On Whirlpool Island, Uchiha Izuna looked at the Black-Robed Man beside Tobirama Senju, bitterness filling his heart.
I trusted the cult too easily. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so hopelessly outnumbered.
The smug Tobirama Senju wanted to boast some more, but Mito Uzumaki struck without hesitation. The young girl's delicate fist unleashed a sonic boom.
It brought back humiliating memories for Izuna, who had endured her lessons many times before.
Lightning Release chakra covered the ninja sword in his hand. Its blade seemed to extend several meters out of thin air, thrusting straight toward Mito's heart.
It was another ninjutsu in the Chidori series: Lightning Shield: Chidori Sharp Spear.
Tobirama Senju pursed his lips. With Mito already attacking, he could no longer keep boasting. His hands flew through seals, and a massive, lifelike water dragon swallowed Izuna's lightning spear in one gulp.
It was Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
Although Akimichi had regained consciousness, the backlash from the Secret Medicine had left him as helpless as a lamb. The Jashin Cult's High Priest already possessed the taijutsu prowess of a Special Jōnin.
Although the members of the Jashin Cult all had chakra, they could not use ninjutsu.
Like Hidan of the future Akatsuki, the High Priest was reasonably skilled in taijutsu, but relied mainly on his formidable "immortal body."
"This fat pig has actually slimmed down. Then I'll start with you!"
Just as the Triple-Bladed Scythe in the High Priest's hand was about to sever Akimichi's head, Yamanaka, who was also suffering from the Secret Medicine's backlash, exhausted the last of his mental energy to unleash his clan's secret technique.
"Young Master Izuna, I hope we can witness the coming of peace together in our next lives!"
"Ninja art: Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
His faith in the Evil God had already left the Evil God High Priest with mental strength far below that of an ordinary Chunin.
After taking the technique Yamanaka had poured everything into, he briefly became Izuna's enforcer.
At his command, the Evil God Cultists fearlessly placed themselves between Izuna and Tobirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki.
Seeing this, Akimichi likewise burned away the last of his body. He grew to an immense size, twice as large as his usual Multi-Size Technique made him.
Akimichi planted both feet on the ground, making all of Whirlpool Island tremble. "Young Master Izuna, I hope you'll stay true to yourself and use those eyes to see what peace looks like for us!"
Then he transformed into a gigantic Human Bullet Tank.
But flames blazed across this "tank," and incomparably sharp blades of wind formed as it rolled forward.
Tobirama Senju had never seen such an enormous mountain of flesh. Mito Uzumaki's face paled as well.
"The Akimichi Clan really is troublesome. If he destroys my preparations on Whirlpool Island, won't all my work have been for nothing?"
Akimichi roared, "Damn you, Evil God! This is what you get for calling me a 'fat pig'!"
"Secret technique: Ultimate Sacrifice Bomb!"
Akimichi's body grew larger and larger.
The chakra within him surged like a raging torrent, intertwining with his burning life force to form an irresistible power.
That power rampaged through Akimichi's body, pushing every inch of muscle and every bone to its limit.
Then a blinding light burst from the point of impact, dazzling as the sun.
Violent air currents and searing flames mingled with the light, devouring everything around them.
The light rapidly spread into an enormous sphere, enclosing the Jashin Cult members along with Tobirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki.
Akimichi's chakra and life force continually collided and fused, erupting in deafening booms.
The sound rolled like thunder, shaking all of Whirlpool Island.
Izuna sat slumped on the spot, dazed. His bright black eyes, once as brilliant as the night sky, could see nothing but scarlet now.
There was nothing left in the world but blood.
At nine years old, Izuna finally awakened the Uchiha Clan's most prized kekkei genkai, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Although the explosion's glare had yet to fade, Izuna could already see the situation on Whirlpool Island.
Behind Tobirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki stood more than twenty ninja, along with Kurama Natsuki, one of Jing Xiu's guards.
Izuna did not know what method Tobirama Senju had used. Even after activating his Sharingan, he still could not see them.
Most importantly-and the reason Izuna had not fled-a tall figure stood before Tobirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki, blocking the full force of the explosion.
"Who are you?"
Uzumaki Ashina looked at the boy before him with a complicated expression.
The Uzumaki Clan and the Senju Clan had mobilized such an enormous force for one purpose: to eliminate this boy.
Yet the boy showed no fear in his presence. Even his fighting spirit remained controlled, and he already carried the faint bearing of a leader.
"Father, why are you here?"
Mito Uzumaki was surprised. She had thought she would have to use her trump card to survive the terrifying explosion before her.
She had never expected her father to appear out of thin air.
Uzumaki Ashina withdrew his hands, and the densely packed black runes suspended in the air vanished.
"Uchiha Izuna, is it? I am Uzumaki Ashina, head of the Uzumaki Clan! If you are willing to marry into our clan, I can guarantee your..."
Tobirama Senju hurriedly interrupted Uzumaki Ashina. "Clan Head Ashina! The Uzumaki Clan is a close friend of our Senju Clan!"
Uzumaki Ashina looked at Tobirama Senju. "Brat! You aren't the head of the Senju Clan yet. If it were Butsuma Senju, I would have to show him some respect. But you..."
A mocking smile appeared on Ashina's face. His meaning was plain.
Although he needed to make use of the Senju name, that did not give a Senju brat the right to interrupt him.
Tobirama Senju's expression darkened. He had intended to imprison Uchiha Izuna on Whirlpool Island.
Then, using Izuna and Kurama Natsuki as bargaining chips, he would lure Uchiha Jing Xiu here and ultimately bury the two Uchiha brothers in the whirlpool sea.
But the Akimichi Clan's ultimate secret technique had exposed his arrangements, and Uzumaki Ashina, for some inexplicable reason, had stopped cooperating with him.
Uzumaki Ashina was helpless too. He had originally intended to head to the Land of Bears.
But halfway there, he had received an urgent report from the border.
Madara Uchiha had broken into the Land of Whirlpools and was heading straight for Whirlpool Island.
What was more, traces of Butsuma Senju and Uchiha Tajima had been discovered behind Madara.
Uzumaki Ashina did not know that all of this was part of Uchiha Tajima's scheme.
Uchiha Tajima was following Madara merely to safeguard the Uchiha's future.
After all, the Senju and Uchiha had fought for nearly a thousand years. The Senju knew the Uchiha's secrets too.
Outside Uzushio Village, Uchiha Tajima and Butsuma Senju stared each other down, a battle on the verge of erupting.
"Uchiha Tajima, I will never stand by and watch the birth of a Mangekyō Sharingan that will bring disaster upon the Shinobi World!"
Uchiha Tajima smiled contemptuously. "Butsuma Senju, spare me your hypocrisy."
"You're merely afraid that my Uchiha Clan will wield the power of the gods again."
"If your Senju are willing to bow and submit right now, I can guarantee that the Senju of the Forest will not be exterminated!"
"Otherwise, the Senju name, passed down for a thousand years, ends here!"
Just as the two locked onto each other and were about to strike, a deafening sound erupted from within Uzushio Village.
Boom!
An enormous cloud of smoke engulfed all of Uzushio Village, and within it loomed a mountain-sized silhouette.