Susanoo

Uchiha Izuna opened the door and saw little Hinata standing there, looking nervous. He couldn't help laughing. "You're still awake this late? Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"No, because I'm not six yet," Hinata Hyuga replied innocently.

Uchiha Izuna was speechless. Right—how had he forgotten? Naruto Uzumaki had graduated at twelve, which meant he'd started school at around six.

Hinata Hyuga was only a little over five. What school could she possibly be going to?

Uchiha Izuna felt a little awkward. Uchiha Shisui stepped in to smooth things over. "Miss Hinata, are you saying the Ino-Shika-Cho clans have arrived?"

Hinata nodded. "Uncle Nara, Uncle Akimichi, and Uncle Yamanaka are at the gate now. When I came over, Father was escorting them to the main hall."

Uchiha Izuna nodded. "All right, I understand. Thanks, little Hinata!" He pinched her cheek, then glanced at Uchiha Itachi, who was still in bed, and snorted before heading toward the main hall.

Uchiha Shisui gave the sleeping Uchiha Itachi a hard smack. "Wake up! The main event is here. This is the moment that will decide Konoha's future!"

Uchiha Itachi immediately woke up and sat bolt upright in bed. His eyes were still unfocused, though. Clearly, he wasn't fully awake yet and was still lost in his dreams.

"What's going on? What is it, Shisui?" Uchiha Itachi asked, looking utterly clueless. Uchiha Shisui gritted his teeth.

"Get up and follow me! Something big is about to happen!" As he spoke, Uchiha Shisui tossed him his clothes.

Only after Uchiha Shisui scolded him did Uchiha Itachi come to his senses. He hurriedly got dressed, then followed him as they rushed toward the main hall.

Shikaku Nara sat in the seat of honor on the right, while the corresponding seat on the left remained empty. He spoke up. "Hiashi, is anyone sitting there? If not, I'll have one of my men take that seat."

Hyuga Hiashi smiled. "Oh, that seat? He got tired from setting fires, so he's still resting. I saw him open his mouth, and in an instant, the entire mountain range went up in flames."

Shikaku Nara's pupils contracted. One blast of fire? S-rank Fire Release? How else could he have set a mountain ablaze and scared Shimura Danzō and his men into fleeing without looking back? Interesting. This Uchiha ninja was something else.

"Don't worry. I've already sent Hinata to notify him. Just relax. Come, let's drain our cups!" Hyuga Hiashi raised his wine cup toward Shikaku Nara.

Shikaku Nara gave Hyuga Hiashi a long look, then downed the wine in his cup.

Just then, someone came to report, "Clan head, Uchiha Izuna has arrived."

At that, Hyuga Hiashi smiled. "Shikaku, the person you've been waiting for is here. Don't set your expectations too high."

Shikaku Nara glanced at him. "I know what I'm doing." He set down his cup, straightened up, and looked toward the door.

According to Hyuga Hiashi and his subordinates, Uchiha Izuna was the real deal. Shikaku Nara was also curious to see just how capable the man who had prompted Hyuga Hiashi to personally invite them could be.

Choza Akimichi paid none of this any mind and kept eating. As far as he was concerned, thinking was Shikaku Nara's job; all he had to do was offer his support.

Inoichi Yamanaka, meanwhile, sipped his wine, though his eyes kept darting toward the door. He remembered that the Uchiha were the only ninja clan that hadn't submitted to Shimura Danzō.

He wanted to see for himself what the Uchiha's current leader was capable of!

Uchiha Izuna stopped at the entrance and straightened his clothes. Then he pushed open the door and took his first step inside!

A burst of violent blue chakra erupted. Everyone in the hall felt their minds go blank and struggled to breathe.

Ding! Quest issued: Subdue Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka. Reward: chakra of all five nature types.

The system had issued the quest as he left the guest room. It was also what had made him abandon his plan to keep a low profile and choose instead to make a dramatic entrance and seize the initiative!

"Everyone, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." As he spoke, Uchiha Izuna didn't ease up on the chakra pressure. Instead, he doubled it!

Choza Akimichi struggled to lift his head, bit off a piece of the chicken leg in his hand, then bent back down to keep chewing. Come on, even with disaster staring him in the face, he wasn't going to let it interrupt his meal!

If he had to die, he'd die with a full stomach!

Inoichi Yamanaka stared at him in terror. He couldn't straighten his back and was slumped over the table. Is this the Uchiha Clan's trump card? So powerful—the pressure is on par with the Nine-Tails!

(Uchiha Madara: "???" Nine-Tails: "!!!")

Shikaku Nara fought to keep himself from yielding. The harder he resisted, the heavier the pressure on him became.

Hyuga Hiashi immediately started cursing. "Izuna, we're on the same team! Could you stop crushing me with your chakra?"

Uchiha Izuna's chakra pressure paused at just the right moment. He scratched his head. "Sorry, that's my fault!" He withdrew the pressure on Hyuga Hiashi, then focused again on intimidating Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka.

Hyuga Hiashi rolled his eyes. He didn't believe for a second that Uchiha Izuna had done it by accident. He was clearly showing him just how powerful he was and how vast his chakra reserves were.

Shikaku Nara finally sighed. "Uchiha Izuna, that's enough. We know how strong you are. You do have the power to change Konoha's balance, but brute force alone won't make us submit."

After hearing that, Uchiha Izuna withdrew his chakra pressure and smiled at Shikaku Nara. "As expected of Konoha's renowned tactician. You're quick on the uptake."

Just then, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui arrived. Uchiha Izuna gave them a meaningful look, and they immediately understood what he'd told them earlier.

They shut the main doors, then manifested the second forms of their Susanoo inside the hall. Red and green Susanoo appeared.

Though they were only upper bodies, the chakra and pressure radiating from them made everyone present miss a heartbeat.

"Th-this is Susanoo? The power said to rival the gods!" Shikaku Nara's pupils contracted, and his voice trembled.

He remembered his father saying that when Uchiha Madara's Susanoo appeared, it could take out a small country with a single slash!

But the First had been too idealistic, which was why the Five Great Nations and their five ninja villages had never been united.

So much time had passed, and now, at last, he was seeing the Uchiha Clan's Susanoo with his own eyes—and there were two of them!

The next moment, Uchiha Izuna activated his blue Susanoo!

From that moment on, the hall fell utterly silent.