May 25th
The battlefield erupted into chaos as Konoha and Suna forces clashed in a massive skirmish. After nearly a month of fighting, Konoha had grown accustomed to Suna's puppets, but not enough to overwhelm them. The puppets remained deadly, relentless, and unpredictable.
And at the center of the battlefield, two titans faced each other.
Shamon stood atop a colossal serpent puppet, a fifty‑meter monster forged entirely from dark purple chakra metal. Its coils wrapped around the earth like a living fortress with its head raised high and tail lashing behind it.
Before the serpent floated two humanoid puppets, one long‑haired, one short‑haired, both made of the same chakra metal and cloaked in black chakra silk that disrupted chakra sensor.
Across from them stood Uchiha Fukashi with his Mangekyō Sharingan already open.His crimson eyes constantly moved around, scanning for weak points or openings for him to take advantage.
Shamon smirked with his eyes closed as he waved his fingers.
"Uchiha Fukashi. I have heard many legends of Uchiha Madara and the Mangekyō Sharingan. Show me what your eyes can do!"
The long-haired Puppet opened its mouth wide, expelling barrage of Senbon towards Fukashi. The short‑haired puppet lunged from behind with its spinning blades erupting from its arms.
Fukashi spun his chained war sickles; the smaller one whirling in his left hand to deflect the senbon, while the larger one clashing against the puppet's blades.
'The long-haired puppet is the long-range offensive purposed puppet, while the short haired one is the close quarters combat purposed puppet as Kagami reported. But that serpent…. That was not in Kagami's report or any other intel…'
Fukashi pondered as he side-glanced Shamon and his giant serpent puppet. He frowned in displeasure at the lack of intel on Shamon's capabilities.
The short-haired puppet persistently closed its distance, while long-haired puppet continued to hover in the air, launching senbons at his blind sight. Fukashi blocked, countered, and redirected short-haired puppet's taijutsu and buikjutsu with his large war sikcle, while using the smaller sickle and the chains to knock off senbons launched from the long haired puppet.
Tssk.
'These puppets are more troublesome than I expected.'
The short‑haired puppet fired two spinning blades at close range. Fukashi deflected one with his sickle and tilted his head just enough for the second to graze past him a hair distance away.
The puppet drew a hidden tanto, but Fukashi spun mid‑air and delivered a roundhouse kick to its torso, forcing distance.
He immediately hurled his chained sickle at the long‑haired puppet.
Shamon flicked his fingers as the puppet dodged.
Fukashi smirked as he yanked the chain. The puppet's limbs tangled instantly, wrapped in black chains. He then leapt and made a triple axel turn while pulling on the chain, slamming the puppet down toward its partner like a meteor.
Before they hit the ground, Fukashi let go of his weapons to complete hand seals and inhaled deeply.
Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku 火遁・豪火滅却 (Fire release: Majestic Destroyer Flame)
A massive wave of flame engulfed both puppets. Dust exploded upward, obscuring the battlefield. But Fukashi's Mangekyo Sharingan saw everything as he frowned.
The serpent puppet had coiled around Shamon and the two puppets, shielding them completely. Not a single scorch mark marred its armor.
The snake un-coiled, revealing Shamon and his two puppets as they emerged unscathed.
"Impressive. As expected of Uchiha's strongest. But if this is all the Mangekyō can do… I am disappointed in this so-called world's number one ninja clan."
Fukashi narrowed his eyes.
'He's controlling the puppets with his eyes closed… Is he using the puppets' eyes as secondary vision? Or is he a sensor? No… not quite.'
He shrugged nonchalantly as he retorted.
"If you want to witness the power of Mangekyō Sharingan, you'll need to give me a reason to use it, Ayatsuri Kage (Puppet Kage)."
A vein bulged from Shamon's bald head as he widened his eyes and smiled menancingly.
"Hehehehe. Ahahahahahahaha. Then I will no longer be kind!"
The serpent finally made its move; it stretched its jaw opened, unleashing a barrage of invisible wind blades.
Fukashi's Sharingan vision engulfed instantly with dense wind chakra. He leapt toward the only safe opening.
But them moment he was airborne, the serpent's tail whipped around and smashed him back to the ground.
He blocked with both sickles, diverting some force, but blood trickled from his lip.
'Fast. Too fast for its size. And that wind chakra… First‑form Susanoo won't block it.'
He grit his teeth.
"Damn it!"
His left eye spun violently and tears of blood dripped out.
Ame no Iwato!
A spectral shrine maiden with long black hair, white ceremonial robes and golden sun circlet appeared above him as a translucent barrier enveloped Fukashi.
The wind blades vanished on contact.
Countless wind blades converging on him instantly disappeared into thin air on contact.
The maiden dissolved as Fukashi canceled the technique. He twitched his left eyebrows as a wincing pain shot through his eye.
Shamon's voice trembled with awe and envy.
"So this is Mangekyō Sharingan… Truly an enviable kekkai genkai."
ukashi exhaled sharply.
'I can't drag this out. I hoped that I can take him down while avoiding to use too much Mangekyō… but that was naïve.'
Fukashi's eyes gleamed with new determination. His momentum and chakra surged as he declared.
"I have to admit. You are strong, Kazekage. Worthy of your title. But from here on... the battle will be different from before."
Shamon sneered.
"Heh! Let's see how long your arrogance lasts, Uchiha!"
He kept his eyes closed, as he has been using the puppet's eyes in its stead. He did not use this method against Kagami before, but against Fukashi's Mangekyo Sharingan? Shamon did not dare to take risk to test his resilience against them.
Hng!
Fukashi snorted coldly as his chakra exploded outward.
Yellow chakra began to coat around him forming ribcages.
Then shoulders and arms.
Followed by muscles and meridians.
Finally, layers of coating covered the chakra giant, completing an upper body of towering 30 meter onmyoji like Susanoo.
It held a mirror in its left hand and a shimenawa‑entwined magatama chain in its right.
Shamon's expression tightened. He waved his hands as the humanoid puppets retreated, and the serpent unleashed another storm of wind blades and senbon.
The Yellow Susanoo raised its mirror.
Ishikoridome
(Shinto god of Mirror; the god who created yata no kagami)
Through the serpent's eyes, Shamon saw their figures reflecting on the mirror. He sensed danger and immediately took off from the serpent's head just before the wind barrage made contact with the mirror. But he was not fast enough.
KUECK! 'Damn it! I knew there was something wrong with that mirror.'
His left arm was shredded by his puppet's wind blades and senbon.
The serpent's armor, which withstood Fukashi's fire release, cracked with scratches and gashes in several places.
Cold sweat dripped down Shamon's face.
If he had been a moment slower… he would have died.
Fukashi stepped forward as he attached his sickle on his back and folded his arms confidently.
"Never underestimate the Uchiha, Kazekage."
Shamon gritted his teeth and stitched his mangled arm with chakra threads.
"I never underestimated you… Uchiha Fukashi. But this isn't over!"
With chakra supporting his nearly destroyed left arm, he raised both hands, controlling all three puppets at once.
The serpent coiled around Susanoo at blinding speed while avoiding the mirror and the magatama entangled shimenawa. Its head bit on the Susanoo's head while constricting its body with crushing force. Serrated wind‑chakra blades emerged from its fangs and slits, spinning rapidly and slicing into Susanoo's outer layer.
Fukashi frowned as his chakra drained faster. Kazekage's wind release was rapidly cutting through Susanno's outer layer though it could not match its repair rate.
All the while, Shamon's humanoid puppets circled around him, looking for openings.
Fukashi's Mangekyo spun as two additional arms sprouted from Susanoo's elbows, grabbing both puppets mid‑air.
Before Shamon could react—
CRACK. CRUNCH. CRUSH.
The puppets creaked in anguish until it was compressed into twisted metal rods.
Shamon's face twisted in mix of anger and horror.
'This… this is Uchiha power? How did the Senju ever defeat them?!'
Desperate, he poured all chakra into the serpent as its blades tore deeper into Susanoo.
Fukashi's vision began to blur.
But he maintained indifferent expression and raised Susanoo's right arm.
"Shamon! Despair before these eyes as many of your predecessors have before you!"
Futodama no Shimenawa
(God who sealed the Ame no Iwato with Straw rope or Shimenawa after Amaterasu emerged out of the cave. Also god of rituals and divination)
Susanoo swung its right arm and the magatama‑entwined rope shot forward, wrapping around the serpent.
Serpent struggled to disentangle itself as its body began to stop moving from its tail to torso and lastly, the head.
Shamon gasped as he attempted to regain its control, but his chakra began to drain through the connection. He severed the link instantly and fled backward while panting and trembling.
'This time I lost because I did not have enough intel on your abilities! But next time... next time It will be different!'
But he knew the truth.
There would be no next time.
***
Watching Shamon's departing figure, Fukashi slowly closed his eyes and let Susanoo dissolve, leaving only the right arm active to finish sealing the serpent.
Once Shamon retreated far enough, at least five hundred meters away, Fukashi released it fully.
He clutched his eyes as pain shot through them. He stumbled a few steps before dropping to one knee. He slowly opened and closed his eyes. His visions have significantly blurred compared to before.
'So… this is the price of using Mangekyo…. If I want to see Shinichi and Kaito grow… I must avoid using this power.'
He forced himself to stand.
The battlefield around him was reaching its climax — both sides beginning to withdraw.
The Suna front… was ending.