While in Konoha, Uchiha Sora had to worry about his clansmen. Apart from the opening Dragon Pulse, every other attack from Rayquaza had been directed by Uchiha Sora.
Now...
There was no need to hold back!
Roar!!!
Rayquaza let out a thunderous roar. A huge ball of energy shot from its mouth, soaring straight into the sky.
Boom!!!!
The energy ball exploded in midair like fireworks, and countless beams rained down on the spot where Uchiha Obito had landed.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!
The sky trembled!
The earth wailed!
Rayquaza soared high into the sky, arcs of electricity crackling across its blue-green scales. Its long body twisted and danced, and every sweep of its tail tore burning trails through the air.
After the endless rain of light,
Azure energy gathered in a warped vortex before Rayquaza's mouth...
Fwoom!!!
A massive beam surged forth. Wherever it passed, rain clouds evaporated in an instant, revealing a savage crimson sky!!
Everything touched by Hyper Beam was devastated. Mountains collapsed with a roar, the ground was scorched into a bottomless pit, and terrifying shock waves uprooted trees over a hundred meters tall!!
The forest became a sea of flames!!
Rayquaza roared as it dove down. The gale from its Dragon Claw sent rocks and chunks of wood flying, while energy rings spun rapidly around its body.
The next moment—
Fwoom!!!!
Dozens of Hyper Beams poured down like a torrential rain, carving crisscrossing ravines into the earth. Magma and shattered rocks shot skyward, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
Rayquaza's eyes blazed with a frenzied red light. It was extremely excited.
There had never been a chance to wreak such wanton destruction in its home!
Among its kind, this Rayquaza was still only a youngster, with more pent-up energy than it could ever expend!
That was why it had answered an unknown call and crossed through time and space to arrive here.
It was quite satisfied with the other party in this deal.
Unlike the youths in its own world... this human kid...
Was a lunatic whose destructive urges matched its own!!
At this very moment,
Rayquaza finally displayed the might of the ruler of the skies!!
—
The frenzied assault lasted for dozens of minutes.
The Uchiha clansmen in the distance were already dumbstruck.
Even the Konoha Ninja farther away had witnessed this terrifying sight.
This was no less than the Nine-Tails going berserk!!
Only after the area had been reduced to scorched earth, with not a trace of life remaining, did Rayquaza finally exhale a cloud of white breath and stop attacking.
It looked like a youth who had just entered post-orgasm clarity, wearing an expression of utter satisfaction.
Uchiha Sora scanned the area but couldn't find any sign of Uchiha Obito.
Was he dead?
It probably wasn't that simple.
He must have escaped...
After this, he probably won't dare come looking for trouble with me anytime soon.
While Rayquaza was still here, Uchiha Sora had to make the most of it. In short, he needed to use its reputation to intimidate others.
He knew that Rayquaza was only here on loan. The others didn't know that, though; they would only assume it was his summoned beast.
According to an ancient law of survival,
the weak had to disguise themselves as strong to get the chance to grow.
The strong disguised themselves as weak so they could get close to the weak and swallow them in one bite.
After this battle, Uchiha Sora would need quite some time to build up his reputation points before he could face the next crisis.
Until then, he was only a relatively strong Two-Tomoe user, and he still couldn't beat Shisui.
He had to make the others overestimate his strength as much as possible, so he could have time to grow.
—
Hiss...
After a vast amount of water vapor evaporated, it formed huge rain clouds. Torrential rain fell, putting out the forest fire.
Rayquaza's body slowly faded, turning into specks of light.
Before leaving, Rayquaza rested a claw on Uchiha Sora's head, leaving behind a verdant mark.
It was a contract.
According to their agreement, Uchiha Sora had to repay Rayquaza. If Rayquaza didn't need anything in return, he could also sell the contract to the platform.
Uchiha Sora would have to repay this debt to someone else.
In short, borrowed things had to be repaid.
Standing in the downpour, Uchiha Sora shook his head and smiled bitterly.
After maintaining his reputation as a trustworthy person for so long, he had suddenly saddled himself with a huge debt.
He looked up and saw his clansmen running toward him, each familiar face belonging to someone alive and well...
Ah...
This was worth it.
The third Tomoe slowly appeared in his eye.
—
In his previous life, Uchiha Sora had no family and nowhere to call home.
It was here that the love of his parents and clansmen had filled his hollow heart.
It didn't matter if the world thought he was crazy...
This was where my heart could find peace.
—
—
Konoha.
Outside the barrier, the Third and the others could only watch helplessly as the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself, using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to divide and seal the Nine-Tails.
Overwhelming grief filled their hearts.
The barrier shattered.
"Minato..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice choked with emotion. After this night, his temples had turned white.
Like many others, he had believed Minato was the Child of Prophecy Jiraiya had been searching for—the savior of the Shinobi World.
But...
Namikaze Minato was covered in blood, holding his wife, who had already lost all signs of life.
He forced a smile, full of regret and reluctance, as he looked at Naruto, his son, in the swaddling clothes.
"Third, I'm entrusting Naruto to you..."
"What happened with the village?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up Naruto and looked at Fugaku.
In the end, Fugaku had chosen not to deceive the Fourth Hokage.
"We... the Uchiha Clan, have chosen to leave Konoha."
"I see..."
Namikaze Minato gave a bitter smile and said to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "The one behind this incident isn't a member of the Uchiha Clan as it stands today... I suspect..."
"It was Madara Uchiha! He's still alive..."
The pauses between his words grew longer, and his breathing grew faint.
His life force was slowly fading.
Turning his gaze to Fugaku, Namikaze Minato smiled and said, "No matter what, Fugaku... we're comrades of Konoha."
"I'm sorry... I couldn't mend the rift between the Uchiha and the village... I'm sorry..."
"I'm asking you... at least when facing that enemy, can the Uchiha Clan help the village?"
Fugaku nodded solemnly. "I promise, Minato."
"Third... this is my final order as Hokage..."
Namikaze Minato's eyes shone brightly, as if in a final burst of life.
"The Uchiha Clan are absolutely not defectors. They must not be treated as missing-nin!"
"Goodbye... everyone."
With those words,
his proud head finally drooped, resting against the shoulder of the woman he loved.
The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
Dead.
—
A child's wail rang out, especially loud in the silence.
Hiss...
Rain fell on the village in the distance, washing away the blood and tears of that night.
—
—
Before you continue