The Balance's Reverse Suppression

Boom!

Though he stood still, the soil around his feet seemed to bear invisible pressure, rapidly cracking open in wide fissures.

Deep within his consciousness, the Fortune Balance shook violently.

The pan representing Lie Yang himself was sinking!

The second stage of the Gene Lock fully unleashed his body's potential.

His physique improved.

His muscles underwent a second growth.

His bone density increased sharply.

His blood flow, neural responses, and organ strength all transformed at once.

His body weight was skyrocketing!

For the first time, the pan that had been completely forced down by Kotoamatsukami and Konoha pressed down on the other side instead!

Rumble!

The other side of the balance abruptly rose.

A mysterious tide, undetectable by chakra and invisible to the Sharingan, appeared from nowhere and poured down from above the balance.

Whoosh!

The tide washed over Lie Yang's entire body.

It was neither cold.

Nor hot.

Yet it carried countless unfamiliar yet familiar presences.

Figures of Uchiha clansmen flashed through his senses one after another.

Some wore armor from the Warring States era, gripping ninja swords as they slaughtered Senju clan members amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Some stood at the dawn of Konoha's founding, looking up at the First Hokage's face on Hokage Rock.

Some entered the Konoha Police Force, the Uchiha fan crest printed on their backs.

There were even more clansmen—young and old, strong and weak. Their faces were blurred, leaving only pairs of scarlet Sharingan lighting up in succession within the tide.

None of these figures spoke.

Nor did they linger.

They passed through Lie Yang's mind and body alongside the mysterious tide, finally merging into the deepest parts of him.

Thump!

His heart beat for the third time.

All the figures vanished at once.

His muscles stopped growing.

His bones no longer crackled.

The Fortune Balance settled into place.

The transformation of the second stage Gene Lock was fully complete!

A thousand meters away.

Large numbers of Konoha ninja had gathered on the hillsides and among the high trees, staring from afar at the plain that had become ruins.

They did not approach immediately.

The commotion from that battle had been too terrifying.

The unbroken thunder had carried for dozens of miles.

The sharp roars of clashing weapons had lasted a full half minute.

Then came the green skeletal giant, which had forced every ninja who rushed over to provide support to halt a thousand meters away.

Each time that massive figure threw a punch, the earth shook violently.

Rubble was flung high into the sky.

Gales flattened vast stretches of grass and trees.

When dozens of green arrows finally fell at once, the entire plain seemed blanketed by war-grade ninjutsu. The shaking ground even left some weaker chūnin unable to stand steady.

A Konoha ninja swallowed hard.

"Was that Susanoo?"

The Uchiha clansman beside him stared fixedly at the center of the battlefield.

Even from a thousand meters away, he could still feel the pressure originating from the depths of his bloodline.

"There's no mistake."

"Only someone who has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan can wield that kind of power."

Another man's voice was hoarse.

"That giant had already grown muscles and fascia."

"Shisui developed Susanoo to such a degree?"

No one answered.

They had seen the green giant rise from the earth.

They had seen Susanoo swing its massive fist and smash the ground into deep craters.

They had seen that colossal being crack apart again and again amid Earth Release, lightning, and Wind Release explosions, only to reform each time.

This battle had long surpassed a level that ordinary ninja could intervene in.

An ANBU raised a hand to his mask, his voice low.

"The most terrifying one isn't Shisui."

"It's Uchiha Lieyang."

"Shisui has already used the Mangekyō's ultimate ocular technique."

"Yet Lieyang never activated his own Susanoo."

The surrounding ninja all caught their breath.

Only now did they truly realize it.

Lieyang possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan as well!

Yet when facing a godlike chakra giant, he had fought on without retreating, relying only on his body, swordsmanship, and ninjutsu.

He had even blocked Susanoo's massive fist head-on with one arm!

That scene had been too far away for most people to make out the details.

But the Hyūga ninja with the Byakugan had seen it clearly.

The veins around his temples bulged, and his voice still carried undisguised shock.

"He didn't use any special ninjutsu."

"Lieyang blocked Shisui's Susanoo with his right arm alone."

Several ninja beside him turned at once.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

The Hyūga ninja spoke with difficulty.

"His chakra only erupted after the fist came down."

"At the instant he caught it, he relied entirely on physical strength."

They looked at one another.

Someone sucked in a cold breath.

Others instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons, though their palms were already soaked with sweat.

Catching Susanoo's massive fist with one hand.

Was that power a human could possess?

"Then what's the point of us going over there?"

"In that kind of battle, getting close is just suicide!"

"Can Captain Kakashi and the others really win?"

Before the discussion died down, the green Susanoo completely collapsed amid the explosion of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

Immediately afterward, Lieyang's chakra rapidly weakened.

In the end, even his life force began to fade.

The Hyūga ninja pushed his Byakugan to its limit and continued observing the battlefield.

A moment later, he suddenly spoke.

"Kakashi's Lightning Cutter pierced Lieyang's lung!"

"Shisui's ocular technique hit too!"

The people around him perked up.

"Did they succeed?"

"Has Lieyang been controlled?"

"How is his condition?"

The Hyūga ninja stared at Lieyang's chest.

It had been pierced straight through from front to back. His lung had been torn apart by Lightning Release, and blood and fragments of internal organs continually spilled out.

"His presence is weak."

"His body is severely injured."

"His chakra is nearly exhausted."

As those words fell, the fear weighing on everyone's hearts quickly faded.

A Root ninja immediately said, "The battle is over."

"Shisui's ocular technique struck successfully, and Kakashi completed the fatal attack."

"The Konoha squad has won."

"Everyone, enter the battlefield at once!"

The order spread.

Large numbers of ninja stopped hesitating and charged from the hillsides and forest toward the plain.

Some prepared to support Kakashi's group.

Some took out sealing scrolls.

Several medical ninja rushed toward the center of the battlefield at full speed.

The tension they had held in for so long finally broke free.

"That was a battle between two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"Captain Kakashi and the others really won!"

"Lieyang killed so many of our comrades. He's finally been captured!"

Figures leaped down from the treetops one after another.

Chakra erupted in succession.

Everyone believed the battle was over.

Only Nara Shikayū did not speed up.

He stood toward the rear of the group, his gaze fixed on the blood-covered figure in the distance.

It had gone too smoothly.

Not that the battle had not been brutal enough.

On the contrary, Kakashi's group of four had nearly been pushed to their limits.

Might Guy's hamstrings had ruptured.

Shisui's Susanoo had collapsed.

Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi had likewise expended enormous amounts of chakra.

The battlefield itself had been utterly destroyed.

From every angle, this was a victory won at a terrible cost.

Yet the unease in Shikayū's heart had not faded.

Instead, it grew stronger and stronger.

A ninja traveling with him noticed his pace.

"Shikayū, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"The medical ninja have already gone ahead. We need to hurry too."

After a moment of silence, Shikayū suddenly asked, "Why do you think Lieyang lost?"

That ninja froze for a moment.

"Shisui used Susanoo and Kotoamatsukami."

"Kakashi then pierced his lung from behind with the Lightning Cutter."

"How could he possibly not lose under those circumstances?"

"I'm asking why he forced himself into this situation."

The other man frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Shikayū stared into the distance.

"Lieyang possesses the Lightning Body Flicker."

"In the white mist, he could easily shake off his pursuers."

"During a direct battle, ordinary sensory ninja couldn't lock onto him either."

"Even if he couldn't defeat Susanoo, he could have left at any time."

"But he didn't."

"He kept clashing head-on with Shisui."

The joy on the accompanying ninjas' faces gradually faded.

"Perhaps he thinks he can win."

"Lie Yang never overestimates himself."

Lu You recalled the last encirclement.

From using Earth Rising Spears to alter the shuriken's trajectory,

to taking advantage of Might Guy leaving the treetop to force Kakashi back to assist,

then covering the battlefield with the Hidden Mist Technique and precisely killing the sensory ninja.