Purple Skeleton

Mercer suspected that The Ancient One had brought out the Book of the Vishanti intending to teach him one or two spells of the Sorcerer Supreme, giving him enough confidence to venture into a place like this.

But she had certainly never expected Mercer to learn not just those spells, but the entire book. He had completely exceeded her expectations.

The Book of the Vishanti was far more powerful than Mercer had imagined, and he couldn't help thinking to himself.

These really are super spells that only someone at the Sorcerer Supreme's level can learn. Unfortunately, I still have a long way to go. I haven't truly mastered their power yet. If I could master it completely, I'm confident I could match anyone in magic!

Mercer kept turning these thoughts over in his mind as he put every spell he had learned into action.

Looking at the tentacles writhing in agony, Mercer didn't cast the magic he had learned as it was. Instead, he fused those spells with his own abilities. He would turn them into a system of magic all his own!

"Ancient One, once I get out of here, you won't get away with this!" Intense killing intent flared in his eyes. This was the first time anyone had schemed against Mercer since he came to this world.

If he hadn't obtained the Sharingan, there was no way he could have suppressed the Great Old One's tentacles with just the first few spells in the Book of the Vishanti.

He might not have died at the tentacles' hands, but he certainly would have returned gravely wounded. If The Ancient One appeared then, he would have been powerless to resist.

Rumble-!

A rumbling sound came from somewhere unknown, growing louder and clearer, as though it were ringing right beside his ears.

Mercer looked up in confusion. He had sealed off this space with Boundless Lockdown. Even thunder and rain outside couldn't possibly affect this place.

"It's coming from inside me!"

After investigating, Mercer discovered that the rumbling thunder was actually coming from within him!

The next moment, lightning flashed in his eyes, with black light flickering among it from time to time.

Mercer parted his lips. A strange sensation welled up from deep within him. He didn't resist it, letting it spread through him instead.

A second later, the Sharingan absorbed both colors of energy, drawing in an endless stream of lightning and black light.

The three tomoe in his Sharingan gradually began to change as well.

Each of the three tomoe gathered into a black circle. Three black rings linked the circles together, with a small black dot centered atop the rings.

Mercer could clearly sense the change in his eyes. "This... this is my... mangekyo sharingan!"

It wasn't the mangekyo sharingan of anyone from the original story. These eyes were a completely new Sharingan belonging to Mercer alone!

Previously, the Sharingan couldn't actively absorb the energy contained in the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the blacklight virus. But The Ancient One's scheme had nearly put Mercer's life in danger.

That strange sensation had been a sign that the Sharingan could now absorb those two energies. Perhaps this was what made the system's Sharingan special.

Sharingan evolution requirements met! Reason: extreme rage!

Only when the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind did Mercer understand. So that was why.

It seemed that the emotions capable of evolving the Sharingan weren't limited to the grief of losing friends and family. Extreme rage could do it too.

The system hadn't provided specific evolution requirements, so Mercer worked them out himself from the information he already had.

Meanwhile, the tentacles recovered from their agony. They were now utterly enraged.

First, several tentacles had been pinned down by Four-Sided Suppression, and now Mercer had actually severed several more.

For a human to accomplish this much was the ultimate humiliation.

The tentacles gradually began turning deep red, like a human's face flushing with anger. It was another sign of their true fury.

Seeing this, Galacta's slightly languid expression gradually turned serious, and purple energy mist began rising from her body.

"Galacta, don't interfere." Mercer's voice came from nearby, making her pause.

"You still want to deal with it yourself? Things are completely different now!" There was a note of urgency in Galacta's voice.

Whoosh.

Bang!

The two sounds rang out in succession through the vast stadium. A powerful blast shattered the floor beneath Mercer's feet and stirred up a thick cloud of dust.

"What's going on?" Galacta gently waved her hand, her eyes quickly searching the dust for Mercer.

When she saw the figure within the dust, Galacta's expression froze.

As the dust cleared, an enormous... deep-purple skeleton stood there, gripping the massive tentacle. No matter how the tentacle struggled, the huge skeletal hand held it fast.

Given the stadium's limited space, the purple skeleton wasn't exceptionally huge, but it still stood five or six meters tall.

A gleam shone within the skeleton's skull. Its free left hand took the Dark Saber from Mercer, and the energy field containing the blade of light abruptly opened. The blade rapidly swelled in size.

Once it had grown to a size proportionate to the purple skeleton, the energy field in the Dark Saber's hilt expanded again, reshaping it into a blade of light.

The process took less than three seconds. The skeleton raised the enlarged Dark Saber high and slashed at the tentacle.

Before, Mercer could sever at most twenty or thirty percent of a tentacle. Now, the enormous Dark Saber, scaled to match the purple skeleton, sliced the tentacle off at its base.

The excruciating pain made every tentacle curl up, like a human instinctively curling an injured finger to protect it.

"What the hell is that???"

Galacta looked utterly baffled. She had never seen Mercer use an ability like this before.

"Galacta, it certainly changed after getting angry, but I've changed too." Mercer's soft chuckle rang out.

This massive purple skeleton was none other than Susanoo, the ability unique to the mangekyo sharingan!

Countless black "threads" poured from the skeleton's bones, weaving together over them. Lightning and electricity linked together like strands of blood vessels, forming "flesh."

Once the "flesh" had formed, silver lightning emerged from within it, creating a gauzy robe of lightning across its surface.

Had a member of the Uchiha clan who could also awaken Susanoo been there, they would certainly have been shocked by the Susanoo before them.

This Susanoo had already entered its second form!

Those who could enter the second form immediately upon awakening Susanoo were few and far between.

However, the second form of Mercer's Susanoo was different from an ordinary second-form Susanoo.

Its "body of flesh and blood" was formed jointly from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the blacklight virus. In terms of durability, it would be no weaker than the original second-form Susanoo.

In terms of offense, the Dark Saber, with its temperature of two hundred million degrees, would make it unstoppable. This Susanoo would be the strongest Susanoo of all.

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."

As Mercer felt the changes in himself, an entranced look appeared on his face. No wonder Sasuke had liked using this form of Susanoo before obtaining the power of the Six Paths.

It was just so adaptable!