Chaos

When strange phenomena descend from the heavens, great chaos is sure to follow.

At this moment, the Imperial God Blade, originally enshrined in the center of Uchiha Kei's shrine, seemed to receive a supreme mandate; it shattered the shrine and flew straight toward Uchiha Kei.

Kei caught the Imperial God Blade in his hand. This mass-produced weapon, crafted from mere refined steel and a bit of chakra-conductive material, was no longer ordinary. Just by gripping it, Kei could feel a surge of immense power.

Within the surrounding lands, all who witnessed this strange phenomenon could not help but kneel, praying to their respective gods. Regardless of which deity they prayed to, their faith transformed into power, converging upon this Imperial God Blade.

As the power gathered, the anomalies at Naka Shrine intensified, and the range of the oppressive pressure expanded outward without end.

Gripping the Imperial God Blade, Kei could not help but shout, "Bloom, Amenotokotachi."

All around, the power of faith converged into Kei's right eye.

At this moment, wherever Kei's gaze fell, every time he saw a wielder of Fear Armor, he would call out the name of a yokai. With every name called, a star would appear in Kei's right eye.

The yokai whose names were called broke free from the shackles of the Fear Armor, manifesting as terrifying yokai statues. Though some of the great yokai were not as massive as Susanoo, they seemed to possess the strength to contend with it.

Nurarihyon, Aobozu, Tamamo-no-Mae, Hannya, and Zashiki-warashi—they manifested with substance, wantonly displaying their own terror.

Uchiha Hotaru, the woman favored by the snake, was especially prominent.

Without having learned any Sage Mode, Hotaru's body gathered a vast amount of natural energy, and the figure of Yamata no Orochi appeared upon her.

The Yamata no Orochi grew visibly larger, as if it intended to devour a Susanoo whole.

Hotaru did not need the assistance of the White Snake Sage clan at all to easily manipulate the natural energy of the ninja world.

This defied all logic. If everyone could freely invoke Sage Mode without the recognition of the Three Great Sage Regions, then what use would those regions have?

Such an occurrence—opening Sage Mode without external aid—rarely happened in the ninja world. If it did, it could only be in an incarnation of Asura, for he was, after all, the son of the Sage of Six Paths who had established the rules of the ninja world.

Opening Sage Mode required the recognition of the Three Great Sage Regions; this was an agreement between the three Great Sages and the Sage of Six Paths. Others did not possess this privilege.

Yet, an accident had occurred today: a woman was wantonly manipulating the natural forces of the ninja world without even so much as a greeting to the Three Great Sage Regions.

Not only that, but the Little Green Snake—a representative of the Three Great Sage Regions and a descendant of the White Snake Sage who was not exactly useless—coiled around Hotaru's shoulder, desperately channeling the power of Earth Dragon Cave to bolster her, even though Hotaru had no need for it.

This sycophantic behavior was not stopped by the Great White Snake Sage; instead, it was supported.

A true Yamata no Orochi seemed about to appear in the ninja world.

Powerful and shocking, it made a thought inevitably surface in one's heart: the world-ending serpent had arrived.

Because of Hotaru's extraordinary performance and Kei's empowerment of the yokai, they had brought disaster upon the world.

The four Susanoo, which had originally been puppets under control, became uncontrollable the moment the Yamata no Orochi descended into the world.

This was completely outside of Kei's expectations.

The four Susanoo seemed to sense something; they began to coalesce, forming a true divine statue. This statue was so powerful that the entire ninja world could feel that a true god had descended.

In this moment, the ninja world lost its sunlight, and the sky turned into a twilight hue.

With the Totsuka Blade gathered in its hand, it seemed as if a true myth was about to play out in the ninja world.

When humans walk, they do not feel guilty for stepping on ants; just as when a god begins to swing its blade, it does not consider whether humans can withstand such a catastrophe.

Kei believed that if this giant statue, formed by the convergence of four Susanoo and imbued with the power of a true god, were to swing its blade, the entire earth would be torn asunder.

The consequences would be beyond what the Uchiha clan or Konoha could handle; even the entire Land of Fire might not survive it.

Who could have imagined that he had only hoped to show Fugaku how powerful the Uchiha could be by mastering the power of gods and yokai, only to cause such a situation?

Indeed, it is always humanity's own ignorance and curiosity that ultimately destroys them.

"Daitengu, Shuten-doji, Jorogumo, Teke Teke, Gashadokuro, Red Cape, Tsuchigumo." One by one, the names of the yokai spilled from Kei's lips.

To resolve the situation at hand, he could only rely on even greater power. To stop Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Kei was going all out.

The power of the yokai grew increasingly intense. The stars in Kei's right eye rotated, and blood began to flow from it.

This power had already far exceeded Uchiha Kei's limits. But there was no choice; even if he were to go blind, Kei had to persevere.

As Kei recited more and more names of yokai, those single-tomoe genin who had originally not mastered any yokai power began to feel the power of "Fear."

They had all previously exchanged for the anti-yokai treasures that interested them, waiting for the day their strength would allow them to master the yokai power brought by Lord Kei.

And at this moment, despite clearly lacking the capacity to master such power, their bodies began to partially undergo armor-transformation.

The power known as "Fear," absorbed by the yokai, began to condense.

Quantitative change led to qualitative change; the kingdom of yokai established by Amenotokotachi seemed about to descend upon the mortal realm.

"Hyakki Yagyo!"

Kei did not know why he shouted this slogan, but the moment it left his lips, the power of the yokai reached its peak.

If a god is a tiger, then the hundred demons are a pack of wolves. Gods naturally possess a racial suppression over yokai.

But when a tiger leads a pack of starving wolves to confront another tiger, that racial suppression ceases to exist.

By the dignity of a deity, he commanded the Hyakki Yagyo, granting the hundred demons a status that allowed them to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with gods.

The Yamata no Orochi, having gathered the energy of the entire Earth Dragon Cave, lowered its arrogant head; as a member of the yokai, returning to the ranks of the hundred demons was its true destination.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto, having merged with the four Susanoo, also sheathed the Totsuka Blade in his hand. Amenotokotachi was, after all, one of the five heavenly gods whom even his father revered.

Wielding the Imperial God Blade, Kei led the swarm of yokai and actually suppressed the power of the god.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto finally dissolved back into Susanoo, and the three who had summoned the avatars were finally able to regain control over their ninjutsu.

Because of Kei's overwhelming strength, a cataclysmic natural disaster had finally been brought to an end. Yet, the shock felt by the entire ninja world would not be mitigated by Kei's contribution, for an even greater phenomenon was unfolding across the sky.

The entire firmament transformed into a canvas, staging the myth of Susanoo-no-Mikoto slaying the Yamata no Orochi.

Although it lasted only a few brief minutes, the entire ninja world witnessed the spectacle; from this day forward, the seeds of myth had finally been sown in this world.

Uchiha Kei and Fugaku, the ones who had caused all of this, needed time to process what had happened.

"What kind of terrifying power have we actually grasped!"

Fugaku still felt a lingering sense of dread.

"Can the ninja world tolerate us being this powerful?"

Uchiha Itachi was deeply worried.

Kei felt quite helpless as well.

"It seems I was truly born to be a peacemaker!"