Boom!
With an earth-shattering roar, the two Susanoo collided. The shock waves alone instantly leveled every building around them, and gusts laden with rubble sent the spectators tumbling head over heels.
"Fall back! Keep your distance!"
"Evacuate the area! Get to safety!"
"Evacuate all the clan members immediately! Hurry!"
As for whether the Clan Grounds would be utterly destroyed in the battle?
At that moment, no one cared.
Neither Fugaku nor Itachi nor Sasuke cared about any of that. Once this plan began, whether it succeeded or failed, the Uchiha Clan Grounds could no longer remain on the outskirts of the village anyway.
Still, this had caught Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke somewhat off guard. For various reasons, neither of them had sparred with Fugaku over the past two years, and now Itachi was finding the fight increasingly difficult.
Although Sasuke now had his back, making his Eye Power a renewable resource he no longer needed to conserve, he had yet to reach his prime and was falling behind.
"Hahahaha! Itachi, if this is all you've got, it won't be enough to defeat me!"
Letting out the Uchiha Clan's signature booming laugh, Uchiha Fugaku drove his Susanoo into another sweeping attack. The Heavenly Rock Cave whirled in its hand, its movements so broad and unrestrained they bordered on wild. The pounding left Uchiha Itachi utterly helpless; his Susanoo's arm had already been smashed off twice.
Fugaku, who had always weighed the consequences whether he acted or not, seemed to have become a completely different man.
To hell with those damned consequences!
Suspicion?
Wariness?
Ostracism?
Suppression?
Do whatever you like!
Today, he would let the world witness firsthand how the Uchiha Clan's ancestor had once stood as an equal to the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage!
It had been far too long since Fugaku had felt his blood surge like this. Now, soaring pride filled his chest, and his spirit blazed!
When someone finally broke free of every shackle and stopped looking forward and back in apprehension, that was true rebirth from the cocoon!
"Hey, doesn't Itachi look like he's struggling to hold on? Are you sure everything's still going according to plan?"
Condensing his chakra into a giant hand, Naruto Uzumaki slapped a Root operative unconscious. He glanced at Uchiha Itachi, who had been knocked back through a stretch of buildings, and hesitated to say more.
"Dad's been bottling things up for too long. Originally, he might not have let it all out even today, but my brother provoked him, and now he's completely exploded."
Curling his lip, Sasuke lulled a Root operative to sleep with a Chidori without so much as turning his head. But as he continued forward, he spotted a large crowd of Uchiha who should have been evacuated gathered nearby, watching the battle with excited faces.
Every so often, the shock waves sent a few of them flying. Despite Sasuke, Fugaku, and the other clan leaders organizing several evacuations, a crowd still lingered within range of the battle's fallout.
"Whoa! Getting to witness this earth-shattering battle showcasing our Uchiha Clan's ultimate power-I'd get my money's worth even if I died!"
"The Mangekyō Sharingan... so this is our clan's true power!"
"Hahahaha! We really are the strongest clan!"
Countless eager, excited, feverish gazes were fixed on the two towering figures.
After hearing from their conversation that the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was far from the limit of their clan's kekkei genkai, and that beyond it lay the Mangekyō Sharingan and the awakening of this extraordinary power, every Uchiha was fired up.
After several rounds of evacuation, almost none of the clan's jonin had withdrawn. With their three-tomoe and two-tomoe eyes wide open, they stared intently at every movement on the battlefield. Apart from a few trusted subordinates who had received specific instructions, they had not even noticed the Root operatives sneaking in.
"This..." Naruto's mouth twitched. Seeing so many people around, he put on his mask and hesitated.
"...Leave them alone. Anyone at this distance is a jonin, so getting hurt isn't much of a concern. Let them watch. We'll keep doing our thing."
Shaking his head, Sasuke vanished amid a flicker of lightning beneath his feet. Channeling Chidori and concentrating its power into a single point using the method of Eight Extremes Collapse, he pressed one finger against the chest of a nearby Root operative attempting a sneak attack. Not a trace of that immense power dispersed, leaving only a charred, finger-width hole through the man's chest.
Not even a drop of blood spilled.
Had anyone looked inside, they would have discovered that, apart from the outer layer of skin and flesh, the man's insides were no different from charcoal. Chidori had erupted from within his body a full eight times.
Huh... couldn't I bundle this move up and teach it to Kakashi too?
Shaking out his hand, Sasuke had a sudden thought. If Kakashi used his modified Chidori: Eight Extremes when he struck Obito's chest in the future, wouldn't Obito most likely be done for?
No, I'll have to wait until ol' Xiao learns Three Thousand Lightning Movement too, then have Kakashi teach Obito a proper lesson.
Assuming Obito lives that long.
"Weird. We've been fighting this long, and only a handful of Root operatives have snuck in? Where's the mastermind?"
Slapping another Root operative to death, Sasuke Uchiha rubbed his head.
After all this, not only had he failed to spot Danzo, he still had no idea whether Obito would show up. He had not even encountered any of Root's named elite mobs, like Yamanaka Fū or Aburame Torune.
All this time, he had just been mowing down fodder in a hack-and-slash game.
"Whatever. Catching those two would just be icing on the cake. No big deal if I don't."
Spreading his hands, Sasuke absently scratched his left eye and turned toward Hokage Rock.
With such a huge commotion-two ten-meter giants beating each other up in the Uchiha Clan Compound-how could the village possibly fail to notice?
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Old Third Hokage, what's your take on this?
The Hokage's office.
With dark circles beneath his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi poured bottle after bottle of blood pressure medication and painkillers into his mouth.
Watching those two fight as though they were bringing down mountains and splitting the earth, he felt utterly unwell.
Seriously, guys!
Fine, Uchiha Fugaku has the Mangekyo. Fine, he can use the legendary Susanoo. But who the fuck is piloting the other Susanoo?!
How have you Uchiha started fighting among yourselves?!
Almost instinctively, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to stare at Shisui. Remembering what Shisui had said when he arrived earlier, he could not help rolling his eyes.
Shisui Uchiha had made it all sound so nice back then: "The clan members have some misunderstandings about the village. With Uchiha Fugaku in that position, where he sits determines how he thinks. There are some things he wants to do but cannot. However, today he will gently persuade the clan members and help them understand what is right and what is wrong."
Forget everything else-you fucking call this persuasion? You call this gentle?!
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to say something else, he saw Shisui give him a somewhat apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage. I truly didn't expect things to reach this point. I'm ashamed you've had to witness this. This is a failure on the Uchiha Clan's part, and a failure on mine as an ANBU operative. I'll go back right now and persuade the clan head and Itachi."
The Third Hokage waved it off nonchalantly and reached for Shisui's sleeve.
"It's fine. At least you warned me in advance. Even if you were previously the Uchiha's strongest fighter, as far as anyone publicly knew, what could you possibly do at this point...
"Wait, did you say that red giant is Itachi?" Halfway through his sentence, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly caught on, his eyes widening.
Before he could say anything more, however, Shisui merely said, "Sorry. Please excuse me," then smashed through the window and leaped out under his astonished gaze.
"No! Shisui, why would you... holy shit? What the fuck is that?!"
Thinking Shisui was about to kill himself out of guilt to atone, Hiruzen Sarutobi whipped off his hat and was just about to jump down to save him. Instead, he watched, dumbstruck, as a green, winged giant dozens of meters tall flew toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
What the fuck is that?!!!
Before you continue