Far away in the Land of Earth, Ōnoki nearly leapt out of his seat when he received the latest news from Konoha.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"What? The Seven Ninja Swordsmen have been wiped out? The Kazekage and the One-Tail forced their way into Konoha? They're serious? Are they trying to erase Konoha?"
Shock flickered through him—then greed followed close behind.
If that's true… we can't miss this.
We have to take our share.
On the battlefield, Shuoye Uchiha's Susanoo was already on the verge of collapse under the combined assault of the Kazekage and the One-Tail.
Cracks crawled across it like spiderwebs, spreading wider with every impact, as if it could shatter at any moment.
"Why isn't Shuoye fighting back?!" Fugaku Uchiha's voice tightened with panic as he watched.
For the past quarter hour, Shuoye had been taking hits without answering.
If not for that, with the swordsmanship Shuoye had shown before, Shukaku would've been crying for its mother by now.
Fugaku Uchiha stepped forward on instinct—
And Shuoye's voice slammed into him like a mountain.
"Fugaku—don't come over!"
The pressure in that growl was heavy enough to make the air feel thick.
Shuoye knew what he was doing.
He had to endure this—had to force himself through the wall at ninety-nine percent and reach the complete fusion he'd chased for so long.
The Kazekage and Shukaku exchanged a glance. They didn't need words to share the same thought.
Konoha really has gone mad.
They're letting him take this alone—aren't they afraid he'll actually die?
Shuoye's prestige in Konoha had already reached something absurd. When he spoke, it was taken like divine decree.
"If he wants it," the Kazekage said coldly, cruelty sharpening his tone, "then we'll give him a hero's death."
They prepared their final, crushing push—
And Shuoye's body trembled, like a petal about to tear free in a storm.
In that instant, Shuoye forced himself forward and caught the Kazekage's strike—bare-handed.
The price was brutal.
Susanoo's protection broke apart, and blood sprayed across the battlefield.
"Kh—!"
A mouthful of blood spilled from Shuoye's lips. His face was paper-white, yet his eyes still burned with defiance.
"Is that all?" he rasped. "Still not enough."
The Kazekage and Shukaku stared.
They genuinely couldn't believe what they were hearing.
You're spitting blood and you're still acting tough?
You're begging to die.
"How is he still standing?" Shukaku muttered, a flicker of surprise in its eyes.
Shuoye slowly lifted his head. His body swayed, but battle-lust seemed to prop him upright. His aura surged—wild, overwhelming.
As if the storm itself had tempered him into something sharper.
"Come on," Shuoye roared up at them. "Kazekage. Tailed Beast. Is this all you've got?"
"Two pieces of trash!"
Chakra poured out of him. Space around him twisted under the pressure.
And in that moment, Shuoye's will erupted like a volcano.
He felt the suppressed power inside him surge.
Ninety-nine percent… climbing toward one hundred.
The battlefield was wreckage. Fragments of Susanoo drifted down like ash.
Shuoye stood alone at the center of it, the air around him dense and heavy, crushed by the violence of the clash.
"Damn it!" the Kazekage roared. "Don't look down on me!"
He lunged, weapon screaming through the air. Behind him, Shukaku bellowed, the two of them attacking together as if to rip Shuoye apart.
Their combined strike crashed in like thunder, aiming straight for Shuoye's heart.
Yet Shuoye didn't flinch.
He stood like a mountain, a steady smile on his face.
"So I haven't pressured you enough?" he said, voice low and strong. "Then push harder. Fight like your lives depend on it."
The Kazekage and Shukaku paused—just for a heartbeat.
Shuoye's eyes sharpened.
The air tightened so hard it felt like time itself stalled.
"Ryūjin Jakka—Shikai!"
A blood-red longblade ignited in his grasp, flames surging along its length and painting his face crimson.
"Release—Hōgyoku!"
In that moment, Shuoye's presence swelled.
Ryūjin Jakka whirled around him like a storm of burning blades, carving brilliant arcs through the air.
His chakra erupted like an open volcano. Heat rolled outward, driving away the cold and jolting the Kazekage and Shukaku to their cores.
"How is that possible?!" the Kazekage's pupils shrank, panic flashing through him.
They had thought Shuoye was at his limit.
Instead, he looked reborn—like a phoenix rising from its own ashes.
"Armament Haki—Coat!"
Shuoye's roar shook the night.
Ryūjin Jakka raged, fused with monstrous chakra, forming a blazing fortress of fire. The flames reflected off him until he looked like a god carved from heat and light.
The Kazekage and Shukaku felt unease crawl up their spines.
After a fight this savage… he could still draw out this kind of power?
Then—
One slash.
Just one.
Like the sun falling from the heavens—crimson clouds across ten thousand miles rolling backward.
The leftover heat became a violent gale, scorching everything it touched.
A massive aura detonated from Shuoye and surged skyward, a volcanic pressure that made everyone present feel small.
It was strong enough to tear the air apart.
It slammed Shukaku and the Kazekage straight into the earth.
And under that single strike, countless shinobi died—no one even knew how many.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a stunned expression.
"When did he accumulate… that kind of chakra?"
Tsunade—Konoha's current leader of the medical shinobi—was shaken beyond words.
She stared at Shuoye, her mind churning. The aura he released felt eerily similar to her own unfinished Strength of a Hundred technique.
But hers still had flaws.
Shuoye's looked… perfected.
"Damn it!"
The Kazekage and Shukaku reappeared in the distance, battered and disheveled, eyes wide with disbelief.
They had thought losing Susanoo would weaken Shuoye.
Reality proved the opposite.
Shuoye showed no exhaustion at all—only greater power.
If they hadn't fled at the instant they sensed danger, that slash could've killed them on the spot.
Is this a last flare before death? they wondered.
Back when Shuoye had Susanoo, they could still trade blows.
Now Susanoo was gone—could Shuoye really flip the table anyway?
Shuoye answered with action.
"You survived?" he said, cracking his neck with a crisp snap. His eyes burned with fresh battle intent.
"Good. That's perfect."
He vanished, surging toward the Kazekage like a ghost.
The Kazekage reacted instantly, launching Sand Burial in a desperate attempt to drown Shuoye under a tidal mass of sand.
Shuoye swung his blade once.
The "unbreakable" sand crystallized in an instant—then blasted apart by sheer force. The Kazekage was driven backward, slammed into distant rock, and staggered upright in disgrace.
Shukaku roared and lunged, its massive body crashing forward. A colossal claw slammed down with a shriek that split the air.
Shuoye remained calm.
Armament Haki spread over his entire body, forming an iron defense.
Then he jumped—and caught the claw.
Shukaku screamed, thrashing, but couldn't break free.
Shuoye sneered, swung his blade in reverse—
and scorching flames blackened the claw in an instant, forcing Shukaku into pained howls.
As everyone stared, stunned—
A sudden change.
A razor-thin Water Release: Water Severing Wave shot toward Shuoye in silence, aimed to kill him while his guard was "down."
But Shuoye's lips curled as if he'd been waiting for it.
"So you finally couldn't hold back?"
He shifted—cleanly evading the fatal strike.
"Flying Thunder God!"
The water blade tore the air behind him, slicing like it meant to shred him into pieces.
Shuoye's gaze stayed calm. He had already sensed the hidden threat. A faint smile touched his mouth, like he'd recognized the attacker before they even showed themselves.
"Oh? So it's the Third Mizukage."
He smiled with open mockery, eyes gleaming with challenge.
"Third Mizukage?! Sneaking in with a shameless ambush?!"
Konoha erupted in outrage. Shinobi surged forward—
And Shuoye lifted a hand, stopping them.
All eyes snapped to him, shock and anger tangled together.
The Third Mizukage was a giant of the shinobi world. No one could take that lightly.
Yet Shuoye waved them back.
"Stand down," he said evenly. "Don't worry. Since the Third Mizukage has come, our guest deserves courtesy."
The crowd froze, unsettled.
To them, Shuoye looked like he was gambling with the entire village.
Under pressure from the Third Mizukage, the One-Tail, and the Kazekage together, Shuoye still showed no fear.
How confident is this kid? the Kazekage thought, uneasy. Even after striking a deal with Shukaku, he couldn't understand how Shuoye dared to face three Kage-class threats alone.
The Third Mizukage's fury boiled over.
To him, Shuoye's attitude was open humiliation.
"Brat! Who do you think you are, acting like this in front of me?!"
His roar rolled across the battlefield like thunder.
The air became dense with gunpowder tension.
"Three Kage-class opponents?" Shuoye smiled, blood roaring in his veins.
This was the best proof of his strength.
"Come."
His voice was firm, ringing like a war drum.
The Kazekage and Shukaku exchanged a look and moved together, silent coordination locking in.
Shukaku's eyes spun.
"Kazekage brat… this kid's got something wrong with him."
"It doesn't matter!" the Kazekage bellowed. "We go together!"
Shukaku followed, its massive body forming a living shield behind the Kazekage.
Sand and dust whipped into a furious curtain, almost swallowing the battlefield whole.
The Third Mizukage laughed coldly. His fingers traced the air, and the moisture around them thickened until it felt like water could be grabbed by hand.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"
Mist surged.
The Mizukage's figure flickered, splitting into countless shadows like smoke in a gale, enclosing Shuoye.
"Kill!"
Shuoye's eyes narrowed.
His blade flashed—
Yet three forms circled him like specters, and their attacks poured in like a tide.
Fists slammed into flesh.
Blades drew blood.
Shuoye moved like wind, living on the edge of death.
No ninjutsu.
Only raw, brutal slaughter.
A trial Shuoye had chosen for himself.
The Six Powers became killing tools in his hands, forcing the three back step by step.
Palms collided—Mizukage's strength hit like a flood, trying to swallow him whole.
And then—
A shadow slipped down, silent as death.
Obito.
Those eyes, glowing red.
"Hm?"
Shuoye's instincts screamed. Alarm bells tore through his mind.
He frowned and slashed toward the genjutsu the moment it touched him.
He was about to break free—
When the Third Mizukage's eyes flashed with cunning.
He signaled the other two, and a chained assault struck without mercy.
The Kazekage's sand blade drew a beautiful, lethal arc through the air—aimed straight for Shuoye's heart.
The air seemed to freeze.
Time felt slow.
Every breath turned heavy.
Konoha's shinobi went pale.
Elsewhere, Kushina Uzumaki—still practicing sealing techniques—jerked violently.
The scroll in front of her crumbled into ash.
"Shuoye!"
Her voice trembled with helpless fear. An unknown dread rose in her chest like a wave.
Shuoye watched the sand blade closing in.
Everything around him slowed into a silent tableau. The blade gleamed cold as moonlight, inching toward his burning heart.
Memories flickered—enemies' despair on the battlefield, the trust in Uchiha eyes, and…
Kushina Uzumaki's smile.
Is this still not enough?
A sudden understanding cracked open inside him.
Then power erupted—pure, violent—
the mark of his body's complete fusion.
It felt like rebirth.
Like the world had been rewritten in his blood.
"Tremor."
One word.
A world-shaking boom answered.
Shuoye lifted both hands and flicked them outward.
The air tore.
A deafening roar ripped across the sky as shockwaves flooded out like a sea, blasting the Third Mizukage and the others back in an instant.
Trees were flung aside. Dust exploded upward. The battlefield trembled as if the earth itself had been grabbed and shaken.
The tremor shattered the Kazekage's strike—
and made the entire warzone quake.
Shuoye's eyes burned like fire, steady and fearless.
"Now," he said, voice cold and clear, "it's my turn."
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