Akazo

Rebirth of an Avenger

   Zuko continued to laugh uncontrollably as he neared the brothers faster, not caring that the chakra given by his Curse Mark was eating away at his remaining time left. 

   He hated Itachi and Sasuke, he hated their clan, and he hated what they stood for. Even more so for Itachi due to his constant thwarting of Gyatsō's plans.

   Sasuke gritted his teeth as he entered the second stage of his own Curse Mark, irritated by Zuko's persistence. 

   Zuko really did remind him of Kimimaro, and was disgusted at how both of them reminded him of his past self. But as an immediate result, he grew somewhat thankful towards Akazo and his peers for not allowing him to stay that way. The death of his best friend, Naruto, also took a toll on Sasuke to prevent him from causing harm to the village Naruto loved so much.

   "Damnit," he said to himself as his brighter hair extended to his waist. Itachi flashed him a quick glance before dashing forward, with Sasuke following behind him.

   "Itachi. Let me in on whatever plan you've got," said Sasuke, displeased with the silence of his brother. They both knew communication was key to defeating such an unreadable opponent.

   "We can't put him under genjutsu, so we either stall until he succumbs to his injury, or quickly end him right now," replied Itachi, performing multiple hand seals.

   "What about Tsukuyomi? He can't break out of that."

   "There's two problems with that, Sasuke. I can't even perform the Tsukuyomi, as I lost my left eye upon separating with Gyatsō. Also, Gyatsō broke out of Tsukuyomi with his standard Shaolin before, so even if I could use it, we should assume Zuko can do the same thing," Itachi replied. He then inhaled deeply before blowing out a large sphere of flames.

   Fire Style: Blaze Ball!

   Zuko arched his back as he threw himself into the fire, but Itachi instantly noted that the black, solidified chakra from earlier covered his body, absorbing the flames with ease before any harm came his way.

   It's the same dark chakra from earlier, he thought, remembering for a brief moment the time Zuko sent such chakra his way in their previous battle. The substance resembled that of the Truth-Seeking Orbs, yet it was supposedly just chakra. Itachi knew too little in order to formulate a counter to it. His thinking was interrupted when Sasuke suddenly dashed past him.

   "If that's the case, the one who should be leading our attack is me," said the younger Uchiha male, black electricity already forming in his hand.

   "No, Sasuke!" Itachi yelled, but his words fell on deaf ears. 

   With Sasuke and Zuko a few feet apart, Sasuke shoved his arm towards Zuko's body, but the boy's reaction time surpassed his speed. He caught Sasuke's arm with a hand full of his dark chakra, which immediately dispelled the ninjutsu.

   "GOTCHA! YOU'RE DEAD!" boomed the white-haired male as he directed his other hand to Sasuke's neck. The chakra fizzling around his clawed fingers aided in deepening the cut. With just another swift motion, Zuko succeeded in slicing off Sasuke's head with a blood-lusted roar.

   Poof!

   Sasuke's body quickly dissipated into a puff of smoke, indicating he was a shadow clone. Itachi gasped lightly, trying to figure out how Sasuke managed to slip the hand signs for his clone technique past his Sharingan.

   Zuko didn't react to the ruse, as his mind was almost fully under Mirage's control. He kept stumbling forward towards Itachi, intending to finish him off as well.