Pagoda Suppressing River Demon

With a low shout, the Dojutsu of the Mangekyo surged wildly.

Suddenly, violent Crimson Chakra erupted from Kosuke's body like a volcano!

In an instant, it condensed into a several-meter-tall skeletal giant's upper body, clad in ferocious crimson armor!

The shockwave formed by that violent, destructive aura overwhelmed Kaguya Hōseki's savage presence in moments!

Seeing this, the madness in Kaguya Hōseki's eyes intensified. Rather than dodge, the bone spikes all over his body swelled again, and he slammed into the Crimson Susanoo like a porcupine!

"Hmph!" Kosuke's gaze was icy from within the Crimson Susanoo. The Susanoo's enormous skeletal palm closed loosely, crimson Chakra rapidly coiling around it as a longsword with a dazzling white blade took shape.

In the next instant, the longsword came crashing down, carrying a hundred-meter-long Chakra sword aura!

"Crack! Crack! Craaack—!"

A dense barrage of bone-cracking sounds exploded like popping beans, making one's teeth ache!

The hard bones Kaguya Hōseki had been so proud of were utterly fragile before the Susanoo's absolute power!

His bone armor, arms, ribs...

Every bone in his body shattered inch by inch beneath the massive Chakra sword, while the bone armor protecting him broke apart like glass!

The next second, Kaguya Hōseki was smashed into the ground like a battered doll, sinking deep into the crater.

Blood poured from his mouth, mixed with tiny fragments of bone. The madness in his eyes, brought on by the Bloodline Disease, finally cleared amid the agony and weakness.

This sudden turn of events silenced all the Kaguya tribesmen who had been crazily shouting and roaring. They stood frozen in place, blank-faced.

"A... a deity?!"

Kosuke paid no attention to the murmurs around him.

Wrapped in the Crimson Susanoo, he slowly approached the edge of the crater and looked down at Kaguya Hōseki, who was nearly a puddle of flesh with only a breath left in him.

He dismissed the Susanoo. His voice was cold and clear, like a Monarch's proclamation:

"Kaguya Hōseki, it seems your bones aren't as hard as I imagined! Listen carefully: I came here today to tell you that I, Uchiha Kosuke, can treat your clan's Bloodline Disease!"

Hearing the mockery, Hōseki's eyes were just about to turn mad again, but the words that followed shattered him.

His unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened, filled with disbelief, suspicion, and the desire to live.

The Kaguya Clan was known throughout the Ninja World as the Clan of Madmen. Did they want to be this way?

No!

They did not!

They did not want this either!

But as their bodies matured, the Bloodline Disease hidden within their bloodline slowly emerged, stripping away what little sanity they possessed bit by bit!

"Submit to me, Uchiha Kosuke," Kosuke said in an unquestionable tone. "In exchange, I will provide you with a way to suppress, or even cure, the Bloodline Disease."

"At the same time, I can grant you a chance to regain your freedom—if anyone in the Kaguya Clan can defeat me fairly and squarely, the Kaguya Clan will regain its freedom. And I, Uchiha Kosuke, will still continue treating the Kaguya Clan."

"This is your only choice if you wish to cast off your suffering and wield power!"

"Will you accept, or will you end here now, along with your pain and your clansmen's curse?"

Within the crater, Kaguya Hōseki stared fixedly at Kosuke, a rasping sound coming from his throat.

At last, his head—bearing his longing for survival and strength—gave an almost imperceptible nod under Kosuke's gaze.

Kosuke raised a hand and summoned a Kaguya tribesman. Ignoring the man's fervent worship, he directly ordered, "Go down there and carry your Clan Head back to the Clan grounds for treatment."

"Clan Head?" The Kaguya tribesman lowered his head to look at the former Clan Head, whose eyes were shut and whose chest rose faintly. "No! He is no longer the Clan Head of our Kaguya Clan. god, you are the great Clan Head of our Kaguya Clan!"

Kosuke stared in astonishment at the respectfully standing Kaguya before him, a thought flashing through his mind. The strong are revered?

Seeing that God did not seem to believe him, the Kaguya tribesman hurriedly said, "God, look at the clansmen around us! They acknowledge you just as I do. They all believe you can lead us to greater strength!"

"What is your name?"

"Kaguya Tetsu, God."

"Get two people to carry him up and treat him. He is still useful."

"As you command, God!" Tetsu turned and called over two clansmen. They too looked at Kosuke with fervor. "God has granted me special honor and appointed me as a Divine Envoy! Now, go down and carry that piece of trash back to the Clan grounds for treatment."

"Clan grounds?" The two simple-looking Kaguya looked at each other, hesitantly saying, "But the Clan grounds are gone..."

"Gone?" Only then did Tetsu remember that the Clan grounds, originally built from piled stones, had long been reduced to ruins in God's battle.

"God, the Clan grounds are gone. Why don't we abandon this piece of trash and go elsewhere to rebuild them?" Tetsu turned to Kosuke and asked for instructions.

Kosuke looked speechlessly at the respectful Tetsu beside him, puzzled. Did the Kaguya Clan Head steal his wife or something? Is that why he always wants to abandon the Clan Head?

"Enough. Go down and carry him up," Kosuke said with a wave of his hand, his tone low.

Seeing that God was so insistent on the piece of trash in the crater, Tetsu could only helplessly have the two clansmen go down and carry him up.

Kosuke turned and walked through the ruins, trying to find a stone house that was at least somewhat intact.

However, he had underestimated the destructive force of his second-stage Susanoo, as well as the sturdiness of the Kaguya's casually constructed stone houses.

Before long, Kosuke had just found a slightly flatter patch of ground when Tetsu's rough, worshipful voice sounded behind him.

"God, where should we put this piece of trash?"

Hōseki, who had regained consciousness after being awakened by the pain, could not help thinking of Tetsu, who was always trying to usurp his position, when he heard his new form of address.

"Put him on that Stone Platform, then go summon your clan's Medical Ninja."

Kosuke examined Hōseki, who had been roughly tossed onto the Stone Platform. Seeing his face twisted by excruciating pain, Kosuke's facial muscles twitched. Is this really that realistic?

"Medical Ninja?"

Did the Kaguya Clan have such a thing?

Tetsu and the two clansmen looked at one another for a moment, unsure how to answer God.

After a while, Tetsu forced himself to step forward. "God, our Kaguya Clan... does... does not have a Medical Ninja..."

"None?!" Kosuke abruptly turned, a trace of confusion on his face. "Then how do you treat injuries and illnesses normally?"

Startled by Kosuke's sudden movement, Tetsu stumbled back two steps before raising his head to meet Kosuke's baffled gaze.

A simple, bewildered look crossed his dark face. Without thinking, he answered, "For minor illness, endure it. For serious illness, wait to die."

"I..." For the first time in the Ninja World, Kosuke had heard such a crude yet familiar saying, and his thoughts abruptly stalled.

His pupils contracted sharply. He took a deep breath, his tone suddenly grave. "Pagoda Suppressing River Demon..."