhilaration, said, "Not only am I fine, but I feel better than ever. I feel like I can do anything."

However, his words only made Sakura more uneasy.

Suddenly, Sasuke turned his gaze toward Yagyu, his smile wicked as he challenged, "Yagyu, how about a fight?"

"No thanks. You're not yourself right now."

Yagyu shook his head and cautioned, "I don't know what's happening to your body, but this chakra doesn't belong to you. Are you willing to abandon the pride of the Uchiha Clan to rely on external power like this?"

"…Hmph."

At those words, Sasuke's grin faltered, and a wave of pain washed over him as he groaned, the Sharingan fading back to his normal black eyes. Grabbing at his neck, he crouched down in discomfort.

A moment later, Sasuke stood back up, weakened but with the curse mark receding from his face and arm.

Once his emotions had settled, Sasuke glanced at Zaku's corpse and then at the bodies of Kin and Dosu embedded in the tree. His gaze returned to Sakura, and with a slightly apologetic tone, he said, "I'm sorry, Sakura, for getting you involved."

"I'm just glad you're both alright."

Seeing Sasuke back to his normal self, Sakura finally breathed a sigh of relief and apologized, "I'm the one who should apologize. I wasn't able to help much."

"Standing up to an enemy like that is impressive enough."

Yagyu couldn't help but pinch Sakura's cheek, causing her to wince and hiss in pain.

"Let me heal you. Your chakra is too weak."

Yagyu crouched down and began healing the wounds on Sakura's face.

Sakura quickly closed her eyes, her cheeks turning red, while muttering, "Hurry up. I can sense Hinata's chakra nearby. I can't let her see me like this."

"She's got the Byakugan. She's probably already seen you."

"That doesn't count. She sees in black and white."

"Alright, alright. You win."

While Yagyu and Sakura exchanged playful banter, Sasuke, clutching his neck, approached Zaku's body, and then examined the corpses of Kin and Dosu embedded in the tree.

More precisely, he scrutinized the damage around them.

After a few moments, Sasuke's eyes widened as though he had realized something. Suddenly, despite the pain from the curse mark, he forced his dual tomoe Sharingan to activate again, fixing his gaze on Yagyu, who had just finished healing Sakura. His expression showed a mixture of shock and intense battle spirit.

Such incredible chakra... This must be your true power. I had no idea you were hiding so much!

This is perfect. Only someone like you is worthy of being my opponent!

Only by defeating the real you can I avenge my past humiliation and prove the strength of the Uchiha!

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