A fierce chase was raging through the dark forest. The two sides were locked together like interlocking teeth, and swift-moving ninja could be seen everywhere among the trees. The air rang with clashing metal, thunderous explosions, and the death cries of the wounded. This secluded forest in the Land of Water had finally had its long-standing peace utterly shattered by human conflict.
Just as both sides were fighting with reckless abandon, a deafening boom erupted from the heart of the forest. BOOM! At the same time, an immense chakra presence descended upon the entire battlefield. The surrounding air seemed to solidify into crushing pressure, and every ninja felt their body suddenly grow heavy, as though they had been pinned beneath an enormous weight.
The ninja who had been fighting all instinctively halted and turned toward the center of the battlefield.
A blue figure formed from chakra was rapidly changing. First came bones, then muscles, until it finally condensed into a towering giant.
The blue giant stood at least a hundred meters tall, nearly level with the hundred-meter mountain beside it. Its smooth exterior consisted entirely of chakra-formed musculature, and its inner bones could faintly be seen. Its head was pointed like a rocket, while two extra forearms sprouted from each of its elbows like branches, giving it four hands in total. However, the structure was clearly unnatural; the additional forearms looked more like ornaments hanging from the main limbs.
"This is... Uchiha Madara's Susanoo!" Thanks to Nawaki's tireless efforts to spread the word, nearly every ninja present recognized the origin of this technique at once.
They had learned of this technique long ago, but intelligence reports were nowhere near as shocking as witnessing it firsthand. Seeing such an enormous chakra giant for the first time, everyone was stunned—even Minato and