The wind stirred slightly between them, and Uchiha Sasuke and Ōtsutsuki Amanojaku stood facing one another.
“No weapon needed?” Sasuke slightly raised his chin.
Amanojaku cautiously said, “I don’t have a suitable one at the moment, so let’s go bare-handed for now.”
Sasuke said no more.
The sparring match broke out instantly.
Sasuke launched the first advance, his footsteps as they rose and fell possessing the swiftness and trickery characteristic of a ninja. His long sword slashed horizontally and split vertically; his sword forms were crisp, fierce, and balanced in both offense and defense.
His swordsmanship was taught by Orochimaru, with tight forms and virtually no flaws to speak of.
However, Amanojaku had already faced off against Orochimaru previously and was able to handle this series of combos with familiarity. He merely twisted his waist slightly, not meeting the sharp edge head-on, and relied solely on exquisite footwork to drift within the gaps of the sword light, evading with composure each time the tip of the sword came barely close to his body, maintaining a posture that could be called graceful and unhurried.
Several rounds of sword strikes all missed completely. Sasuke’s pitch-black pupils grew slightly heavy, and his wrist suddenly changed its form.
The long sword feinted a move to draw the enemy in, while simultaneously several shuriken sprang from his sleeves, piercing through the air with a whistle, assaulting the upper, middle, and lower paths just like the Mist ninja’s ambush on him last time.
Combined with the Sharingan, and being the Shuriken-jutsu secret art trained by the Uchiha clan since childhood, an ordinary person would likely be pierced into a hedgehog by this kind of attack.
Once the attack unfolded, he didn’t even give Amanojaku a chance to react; following closely behind were delicate senbon pinched between his fingers, whipped out using leverage. The fine, fragmented needle shadows sealed off the surrounding evasion space.
The offensive stacked layer upon layer, every move ruthless and tricky.
When dodging, Amanojaku couldn’t help but sigh with deep emotion: “…Sasuke-sama really thinks highly of me.”
His pace suddenly changed its stance, his feet tapping the ground to stretch out mid-air, and then he raised his hands and swung his sleeves. The wide, bulky robes swept around like a shield, the force wrapping around his palm momentum as he either batted away the incoming shuriken or brushed aside the flying senbon, neutralizing the dense hidden weapons one by one with a stroke of genius.
When landing, the tips of his feet tapped the ground lightly, spinning smoothly to avoid the remaining kunai attacking from dead angles. The entire set of movements was smooth and flowing like clouds and water, without a shred of panic.
Sasuke: “Hmph, one must always go all out against an enemy! This is my recognition of you.”
“Well said,” Amanojaku smiled openly. “Then please enlighten me, Sasuke-sama.”
The two of them fought tangled back and forth for a long time. Sasuke wielded the Kusanagi sword, his movements swift and fierce with extremely fast offensive and defensive rhythms, having already brought his own taijutsu and weaponry usage to the absolute limit, yet he was still unable to truly suppress the opponent.
On the other hand, Amanojaku remained bare-handed from start to finish, and the forms he used were entirely different from the combat routes of a ninja, yet he was able to unload force and break moves as if anticipating opportunities in advance. His close-quarters stance control was extremely exquisite; while his movements appeared relaxed, every single strike pinched the flaws of Sasuke’s forms.
Sasuke gradually felt it strenuous.
His attacks were constantly being cleverly neutralized, and his space for advance and retreat was also compressed bit by bit. The sharp edge of the long sword in his hand was repeatedly deflected by the opponent’s palm wind, and the steel wires and shuriken he had set could no longer achieve miraculous effects.
After several fierce attacks yielded no results, he was forced to retreat step by step, holding his long sword horizontally in front of him to steady his footing.
The clash paused temporarily.
Sasuke breathed slightly rapidly, thin sweat seeping from his temples, and his fingers gripping the sword hilt tightened slightly. He raised his eyes to look at Amanojaku opposite him, his eyes filled with hard-to-conceal astonishment.
Last time he had only watched Amanojaku and Orochimaru fight from afar, but this time joining the fray personally, he truly experienced the mightiness and dominance of Amanojaku’s taijutsu.
Amanojaku’s astonishment was actually no less than his own; he discovered that the taijutsu he had displayed before Orochimaru last time had actually been picked up by Sasuke to the extent of seventy or eighty percent, and he could even integrate them fluently, executing unexpected techniques.
Given time, he would surely dance out a breathtaking and peerless taijutsu entirely belonging to himself.
This intense sparring made both of them feel thoroughly satisfied and exceptionally exhilarating.
The summoning snake used to transmit messages popped out of existence right before their eyes, and Amanojaku helplessly notified: “Sasuke-sama, we may need to temporarily stay in the Land of Demons for a while.”
Orochimaru did not dare to casually order Uchiha Sasuke around. Whenever there were other people around him, messages were passed to someone else first, and then relayed to him.
On their return journey, Sasuke and the others would pass through the Land of Demons anyway, and according to their traveling pace, they were about to enter the country’s borders.
Because it was still relatively on the way, Sasuke did not harbor too much dissatisfaction, only slightly furrowing his brows and asking calmly, “What is it?”
Amanojaku: “To retrieve an experimental scroll.”
Upon learning this, Sasuke wasn’t very concerned anymore, nodding to indicate he understood.
Therefore, they stopped at an inn in the Land of Demons, and after the message was delivered, they waited for Orochimaru’s subordinate to send the scroll over.
Fine bamboo blinds hung by the eaves of the inn guest room, cutting off the hustle and bustle of the street outside.
The floor was covered with neat tatami mats, and a flat square wooden table stood in the center of the room. The tabletop was polished smooth, resting several rolled-up ninjutsu classics and paper scrolls.
Two youths, one black and one white, sat cross-legged facing each other, lowering their eyelashes to read the scrolls line by line.
Sasuke quietly looked at the various ninjutsu scrolls given to him by Orochimaru, deepening his comprehension and cultivation regarding the use of Lightning Style and Fire Style.
When he was still quite young, he had lived a leisurely and comfortable life under the protection of his parents, not paying much attention to the clan’s ninjutsu scrolls. However, after the clan was wiped out overnight, he was never able to touch the cultivation of any advanced ninjutsu again.
Even performing tree-climbing and water-surface walking using chakra were things he stumbled through practicing after graduating from the ninja academy under Kakashi’s guidance.
He hadn’t expected there to be so many exquisite studies regarding ninjutsu here at Orochimaru’s place, even accompanied by his views and annotations on these techniques.
Orochimaru came from a commoner ninja background without guidance from a clan. That he was able to grasp his current power and possess the moniker of one of the Legendary Sannin demonstrated his learning capability, and his teaching level was also not to be underestimated.
Amanojaku, meanwhile, was reading a book with great relish and undivided attention.
The two of them got along very harmoniously.
Only, after Amanojaku read for a while, he would remind Sasuke to rest for a bit and pay attention to taking good care of his eyes.
Sasuke valued his Sharingan greatly and showed no impatience, obediently putting down the scroll.
Having the intention to test the ninjutsu techniques he had just comprehended, but hindered by the fact that this was an inn rather than a training ground, he suppressed the restless itch in his heart and instead started chatting with Amanojaku.
His pitch-black pupils shifted to an ordinary published book. Sasuke rested his chin in his hand and pointed out: “Amanojaku, all your time is consumed by reading books, which is why you know so much, but you’ve sacrificed your time for practicing ninjutsu because of it.”
“Indeed so,” Amanojaku never denied this point.
Sasuke fell into abstraction: “Everyone has things they want to choose to do, and for that they will also discard many things; this world has always been like this.”
Amanojaku asked softly, “Did Sasuke-sama think of something?”
He had seen that ever since Sasuke returned from the Land of Water, he had been preoccupied with heavy thoughts, and was even wondering whether he would tell him—he hadn’t expected this day to come so quickly.
Sasuke laid out that day’s events in their entirety.
Amanojaku asked, “What are you troubled by? Is it because of the sacrifice of that female official?”
Sasuke never felt that he was a savior, nor would he interfere with other people’s decisions, but he felt restless because of the viscous malice lurking behind this world, not to mention that what he saw and heard was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Why were people harboring good intentions always crushed by the darkness of the era? Why couldn’t good people meet a good end? Why could people guilty of monstrous crimes remain at large?
Seeing that he remained silent all along, Amanojaku guided him step-by-step with a question: “Are you feeling sad because that female official did good deeds yet was unable to have a wonderful ending?”
Hitting the nail on the head.
Sasuke opened a pair of sharp, dark eyes to look over and had to admit: “It’s… like this.”
Yet he was unable to make any changes to this current state; the female official named Fujiya Ko did not need him to save her, and there were many people in this world just like her. He was like a trapped beast, struggling in worldly trials without finding a method.
Even… he himself was merely a pitiful person willing to discard his physical body just for power.
A wisp of evening breeze leaked through the crack of the paper window, the candle flame swaying gently, and the room was quiet as death.
An Orochimaru subordinate named Guren sent the scroll over, and Amanojaku received it.
This blue-purple-haired girl held some hostility toward Sasuke, an obvious sort of… envy and jealousy.
Sasuke had been kept by Orochimaru’s side, visiting quite a few of his experimental bases and witnessing many such gazes—subordinates brainwashed by Orochimaru usually looked at him this way.
He had never taken it to heart.
Speaking of which, while everyone revered and cherished Orochimaru, Amanojaku had never shown any hostility toward him.
Sasuke withdrew his gaze, having long since gathered up all the slight vulnerability he had previously displayed. Confusion and fatigue could only be indulged for a moment, after which he had to present himself to the world once more with hardness and force.
Uchiha Sasuke had no way out, and perhaps would no longer possess a future; those thoughts on the heavy and murky reality would hold no meaning anymore.
He no longer went to discuss philosophy with Amanojaku.
The Land of Demons was a country controlled by a theocratic shrine maiden, situated near the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Marsh. Dark brown rocky terrain, withered forests, and rifts could be seen everywhere.
A thin mist permeated the sky, looking very gloomy. As evening approached, grayish-purple daylight fell upon those buildings with low eaves and demon-face decorations.
Amanojaku: “I heard that a very long time ago, when ninja without chakra ruled the roost, shrine maidens and monks used more miraculous methods, but in the end they couldn’t compare to the massive numbers of ninja.”
Sasuke didn’t utter a sound, but kept his ears perked up listening.
“The shrine maidens of the Land of Demons use runes and bloodlines to cast witchcraft, using sealing techniques to suppress demons. It is said they can also make prophecies, but they must pay the price of their life force.”
Sasuke drifted off: “Prophecy…”
Amanojaku glanced at him and said no more.
The two of them hurried along using ninja footwork through the withered forest. The wind passed through the withered forest, stirring up the soft rustling of paper talismans, with wisps of black qi faintly overflowing from the earth’s veins.
The sounds of explosion and collapse traveled over, and the two of them stopped one after the other.
Amanojaku looked toward Sasuke.
“Let’s go scout it out first.” Sasuke leaped forward first.
He sensed a trace of Ryūchidō’s aura, and to avoid being caught up in the aftermath later, he needed to strike first and gain the upper hand.
The setting sun looked like blood, burning the ruins before them red. A green snake had its scales pierced through by exploding tags and was trapped under collapsed wooden beams, on the verge of death.
It was originally a young great snake from Ryūchidō that had ventured out to forage, but it had fallen into a human’s scheme, its scales shattered, and it was barely even able to stick out its tongue.
Scarlati cinnabar outlined a small circular array about a foot wide on the ground. The lines were simple and fierce, glowing with a cold white light, and it was precisely this sealing array that intensified its trapped predicament.
“Greedy humans.” The green snake’s fierce, resentful slit pupils looked toward the man dressed in gray cloth, “Daring to capture Ryūchidō snakes for food without authorization, you will definitely pay a price for your actions!”
The man’s eyes swept over with a disdainful smile: “You snakes eating humans is fine, but humans eating snakes isn’t? Where is the logic in that?”
“Not hunting ordinary snakes, but instead specifically seeking out spiritual immortal snakes—what is the purpose, you humans know best,” the green snake sneered. “Eating us makes it easier for you to undergo snake transformation, lose control, and suffer backlash. Power is not that easy to take!”
The man’s face stiffened slightly, and his expression grew increasingly cold.
Just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly heard footsteps landing lightly behind him. He spun around abruptly, only to see a black-robed youth standing in the shadows, whose looks made even him daze for a fraction of a second.
The youth didn’t have excess expression; his wrist turned, and a biting, glossy blade light flashed past.
Before the man could react, he was killed with a single slash. Although he wasn’t hit in a fatal spot, he also lost consciousness right then and there, pitching directly to the ground.
The green snake abruptly raised its slit pupils, gazing into a pair of eyes that saw through everything. Having lived for a hundred years, it had never seen a human look at a snake with such calmness, devoid of greed or murderous intent.
Especially after the man just now had exposed obvious evil intentions, a little thought would tell how much benefit could be squeezed out of them. If it let him go easily, wouldn’t that be a terrible pity.
It asked with its breath hanging by a thread: “You, you… why did you save me?”
“Just passing by.” Sasuke’s tone was flat as he turned to leave.
Extremely unwillingly, the green snake wanted to call out to him and ask his name, but its eye scales were closing, and it had no choice but to expend its remaining immortal energy on summoning the passage to Ryūchidō.
Before leaving, it still luckily heard a hurried shout carrying a trace of panic: “Sasuke-sama!”
The youth turned his face slightly, responding to this form of address.
Yet right at this moment, the grand array deep underground shook endlessly, the purple patterns surging back and forth like a tide, and a pale blue micro-light flared intensely within the carved grooves.
It was just a pity that the green snake vanished in an instant, and when its eye scales opened once more, it was the familiar scenery of Ryūchidō.