"What? That's the Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
"So this is the legendary 'Divine Power,' Susanoo?"
"How is this possible?"
"I remember—that's Uchiha Natsume, isn't he? Fugaku's nephew?"
"Isn't he only ten years old? He's already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan? How is that possible?!"
As the towering Susanoo Demon God appeared,
in an instant,
every ninja watching nearby was utterly astonished.
There was no helping it. This demonic power, which had existed only in historical scrolls, had appeared before the world for the first time.
The shock it brought was truly beyond compare!
Granted, this was only the first stage of Susanoo, no more than a gigantic upper-body skeleton.
But that violent chakra aura, combined with the skeletal apparition towering over ten meters tall, was still immensely intimidating.
The Anbu Ninjas were all trembling with fear.
What made it even harder to believe was that such power, surpassing that of an elite jonin, had appeared in a Uchiha boy who was only ten years old...
It was almost as if they were dreaming.
At that moment,
when Fugaku saw Natsume awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and wield the 'Divine Power' of Susanoo,
he was also utterly shocked.
"You!"
"When did you awaken the Mangekyō?!"
"You've even mastered the 'Third Power'!"
"So this is what you were counting on?!"
He had never imagined that anyone could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan at such a young age!
He'd thought Itachi, who awakened the Mangekyō at thirteen, was already exceptional.
He hadn't expected this kid to be even more outrageous!
This kid had hidden his strength far too well!
If he'd known sooner,
his coup would surely have had a much better chance of succeeding!
It was a pity that this kid had such immense power,
yet instead of staging a coup, he'd decided to lead more than half the clan into exile.
How foolish!
"Natsume, stand down!"
"Even with the Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo, you won't succeed!"
"We can—"
"Hah! There's no point talking. Die!"
Natsume sneered and didn't waste another word.
He immediately sent Susanoo charging at Fugaku.
The giant skeletal fist came roaring down, stirring up wave after wave of violent wind.
Just as it was about to hit Fugaku—
or rather, just as everyone thought the head of the Uchiha Clan was about to be pounded into a meat paste—
in an instant,
a surge of dark chakra burst forth, rapidly taking shape and forming another towering skeletal Susanoo. It caught the punch head-on.
"Boom—"
A thunderous impact rang out.
A powerful shock wave swept past Fugaku and surged outward.
It reduced the clan leader's entire residence to rubble and left a broad swath of deep craters in the ground.
The sheer power was terrifying!
It was as though a heavy hammer had struck the hearts of everyone watching. Even the few ninjas who had been thinking of joining the fight stopped in their tracks,
afraid they'd be pounded into meat paste too.
Natsume's eyes lit up at the sight.
He'd known all along that Fugaku, the clan leader, had been hiding much of his strength.
But seeing him awaken the Mangekyō and use Susanoo with his own eyes still shook Natsume to the core.
A clan leader so skilled at enduring hardships, a warrior who had survived two Ninja World Wars—
and in the end, he'd willingly died at the hands of his own son.
How tragic!
And Konoha, which had wiped out the Uchiha Clan and crippled itself, was rotten to the core!
Natsume had made the right choice by fleeing Konoha and leaving that den of demons.
Natsume sighed inwardly.
But he showed no mercy in battle.
He continued directing Susanoo to attack Fugaku's black Susanoo.
Before long, the two 'demon gods' were clashing again.
Meanwhile,
in a dim alley far from the battlefield,
a boy wearing a fox mask watched the two powerful figures fighting at his family home and stood rooted to the spot.
"Father... Cousin Natsume... they're...?"
"How could this be?!"
He had already resolved to stain his hands with blood and bear all the blame.
So why had something so unexpected happened now?
And Cousin Natsume—hadn't he always been the dead-last student at the Ninja Academy?
How could he have such terrifying power?
He'd awakened the Mangekyō too, and was fighting his father on equal terms?
Countless questions arose in Itachi's mind.
But though he should have been the first to rush out and stop the fight, he didn't move.
Instead, he stayed hidden in the darkness, watching how the battle unfolded.
After all, he couldn't reveal himself yet, not while he was carrying out the mission to exterminate the clan!
The clash between the two Susanoo Demon Gods was far too brutal!
Every collision, every exchange,
sent out shock waves powerful enough to bring the surrounding buildings crashing down.
In no more than a few dozen seconds,
half the Uchiha district and dozens of homes had been reduced to rubble by the battle's aftershocks.
Confused Uchiha clan members fled their homes,
then stared at the fierce battle, just as bewildered.
No one knew why the clan leader they respected was suddenly fighting his own nephew like this.
Elsewhere,
as the battle raged on,
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
Before long, a series of rushing sounds filled the air.
The Hyuga Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, the Nara Clan, the Yamanaka Clan, and others...
Along with the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi,
the leader of Root, Shimura Danzō,
one Konoha leader and head of a powerful ninja clan after another arrived.
But at that moment, every one of them was shaken by the battle between the two towering Susanoo Demon Gods before them.
"So powerful! What kind of jutsu is that?"
"Who's Fugaku fighting? An intruder?"
"Careful! The wind from the battle is too strong. Don't let it sweep you away!"
Several powerful clan leaders exclaimed.
Even witnessing this scene,
the normally composed Third Sarutobi couldn't help but marvel:
"Is that the legendary Susanoo? The 'Divine Power' only Uchiha who have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan can wield?!"
"I never expected Fugaku to have hidden such power!"
Throughout the history of the Uchiha Clan,
only a handful of warriors had awakened the Mangekyō and wielded Susanoo.
He hadn't expected Fugaku to have achieved it in secret as well.
No wonder he'd dared to plot a coup two years ago!
"But what's with that boy?"
"Since when has the Uchiha Clan been hiding such a prodigy?"
"He's actually fighting Fugaku on equal terms?"
Sarutobi exclaimed again.
To be fair, even he might not have been able to withstand Susanoo if caught off guard!
"Reporting to Lord Third, that boy's name is Uchiha Natsume. He's Captain Fugaku's nephew and is currently studying at the Ninja Academy!"
A nearby Anbu Ninja hurriedly reported.
A student at the Ninja Academy?
He wasn't even a Genin?
What a joke!
At this rate, even an elite jonin wouldn't withstand one punch from him!
The gulf between the report and reality left everyone even more stunned.
Beside Sarutobi,
Danzō watched the boy fighting Fugaku with a dark expression, and grew even more wary of him.
A ten-year-old Uchiha boy had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and unlocked the Divine Power of Susanoo.
This kid's talent might even surpass Shisui and Itachi's!
Such a prodigy had to be eliminated!
If he was allowed to grow, he'd surely become the greatest obstacle to my becoming Hokage!
"Lord Third, if we let them keep fighting, the battle will eventually spread to other areas. Should we...?"
Nara Shikaku, the clan's strategist, asked with concern.
"Don't rush. First, order the Anbu and the jonin to evacuate the innocent residents nearby."
"Then set up a cordon and have the Barrier Team prepare."
"If the battlefield keeps spreading, activate the barrier to contain them!"
"Until then, avoid getting involved in the fight as much as possible, so we don't get caught in the crossfire!"
Sarutobi quickly issued his orders in a low voice.
After the Nine-Tails' invasion, the village had deliberately strengthened its training for situations like this, so things were still proceeding in an orderly manner.
Fortunately, the Uchiha district was far from the village center.
Even with the battle raging, the village's core had not been affected too badly. The situation was still under control.
Of course, the main reason was that Sarutobi didn't know how to stop the fight either.
If they charged in recklessly, forget the Anbu Ninjas—he himself couldn't withstand the fists of two Susanoo Demon Gods!
At the same time,
when Danzō heard that Sarutobi intended to keep watching, he grew anxious.
He hurriedly shouted:
"We can't wait!"
"The Uchiha Clan's infighting is affecting the village and endangering so many people. It proves they're coldhearted and have no regard for the village. Their treasonous intentions are plain to see!"
"Besides, a jutsu like that must consume an enormous amount of chakra. Now's our best chance to defeat them both and capture the entire Uchiha Clan in one fell swoop!"
"The situation is already critical. Are you still going to let the Uchiha Clan run rampant?"
Sarutobi frowned. "We know very little about Susanoo. If we attack recklessly, we'll only suffer more casualties!"
"It's only Susanoo! If we all attack together and combine our strength, we can surely kill these two traitors!"
Danzo pulled out a kunai and called out.
He put on a show of charging into battle at the head of the attack.
At the same time, he urged everyone around him to rush in together.
He hoped to seize the opportunity to eliminate Fugaku and that terrifying Uchiha boy!
But the next moment,
Danzo, who had only pretended to attack, froze in place.
Aside from a few Root ninja, not a single one of the others showed any sign of joining the attack.
Everyone stared straight at him, as if he were an idiot.
It was obvious that with the Third there,
it wasn't this Root leader's place to give everyone orders.
Besides, nobody would be foolish enough to charge headlong into that terrifying Susanoo Demon God.
Especially not with a weapon as feeble as a single kunai.
For a moment, clutching the kunai in his hand and caught between advancing and retreating, Danzo felt utterly embarrassed. His face turned pale with rage.
But after hesitating again and again, he still didn't dare take a step forward and attack.
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