The night before Yuan Ming was due to lead his forces into battle,
the Shrine Maiden,
using her divine power,
gave him a glimpse of the future.
Although
Miko's abilities were not as great as Gamamaru's,
and she couldn't see very far ahead,
the vision only told her that if Yuan Ming acted alone,
or the Uchiha forces weren't all together,
they would be powerless to fight back against the calamity that descended.
She also told him
that the Land of Whirlpools was an island nation in the sea, and a terrifying ocular power spreading from the Land of Water
had stopped Miko from looking any deeper.
She felt apologetic about it,
but she couldn't see
what the enormous calamity in this place actually was.
But the toads were a simple matter.
As Yuan Ming's Shrine Maiden, she had used her divine power
to learn their intentions
inside and out.
He took Miko's warning to heart.
He brought along every fighting force he could gather.
Suppressing the thoughts swirling in his mind,
Yuan Ming explained to Hikari:
"Miko foresaw that if I didn't bring you all this time,"
"we'd run into something terrifying that we couldn't handle. So be patient... Hikari..."
Uchiha Hikari nodded solemnly to show she understood.
She had met that fox spirit of a Shrine Maiden a few times and knew a little about her abilities.
Gazing into the eyes of the person closest to her,
the girl said, each word clear:
"No matter what kind of enemy we face, I'll help Yuan Ming deal with them!"
Uchiha Yuan Ming smiled and nodded.
He turned his gaze
toward the ninja surrounding the town,
his expression growing increasingly fierce,
then gave a savage grin.
"Hikari, let's begin!"
The girl nodded solemnly.
A hum rang out!
Her Sharingan spun rapidly, and her immense chakra surged and burned.
In an instant,
she completed the hand seals.
[Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame]
A sea of flames covered the earth, surging toward the enemy like a landslide.
And that wasn't all.
Yuan Ming, standing beside her,
had completed his own jutsu
the instant the girl finished her hand seals.
[Wind Style: Pressure Damage]
A high-pressure tornado, as cataclysmic as a natural disaster, raced after the sea of fire... then churned the heavens and earth!
The wind fed the flames, and the flames danced with the wind.
At that moment,
the grand Concerto of Wind and Fire rang out across the world!
Leaving nowhere to hide and no way to fight back!
The ninjas surrounding the town
saw the flames covering the sky and earth.
"What is that?"
"Fire Release? Since when was there a Fire Release this absurd?"
"Don't just stand there! Get ready to deal with it!"
The ninjas' faces were full of shock, tension, and fear
as they quickly responded.
The Mist Ninja huddled together and poured out chakra,
using Water Formation Wall.
The Cloud Ninja had no intention of dying in the sea of fire either,
and each of them brought out their own life-saving tricks!
In the blink of an eye,
the towering sea of flames struck them.
—BOOM!
A massive roar
sent ripples through the cloudlike flames.
Without mercy, without distinction,
the flames caressed every ninja on the field!
On a distant mountain overlooking the town,
Uchiha Madara watched it all with great interest.
Seeing the ninjas on the field nearly wiped out by that sea of fire,
he chuckled.
"Not bad, that kid—and that young girl, too."
Zetsu glanced at Uchiha Madara,
then turned his gaze
to the field, where the pair had finished their combination jutsu
and were now slaughtering the remaining ninjas.
He said gravely:
"Lord Madara, remember: once you clash with them, kill the kunoichi first."
For the past few years,
he had worked tirelessly, wandering around the Uchiha Clan Compound every day.
He had wanted to find out
what the young girl's ocular jutsu was,
the one that warped people's minds during the Uchiha civil war.
At first, things had gone well,
but after the second year, even the Uchiha elites
had begun to notice him watching them.
Fortunately, he had already uncovered the girl's ocular jutsu.
He had accomplished his goal,
and realizing things were going badly, he had immediately stopped.
Shaking off his thoughts,
Zetsu offered another warning:
"You know that young girl's ocular power, Lord Madara. Even you could fall victim to it."
Zetsu's warning reached
Uchiha Madara's ears, and his smile faded.
He grew serious.
"That's true... There's no need for the 'Yachihoko' ocular jutsu to exist in this world."
As if he had thought of something, his expression slowly turned cruel.
"Her very existence is an obstacle. I'll make sure to kill her the moment we begin!"
With that,
he adjusted
the Gunbai in his hands and the Tosei Gusoku he wore, preparing to enter the fray.
Just then,
an unexpected change unfolded on the field.
"Oh? Are those toads from Mount Myoboku?"
Zetsu's lips curled into a delighted grin.
He gave a cold laugh.
"Looks like we're not the only ones who want that kid dead, Lord Madara."
Uchiha Madara gripped the Gunbai tightly.
Then he leaped down.
"Doesn't matter. They've done me a favor. That young girl's been separated from him!"
"Now let's see what the young girl is made of!"
Uchiha Yuan Ming stared at the enormous toad before him,
his expression cold.
A little over ten minutes earlier,
their combination jutsu had dealt heavy losses to the Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja.
He had immediately fired a signal flare to Governance in the distance.
Then,
he and the girl had used Nintaijutsu
to charge onto the battlefield
and finish off every surviving ninja.
Who could have guessed
that this giant old toad would suddenly descend from the sky with a group of other toads?
He glanced toward where the girl was in the distance.
She was being tied up by an enormous toad wielding twin blades, along with dozens of toad underlings it led.
He raised his head.
Uchiha Yuan Ming's Sharingan glinted with a hint of murderous intent.
He asked coldly:
"Great Toad Sage? What does this mean?"
The towering giant toad
lowered its head.
Its eyes held a kindly look as it slowly opened its enormous mouth.
It spoke gently:
"Uchiha, I mean you no harm... I only wish to invite you to visit me at Mount Myoboku."
Hearing that, Uchiha Yuan Ming was so furious he laughed.
He pointed toward...
the girl struggling with the toads.
"And you call this no harm?"
He turned his ninja blade,
pointing its tip at the Great Toad Sage.
He sneered:
"Is this how you normally invite someone?"
The Great Toad Sage sighed,
then spoke mournfully:
"Young man, you've misunderstood me far too deeply."
"It seems that for the future of the Shinobi World, I have no choice but to..."
As he spoke,
the Great Toad Sage's kindly, sorrowful expression suddenly changed, and vicious malice flooded the entire area.
"Eat you!"
Just then,
surging Sage Power boiled up around the Great Toad Sage.
He spread his enormous webbed paws,
and, carrying terrifying Coercion, brought them down on Uchiha Genmei!
That was Mount Myoboku's secret technique.
[Sage Art: Frog Kumite!]
Seeing this,
Uchiha Genmei unleashed Godspeed and dodged to the side.
He sneered:
"You should've done that from the start!"
His gaze sharpened,
and the ocular power in his crimson eyes... blazed and burst forth!
In an instant,
a golden giant adorned with mysterious patterns rapidly took shape.
Within Giant God Red Brow, Yuan Ming
rose higher and higher.
He stared at the Natural Energy flickering across the giant toad's webbed paw.
A vicious grin spread across his face,
and he shouted cruelly:
"Crush it, Susanoo!"
The giant swept out its right hand. Golden divine energy surged and transformed into a Divine Sword!
Bang!
The Divine Sword collided with the giant paw brimming with Sage Power, and the giant palm blocked the Tsumugari Great Blade.
But!
The blade's fierce edge,
empowered by the Sage Power's mysterious patterns, sent the Great Toad Sage stumbling backward again and again.
Seeing this,
Yuan Ming's eyes trembled, and roaring Amaterasu Fire erupted along the blade.
He chanted loudly:
"Sword, shine with brilliance and unleash your flames! Let the demons before you wither away like scattering blossoms!"
In an instant,
a massive blaze soared into the sky,
and the Sword of Blazing Fire, burning at six thousand degrees, surged toward Gamamaru.
Meanwhile,
Uchiha Hikari, who had already grown impatient, released her ocular jutsu and took control of the toads.
Seeing
Yuan Ming battling that gigantic old toad,
she was about to go join him
and kill their enemy,
when a haughty voice sounded from behind her:
"Where do you think you're going, little Uchiha girl?"
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