Susanoo

"Let me show you the true power of the Sharingan."

As Uchiha Izuna finished speaking, he separated his clasped hands.

Boom!

Purple chakra erupted from his body like a volcano.

It wasn't fire, but tangible energy, instantly condensing and taking shape in the air.

A skeleton.

First, a purple, rib-like skeleton wrapped around Izuna's entire body with a series of cracks. Then flesh-like chakra pathways rapidly covered it, with muscle and armor layering over them.

In just two seconds.

A purple giant's upper body, over ten meters tall, towered before Ryuto.

The giant had only an upper body, with streams of chakra below its waist, but it was frightening enough already. It held two enormous Chakra Blades, each longer than Ryuto's entire body and gleaming with purple-black light.

Susanoo.

Hovering in the air, Ryuto stared at the giant below, his scalp prickling.

His Ki Sense screamed madly.

Danger! Danger! Danger!

The energy contained in that thing was at least as powerful as the Kamehameha he had just fired!

Dodge or die. That was the only thought in Ryuto's mind.

Ki blasted from the soles of his feet. He pushed his Flight Technique to its limit and shot upward like a rocket.

But Izuna moved.

Susanoo swung its enormous arm.

Whoosh!

The huge blade in its left hand swept horizontally toward him, not slashing, but smacking. The flat of the blade was like a wall, sealing off all the space to Ryuto's left.

Ryuto made a sharp turn, dodging right.

The other blade was already waiting there.

At Susanoo's forehead, Izuna's Sharingan stared coldly at Ryuto, their three tomoe having transformed into a Mangekyō pattern.

A two-blade pincer attack.

One from the left and one from the right, closing in like scissors.

Ryuto cursed, changed the direction of the ki blasting from his feet again, and twisted through the air like a spinning top, slipping through the gap between the blades.

The wind from the blades grazed his back.

Riiip-

A tear opened in his clothes, and his skin burned with pain.

The ground wasn't so lucky.

Along the paths of the two blades, two trenches had been carved into the ground, each over ten meters long and more than a meter deep. Dirt and broken stones sprayed like rain.

"Holy shit..." Behind the distant ruins, an Uzumaki clansman gaped. "How... how are you supposed to fight that?"

Mito Uzumaki's face grew even paler.

Susanoo.

One of the Uchiha Clan's ultimate Mangekyō Sharingan ocular techniques. She had only read descriptions in her clan's oldest scrolls; today was her first time seeing it with her own eyes.

"Ryuto..." Rena clutched Mito's arm, her fingers turning white.

In the air.

Ryuto had no time to be afraid.

Izuna's next attack came.

Susanoo's twin blades danced, not in wild slashes, but with exquisite swordsmanship. Upward chops, downward cuts, horizontal sweeps, diagonal rising slashes-every strike sealed off one of Ryuto's escape routes.

The sky was being squeezed shut.

Ryuto was like a fly trapped in a glass bottle, darting this way and that within the limited space.

Whoosh!

A blade skimmed over his head, shearing off a few hairs.

Swish!

The other swept beneath his feet. He hurriedly lifted them, and the wind from the blade shaved a layer off his soles.

No.

At this rate, sooner or later, I'll get hit.

Ryuto gritted his teeth. Ki blasted from his feet, and he shot higher again, trying to break through above.

Izuna looked up.

The giant blade in Susanoo's right hand suddenly left its grip, spinning toward the sky like a hurled javelin.

It wasn't aimed at Ryuto's current position.

It was a prediction.

The Sharingan spun furiously, calculating Ryuto's flight path.

The giant blade traced an arc through the air, cutting off every angle of Ryuto's upward escape.

Ryuto was forced to stop abruptly and drop.

Below, the other blade was already waiting, its point aimed upward.

A killing trap.

Above and below were sealed off, while the wind from the blades formed a net blocking the left and right.

Ryuto had been forced into a dead end.

"It's over." Izuna's voice came through the chakra from inside Susanoo, slightly muffled.

Ryuto looked at the blade tip drawing closer below, then at the enormous blade spinning down overhead.

There was no way out.

He took a deep breath.

He brought his hands together at his waist again.

Ki was wrung from every cell in his body, surging madly into his palms.

Golden light flared again.

But this time, it was far more rushed than before.

The Kamehameha needed time to charge, time to compress ki to its limit. For his first shot, he had spent almost ten seconds preparing.

Now, he had only two seconds.

"Trying that again?" Izuna sneered. "The same move won't work against the Sharingan!"

Susanoo reached out with its left hand, catching the spinning giant blade as it flew back. It crossed both blades before its body.

Purple chakra gathered over the blades, forming a thick protective layer.

Izuna intended to take it head-on.

He would crush Ryuto's Kamehameha in a frontal clash and utterly destroy his opponent's confidence.

Ryuto said nothing.

The golden light in his palms grew brighter, but with insufficient charging time, the energy was nowhere near as condensed as the first shot.

His ki was being consumed at a furious rate.

The first shot had used thirty percent. This one was now drawing away forty percent of what he had left.

Only half his ki remained.

But he had no choice.

"Ka-me-ha-me-ha!!!"

Ryuto roared the move's name and thrust both hands forward.

Boom!!!

The golden pillar of light erupted again.

Its diameter was smaller than the first, roughly two meters, and its energy was less condensed, its edges somewhat diffuse.

But it was faster.

Almost the instant he thrust it out, it slammed into Susanoo's crossed blades.

Clang-!!!

The tremendous metallic crash left everyone across the battlefield's ears ringing.

Golden and purple energy collided, blasting out a visible ring of shock waves.

The ground sank with a thunderous crash, as though a giant had stepped on it.

Susanoo's enormous body slid back five or six meters, its feet plowing two deep furrows through the ground.

The purple protective layer over the twin blades shook violently, cracks spreading across it like a spiderweb.

"Hold!" Inside Susanoo, Izuna's Sharingan spun furiously, ocular power pouring out as though it cost him nothing.

The cracks were repairing themselves.

But the golden beam continued its bombardment, and fresh cracks appeared.

Repairing, shattering, repairing again, shattering again.

A stalemate.

In the air, Ryuto's face was pale.

His ki was draining too quickly.

This Kamehameha was like a tap opened wide, ki gushing out.

"Just... break!!!"

He gritted his teeth and forced in the last bit of ki as well.

The beam abruptly grew thicker.

Crack-

A clear sound of shattering.

The blade in Susanoo's left hand broke.

Starting at the tip, the purple chakra disintegrated into motes of light, followed by the blade's body, and finally the hilt.

A gap appeared in its defense.

Like floodwater finding an outlet, the golden beam poured through the gap and slammed into Susanoo's chest.

Boom!!!

Susanoo shuddered violently.

A huge hole was blasted through its chest, cracks spreading from the opening throughout its body.

Bang!

The right-hand blade shattered too.

Crack, crack-

The skeleton was disintegrating.

The flesh-like chakra pathways broke apart inch by inch.

In just three seconds.

The ten-meter purple giant exploded into a sky full of light.

Uchiha Izuna was hurled backward out of the motes.

"Pfft!"

He spat a mouthful of blood in midair and flew more than twenty meters like a kite with its string cut, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

He struggled up, knelt on one knee, and spat out another mouthful of blood.

His eyes.

The Mangekyō Sharingan remained, but two trails of bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes and down his cheeks.

Ocular power backlash.

Susanoo's forcible destruction had severely damaged his eyes.

"Lord Izuna!" Several nearby Uchiha ninja cried out and tried to rush over.

"Stay back!" Izuna raised a hand to stop them, his voice hoarse.

He raised his head and looked into the air.

Ryuto descended from the sky. His feet touched the ground, and he swayed, nearly losing his balance.

He had consumed too much ki.

Two Kamehamehas had drained seventy percent of his ki. His body now felt hollow, as though he had run ten marathons.

His arms were shaking, and so were his legs.

"You..." Izuna stared at Ryuto, the patterns in his Sharingan slowly rotating. "You really are... interesting..."

Before he could finish, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Ryuto didn't answer.

He was catching his breath.

Seizing every second to recover.

But the Uchiha wouldn't give him time.

"Protect Lord Izuna!"

"Take him down!"

At least thirty Uchiha ninja were still alive nearby, and now they all surrounded him.

But they didn't charge straight in.

Instead, they formed hand seals.

"Summoning Technique!"

"Summoning Technique!"

"Summoning Technique!"

Puffs of white smoke burst one after another.

One, two, three...

Five enormous monsters appeared on the battlefield.

Two-Tails Matatabi, a blue cat demon, had blue flames burning over her body.

Four-Tails Son Goku, a red gorilla, had lava billowing from his mouth.

Five-Tails Kokuō, a monster that was a mix of dolphin and horse, had five horns on his head.

There were also two summoned beasts Ryuto did not recognize: a large winged bird and a giant turtle covered in rock.

Five in total.

All were controlled by the Sharingan, their eyes bearing its scarlet pattern.

"ROAR!!!"

Two-Tails roared first, spewing blue flames at Ryuto.

Ryuto pushed off the ground, barely dodging.

The spot where he had just stood was scorched black.

Four-Tails brought his fist down.

Ryuto rolled out of the way. The fist struck the ground, blasting out a huge crater, and lava surged from it.

Five-Tails charged.

Ryuto jumped, and Kokuō rushed beneath his feet, knocking down half a wall that had still been standing.

The great bird swooped down.

The giant stone turtle opened its mouth, unleashing an Earth Release Ninjutsu.

Five Tailed Beasts attacked one man.

Ryuto wove among the beasts, struggling desperately to dodge.

He did not have enough Ki left.

He could not use the Flight Technique and could only run on his own two legs.

His speed had dropped considerably.

Twice, he was nearly hit, relying entirely on his combat instincts to dodge at the last possible instant.

"Trouble..." Ryuto's heart sank.

Only thirty percent of his Ki remained.

He faced five Tailed Beasts, along with more than thirty Uchiha ninja.

Although Izuna was injured, he had not yet lost his ability to fight.

In the distance, where Mito Uzumaki and Rena were, the defensive line was on the verge of collapse. They could spare no one to help.

A desperate situation.

Ryuto dodged a sweep of Two-Tails' tail, but just as he landed, Four-Tails' lava fist came crashing down in front of him.

He crossed his arms to block it head-on.

Bam!

He was sent flying, crashing into a heap of rubble.

Loose stones clattered down.

Ryuto climbed out of the rubble, his arms numb and blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

His protective layer of Ki was too thin to withstand a Tailed Beast's full-power strike.

"ROAR!"

The five Tailed Beasts closed in around him.

The Uchiha ninja stayed outside the ring, some forming hand seals, others throwing shuriken.

Izuna slowly stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his Sharingan fixed on Ryuto.

"You're strong," Izuna said. "But today, you'll die here."

Ryuto spat out the bloody foam in his mouth and looked at the five massive creatures around him.

His Ki was slowly recovering, but far too slowly.

It was not enough.

Nowhere near enough.

He took a deep breath and straightened up.