Konoha's Genius is a bit Ordinary?

As the monster tore Sasuke's sword apart, Sasuke took the chance to observe his surroundings. What he saw wasn't reassuring, his teammates seemed to be in dire straits.

Although the number of Anbu outnumbered the monsters, when their enemies were still human, they'd been easily handled. However, after their transformation into monsters, their strength had skyrocketed, putting the Anbu on the defensive.

Fox, in particular, was struggling. Being primarily a medic, his strong suit was genjutsu, which had worked fine initially. But once these enemies transformed, they became immune to genjutsu, forcing Fox to rely on his decent, but not exceptional, taijutsu to hold his ground. His body was already riddled with injuries.

He wasn't the only one. Several others had been wounded in the fray as well.

So, was the root of all this chaos the monster in front of him?

Sasuke stood up, watching as the monster smiled at him like a predator sizing up its prey. It had crushed his sword beneath its feet. Sasuke understood the situation well.

This is trouble.

He knew he had to take down the monster quickly. But… how? How could he defeat it swiftly?

As the monster charged at him again, Sasuke focused chakra into his feet, narrowly dodging its attack. Simultaneously, he managed to entangle the creature with steel wires he'd left behind.

Sasuke knew, however, that these wires would only hold for a short while. The monster would soon break free with sheer brute force.

He couldn't waste a second.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

A scorching, concentrated stream of flames shot along the steel wires, engulfing the monster entirely.

Sasuke released the wires and watched as the flames blazed brightly.

Did it work?

The answer was yes, but not enough.

As the flames subsided, the monster remained standing, smiling mockingly at Sasuke, as if ridiculing his powerlessness.

Sasuke realized that while he could eventually wear the creature down through patience and strategy, that approach was meaningless.

He glanced toward his teammates. They couldn't hold out for much longer. Hyena was barely holding the line, supported by another capable Anbu. But it wasn't enough.

He had to finish this monster quickly.

Chidori?

If the Chidori Blade didn't work, would the standard Chidori be effective? And even if it was, how would he target the monster's weak points?

Was it simply because he lacked the power to kill it swiftly?

Sasuke recalled something Kakashi had said during his graduation exam:

"A shinobi who breaks the rules is scum. But a shinobi who abandons their comrades is worse than scum."

To be honest, those Anbu teammates weren't close friends to Sasuke. They were merely temporary comrades. The only ones he felt remotely familiar with were Hyena and Fox.

But… did that mean he could just stand by and let them die? Could he do nothing?

He remembered what Natsuro had told him about the Sharingan.

Sasuke recalled that the Sharingan's awakening required intense emotional stimulation to activate.

But Natsuro had disagreed, claiming that emotional extremes only pushed the user's mental energy to meet the activation threshold. If one's mental strength was already at the required level, awakening the Sharingan wouldn't require emotional triggers, just unwavering resolve.

He had also speculated that a Sharingan awakened through resolve might be more stable and less prone to mental instability compared to one awakened through trauma.

Sasuke hadn't refuted this. After all, he knew Kakashi's teammate had unlocked the two-tomoe Sharingan purely through the will to protect a comrade, skipping the initial awakening stage altogether.

So, if Kakashi's teammate could awaken the Sharingan through sheer resolve and achieve two tomoe, then why couldn't he?

Until now, Sasuke had never faced a life-threatening crisis in the Anbu. And even now, the danger wasn't directly targeting him.

As a result, Sasuke had never felt the need to awaken his Sharingan. But now…

The tomoe in Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan began to spin as he fixed his gaze on the monster.

The creature, meanwhile, raised its massive arm and smashed it into the ground. The impact shook the entire building, cracks spreading rapidly toward Sasuke.

Immediately, it charged at him again.

Sasuke leapt lightly to a nearby intact wall, staring at the monster. For a fleeting moment, he seemed to see Itachi's figure.

His brother had told him that to grow stronger, he had to follow the path Itachi had laid out: hatred, distortion… and the act of killing the person most important to him.

Sasuke took a deep breath, dodging another crushing blow from the monster. Then he slowly closed his eyes.

He formed a hand seal, a simple one to activate the Sharingan. For the Uchiha, this seal was optional, more ceremonial than necessary.

In most life-or-death battles, there wasn't time to waste on such seals. Forcing the Sharingan to activate without a seal was equally effective, though it consumed more chakra.

But Sasuke deliberately took his time, making the basic seal with slow precision.

When the seal was complete, he opened his eyes.

"Itachi, I reject your path!"

"If awakening the Sharingan only happens after my comrades are dead, then it's meaningless!"

"Sharingan, activate!"

In the next moment, Sasuke's eyes fully opened. What emerged wasn't his usual two-tomoe Sharingan.

It was a three-tomoe Sharingan!

"I see it. I can see everything," Sasuke murmured, staring at the monster. He could now clearly see the flow of its chakra and predict its next movements.

Most importantly, he saw the point where energy was concentrated, its weak spot, with little protection.

With a small smile, lightning surged from Sasuke's hand, crackling wildly. The sound of chirping birds filled the air.

Sasuke moved, charging directly at the monster. With his three-tomoe Sharingan active, he was confident in dodging its attacks and…

The Chidori in Sasuke's hand seemed to cut through all resistance, propelling him forward at incredible speed. In an instant, he was beside the monster.

The creature, seeing Sasuke's approach, swung its massive fist. But the punch was too late and Sasuke had already dodged, the fist landing harmlessly behind him.

Without hesitation, Sasuke fixed his three-tomoe Sharingan on the energy focal point.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke's Chidori successfully pierced through the weak point he had identified.

The moment it struck, the monster's movements came to a complete halt. From the weak point, countless black patterns surged out like a tide, crawling up Sasuke's arm before being absorbed by the seal on his neck, converging into the Curse Mark at its center.

Sasuke felt an ominous sensation. When he tried to pull his hand back, it was already too late. The monster's power had been completely absorbed by him. And with that absorption came something else...

Sasuke suddenly saw into the monster's true self. He saw the creature's childhood: a quiet boy with orange hair who liked walking through the forest and conversing with animals.

However, for reasons unknown, the boy would periodically lose control, entering a murderous rampage that he couldn't stop. This plunged him into confusion and despair.

Naturally, his village rejected him. After each rampage, when his sanity returned, he would hide himself in a cave, cursing his own fate.

But there was a light in his life: someone who saved him. That person was another outcast, someone with the Kekkei Genkai to manipulate bones, a man called Kimimaro. Not only could Kimimaro suppress his rampages, but he also guided him out of his despair, becoming his only emotional anchor.

Following Kimimaro's words, he gave all of his power to Orochimaru for experimentation. During this time, he thought he might have found his path, and he didn't care about being experimented on.

However, one day, Kimimaro never returned. Once again, he lost everything. As for Orochimaru? He had never truly followed Orochimaru, his loyalty had always been to Kimimaro, not the man Kimimaro revered like a god.

Fearing that his next rampage would be unstoppable, he locked himself inside a cell within this hideout.

He was torn, terrified of losing control again and killing, yet simultaneously anticipating it, eager to kill and curious about how it might happen.

Until today, when he sensed a familiar presence approaching. Overwhelmed with excitement, he transformed into that monstrous form and broke free from his cell.

Everything that followed was the result of Sasuke's actions.

Coming back to his senses, Sasuke looked at the hulking figure kneeling before him, his eyes vacant. The man's name was Jūgo. Sasuke stood silently, lost in thought.

Finally, he extended a hand toward Jūgo.

"I was once trapped in a cage of vengeance, unable to escape. But someone told me that life shouldn't only be about revenge. There are things we have in the present that are worth holding on to. I shouldn't sacrifice everything I have now for what I've lost in the past."

"At the time, I thought they were joking, that they didn't understand my pain. But that person shattered my cage and showed me the world outside. I realized there were already many people trying to help me unlock it all along."

"So, while I haven't given up on revenge, I won't remain trapped in that cage anymore."

"Jūgo, isn't it? You should break free from your cage as well. Step outside."

"Maybe you don't know what to do after stepping out, just like I don't know what to do after my revenge. So, why not join me in searching for our path? I can suppress your rampages."

Jūgo lifted his head and looked at Sasuke, who stood above him, extending a hand. For a moment, Jūgo saw a familiar figure in him.

Slowly, he reached out and grasped Sasuke's smaller hand.

That small hand, though smaller than his, radiated warmth and held incredible strength.

"From now on, my life belongs to you," Jūgo said. He had never cared for Orochimaru, only the light he had found in his life.

"I don't need your life," Sasuke replied casually as he pulled Jūgo to his feet. "I just don't think someone like you, who's been pitiful since childhood, locks themselves up just to avoid killing, should die here."

Turning to look at his teammates, Sasuke saw that the monsters had reverted to their original forms after he destroyed Jūgo's energy source. Stripped of their monstrous transformations, they were completely powerless and posed no further threat.

Seeing this, Sasuke smiled.

Itachi, I did it!

I will continue to prove that your path is wrong!

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Currently on Chapter 239 - The Sixth Hokage