Divine Weapon

"Don't tell me you really think I'm useless?"

Uchiha Hikari gave a soft snort. "Did you think Tsukuyomi was the only ocular technique I used to hit Kinkaku?"

"Could it be..." Shin'yu suddenly thought of something.

"It was my left eye's other ocular technique—Eight Thousand Spears. While Kinkaku was trapped in the illusion space, I planted an imprint on him as well."

Uchiha Hikari lifted her little chin, a faint pride dancing in her calm voice. "As long as I activate Eight Thousand Spears in my right eye, I can directly control his Chakra regardless of distance. So, how is it? The taste of Nine-Tails Chakra... not bad, right?"

On the other side, Kinkaku was still lying unconscious on the ground. Red light flickered around him as the Tailed Beast Cloak actively peeled away from his body. On the back of his hand was clearly imprinted Uchiha Hikari's Mangekyo mark.

"More than not bad..."

Hikari's expression froze.

"Heh... heh..."

As the Nine-Tails Chakra flowed in, Shin'yu's face gradually flushed. He panted heavily as his cold Chakra seemed to merge with the Tailed Beast Chakra, turning scorching hot like magma.

"With this Chakra, maybe I can try that move..." Shin'yu grew inexplicably excited. This violent Tailed Beast Power seemed capable of affecting one's emotions.

His eyes seemed to burn with flames, and even his Mangekyo Sharingan shone much brighter, radiating a crimson glimmer. "Good, it's decided. I'll use this move!"

"Uh..." Uchiha Hikari hesitantly asked.

"Wait, what move are you even going to use?"

Shin'yu exhaled softly. As Chakra slowly gathered, a whirlwind rose around him. The wind grew fiercer and fiercer, tossing his black hair wildly through the air. His black robes snapped like a battle flag, and Uchiha Hikari could barely keep her eyes open in the gale.

"Hikari, watch closely. This is how Susanoo is used!"

Shin'yu gathered his strength slightly, and his Chakra erupted. "Susanoo Stage Tengu!"

Black Qi expanded violently like boiling lava. The half-bodied giant let out a roar as dense armor rapidly formed across its body, black scales spreading from back to front before opening and locking into place with sharp metallic clanks.

Once the Crow Tengu armor covered its head, half a bright white face showed beneath the half-closed mask. The armor around its body suddenly tightened, and a pair of brilliant blue eyes burst with light!

Third Stage Susanoo added Crow Tengu armor atop the original Susanoo, expanding its size severalfold and vastly increasing its defense. It could wield a greater variety of weapons, even legendary Divine Weapons.

This form of Susanoo was immensely powerful, but its Chakra consumption also rose drastically, and it was extremely unstable. An ordinary Mangekyo could hardly maintain this form for long. It was the limit of an ordinary Mangekyo.

The Crow Tengu Susanoo was enormous and imposing, a massive bulk nearly as large as a small mountain. Against it, the black sea of flames had become mere background scenery.

"My turn!"

Crimson light flashed from Shin'yu's eyes. Susanoo swung a Big Hand, scattering dozens of pitch-black Tomoe across the sky. Ginkaku was scared out of his wits and immediately put away the Basho Fan before running.

Earlier, Shin'yu had needed to maintain Susanoo's strength and could not spare attention for Ginkaku. But with the armor's enhancement, Susanoo had become far more resistant to flames, and Shin'yu could finally strike back.

Yasaka Magatama flooded the sky, flung outward as casually as scattering beans.

Ginkaku whipped up vast clouds of sand and violent gusts with the Basho Fan, trying to hold them back for a moment. Yet the Tomoe surged upstream against the wind, nearly shearing off his head!

While Shin'yu sealed off Ginkaku's movements, Susanoo's other two hands kneaded a mass of black light. A dark, profound aura flowed within it, and the outline of a long-handled weapon gradually emerged.

"Buzz—"

The black light condensed into substance as sharp black-gold radiance flowed along the shaft. It was an enormous spear!

Its shaft was straight, its tip sharp enough to dazzle like lightning. Simple and Unadorned, obscure patterns were carved into the handle with an intensely linear beauty. Just one distant glance at its chilling aura made one's heart pound in terror. It was like a massive dragon poised to strike at any moment—ferocious and violent, yet still agile and elegant.

"Divine Weapon-no-Tsurugi."

The four-armed giant gripped the spearshaft and slowly drew it back. Several Tomoe in succession forced Ginkaku down from mid-air. Seizing the moment and aiming at where Ginkaku would land, Shin'yu hurled the spear!

"Whoosh!"

The giant spear tore through the air like a black bolt of lightning. It moved so fast that even its tail erupted with a ring of white airwaves!

As Ginkaku stared at the dark spearhead, he felt the threat of death for the first time. His Pupils shrank to pinpoints!

At the critical moment, he hastily raised the Crimson Gourd to deflect the attack. The spear carried overwhelming force, and with a single blow, it shattered the Crimson Gourd to pieces!

A ninja tool of the Sage of Six Paths had met such a dim end!

The spearhead plunged into the ground, unleashing an irresistible Shockwave. Black light swept outward, and amid thunderous rumbling, the earth shook violently.

"Huff... huff..."

Ginkaku climbed to his feet, gasping for breath. He had been blasted away, his exoskeleton completely shattered, and even the red glow around his body had dimmed considerably.

"Good kid, you almost killed me! Hahahaha..." He threw back his head and laughed, his eyes brimming with the wild joy of surviving disaster.

The corners of Shin'yu's lips rose slightly. "Is that so?"

The giant black spear did not vanish. As ancient and intricate runes lit up across its shaft, a ripple suddenly swept across the ground!

At that instant, gravity within several hundred meters abruptly increased by hundreds of times. The ground collapsed with a boom, and even the air became heavy!

Ginkaku nearly doubled over at once. His knees cracked loudly, while his spine issued unbearable creaks. It felt as though ghosts from an endless abyss were dragging him down into hell!

"Damn... it... what the hell... is this..."

He wanted to raise his head, but he simply could not. Even lifting one foot required enormous effort.

Totsuka-no-Tsurugi was a legendary divine spear said to contain the laws of Gravity. Not only could it imbue the spear itself with gravity, it also formed its own domain, forcing everything within a certain range to bear dozens or even hundreds of times normal gravity.

Ginkaku fell to his knees with a thud, his hands laboriously braced against the ground as he trembled violently like chaff in the wind, resembling a bamboo stalk bent under crushing weight.

Though his body could withstand the supergravity, the blood inside him would pool toward the lower half of his body, causing blood loss and oxygen deprivation in his brain. He had no choice but to bow his head in a kneeling posture to avoid losing blood flow to his brain.

"Damn it!!!!" he roared.

"You're actually making me kneel before you, you little brat!"

Ginkaku finally snapped. Red light flared brilliantly, and Nine-Tails Chakra erupted in waves of air. Though he barely managed to stand, he still could not break free of Gravity's restraint.

"You're really not giving up, are you?"

Shin'yu dismissed the Third Stage Susanoo, leaving only its initial skeletal form. The surrounding Amaterasu gradually died out as the black Qi vanished.

Taking the opportunity, he controlled a Bone Arm to scoop up a handful of flames, then dashed toward Ginkaku in a single stride.

Totsuka-no-Tsurugi did not affect him in the slightest. He moved freely within the gravity domain and slammed Ginkaku down with one palm.

Black flames rapidly spread along the skeletal hand and finally burned solidly onto Ginkaku's body!

"Aaargh!"

Ginkaku let out a miserable scream and writhed like a loach, but under the suppression of Shin'yu and Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, all his struggling was futile.

"Expand!" Shin'yu barked like thunder.

Uchiha Hikari suddenly froze, her beautiful eyes widening. Such a stunned expression was rare on her face.

What had she seen?

That handful of Amaterasu had actually expanded dozens of times in an instant at Shin'yu's command!

"He can actually control my Amaterasu!"

Amaterasu was said to burn anything and everything, never extinguishing until its target was reduced to ashes. Even she could only control when it was activated and deactivated.

Yet Shin'yu had not only expanded Amaterasu's flames, but even controlled the direction in which they spread, keeping himself unharmed!

Compared to him, Ginkaku was much worse off. Within several breaths, he lost consciousness. After Amaterasu stripped away his Tailed Beast Cloak, the flames gradually died down, exposing the severely burned body beneath.

"Finally..." Shin'yu smiled.

The battle was over, and he habitually activated his ocular technique to restore himself.

Aside from the black flames on his body, all conditions—including injuries large and small, Chakra depletion, Mangekyo Sharingan wear, and post-battle fatigue—were swept away. His body returned to normal.

"Yeah." Uchiha Hikari also breathed a sigh of relief. "After all that effort, we finally subdued this guy."

At that moment, the original valley had vanished without a trace. The clouds and mist had dispersed, smoke and ash billowed in every direction, and everything within several kilometers had been flattened.

"But..." She looked at Shin'yu strangely, her voice returning to its usual coldness. "Beating him made you this happy?"

"That's not the reason."

With a wave of Shin'yu's hand, the black flames on his body actively gathered toward his right hand, condensing into a pitch-black fireball.

With a gentle puff of breath, the fireball instantly went out. His casual posture made it seem as though he had merely blown out a candle.

"You... how did you do that?" Hikari frowned slightly. She had noticed that Shin'yu had not used any ocular technique.

"This..." Shin'yu brushed his fingertips across his left eye socket. The Magic Array pattern in his Pupil lit up, faint light flowing through it.

"I've finally adapted to your Amaterasu."

The battle was over, but the danger had not passed.

Through Shin'yu's soul perception, he could sense quite a few people approaching. The commotion from their fight had been far too great.

The two stopped wasting words and immediately learned from Kinkaku where the Nine-Tails had last appeared. It was...

The Land of Rice Fields, situated between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire.

"Shin'yu, what should we do with these two?" Uchiha Hikari drew a Kunai, her gaze turning cold. "Kill them like before?"

Her hair was disheveled, and she looked somewhat bedraggled. The bloodshot veins in the whites of her eyes had yet to fade.

"No rush. I have another plan." Shin'yu patted her shoulder. "These two are more useful alive than dead."

Compared to Uchiha Hikari, he was in far better condition. His black eyes were clear and gentle, and his entire person looked fresh and natural, as though that Mountain Collapse and Earth Crack battle had had nothing to do with him.

Shin'yu walked over to the unconscious Ginkaku and grabbed him by the hair. "Hikari, use your Yachihoko to place an imprint on him too."

"You mean to..." Uchiha Hikari instantly guessed his intention.

"That's right. These two already have enormous Chakra reserves, and adding the Nine-Tails Chakra makes them practically two walking sources of Chakra." Shin'yu eagerly pried open Ginkaku's eyelids. "If I remember correctly, you need Eye Contact to activate it, right?"

"Honestly, there's no helping you." Uchiha Hikari looked somewhat disgusted, but she still activated her ocular technique as instructed.

Soon, a Mangekyo imprint also appeared on the back of Ginkaku's hand.

The activation conditions for her Eight Thousand Spears were the same as Tsukuyomi's. First, Eye Contact was required. If the target's mental strength was lower than Uchiha Hikari's, she could directly place the imprint. Otherwise, the imprint could only succeed if the target permitted it, or if the target had fallen unconscious and was unable to resist.

"That's more like it. With these two power banks, we won't have to worry about running out of Chakra for the time being." Shin'yu clapped his hands.

Uchiha Hikari glanced at Ginkaku. "Aren't you taking his Sage of Six Paths Treasures?"

"They're just useless junk. I might have considered it in the past." Shin'yu gently shook his head.

He raised a Sword Finger, and a foot-long Chakra Blade instantly shot up from his fingertips. Blue light flowed along it as he used his finger as a sword, carving several bold characters beside Ginkaku with several swift strokes.

"The attacker was Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

"All right, now it's perfect." Shin'yu scratched his chin and smiled in satisfaction.

"You..." Uchiha Hikari paused, looking at him speechlessly. "Is it really okay to do this?"

"What does it matter? Hidden Leaf Village has a huge foundation. Are they afraid of this little trouble?" Shin'yu said indifferently. "Lord Madara must be stirring up trouble for Hidden Leaf Village too. I'm helping ease his burden."

"All right, Hidden Cloud's pursuers will be here soon. Let's use that move to leave."

With that, he bit his index finger and swiftly formed several Hand Seals. "Reverse Summoning Technique!"

With a bang, his figure vanished, turning into a wisp of White Smoke that slowly dispersed.

Uchiha Hikari followed suit. She lightly swiped her pale jade finger across her cheek, formed Hand Seals with the blood, and said, "Reverse Summoning Technique!"

Her vision suddenly darkened. A brief wave of dizzying disorientation passed, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in a simple and unadorned, old little room. A plump orange cat squatted before her.

"Meow~ Much obliged." The orange cat wore a numb expression as it extended a paw toward her.

Uchiha Hikari sighed and pulled out a stack of bills from her waist pouch. The orange cat took the money, licked its paw, and ran off without even raising its head.

This cat was her Summoning Beast, a Ninja Cat named Kitsuroumaru. Though it looked adorably silly, it was incredibly stingy. It would not accept a single coin less than the agreed payment. This gave her the urge to pet it, yet made it hard for her to actually do so.

"Catnip drinks alone aren't enough to dismiss me, meow. Tetsusuke, you won't fool me this time, meow."

"Don't be such a cheapskate. What does a little kitty need so much money for?"

Up ahead, Shin'yu was arguing with a slender tabby cat.

"An unlimited-duration Summoning Technique is very tiring, meow. Getting things for free isn't a good habit, meow." Tetsusuke raised his head to stare at Shin'yu, stretching out his paw from afar.

"Hmph, I thought we were close." Shin'yu reluctantly fished through his pockets, looking quite unwilling.

"If you don't pay again this time, I won't answer your summons next time, meow."

"You win. I won't bring you any drinks next time!"

The Reverse Summoning Technique was a fixed-point teleportation Ninjutsu developed by Shin'yu. First, he had to make arrangements with the cats. When they sensed the call of a Summoning Technique, rather than answering the summons, they would instead summon the caster.

It was also a kind of indirect Space-Time Ninjutsu.

"This stack is the payment for this Summoning Technique. And this one..." Shin'yu placed a second stack of bills on the cat's paw. "Deliver a message to Lord Madara. The Nine-Tails is very likely in the Land of Rice Fields. We'll meet in the Land of Rice Fields."

Tetsusuke nodded and smoothly took the catnip drink from Shin'yu's hand. "Aren't you going to see the Cat Matriarch?"

"No. That old woman has too loose a tongue. She'll reveal our whereabouts."

"Oh." Tetsusuke counted the bills one by one with his paws as he spoke. "What about Boss Pochi? Aren't you seeing him either?"

"That guy costs half your fortune every time you see him. He's practically a bottomless pit." Shin'yu rejected Tetsusuke's suggestion. "Do your job properly and get the message to Lord Madara as soon as possible. Be sure to act carefully."

"Don't worry, meow. As long as the money's right, there's nothing this cat can't do."

After resting briefly at the Cat House, the two set out for the Land of Rice Fields.

"Hey, what exactly did you mean when you said you'd adapted to Amaterasu?"

On the road to the Land of Rice Fields, Uchiha Hikari finally could not hold it in any longer. "Why did Amaterasu become so obedient in your hands?"

"It's all thanks to my ocular technique. It lets me continuously adapt to everything in the world, eliminate negative effects, and provide the optimal solution for dealing with harm." Shin'yu smiled faintly. "Your Amaterasu really is the hardest thing I've ever had to adapt to."

"This so-called 'optimal solution' is why you can control Amaterasu?"

"Control? I'm nowhere near that level." Shin'yu traveled leisurely, both hands behind his head. "For now, all I can do is become immune to Amaterasu and control the direction and intensity of its burning. I'm still far from truly controlling it."

"How do you do it? I..." Hikari hesitated, recalling how awkwardly she had been trapped by her own Amaterasu while fighting Ginkaku.

Amaterasu was an ocular technique with astonishing destructive power, but it also harmed its user considerably. Aside from consuming enormous amounts of Chakra, both activating and deactivating it placed unimaginable strain on the eyes.

Especially deactivating it. At the time, flames had swept over her from every direction. If she had forcibly shut them off, her eyes simply could not have endured it.

She had been the caster, yet she had nearly died to her own technique.

If I could control Amaterasu's direction too...

"Want to learn?" Shin'yu turned back to look at her, as if smiling, not smiling. "I'll teach you."

Uchiha Hikari stared at him, a certain determination flashing through her beautiful eyes. "Stop being mysterious. Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Ahem." Shin'yu cleared his throat. "At its core, Amaterasu is also a Chakra nature transformation, just an extremely extreme one."

"Extreme?"

"Mm. Simply put, use Wind Style to control its direction, then use Fire Style to adjust its intensity. If you want to extinguish it, strip away the portion of Chakra that comes into contact with Amaterasu. But this requires a bit of fine control. Chakra shape transformation is no joke."

As he spoke, Shin'yu's expression gradually became serious. Hikari listened attentively, her moist almond-shaped eyes brimming with a thirst for knowledge.

As they walked and talked, they naturally slipped into a teacher-student dynamic of instruction and clarification.

For a long time in the past, Uchiha Hikari's training had been guided by Shin'yu. Aside from ocular techniques, every ninja skill had been taught by Shin'yu—tracking and enemy detection, stealth and reconnaissance, the Three Body Techniques, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu... from explanations to sparring practice, it was a complete package.

One-on-one, with guaranteed mastery.

On the surface, they were both Madara's disciples, but in truth, the person Hikari should truly call "Master" was the refined, otherworldly Youth before her.

"Controlling two natures at once is rather difficult." Hikari frowned slightly.

"Strictly speaking, there are three." Shin'yu looked thoughtful. "When I first adapted to your Amaterasu, I gained some rather novel insights. This so-called 'Eternal Burning Flame' is very likely a Special Bloodline Limit."

"Kekkei Genkai!?"

Shin'yu nodded. "Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a fusion of Wind Style and Fire Style, which is why it has such terrifying temperatures. As for that ever-burning trait... it seems there's a third attribute involved."

Light thought for a moment, then realized her question seemed to have been led astray. "Is that important?"

"Of course it is!" Shin'yu raised his voice. "If we figure out what the remaining attribute is, that means we can recreate Amaterasu, fuse it with our own Chakra, and develop a new Kekkei Genkai!"

He looked into Light's eyes, his starry gaze brightening slightly. "By then, controlling the form of Amaterasu will be no different from controlling ordinary shape transformation!"

"We Uchiha are already a Kekkei Genkai ourselves," Light said with some distress. "Developing another one won't be that easy, will it?"

I have a cheat, though... Shin'yu blinked, then suddenly changed his tone, lowering his voice until it was almost pleading. "Light, let's do an experiment. I'll activate Mahoraga, and you burn me with Amaterasu. I'll try analyzing it again. I can analyze it on my own too, but the progress is far too slow that way."

"Are you... crazy?" Light moved closer in alarm and cautiously tested his temperature with her cool, soft little hand.

Shin'yu brushed her hand aside. "What's the problem? I'm immune already. I'm counting on you for this trip!"

"R-right... now?"

"Yeah. I'm really curious about the results of adapting a second time!"

"Sigh, honestly, I don't know what to do with you..."