Battle, Part Three

"... That's really shameless!"

Katsuki sighed. The Mud Golem beneath her feet was infused with her soul, and she could clearly sense the two Susanoo Sword penetrating her ribs little by little, as if they were about to cut the Mud Golem into three pieces from the left and right.

Moreover, Susanoo Sword was quite long and got stuck inside the Mud Golem's body, making it impossible for the Mud Golem to reach Susanoo only swing its fist in vain, unable to hit its target.

Of course, Susanoo n't reach the Mud Golem, so its two free arms rested on the sword hilt, helping to push Susanoo Sword towards each other, producing a teeth-grinding, ear-piercing friction sound.

"... I underestimated you, Uchiha Genso. Your Susanoo quite advanced!"

The Mud Golem doll gripped the Susanoo Sword, its strong arms taut, trying to pull the swords out of its body. However, Uchiha Genso on the other side clearly did not want to see the Mud Golem break free, and with all four arms exerting force, it resolutely pushed the Susanoo Sword forward.

"Sizzle."

A faint crackling sound rang out as Katsuki's right hand, hanging down, held a ball of dazzling lightning. As Chakra was continuously poured into it, the lightning in her palm became increasingly bright and dazzling.

Moreover, this ball of lightning continued to condense and compress, and under the blinding light, a long, dragon-like streak of lightning could be vaguely seen moving through it.

The movement—raising his hand and pushing forward—was executed in one fluid motion.

"Great Thunderclap!"

Over the years, the Great Thunderclap has been revised several times, and its power has become even greater than before.

A silver bolt of lightning struck across the sky, leaping over a thousand meters in a flash. Thunder shook the surrounding area, and dark clouds in the sky churned like a raging sea. In an instant, the brilliance illuminated the world, turning everything white.

The thunderbolt pierced through everything, breaking through Susanoo defenses and precisely penetrating Susanoo's head between the eyebrows.

"Puwa!!"

He spat out a mouthful of hot blood, which splashed onto Susanoo Susanoo's materialized body made of Chakra.

Uchiha Genso's right arm and a large part of his body were missing. He stood at the center of Susanoo's forehead, his eyes filled with confusion, as if he did not understand what had happened.

However, an extreme pain surged forth like a tidal wave, engulfing his senses and pulling him back from his daze, plunging him into this boundless hell of agony.

"Ah... Ah..."

Uchiha Genso's eyes were split open, tears of blood streaming down his face. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't utter a sound. The chaotic lightning had damaged his vocal cords. It was truly a terrible sight!

Despite his tragic circumstances, he did not die.

Despite its internal organs being exposed and the rib fragments charred black by lightning, it stubbornly remained alive.

"Another batch of First cells? Seriously, this stuff is practically a panacea... but it's not a true panacea after all."

Katsuki shook his hand, dissipating the electric light in his right palm, and stared at the enormous Susanoo playing on his lips.

The next instant.

Susanoo cracked inch by inch, like a ceramic doll being hammered. Dense cracks covered every corner. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that without Uchiha Genso as its core, this unparalleled weapon of mass destruction, Susanoo, had lost its power and could not even maintain its own existence.

The Chakra was barely enough to repair Uchiha Genso's body, let alone Susanoo.

"One has been resolved."

With a flick of his finger, a spear of azure lightning shot out.

Susanoo faded into a phantom and disappeared, Uchiha Genso fell from the sky, and then, the spear of lightning pierced through the air, passing through his chest and flying out from behind.

He was like a tattered scarecrow, his body twisting in mid-air due to inertia, his limbs contorted into a bizarre shape, his face covered in blood and tears, frozen in the cold wind, his pale face seemingly filled with incomprehension and confusion.

He seemed to have never imagined that he would die so easily. It was too fast. He clearly still had methods he hadn't used, and Konoha hadn't been destroyed yet. Why... why could he no longer see the colors of this world? Darkness silently swallowed his last wisp of consciousness.

"The Banshō Ten'in"

The twisted, shapeless Uchiha Genso suddenly shifted sideways and flew away, arriving beside Senju Zen in the blink of an eye.

Standing atop the giant wooden dummy, Senju Zen reached out and caught the flying Uchiha Genso. Looking at his comrade, his body was battered and bruised, blood dripping from the laceration in his chest and falling to his feet. This body... the corpse was gradually losing its temperature; in such cold weather, a corpse would cool down very quickly.

Even the heart of the Senju Zen is cold.

The scene before him blurred; Uchiha Genso's blood-stained face overlapped with a long-forgotten face from the depths of his memory—his dearest friend, who had also died in his hands in the same way...

What a terrible world! Death is so unreasonable every time!

"He died again!"

There was no great sorrow in the sigh, only a habitual numbness and an indomitable will.

Senju Zen glanced at Katsuki standing atop the Mud Golem's head, then resolutely turned around, grabbed Uchiha Genso's corpse, and jumped off the wooden doll's back.

All of this, this utterly terrible world, will be reshaped in his hands.

Nine-Tails, just one more Nine-Tails is needed for the Moon Eye Plan to officially begin.

Rather than engaging in a life-or-death battle with Katsuki here, what's more important is carrying out the Moon Eye Plan. He was mentally prepared for sacrifice; as long as that perfect new world is created, there will be no more struggle, and fighting there will be meaningless.

Therefore, we must prioritize the overall situation now.

The battle here is left to the Akatsuki Organization members. They don't need to defeat Uzumaki Katsuki; they just need to delay him and prevent him from ruining their plans.

"... Is it the First Hokage again?" Katsuki stared at the man in red armor on top of the wooden figure. It was none other than the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, whom she had dealt with in the Land of Lightning.

Unlike the lively eyes of the first generation, the eyes of the awakened First were lifeless this time, and its aura was not as strong as before.

"To make it easier to control, they're willing to reduce their fighting strength? What a pity, they can't fight the First Hokage in his full strength..." Katsuki sighed with regret. The First Hokage, whose strength was even weaker than the one in the Land of Lightning, really wasn't much of a threat.

Boom!!

The wooden figure charged forward, swinging its massive fists down to strike the Mud Golem's fists head-on. A grand and resounding boom echoed across the sky and the surrounding fields.

Both enormous creatures staggered backward, and large cracks appeared on the wooden figures' arms, with pieces of wood peeling off like rain.

"How weak! It's nowhere Susanoo!"

Standing atop the Mud Golem, Katsuki looked utterly forlorn.

Just then, someone below suddenly called out his name.

"Uzumaki Katsuki!!"

Who is it?

Katsuki subconsciously gave a reply.

Then, a strange power came from below. (To be continued)