"So strong…"
Sasuke's eyes were fixed tightly on the short sword at Fugaku's waist. The very instant Fugaku drew the blade, Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan. Compared to his own Heavenly Prison Fire Sword, the fiery blade in this man's hand was clearly on another level of lethality.
If he had been merely suspicious before, Sasuke was now one hundred percent certain that the style being used was Uchiha-ryū swordsmanship. Even if Fugaku wasn't an Uchiha, he had to be deeply connected to them.
After all, every single member of Root had altered their speech in such a way that unless they allowed it, no one could ever identify their true voices.
"Who else?"
Fugaku's cold voice rang out as he stepped forward. Though not loud, the words struck the ears of the Sarutobi shinobi like thunderclaps, forcing them all to retreat a step in unison.
"So this is the Sarutobi clan? Nothing impressive."
Fugaku shook his head in disappointment. Their clan had long been one of the Uchiha's greatest enemies, yet standing before them now, he felt no excitement—only disinterest.
This pack of stray dogs and weaklings… these were what had once driven the Uchiha to the brink of extinction?
Of course, the Sarutobi weren't truly weak. It was only that the display of power Fugaku had just shown—instantaneously cutting down twenty shinobi—was simply too terrifying. After all, this era of the shinobi world was not yet one where Kage-level fighters were everywhere, where elite jōnin were as common as weeds, where overpowered mechs strode casually across the battlefield.
In that moment, Fugaku suddenly felt that his former self, and the old Uchiha clan as a whole, had been laughable.
So narrow-minded—focused only on immediate interests, fixated only on this tiny plot of land called Konoha.
Small. Their vision had been far too small.
Just as Naruto once said, the world was vast. One could not limit their sights to the Five Great Nations—one's gaze had to stretch further.
If the Uchiha back then had possessed the kind of strength they now wielded, why would they have bothered with a coup? Even if they had torn Konoha itself to the ground, so what?
If you don't want us here, then we'll overturn the heavens themselves and build a village where we are wanted.
Because in the end, iron is only forged hard by hammer and flame. Strength alone is the true path.
So thought Fugaku.
At that moment, he recalled Uchiha Madara—the man who once stood shoulder to shoulder with the First Hokage. Perhaps, before Madara left the village all those years ago, these had been his very thoughts as well.
"The Great Elder has arrived!"
Just as the Sarutobi clan, leaderless and broken in morale, was being forced back by Fugaku alone, their true head finally appeared.
The Great Elder was a man with a full beard, his features bearing a striking resemblance to a monkey's. His face and the corners of his eyes were scarred with many deep cuts, and his body radiated a killing aura. This was a survivor of the Second and Third Shinobi Wars—a battle-hardened veteran.
He glanced first at the fallen Sarutobi shinobi on the ground, then at the elder who had been killed by a single stab to the back. His gaze swept over Naruto briefly before finally settling on Fugaku.
"You've slain members of my Sarutobi clan."
"Die."
The words were few, but the intent was clear, the killing intent primal.
This elder was obviously a man of pure battle—one of few words and absolute violence.
The very next second, noises rose from every direction. One by one, more Sarutobi shinobi emerged from the trees, encircling Naruto and the others completely.
They were surrounded.
Compared to the Sarutobi, the Uchiha here were nothing more than a drop in the ocean—even counting Naruto and the personal guards of the daimyō.
Three thousand Sarutobi troops—this was no exaggeration.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Enma!"
In the next instant, one monkey after another appeared beside the Sarutobi shinobi—each wearing a shinobi headband.
Just as the Inuzuka clan possessed their loyal hounds, the Sarutobi's exclusive summoning beasts were the Monkey King tribe. Not only were they equal to humans in intelligence, but they also possessed bodies of adamantine steel. They could transform into countless weapons, each unbreakable and indestructible, and most frighteningly—they could perform hand seals just like humans.
Back when the Third Hokage was exalted as the "Strongest Hokage," Enma himself had been hailed as the strongest summoning beast.
Their only flaw, if any, was that they were humanoid beasts of relatively small stature.
"Nyoi Bō!"
The newly-summoned monkeys transformed one after another into iron staves. One end was gripped firmly in the hands of the Sarutobi shinobi, while the other ends leveled menacingly at Naruto's group.
Their combined aura surged skyward.
The Sarutobi and their monkeys—together, their power was far greater than the sum of the parts.
"Summons?"
Fugaku let out a cold laugh. "As though you think you're the only ones with them."
Once, the Uchiha had no exclusive summoning beasts. But now, they did.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Fugaku slapped his palm to the ground. A massive plume of smoke burst forth, blanketing half the forest.
"What is that…?"
All the Sarutobi elders—save the Great Elder himself—stared wide-eyed.
It was not a mountain that appeared, but a mountain-like beast.
Its body loomed like a range of cliffs, stretching so tall that one could not see the top at a glance. Faint rumbles of thunder echoed in the sky above. Just its breath alone dwarfed the giant trees of the Forest of Death. Its claws were the size of houses, and its eyes were larger than cottages. It did nothing, yet its very presence crushed all who beheld it with an endless pressure.
Even the tailed beasts were like newborn infants compared to this monster.
This was the summoning beast the Uchiha had spent years to obtain—
The legendary Phantom Summon: Shinomari, the Great Lizard.
"I'll be troubling you, Shinomari," Fugaku said as he crossed his arms and stood upon the lizard's massive head, looking down at the Sarutobi below like ants. His voice was low and commanding.
"Understood, Fugaku-sama," rumbled the beast in his mind. With a body so massive, to speak aloud would itself unleash a sound-wave attack.
"It's not over yet."
At the same time, Uchiha Izumi began forming hand seals—another summoning.
Another cloud of smoke appeared, though this beast was smaller than Shinomari.
This one radiated an ominous chakra, its body wreathed in blue flames that licked the air. Its presence was as baleful as the Nine-Tails itself.
"It's been a while, Lady Izumi," said the great flaming cat politely as it emerged.
"The Two-Tails, Matatabi!" cried the Sarutobi shinobi in shock. Even the Great Elder, usually unshaken, showed a flicker of unease.
Konoha now held three tailed beasts on the field. Counting the Nine-Tails within Naruto, that made four.
If Akatsuki were to launch their Tailed Beast Hunt at this very moment, they could seize half their targets in one strike.
But, of course, Akatsuki's own leader stood among them.
"Then I suppose I'll add a little something of my own." Naruto clapped his hands together. "Summoning Jutsu!"
From the earth slowly rose two coffins, each engraved with the characters Gold and Silver.
On the surface, it was a summoning—but in truth, it was Edo Tensei.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku, the greatest renegades of the Cloud.
Yet before the two could even speak, their consciousnesses were stripped away.
Their bodies became cloaked in sinister crimson chakra, multiple tails bursting forth behind them. Two more monstrous figures now stood upon the battlefield—pseudo-Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
This time, the Great Elder's face turned utterly grim.
The clash began.
The Great Lizard Shinomari moved but slightly—and whole swathes of Sarutobi shinobi were crushed and slaughtered. Every Uchiha present fought with terrifying might, each capable of taking on ten, a hundred foes at once, rampaging through the Sarutobi ranks. Naruto had trained them to fight under conditions of clashing with tailed beasts themselves.
"On this day, the Sarutobi clan shall be wiped from existence."
Three black spheres of condensed chakra swelled into being—the Tailed Beast Bombs of the pseudo-Nine-Tails and the Two-Tails.
A heartbeat later, the Sarutobi compound was consumed in a sea of fire.
Screams and cries of battle echoed to the heavens.
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