You want to tell me what to do?

Uchiha En moved.

Susanoo's right hand tightened around the enormous Tang Dao and swung it hard!

It was just a casual slash.

Whoosh!

A black blade of energy shot from its edge, sweeping through the entire Four Violet Flames Formation. The formation instantly collapsed and vanished.

The blade of energy tore through the air with a shrill sonic boom.

The Root ninja who had been preparing their jutsu widened their eyes.

They tried to dodge, but it was too fast for them to react.

Slash!

One Root ninja was cut clean through the waist, his body splitting in two as blood sprayed out.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The sounds of cutting flesh rang out one after another.

Three, four, five...

In the blink of an eye, seven Root ninja were struck and severed, their blood staining the entire clearing red.

Of the five remaining ninja, Kiyomizu Kensuke had been standing farther back. The other four had only escaped the slash because they were far away after the barrier shattered.

Even so, the shock wave sent them flying. Kiyomizu Kensuke struggled to his feet and looked down, only to find a wound across his chest deep enough to expose bone.

Blood poured from the wound, soaking his clothes red.

His body trembled.

One slash.

Just one slash.

It had killed seven elite jōnin.

Was this... the power of Susanoo?

He raised his head and looked at the black giant towering amid the dust.

The two crimson lights in the eye sockets of its mask stared coldly at him.

As though he were an ant.

Kiyomizu Kensuke's heart sank completely.

"This... this isn't even a fight between opponents on the same level..."

His voice was hoarse with despair.

Uchiha En paid no heed to his despair.

He controlled Susanoo, slowly raising its right hand and aiming the tip of the Tang Dao at the remaining Root ninja.

"It's over."

His voice was calm, as though he were discussing something utterly trivial.

But just then.

"Spare them..."

An elderly voice suddenly rang out from the distance. It belonged to the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Uchiha En turned toward the distance, where a large crowd was rushing toward him.

Some wore Anbu uniforms, others wore their clans' attire, and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi wore his Hokage Robe.

After making out the black Susanoo in the smoke, a young ninja spoke in a trembling voice.

"Wh-what is that?"

His voice was filled with shock.

"Susanoo!!"

An older ninja recognized it. At his words, everyone rushing toward the scene froze for a moment.

Susanoo?! The Uchiha's legendary ultimate visual jutsu?!

Meanwhile, several Uchiha jonin in the Uchiha Clan's district had immediately sensed that familiar, terrifying surge of chakra.

It was the surge of the Sharingan's ocular power.

Immensely powerful.

So powerful that their own Sharingan resonated involuntarily.

"Is that... the Clan Head's chakra?!"

An Uchiha jonin exclaimed.

"The Clan Head... is in trouble!"

The Uchiha jonin exchanged glances, then charged toward the source of the chakra without hesitation.

The sudden eruption of terrifying chakra had alarmed all of Konoha.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi hurried forward, he watched the black giant looming through the smoke, his expression utterly grim.

"Danzo..."

Through gritted teeth, he pronounced the name syllable by syllable.

"This is your doing again!"

He drew a deep breath, then turned to those beside him.

"Pick up the pace!"

Uchiha En ignored Hiruzen Sarutobi's words. Susanoo's right hand shot up, and the enormous Tang Dao swept out horizontally!

A black blade of energy shot from its edge, tearing through the air with a shrill sonic boom as it hurtled toward the five Root ninja!

The five Root ninja tried to dodge, but it was too fast.

Too fast for their bodies to react.

Whoosh!

The black blade of energy swept past.

All five Root ninja were cut in two.

Blood sprayed out, staining the soil beneath their feet red.

Five corpses fell to the ground, their eyes wide. They had not even understood what was happening before they died.

In the clearing deep within the Forest of Death, the dust slowly settled.

When the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with the Anbu and the heads of the major clans, they found a devastated battlefield.

Jutsu had blasted craters across the ground, swathes of trees lay toppled around them, and the air carried the smell of scorching and a faint tang of blood.

The black Susanoo, seventeen or eighteen meters tall, stood in the middle of the clearing.

With black armor, an ancient mask, eye sockets blazing crimson, an enormous ink-black Tang Dao in its right hand, and a shield carved with intricate patterns in its left, it resembled a demon god that had stepped out of ancient myth.

Everyone who arrived was stunned by the sight.

Hyuga Hiashi had already activated his Byakugan. When he saw the black giant formed entirely from chakra, his pupils contracted sharply.

"It really is... Susanoo."

The clan heads behind him also drew sharp breaths.

"So this is... the legendary Susanoo?"

"The Uchiha Clan's ultimate visual jutsu..."

"To think someone in this generation could awaken it..."

Shibi Aburame adjusted his sunglasses without speaking, but his clenched fingers betrayed his inner turmoil.

Tsume Inuzuka's ninja dog let out a low whimper, clearly unsettled by the pressure of that terrifying chakra.

The heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans stood together. Shikaku Nara narrowed his eyes at the black giant, rapidly weighing something in his mind.

But at that moment, the most shocked person was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He stood at the front of the crowd, staring at Susanoo, his right hand trembling slightly.

He had seen Susanoo before, back when Madara Uchiha was around. That had been decades ago. He had never imagined he would witness this legendary power again in his lifetime.

And the one wielding it was a young man.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi was still Hiruzen Sarutobi. Having served as Hokage for decades, he did not lose his nerve, nor did he believe Uchiha En would dare attack him here.

He glanced at the five Root ninja he had tried to save by telling Uchiha En to stop. They were now five corpses.

"You..."

He turned back, fixing a fierce stare on Uchiha En inside Susanoo.

"I told you to stop... didn't you hear me?!"

Standing within Susanoo's head, Uchiha En shrugged.

"I heard you."

"But why should I listen to you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze.

Uchiha En continued, a trace of mockery in his voice.

"These people came to kill me."

"You think you can just say 'stop' and make me let them go, Lord Third?"

"Wouldn't that make me a little too accommodating?"

"Or..."

He tilted his head.

"Lord Third, do you want to tell me what to do?"

The question left Hiruzen Sarutobi speechless.

Just then, another group arrived at the edge of the clearing.

Several Uchiha jonin had rushed over as soon as they sensed their clan head's chakra. When they saw the scene, they all froze for a moment.

The corpses strewn across the ground...

The enormous Susanoo...

And the Third Hokage's livid face...

"Clan Head!"

An Uchiha jonin called loudly from in front of Susanoo.

"Are you all right?"

Uchiha En waved a hand.

"I'm fine."

His gaze shifted to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and a faint smile curled his lips.

"Lord Third."

"A question just occurred to me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned at him.

Uchiha En did not speak loudly, but everyone present heard him clearly.

"Didn't you say... every single Root ninja had been absorbed into the Anbu?"

At those words, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed instantly.

Uchiha En did not stop. He continued questioning him, his voice carrying a playful edge.

"Then how did these twelve slip through the net?"

"Or..."

He paused, his gaze turning pointed.

"Were these people... actually acting on your orders?"

As he spoke, the tip of the Tang Dao in the black Susanoo's hand shifted toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, seemingly by chance—or perhaps by design.