The water of the valley stopped rushing. The very air seemed to solidify under the oppressive weight of two distinct, colliding divine presences.
Sasuke stood up, his posture shifting. The hunched crouch of his State 3 straightened into the upright, arrogant stance of an noble. The yellow, slitted reptilian eyes widened. Blood wept from both tear ducts, streaking down his white scales.
The yellow irises bled into a deep, piercing crimson. The slits warped, spinning violently until they formed an intricate, hypnotic spiral pattern. The Mangekyo Sharingan of the progenitor had awakened within the vessel.
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A towering, spectral apparition superimposed itself over Sasuke’s scaled body. It was the transparent, ghostly image of a man with long brown hair, wearing a high-collared white kimono adorned with magatama. His face was a mask of cold, imperious judgment.
Indra Ōtsutsuki had physically manifested for all to see.
Hagoromo bowed his head, his hands gripping his staff so tightly the wood groaned. "Indra... my son. Even across the expanse of a millennium, your hatred refuses to sleep."
"Your pacifism rotted this world, Father," the dual-layered voice of Sasuke and Indra resonated, vibrating the water molecules in the air. "Power dictates reality. I will prove it by executing your favored heir."
Sasuke closed his left eye. When it snapped open, a torrent of pitch-black flames—Hinokagutsuchi—erupted from his pupil. But he didn't launch the fire. Instead, he caught the flames in his right hand. The inferno hissed and writhed, molding and condensing under absolute shape manipulation until it formed a long, katana of pure, concentrated black fire.
Then, Sasuke opened his right eye.
"Takemikazuchi."
The spiral in his right eye spun. A high-frequency, blinding white-purple electrical aura surged down his arm and plunged into the black-flame blade.
The resulting sound was excruciating—a high-pitched, deafening ohm, that caused the surface of the water to instantly boil into steam. The black flames didn't just burn; they began to vibrate at a molecular level, supercharged by divine lightning. The Ame-no-Ohabari—the Heaven-Sunderer—was drawn.
Naruto’s Six Eyes processed the phenomenon instantly. Black flames shaped into a physical construct, vibrating at an atomic frequency meant to dissolve molecular bonds.
"Interesting," Naruto murmured, sliding into a low, orthodox martial arts stance. He couldn't just stand there and tank this. He had to actually fight.
Sasuke vanished.
There was no splash, no displaced air. The sheer speed of Indra’s possession combined with State 3 physiology allowed him to cross the distance instantly. Sasuke appeared directly in front of Naruto, driving the humming black-lightning katana straight toward Naruto’s chest.
