"What?!"
Kitsuchi stared in shock at the armored Susanoo warrior, finding it somewhat unbelievable.
This was the Mountain Earth Technique he had unleashed with all his strength. Once someone was trapped by it, escaping was extremely difficult. Even a Kage-level fighter who failed to get away and became trapped would need several hours, or even half a day, to escape.
Yet this member of the Uchiha Clan had simply come straight out?
"Brother Kitsuchi, retreat! I'll cover you!"
Looking at Uchiha Fugaku, who exuded the aura of a god of war, Didaze also intended to retreat for now.
"All right!"
Kitsuchi chose to trust Didaze unconditionally. Besides, his opponent's strength had indeed exceeded his expectations. Even his strongest move had failed to inflict any effective damage, and he could see no hope of victory.
At this point, perhaps only his father coming in person would do. They probably could not deal with this black warrior themselves.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with letting Konoha win this war. With Shimura Danzō around, the matter of the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan alone would throw Konoha into internal turmoil.
Once they truly descended into chaos, swooping in to reap the benefits would be an option.
"Trying to run?"
Hatake Sakumo snorted coldly and swiftly swung his blade to intercept Kitsuchi.
Although Hatake Sakumo had temporarily run out of chakra after unleashing his big move, his formidable taijutsu and swordsmanship still gave him the strength of an elite jonin.
"I suggest you go help the people behind you."
Kitsuchi offered Hatake Sakumo a kindly reminder.
"What?"
Hatake Sakumo turned his head and discovered over a thousand clay centipedes crawling toward the Konoha ninja!
"Damn it..."
Hatake Sakumo's expression turned livid. These Konoha ninja certainly had no time to help him now, and he could not possibly hold back over two hundred Iwagakure ninja alone.
"Don't think you can escape!"
Uchiha Fugaku drew his bow and nocked an arrow, firing a charged shot straight at the Iwagakure ninja!
Susanoo's presence was even more powerful than before, and the arrow's aura had likewise grown stronger. Even its size had increased considerably!
"Looks like I'll have to give you some trouble..."
Didaze drew his bow and nocked his arrows, aiming two at Susanoo's arrow and the remaining twelve at Uchiha Fugaku's Susanoo!
Boom!
Susanoo's arrow shattered, and then the twelve arrows flew toward Uchiha Fugaku!
Boom, boom, boom!!!
"Ah..."
The twelve arrows produced several tremendous explosions. Inside Susanoo, Uchiha Fugaku covered his eyes in pain again and let out a muffled groan.
"Go!"
Seeing that Uchiha Fugaku still wanted to attack, Didaze formed a hand seal. Five hundred centipedes instantly merged into one gigantic centipede!
"Susanoo: Defense!"
A centipede like this could inflict tremendous damage even on Uchiha Fugaku's armored Susanoo. Not daring to take it lightly, Uchiha Fugaku immediately had Susanoo form a shield to defend!
Taking advantage of the chaos among the Konoha ninja, the Iwagakure ninja immediately began an orderly retreat.
After all, only a few were dying now, and those remaining were all high-level combatants. Their coordination was even better than when they had started with their full numbers.
"Explode!"
Once everyone had retreated to a safe distance, Didaze immediately detonated the gigantic centipede clay bomb!
The Konoha ninja also kept well away from this colossal centipede clay bomb. After all, they could still survive being caught in the little bombs' explosions.
If that enormous thing blew them up, there would probably be nothing left of their bodies.
"Re... wind!"
Uchiha Fugaku's Susanoo was shattered by the explosion.
An enormous amount of blood also flowed from Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, but his right eye flashed, and his Susanoo returned to the state it had been in before the explosion.
This was the second ability Uchiha Fugaku had awakened: Rewind.
Because he wanted an ability that countered explosions, and explosions happened in an instant, he had awakened an ability that could unconditionally rewind his own body to its state five seconds earlier.
But this ability also had a limitation: it placed an enormous drain on his right eye.
If Uchiha Fugaku used Rewind several times in succession within a single day, he would probably go blind in his right eye outright.
This also meant that Uchiha Fugaku could not use Rewind as a regular combat method, only as a final means of saving his life.
"Phew..."
Blood was still pouring from Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, but the intense hatred in them was undisguised...
"That power... I must have it!"
Watching the power of Susanoo, the greedy Shimura Danzō had already begun considering how to obtain it.
Meanwhile, on Iwagakure's side.
"Let's write the old man a letter when we get back. We're under too much pressure here now."
Kitsuchi rubbed his head, looking helpless.
Konoha was no longer paying much attention to Sunagakure and had instead transferred its main forces to their front. For Iwagakure, this was nothing short of terrible news.
"Writing to Lord Tsuchikage probably won't help either. He still needs to guard against a surprise attack from Kumogakure. If he leaves too, we'll be finished if Kumogakure attacks."
Didaze flew downward on his clay giant bird, then let the Explosion Release Corps and the others off before dismissing the clay giant bird.
"Then what should we do? It looks like we're at a stalemate again. That enormous warrior won't be easy for us to deal with..."
Kitsuchi had assumed that the Susanoo Uchiha Fugaku summoned cost him nothing, and that he could keep using it just as Kitsuchi could keep casting ninjutsu.
As a result, his estimation of Uchiha Fugaku had risen without limit.
"It's fine. He can't keep using that thing forever."
Didaze said this to Kitsuchi.
"Really? But how do you know?"
Kitsuchi questioned Didaze in some confusion.
"Those eyes are called the Mangekyō Sharingan, also known as the Eye That Reflects the Heart. But the ocular power of a Mangekyō Sharingan awakened on its own can't regenerate. Once it's used, it's gone. Only by obtaining the eyes of a full sibling and gaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan can someone use Susanoo without restriction."
"Unless something unexpected has happened, Uchiha Fugaku's vision should already have deteriorated considerably."
Didaze smiled faintly. He was more than familiar with dealing with Susanoo. If he used a few high-damage clay bombs against Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Fugaku would have to block them with Susanoo.
By blocking with Susanoo, Uchiha Fugaku would consume excessive amounts of ocular power, and then he would not be far from blindness.
But Didaze might not have anticipated that Uchiha Fugaku's right eye had awakened a dōjutsu specifically targeting his explosions.
"They really are a cursed clan!"
Kitsuchi spoke, his expression relaxing considerably as well.
After all, a Susanoo with severe limitations was very good news to him.