The Kazekage was anxious, but he understood one thing clearly—if he fought Shuoye Uchiha head-on, even a single lapse would be fatal. So he forced his impatience down and waited for an opening.
Within Shuoye, that vast power continued to roll like a deep tide. His Tremor Fruit mastery had reached a staggering ninety-nine percent. Only one final step remained before full control.
Yet that last step felt like a cliff he couldn't cross. A bottleneck.
Even so, what Shuoye displayed was already enough to leave the Kazekage and everyone else staring at his back.
Seeing no chance to strike, the Kazekage tried a different angle—words.
He laughed with open contempt.
"Fugaku Uchiha, you're a Kage? You look like Shuoye's puppet. Pathetic."
The provocation was obvious. He wanted a crack inside Konoha.
But to his shock, Konoha's side didn't react at all—like they hadn't even heard him.
Fugaku Uchiha simply nodded and replied calmly, "That's true. I still have a lot to learn from Shuoye."
The Kazekage and the observers nearly choked on their own anger.
What is wrong with this man?
A Hokage acting this humble?
Elsewhere, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist began to sense the battlefield shifting in ways they didn't like.
Against Konoha's jōnin, their experience and strength still let them hold steady.
But the chūnin and genin fronts were chaos—and it wasn't Konoha collapsing.
Konoha's younger generation was showing terrifying skill and creativity. Strange, powerful techniques kept appearing one after another.
An Akimichi clan chubby kid even used the Parasitic Destruction Insects Technique—an art that belonged to the Aburame clan. And he used it like it was routine.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen stared, stunned.
They exchanged looks. A hard decision passed between them without words.
If they didn't reverse the tide quickly, they would die here.
"This is war," one of them snarled. "Who cares about fair?"
They abandoned the jōnin battle and turned their blades toward Konoha's next generation—chūnin and genin.
Like ghosts, they cut across the battlefield, aiming for the unprepared young shinobi.
On one corner of the field, Genma Shiranui and Might Guy's team had just barely won their clash. They were breathing hard, about to regroup—
A killing intent snapped into existence.
Clang!
Might Guy's instincts screamed. He yanked his teammate aside at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding a lethal slash from Zabuza Momochi.
"Damn brat!"
Zabuza's ambush failed—and his fellow swordsmen burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Zabuza! You couldn't even kill a genin? Embarrassing!"
"No wonder. You're trash—can't even handle a kid!"
Zabuza's face twisted. Humiliation burned through him.
He knew he'd made a mistake.
He had underestimated them… and paid for it.
"Shut up!" he snapped, fury spilling out. "I just wasn't taking it seriously!"
He turned his rage on Might Guy and the others, desperate to butcher them and reclaim his pride.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen…?!"
Facing that name, Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and their teammates felt despair rise in their throats.
But when death was this close, their resolve only hardened.
They tightened formation.
If they were going to fall, they'd fall fighting.
On the opposite side, the Kazekage's conversation with Shuoye had drawn attention as well.
"Shuoye," the Kazekage said, voice weighted with implication, "we shouldn't have come to this. If we joined hands and wiped out the other three great nations, it wouldn't be impossible."
Shuoye let out a soft laugh.
"Kazekage, you misunderstand the heart of the Will of Fire."
Konoha shinobi do not fight for conquest or expansion.
"We fight to protect. We fight to sacrifice. The Will of Fire is choosing life through death—burning yourself down if that's what it takes to protect what you cherish."
His words landed like iron.
Even the Kazekage felt his breath catch.
Then—
A force erupted across the battlefield.
So vast it made the Kazekage instinctively recoil.
Shuoye's lips curved in a faint, knowing smile.
That legendary man… finally opened the gates.
"Just in time," a voice said.
Might Guy stared, eyes shaking.
Might Duy—weathered, scarred, and smiling like a man at peace—looked at his son.
"Kai," he said softly, yet firmly, "remember this. Youth isn't eternal. But the Will of Fire can burn forever."
"Now watch closely."
"I'll show you what the Eight Gates truly are."
His body burst with blinding light.
The final gate—the Gate of Death—opened.
His muscles tightened as if reforged. Veins bulged. Blood roared like molten iron.
Chakra surged through him, violent enough to tear a man apart.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen went pale.
Even their most arrogant members had to admit it—
This "genin" was radiating power beyond anything they had imagined.
Yet pride and prejudice still made them refuse to believe it.
"It's just a genin!" they barked. "Don't get cocky!"
They urged Zabuza forward again, trying to claw back face.
Zabuza roared, swinging his blade as he charged, momentum rising like a wave.
But in front of Might Duy—
It was nothing.
Might Duy lifted his hand.
A single punch.
It looked casual.
It hit like a collapsing mountain.
His fist drove straight through Zabuza's chest, and Zabuza exploded into a mist of blood.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Genma Shiranui's eyes went wide. After a long beat, he forced out one trembling sentence.
"Your… your dad is insane."
Might Guy was already crying, tears pouring down his face.
"No… no way… What kind of taijutsu is that?!"
The remaining six swordsmen were terrified. They looked at each other, panic rising.
A "genin" had erased one of them with a single blow.
They could no longer pretend.
This man was a monster.
Might Duy felt the brutal drain inside him immediately.
He didn't have time.
He had to finish it fast.
He stepped forward—
And a hand landed gently on his shoulder.
"Take a breath, Duy." Shuoye's voice was calm. "Leave the rest to me."
Might Duy's instincts flared. Even he felt a chill.
He reflexively swung—air detonating with the shock of his fist—
And in the same instant he saw who it was.
Shuoye.
Too fast… I can't stop it!
Might Duy's heart lurched. Even in this state, his reaction was half a beat slow.
And Shuoye felt it too.
Even without a direct hit, the pressure stung his skin. He measured it instantly.
If I could reach this level… even the Gate of Wonder would shake the shinobi world.
Shuoye shifted with Flying Thunder God's fluidity, slipping out of the indiscriminate blast. He cast Might Guy a reassuring look.
Might Guy's shaking finally eased. His eyes were red—not just from tears, but from sheer relief.
Shuoye's presence meant his father could live.
And it meant the battle could turn.
Might Duy felt his chakra about to spiral out of control. He chose decisively—closing the Gate of Death.
The backlash hit him like lightning.
He slammed to the ground, barely breathing.
Shuoye moved at once.
He summoned Katsuyu and began treatment. Green life-force wrapped around Might Duy, repairing damaged meridians and organs.
Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and nearby shinobi stared in shock—then gratitude surged through them.
Might Guy looked at Shuoye with pure, unrestrained worship.
As for the remaining six swordsmen—
The moment they understood how far beyond them Shuoye was, any thought of negotiation vanished.
Only one idea remained.
Run.
They fled, fear choking their pride.
Shuoye smiled coldly, contempt clear in his eyes.
"None of you are leaving today."
He moved—but did not rush to kill them.
His gaze dropped to the seven swords scattered across the ground.
Free weapons delivered to his doorstep.
No reason to waste them.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
The six swordsmen roared together.
A violent flood surged across the battlefield, water dragons rising from the ground as the massive wave crashed toward Shuoye.
Shuoye didn't retreat.
A flash of crimson crossed his eyes.
And at the same time—
A towering blue giant rose from the earth.
"Susanoo!"
His chakra roared like a furnace. Under his precise control, all five chakra natures interwove and fused, forming radiant streams of color that wrapped around Susanoo's massive blade.
"Five-Nature… Giant Slayer!"
Observers froze, staring.
"A five-nature combined technique…?!"
The blade came down.
With one slash, Shuoye erased the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave as if it had never existed—then dragged the remaining six into a storm of ninjutsu unlike anything they had ever faced.
They fought back in desperate coordination, layering stronger Water Release to resist.
It was meaningless.
Shuoye's chakra was so vast it felt unbearable to even look at.
The six were driven back step by step, until all that remained was despair—and the inevitable impact.
"Shuoye…" Terror filled their minds. "What kind of monster is he?!"
On the other side, the Kazekage was fully focused on his own front when he sensed the chakra surge from Shuoye's direction.
His scalp went cold.
He snapped his head around—
And saw the "Shuoye" in front of him disperse into nothing but fading chakra warmth.
"A substitution? No… that's not just a substitution…"
His heart sank.
Shuoye's methods weren't ordinary at all. Silent. Untraceable. Impossible to guard against.
At the same time, Obito—watching through a White Zetsu body—saw Shuoye's Susanoo for the first time.
The towering form. The blazing armor. The oppressive aura that rivaled Madara Uchiha.
Obito's mind shook.
That Susanoo… it's on Madara's level.
Shuoye wielded a blade wreathed in black flames, each strike carrying annihilation.
The six resisted with everything they had, but under Shuoye's flawless pressure, death came for them one by one.
Only Kisame Hoshigaki escaped at the last moment, fleeing outright—barely avoiding the killing blow.
Even so, he was critically wounded, teetering on the edge of death, terror swallowing him whole.
Then—
A vast surge of Tailed Beast chakra erupted.
The world seemed to change color.
Shuoye's smile deepened.
Finally… you're here?
As the Tailed Beast aura flared beyond the village, Konoha's atmosphere tightened to its limit.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat atop the Hokage Rock, eyes closed, seemingly in thought—showing no urgency at all.
Minato Namikaze, watching from the side, couldn't hide a flicker of disappointment.
He was about to move himself when a Shadow Clone Technique of Shuoye appeared in front of him.
"Leave it to me, Minato. Focus on protecting the village."
Minato Namikaze hesitated, then nodded. He trusted Shuoye's strength, but still couldn't help asking:
"Shuoye… are you sure?"
Shuoye smiled, battle-light burning in his eyes.
"Relax. This is nothing."
Compared to the two villages, the ones hiding in the dark—Black Zetsu and Obito—were what Shuoye truly guarded against.
The Nine-Tails' night would not be allowed to repeat.
The Kazekage clenched his teeth as he stood beside the towering One-Tail, Shukaku.
He felt resentment.
He felt resolve.
He had already flipped every card he had. Today, he could not leave empty-handed.
"Hahaha! Kazekage brat!" Shukaku's roar shook the sky. "Remember what you promised me! After this fight, you let me go free!"
The air trembled with the beast's voice.
The Kazekage tightened his fists, bracing for the decisive clash.
On the road back to Konoha, Kushina Uzumaki's heart twisted with worry.
"Shuoye…"
She could feel Shukaku's massive presence and feared for the village.
Yet thinking of Shuoye steadied her. With Shuoye there, she believed Konoha would survive.
Shuoye stood as if above the battlefield itself—without hesitation.
He knew it.
The fight with the Kazekage and Shukaku was the real course.
Everything before had only been an appetizer.
Alone, he faced them.
His eyes burned with hunger for battle.
"Kazekage… and you, One-Tail Shukaku."
His voice carried across the field.
"Try to entertain me."
He stepped forward with a light laugh.
Chakra surged into the sky.
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