"Uchiha's ambitions are plain for all to see."
"And you think you can become Hokage? You'll never get past the Senju Clan!"
"No matter how sharp your blades are, how many can you kill when Konoha's clans stand united?"
"Stop dreaming."
"My offer still stands, Takeyasu-san. You can become my right-hand man."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was dark as a storm cloud. He kept his full attention on the murderous Uchiha Takeyasu, ready to defend and counterattack, while continuing to stall for time.
(At this distance—about ten kilometers—the Ninja Army should have spotted us by now.)
His left hand slipped soundlessly toward his pouch. Hiruzen drew a Signal Flare and launched it. Even under the afternoon sun, the flare's red light blazed brilliantly.
Uchiha Takeyasu watched Hiruzen's clumsy performance with an air of ease. Like a deceptively calm current beneath the water, the pressure he exerted on Hiruzen grew with every passing second, until the older man was drenched in sweat.
"You're the first Kage I've killed."
"So, Sarutobi-san, spend the last moments of your life entertaining me."
Sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves and fell on the drawn katana, its dazzling white gleam reflected in Uchiha Takeyasu's gorgeous, scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Adamantine Staff: Raging Wind!"
Facing the Butcher of Humans, Hiruzen suppressed his mounting negative emotions and calmly began to respond. He spun the Adamantine Staff in his right hand, infusing it with Wind Release Chakra. The result was a powerful combined technique, merging him with his Summoning Beast, Enma. The staff immediately whipped up a fierce wind that pulled at everything around it, halting Uchiha Takeyasu's advance.
"Uchiha Style: Wind Lightning Slash!"
Spotting a weakness in the raging wind of the jutsu, Uchiha Takeyasu swung his katana to cut through the turbulent Wind Release and steady himself. At the same time, strands of Lightning Style Chakra rode the wind back toward Hiruzen.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Hiruzen finished forming hand seals with his left hand. Seeing Uchiha Takeyasu rushing toward him through the wind, with the Lightning Style Chakra already closing in, he opened his mouth and spat out a huge fire dragon. It swept away the lightning and lunged at Uchiha Takeyasu.
"It's not over yet—Adamantine Prison Wall!"
Hiruzen hurled the Adamantine Staff toward Uchiha Takeyasu. It instantly split into dozens of staffs, forming a cubic cage that dropped over both the fire dragon and Uchiha Takeyasu.
As the flames roared, Hiruzen watched the figure struggling inside, his eyes full of unmistakable delight.
"Die here, Naturally Evil Uchiha Brat!"
"Can't you come up with a different insult? You keep calling me an evil brat over and over. I'm getting tired of hearing it."
The bored voice came from behind him. Hiruzen's heart lurched. He turned around as his hands formed seals, creating two Shadow Clones. The three of them took up a triangular formation and warily faced Uchiha Takeyasu, who had appeared behind him without warning.
(Could the one who cut through my jutsu just now have been a Shadow Clone?)
(Teacher Tobirama's jutsu has been stolen by those jutsu thieves again.)
Hiruzen couldn't make up his mind.
Shadow Clone Jutsu was a technique invented by Senju Tobirama. Unlike the useless ordinary Clone Technique, it used Chakra to create solid duplicates, each receiving an equal share of the original's Chakra.
The problem lay in the Chakra itself. Even the Byakugan, which could see Chakra flow, and the Sharingan, with its keen insight, couldn't tell the original from a clone.
And there was no doubt that a clone was weaker than the original.
If even a clone could cut through his jutsu, how strong was the original?
Feeling how much Chakra he had already spent, Hiruzen had given up hope of winning. He was no match for Uchiha Takeyasu's speed, either; trying to flee would only leave him even more vulnerable.
For now, he just had to hold out until the Ninja Army arrived. That alone would be a huge victory.
"Sarutobi-san, don't disappoint me. You're not going to get any backup."
"Come on, show me what you can really do."
"You're the future Third Hokage, aren't you? Don't tell me you're going to finish after just a couple of moves."
"A three-second man?"
Uchiha Takeyasu had appeared with Amenotokotachi, and now he launched into a string of mocking barbs without using a single dirty word.
Hiruzen wasn't even thirty, but his brow twitched and his eyes reddened. He abandoned his defensive strategy and decided that the best defense was a good offense.
The Adamantine Prison Wall, which Enma had transformed into, released its jutsu and became three Adamantine Staffs. Hiruzen and his two clones charged at Uchiha Takeyasu from three directions.
The staffs blurred as they struck one after another, each blow heavy with force. Uchiha Takeyasu hadn't finished growing, and he found that he really was physically weaker than Hiruzen. In every other respect, though, Hiruzen couldn't hold a candle to him.
Uchiha Takeyasu anticipated every attack. His keen blade found the weak points in Hiruzen's strikes, cutting, thrusting, and slashing at just the right moments, making it terribly difficult for Hiruzen to fight back.
(There!)
One of Hiruzen's Shadow Clones deliberately left an opening. Uchiha Takeyasu drove his blade through the clone's heart, but the clone had enough resilience to grab the katana. The other clone attacked with its life on the line, unleashing "Adamantine Staff: Raging Wind" at close range and engulfing everyone but Hiruzen himself.
Two sharp pops rang out as the Shadow Clones were destroyed. The pain of their deaths flooded Hiruzen's mind, and he felt as if his chest and entire body had been torn apart.
Sweat beaded across his forehead and trickled into his eyes. His nerves were so taut that he couldn't sense anything outside of Uchiha Takeyasu.
The cold, evil Chakra surging from Uchiha Takeyasu in an overwhelming tide had seized Hiruzen's entire attention.
(So this is the Susanoo Teacher Tobirama told me about!)
He stared at Uchiha Takeyasu, surrounded by a red skeletal half-body seven or eight meters tall. Takeyasu was casually playing with the Ninja Cat in his arms. His contemptuous gaze and the cat's excited meowing were both driving Hiruzen to the edge.
"A man can be killed, but never humiliated!"
"Uchiha Takeyasu, you're too arrogant!"
Hiruzen laughed in fury. Together with Enma's hand, which extended from the Adamantine Staff, he formed hand seals and unleashed a combined jutsu.
"Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"
Water Release and Lightning Release combined into a lightning-wreathed water dragon. It slammed into the skeletal half-body, and thick smoke billowed up. Hiruzen didn't foolishly wait around as the smoke blocked his view.
Susanoo was a powerful bloodline secret technique that Senju Tobirama had praised highly for its all-around offense and defense. Hiruzen's Lightning Water Dragon Bullet could pierce a small mountain, but he had no confidence that it could break through Susanoo's defenses.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!"
"Combined Ninjutsu: Fire Dragon Tornado!"
The flaming tornado, more than ten meters in diameter, blazed with intense heat and spun with slicing winds. This single combined jutsu alone proved Hiruzen Sarutobi deserved his Kage Level strength.
Unfortunately, the red Susanoo was still reflected in Hiruzen's wide eyes. Just like Hokage Rock, where the faces of each successive Hokage had been carved, it loomed with majestic authority, making Hiruzen feel small by comparison.
"How is this possible?"
Hiruzen murmured, utterly devastated.
"Sarutobi-san, is that it?"
The strain on his Dojutsu Power made Uchiha Takeyasu's Mangekyō throb with pain. Fortunately, his Ascension Points easily replenished what he had lost, giving him the confidence to flaunt his strength.
His blood-red eyes watched Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose spirit and vitality had both been drained away. Uchiha Takeyasu shook his head. He also sensed Konoha shinobi approaching nearby, and had no intention of continuing to toy with Hiruzen.
Hiruzen, whose sensory abilities were no weaker, also realized that reinforcements were on their way. A fierce desire to survive suddenly rose within him. Gripping the Adamantine Staff, he shouted:
"Extend!"
The Adamantine Staff suddenly grew longer, lifting Hiruzen into the air.
It was difficult to move up there, and he would be an easy target. But the Adamantine Staff could extend for a hundred meters or so. If he was careful, he could hold out until his reinforcements arrived.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, your life ends here!"
"Hiruzen, watch out!"
Just as Hiruzen was flying out of the forest, Uchiha Takeyasu appeared behind him. Enma roared a warning, but Hiruzen couldn't react in time. Before he could so much as turn around, a blade severed his head, plunging his consciousness into eternal darkness.
"Space-Time Ninjutsu!"
"I'll relay all the details of this encounter to the Sarutobi Clan!"
"Damn you, Uchiha Takeyasu! You'll pay in blood for killing Hiruzen!"
"You filthy beast, you dare run your mouth?"
"You've already earned a death sentence!"
Watching Enma disappear in a puff of smoke as he was summoned back, Uchiha Takeyasu gave a disdainful snort. He formed hand seals and immediately used Reverse Summoning Jutsu to transport himself there.
The left eye ability of Amenotokotachi had recorded every last detail of the space-time fluctuations in Takeyasu's mind.
With the space-time coordinates in hand, the Enma Clan's Summoning Beast realm was as easy for Uchiha Takeyasu to reach as a woman who'd let him in for a little Chakra.
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