"Whoosh~"
Snow and wind swirled, cold air gusted.
Aka stood atop the city wall, her right hand placed on her chest as she exhaled a freezing breath that enveloped the Wood Human's colossal form.
Crack… Crack…
Ice crystals formed and rapidly spread across the Wood Human's body, turning it a bluish hue. Its movements grew increasingly sluggish until it stiffened, frozen completely in place.
"Lava Release: Infernal Prison!"
Aka's hand seals changed. The freezing breath transformed into molten lava, surging forward like a raging river, instantly flooding an area several thousand meters ahead. Snow and ice melted into steam, shrouding the surrounding dozens of kilometers in an impenetrable mist.
Of course, both the First Hokage and Aka had already entered Sage Mode, possessing sensory abilities beyond their physical sight.
Obstructed vision did not hinder their movements.
The First Hokage stood atop the Wood Dragon's head. Before Aka's freezing breath hit, he controlled the dragon to fly away from the Wood Human. Now, while maneuvering the Wood Dragon to crash into Aka, he clasped his hands together, intending to use another ninjutsu against the enemy.
But mid-flight, Ryuji, holding a rapidly spinning, burning Blazing Rasengan, descended from the sky, aiming to press it against the First Hokage's head.
At the critical moment, the First Hokage took a step back as Ryuji's body plummeted past him.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the Wood Dragon shuddered. A violent vortex of flames erupted, engulfing everything nearby.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
The First Hokage's voice emerged from the wave of flames, followed by thick, bowl-sized wooden vines. They wrapped around Ryuji's body, lashing him like whips against the city wall.
Boom!
With another massive crash, the slanted city wall shook violently once more. Ryuji flew out, spurting blood, then… Poof! It vanished into smoke.
'A Shadow Clone.'
The First Hokage was startled, immediately becoming more alert to his surroundings. But as he moved, he sensed a disturbance in the steam above. A thumb-thick beam of light shot down from above, instantly piercing through his body from head to right leg.
Simultaneously, the mist churned. Ryuji, piloting a mechanical bird, dove down from high altitude at supersonic speed, the multi-element Gatling cannons firing rapidly.
"Damn it!"
Hashirama wanted to defend and counterattack, but with his brain damaged, commands couldn't be transmitted properly to his body; only his fingers twitched. In this state, effective action was impossible. He was riddled with subsequent Chakra Bullets.
Then, the mechanical bird crashed into him.
Bam!
Wood splinters and paper scraps flew everywhere.
The mechanical bird even broke the Wood Dragon in half upon impact.
But the First Hokage wasn't dead. Not due to Impure World Reincarnation, but because at the last possible moment, the Second Hokage suddenly arrived and rescued him.
However,
Though it was unclear where the Second Hokage appeared from, he was still a step too late. The First Hokage's right arm was shattered.
Watching the paper scraps in the air fly towards a certain direction within the thick mist, Ryuji smiled faintly. "Over there!"
After conveying the First Hokage's location to Aka through the Sea of Consciousness, Ryuji formed a Rasengan in his hand. He then aimed the Rasengan in the direction the paper scraps were flying and clenched his fist sharply.
The Rasengan was instantly compressed like a water-filled balloon, transforming into a thumb-thick laser beam that shot out.
Boom~
A fierce explosion sounded in the distance, followed by even more intense combat noises. Though obscured by the mist and unseen, one could imagine the scene of Aka battling them.
"Speed things up!"
Ryuji issued a command to everyone through the Sea of Consciousness, then piloted the mechanical bird towards the direction of the battle.
Suddenly, an abnormal fluctuation rippled through the Sea of Consciousness.
Ryuji paused, quickly altered the mechanical bird's course, temporarily canceling his plan to join the fight.
He focused his mind, quickly identifying the anomaly in the Sea of Consciousness. His expression darkened.
'That guy Mukai, he got hit after all!'
Ryuji had anticipated that the Allied Shinobi Forces would send elite teams to infiltrate the Machinery City to seize control.
Though he couldn't guess who they'd send, considering the enemy possessed Mangekyo Sharingan and Mukai lacked the ability to resist its Genjutsu, he had left a backdoor linked to the Sea of Consciousness in Mukai's eyes.
This way, if anyone with Mangekyo Sharingan cast Genjutsu on him, they would ultimately enter his Sea of Consciousness through the link.
'Shisui, huh? Since you've come in, don't think about leaving.' Recognizing the intruder, Ryuji's face broke into a smile. 'My Sea of Consciousness hides secrets for dealing with Kaguya and the Otsutsuki Clan. Once you enter, you won't be leaving.'
…
"Impossible. If this were Mukai's mental space, he couldn't have fallen under my Kotoamatsukami, and I couldn't have entered his mental space."
The moment Ryuji's consciousness immersed into the Sea of Consciousness, he heard these words.
He looked at the figure standing ahead with its back to him and couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "You guessed correctly. This isn't Mukai's mental space. It's mine."
"Who!?"
Shisui exclaimed, swiftly turning around. Upon seeing Ryuji's figure, his face instantly turned grim.
He asked incredulously, "Why… why did I end up in your mental space when I cast Genjutsu on Mukai?"
"Well, just a little trick."
Ryuji gave a vague answer.
Shisui didn't dwell on it. He stared intently at Ryuji, his expression suddenly improving.
Seeing this, Ryuji grew curious. "Did you think of something good?"
"Not just something good, I've encountered something incredibly fortunate!"
"Oh? What is it?"
"It's you!" Shisui looked at Ryuji frankly. "If we were outside, I'd stand no chance against you. But as consciousness entities, that's another matter entirely."
"Pfft!"
Ryuji couldn't help but scoff. "Are you that confident you can defeat my consciousness entity?"
"I know your spiritual power is immense, even exceeding my understanding of human spiritual strength. But while spiritual power is closely related to consciousness, greater spiritual power doesn't necessarily mean a stronger consciousness entity. However, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan enhances the consciousness entity." Shisui spoke with conviction, his eyes shifting to Mangekyo pattern. "If I crush your consciousness entity here, your body will become vegetative, and the war will end because of it."
"...I see."
It took Ryuji a long moment before he responded.
He took a deep breath, then looked calmly at Shisui. "Then what are you waiting for?"
"I hope you'll surrender."
"?"
"I despise war, and I despise death, even for enemies." Shisui gazed intently at Ryuji. "The First Hokage said if you surrender, no one else will be harmed. You won't die either, but will be sealed away."
"If you despise war and death, why don't you surrender?" Ryuji couldn't help but sneer. "Don't give me nonsense about you having the advantage and us being at a disadvantage. The question is, why start this war? The Allied Shinobi Forces have been planning a war against Sunagakure for five years!"
"…"
Shisui lowered his head, his eyes dimming.
Seeing this, Ryuji grew curious. "Not going to defend your own side?"
"There's nothing to defend."
Shisui exhaled deeply, raising his head to meet Ryuji's gaze. "I know this isn't a just act. But the world holds too many inevitabilities/hardships. So… forgive me!"
With that, he charged fiercely at Ryuji.
But after just two steps, he halted.
He stared at the consciousness entities continuously materializing within the Sea of Consciousness… puppets, people, and…
Dense, pitch-black masses, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Shisui's face turned deathly pale.
At this moment, he finally understood why a person could possess such an immense mental space.
Because this wasn't the mental space of a single individual, but of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, possibly even more people.
And those at the far end…
They were too distant; even the Mangekyo Sharingan could only make out vague outlines.
And those outlines were…
"Impossible, impossible, impossible!" Shisui screamed in denial. "If this is true… then what is this war, exactly!?"
"A farce."
Hearing the calm reply, Shisui stopped screaming.
He stared blankly, his eyes reddened… though the Sharingan was already blood-red, one could still see the madness in the corners of his eyes and the bloodshot veins.
"A farce?"
"You actually treat war as a farce?"
"You treat the largest-scale war in Shinobi World's history as a farce?"
"What exactly do you take human life for!?"
Shisui's questioning grew louder, the last line even causing ripples in the mental space like waves on water.
Ryuji closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, replying calmly, "Human life is human life. I don't take it for anything else."
"Then why do this!?" Shisui continued to shout questions. "With power like this, even if you wanted to unify the Shinobi World, no one would dare resist, right? So why pretend to be weak? Why provoke this war!?"
Hearing Shisui's questioning, Ryuji's expression turned cold. "Aren't you mistaken about something?"
"Huh?"
"The ones who provoked the war weren't me. It was you!"
"But it's you, it's you…"
"Entrapment, is that it?"
Ryuji supplied the answer for the speechless Shisui. Looking at Shisui, who froze momentarily before nodding vigorously, Ryuji continued, "So what? This is still a war you initiated first. If you didn't harbor those desires yourselves, no matter how I baited the hook, no one would have taken it."
"But, but, but…" Shisui repeated the word several times but still couldn't find a rebuttal. So he simply gave up arguing and shifted the topic. "Then what's the point of you doing all this?"
"To strengthen Sunagakure, to leave a stable and peaceful environment for Sunagakure to survive. Hmm, you could also consider it for the sake of peace in the Shinobi World."
"But if you just displayed your power, you could have achieved all this without lifting a finger!"
"If only it were as simple as you say." Ryuji couldn't help but sigh. "This Shinobi World isn't as simple as most people know. The problems left behind by the Sage of Six Paths and his family for the world are far greater than what the Allied Shinobi Forces can compare to."
"Sage of Six Paths?" Shisui asked, astonished. "Isn't that just myths and legends?"
"Myths and legends have origins. Though creating the world might be exaggerated, him saving the world and establishing Ninshu are facts."
"This…"
"Alright, no point discussing so much with you. Just accept obediently being sealed! If things proceed smoothly, you'll be released afterward."
As he spoke, Ryuji extended his right hand towards Shisui. An immense pulling force emanated from it.
Shisui hesitated for a moment but ultimately offered no resistance, his entire being transforming into a soul sphere that fell into Ryuji's hand.
"Keep him under guard!"
Ryuji sealed the soul sphere and casually tossed it to one of the consciousness entities behind him. Then he approached Mukai, whose consciousness entity was in a daze.
"Good, the subconscious hasn't been altered yet." Ryuji examined Mukai's consciousness entity, confirmed there were no major issues, and pulled him out.
Then, he himself left the Sea of Consciousness.
…
Whoosh~
A biting cold wind swept away the lingering steam.
Ryuji glanced at the distant fight between Aka, the First Hokage, and others, brushed off the ice forming on his body, and piloted the mechanical bird towards them.
He needed to deal with the First Hokage before Nagato joined the battle; otherwise, the script might spiral out of control.
…
Inside the Machinery City.
Mukai, who had been standing dazed, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
He glanced at the unconscious Shisui before him, kicked him flying with a powerful blow, then slowly walked towards Obito lying further back.
"After all that calculation, still slipped up at the last moment. You really can't be taken lightly at all, can you?" Mukai walked forward, uttering words that sounded both like praise and criticism.
"What happened to Shisui!?"
Obito's face was grim, but he hadn't given up yet, inquiring about his comrade's condition.
"He will never return!"
Mukai spoke the lie that would sadden Obito, raising his right hand into a blade to strike mercilessly at Obito's head.
If this strike landed, Obito would die instantly, leaving no room for further surprises.
But the prerequisite was hitting him.
As the hand blade descended, a massive skeletal frame materialized around Obito, blocking the strike.
"This is…"
Mukai's eyes widened in shock, not yet processing the sudden change, when a giant skeletal palm swatted him away. He flew like a cannonball, crashing into the opposite wall.
Obito's eyes streamed with tears of blood, his face contorted in pain. But his gaze grew increasingly resolute.
"I will definitely kill you!"
As he spoke, flesh grew over the skeleton, forming a lower body, transforming into a giant over twenty meters tall.
Obito had the giant carry him on its palm, striding step by step towards Mukai.
Bam!
A dark figure shot out from the wall's rubble, crashing into and breaking the giant's right leg.
The giant stumbled and knelt.
The figure, successful in its strike, leapt up from behind, both hands raised to strike the giant's head.
Obito didn't panic. He looked up at the figure leaping from behind.
He recognized the figure… Kohinata Mukai.
Traces of blood remained at the corner of his mouth.
Clearly, he wasn't unharmed from that earlier palm strike.
Additionally, white patterns had appeared around his left eye.
'Probably some enhancing technique.'
Recalling Mukai's earlier burst of speed, far exceeding his previous combat performance, Obito guessed the answer.
'But it was useless.'
'A person in mid-air couldn't leverage force.'
'The final victor would still be me!'
"Kamui!"