Outbreak

The five-meter-tall Susanoo stood silently around Fugaku like a Little Giant, completely enveloping him.

With the Two-Tails at stake, Fugaku poured out his ocular power without restraint. Despite this being his first use, he had already extended Susanoo to its second stage.

"Roar!"

Under the influence of Tailed Beast Chakra, Yugito had already lost her reason. Like a wild beast, she howled continuously and struggled beneath Susanoo's restraint.

Behind her, two tails lashed incessantly. Even in her half-Tailed Beast Transformation state, Fugaku found her extremely difficult to control.

"Is this the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo?"

Kakashi stared at the Little Giant and muttered to himself, wondering whether his Sharingan could evolve as well.

"Kakashi!"

Danzo glanced at Kakashi, who was still stunned by Fugaku's Susanoo, and roared with a frown, "There's a time for admiration! Hurry up and help me seal the Tailed Beast!"

As he spoke, Danzo formed hand seals.

He could no longer afford to hide his slow hand-seal speed. Struggling, he arranged the memories in his mind with his hands. As Chakra flowed, Danzo pressed a palm against Yugito's head.

Black curse marks spread outward from the point where Danzo's palm had landed, gradually covering Yugito's entire body.

Yugito's violent movements froze in an instant. The Tailed Beast Chakra covering the surface of her body visibly began retracting toward her abdomen.

Once all the Chakra had withdrawn, Kakashi formed hand seals and pressed a hand against Yugito's abdomen, completely sealing Two-Tails Matatabi inside her.

The limp Yugito fell unconscious.

Unless a ninja specially trained in sealing arts undid the seals, these two seals would prevent Yugito from borrowing even a trace of Chakra from the Tailed Beast. Even her own Chakra would disappear.

"Fugaku, pick her up. We're striking back at Kumogakure!" Danzo's eyes gleamed coldly. So many of his subordinates had died, all so he could safely seal the Two-Tails.

The objective had been achieved. It was time to retaliate.

The moment his words fell, a deafening roar rang through the sky.

A bolt of black lightning descended from above and struck the battlefield where Kumogakure and Konoha were fighting.

What followed were all kinds of furious roars, rallying cries, and earth-shaking tremors.

"Looks like our people have arrived too."

With such a huge commotion, the main force evacuating from Si Ming Mountain had likely reached this place.

Danzo pulled the longsword from Yugito's body and gave it a light flick, scattering blood across the ground. He said to the two of them, "I'll go take command first. Catch up quickly."

With that, his figure turned into a black shadow, flashing rapidly between the branches as he rushed toward the battlefield.

"Where exactly did Lord Danzo go?!"

"Lord Danzo didn't run off again, did he?"

"Impossible!"

On the battlefield between Kumogakure and Konoha, Konoha's ninjas were clearly less imposing than Kumogakure's due to the absence of the Two-Tails and Danzo.

However, they had the advantage in numbers.

As a steady stream of Konoha ninjas arrived from every direction, Konoha clearly held the numerical advantage across the battlefield.

Darui's eyes flickered with intense Killing Intent. He had been held up for a long time and had no idea how Yugito was doing now.

This couldn't continue!

Darui clenched his fists and began forming hand seals. Black sparks crackled all over his body, while dark clouds gathered overhead. Drawn by Darui's influence, they seemed to be accumulating lightning.

The surrounding Konoha ninjas noticed the change in him and hurriedly prepared to retreat, but it was already too late.

"Get the hell out of my way!"

With Darui's furious roar, a thunderclap boomed, and a black bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl descended from the sky, striking the Konoha ninjas entangling him.

In an instant, nothing but charred corpses remained on the ground.

The entire battlefield fell silent for a moment. Everyone stared dumbfoundedly at Darui in the center, who was gasping heavily.

A ninjutsu capable of altering the weather had to be a forbidden technique of Kumogakure.

This Lightning Inducement technique, a forbidden art that drew upon the weather to enhance one's ninjutsu, was originally a secret technique of the Yotsuki Clan. However, after the Yotsuki Clan had served as Raikage for generations, Lightning Inducement had been listed as Kumogakure's forbidden technique.

"Kumogakure, attack with me!"

Samui immediately coordinated with Darui, rousing the fighting spirit within every Kumogakure ninja. Wielding a longsword, she shouted as she moved nimbly through the battlefield, harvesting lives one after another.

Amid the rising and falling battle cries, the Kumogakure ninjas seemed as though they had been injected with stimulants. One after another, they charged to the front of the formation without fear of death.

Konoha, by contrast, was low on morale. Danzo was absent, as was Uchiha Fugaku. The only one currently in charge was Yume Ryoma.

But as a Root Ninja who had always acted from the shadows, he was undoubtedly among the best at assassination, delivering messages, espionage, and similar tasks.

But now that he had removed his mask and stepped into the sunlight, he had no idea how to rally morale openly.

"You Kumogakure bastards! Remember my name! I am Mito Hiroichi!"

Just then, an urgent shout rang out. It was Konoha jonin Mito Hiroichi.

The one in power within the Mito Clan, he was also Mitokado Homura's biological nephew.

Although he had performed terribly in the Konoha camp earlier, at this moment, Mito Hiroichi still stepped forward. Leading his own force, he charged toward Kumogakure.

With someone taking the lead, the leaders of the other clans responded one after another, and the stagnant atmosphere on Konoha's side improved somewhat.

Ryoma cast Mito Hiroichi a grateful look. Though he had previously looked down somewhat on the people brought by Mitokado Homura, he now viewed them very differently.

Leading the remaining Root forces in a charge toward Kumogakure, Ryoma had initially only wanted to buy time for Danzo. But the current situation was no longer merely a matter of stalling.

If they did not attack now, Konoha's morale would plummet to rock bottom.

The two forces charged into each other. In combat between ninjas, even the slightest lapse could result in death.

Gasping heavily, Darui quietly watched the two forces collide and slaughter one another. In this chaotic melee, large-scale ninjutsu could no longer be used.

What mattered now was a ninja's taijutsu and combat experience.

Although his previous technique had possessed tremendous power and presence, it had consumed an equally tremendous amount of Chakra. But now was not the time to rest.

He glanced at Samui, who was fighting on the battlefield, just as her gaze met his.

Their eyes met, and Samui understood at once. Leading her small squad, she slowly shifted position and headed toward Darui.

"Go find Yugito. She chased after a Konoha jonin earlier and still hasn't returned. I have a bad feeling about this," Darui said quickly.

"Yes." Samui answered without hesitation, leading her squad as she prepared to withdraw from the battle circle.