Sarutobi Hiruzen's Despair

The father and son moved without the slightest hesitation, their deeply ingrained tacit understanding erupting to its peak at this moment.

Fugaku's half-body Susanoo lowered its center of gravity first, like a coiled leopard. Using the brief spatial distortion of Kamui, he charged towards the ankle of the thousand-meter Susanoo.

Itachi, controlling his pale red fully powered Susanoo, followed closely behind. The Totsuka Blade pointed downwards, with Chakra continuously being injected into its blade, making the pale red glow increasingly fierce, like the only sharp edge in the darkness, locking onto the energy node at the Susanoo Armor's knee joint—their only exploitable weakness.

"Hehehehahaha! Come on! Bring it all on!" Uchiha Genki in mid-air finally sensed this faint but precise threat, his frenzied laughter suddenly rising, filled with a desperate destructive desire. "My only peace! Is the silence of death! You all deserve to be buried with this hypocritical world!"

His laughter hadn't even faded when the violence in his eyes erupted completely.

Controlling the thousand-meter-tall pitch-black Susanoo, he abruptly raised his foot. The massive sole was like a dark cloud covering the sky, whistling as it tore through the air, stomping down fiercely on Itachi's pale red Susanoo.

Before the sole even landed, a terrifying wind pressure swept down, crushing the ruins below into dust. The dust billowed like giant waves, and even the surrounding space trembled slightly under this immense force.

"Careful!" Obito's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible urgency. His scarlet Sharingan suddenly lit up, activating Kamui once more.

Distorted spatial waves spread towards the descending giant palm, attempting to forcibly shift its trajectory.

But this time, the energy Genki poured into his Susanoo was far greater than before. Kamui's spatial distortion power only managed to shift the giant palm slightly. The world-ending pressure still locked onto Itachi, crushing down like Mount Tai.

"Father! Cover me!" Itachi's eyes suddenly focused. Instead of retreating, a look of determination flashed in his eyes. He controlled his pale red Susanoo and accelerated forward fiercely. The Totsuka Blade's glow reached its peak, as if pouring all his Chakra into this single strike.

He knew clearly that this was their only chance. If they missed it, not only his life would be forfeit, but the entire Konoha would be doomed.

Fugaku understood immediately and did not hesitate.

He controlled his twenty-meter-tall half-body Susanoo, turned sharply, and slammed into the thousand-meter Susanoo's lower leg with all his might.

Chakra condensed on the Susanoo's surface into a sharp shield, carrying a resolve of mutual destruction.

But the power gap between them was too vast, like an ant trying to shake a tree. With a loud "Bang," Fugaku's Susanoo was instantly sent flying back, like a stone hit by a speeding train. The Chakra shield shattered, and the Susanoo's form became illusory.

"Urgh!" Fugaku grunted, a mouthful of blood uncontrollably spraying from the corner of his mouth, splattering on the clothes on his chest.

His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the distant ruins, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Even so, he forced himself not to faint, staring intently at the battle in mid-air, his eyes filled with anxiety and unwillingness.

At this critical moment, Itachi's pale red Susanoo finally reached its target.

"Pfft!" The Totsuka Blade accurately struck the thousand-meter Susanoo's knee joint. Pale red sealing energy surged in like a tide, attempting to penetrate the Susanoo's interior and seal its energy flow.

But the expected breach did not occur—it only left a negligible point of light on the pitch-black armor. The pale red sealing energy was forcibly repelled by the surging black energy within the Susanoo, dissipating instantly like ice and snow burned by fierce flames.

"How is this possible?!" Itachi's pupils contracted, his face filled with disbelief. His heart sank into an ice cellar.

The sealing power of the Totsuka Blade could forcefully seal even beings of Tailed Beasts' caliber. Yet now, it couldn't even break through this Susanoo's defense?

The terrifying extent of this black energy far surpassed his understanding!

"Hahahahaha! With just your insignificant power, you think you can stop me?!" Genki's frenzied laughter rang out again, filled with endless mockery and contempt. "How laughable! All of you, die!"

As his voice fell, he controlled the giant hand of his thousand-meter Susanoo Armor and grabbed fiercely towards Itachi's pale red Susanoo, like a net cast from heaven.

The massive palm blotted out the sun, instantly engulfing Itachi's pale red Susanoo. The terrifying pressure caused Itachi's Susanoo to tremble slightly.

"Itachi!" Fugaku's eyes were bloodshot. He struggled to get up from the ruins to rush to his rescue, but was forced back again by a sword energy from the thousand-meter Susanoo.

The sword energy grazed his shoulder, leaving a bottomless gash on the ground. The pain in his chest made him spit out another mouthful of blood, unable to even stand steadily.

"Kamui!" Obito acted again, his scarlet Sharingan shining brightly, attempting to pull Itachi's pale red Susanoo into the Kamui dimension to avoid this fatal grab.

But Genki's power was too terrifying. The giant hand tightly gripped Itachi's Susanoo, and the immense force rendered Kamui's spatial distortion power unable to budge it at all.

"Crack... Crack..." Crisp cracking sounds continued to ring out. Dense cracks began to appear on the surface of Itachi's pale red Susanoo, like glass about to shatter.

Chakra continuously dissipated from the cracks, and the Susanoo's form became more and more illusory. The original brilliant pale red glow gradually dimmed.

"Urgh--!" Itachi let out a pained grunt. A tearing pain shot through his eyes as the side effects of continuous Mangekyo Sharingan usage erupted. His vision went black, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

But he still gritted his teeth fiercely, his gums bleeding from the bite, and used his last ounce of strength to activate the Totsuka Blade, attempting to break free from the giant hand.

He couldn't die, at least not until he ensured Sasuke's safety!

The Konoha ninjas below were in complete panic.

Even Uchiha Itachi's half-body fully powered Susanoo was so vulnerable, as fragile as an ant before the opponent's power. What hope did they have?

Despair spread rapidly among the ranks like a plague. Many ninjas' movements slowed, their eyes filled with fear and helplessness.

The Ninjutsu they were still maintaining became intermittent, losing its original power.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the forefront of the formation, watching Itachi trapped in despair in mid-air, feeling the despair of the ninjas below. A deep sense of powerlessness welled up within him.

He had already exhausted more than half of his Chakra. The powerful Ninjutsu he had consecutively unleashed were like stones sinking into the sea, unable to even break through the opponent's defenses.

Could this be the end of Konoha today?