Uchiha Rokuro understood one thing clearly: the shinobi world was built on bloodlines. In other words, when one's individual power reached a certain level, a single person could form an army… even destroy a nation alone.
"Obito already has a Mangekyō, so of course he knows exactly how terrifying that power is—especially a pair of Mangekyō. It's enough to decide the outcome of an entire war."
"He launched this Shinobi World War to weaken every nation. Naturally, the power that Izumi and I hold poses the greatest threat. So if there is a killing formation set up… it must be aimed at the two of us."
Thinking back to the battle at the small fishing village, Rokuro judged that his strength was the one Cloud Village feared the most.
"Sealing techniques plus Mangekyō… If they get the chance, Cloud will absolutely try to get rid of me. But with their strength, it's impossible to kill me amidst chaotic armies. That means… they have to create a situation where many attack the few."
While Rokuro was thinking this through, Nara Shikaku had already completed the troop deployment. The tactics were the same as the previous days—relying on powerful sensory ninjutsu to dispatch overwhelming forces point-to-point and harvest Cloud shinobi. As for the Jinchūriki…
"Rokuro, the battlefield with the Jinchūriki… will need you to personally intervene."
Rokuro glanced at the map—just as he expected. Cloud's intentions were obvious.
"No problem. Leave it to me. This time, if I capture a Jinchūriki alive again… I definitely won't hand him back."
Rokuro personally led a team of one hundred Konoha shinobi toward the battlefield where the Jinchūriki was located.
With Shikaku overseeing the army, the troop movements were perfect. That was one of the reasons Rokuro acted so decisively.
"Rokuro, there may be a trap in this battle. Be extremely careful!"
Uchiha Meika followed with twenty Uchiha behind Rokuro. He understood very well—Rokuro was the future clan head of the Uchiha. He had been sent under Uchiha Setsuna's orders to protect him.
If necessary… he would give up his life without hesitation.
"Meika, don't worry. It's just one Jinchūriki. Even if both of the Land of Lightning's Jinchūriki showed up together… they still wouldn't be my match."
Though he said that, Rokuro had already guessed that what awaited him ahead… was definitely not only a single Jinchūriki.
"At present, Cloud Village's elites should be only the two Jinchūriki and the Fourth Raikage. As for Darui and the others who appear in the Fourth War—they aren't significant yet. But those three alone can't defeat me. The Fourth Raikage knows this better than anyone. So aside from those Cloud elites… there must be outside reinforcements. Who would they call?"
As Rokuro hurried forward, his lips curved slightly. He had already figured it out.
"Heh… I have to admit, this tactic is clever. Even if I see through it, it doesn't matter. Konoha only has Izumi and me at this level. Izumi is already at the Grass Country front, so I have no choice but to deploy. But…"
Rokuro's eyes evolved into Mangekyō—the seven-pointed star pattern slowly rotating.
"…I'll let you all witness the true power of the Eternal Mangekyō."
Before long, Rokuro's unit reached the battlefield and clashed with Cloud forces of equal numbers.
"Meika, those Cloud shinobi are yours. Yugito… is mine."
"Understood!"
Uchiha Meika led the Konoha shinobi into the Cloud forces. With twenty Uchiha, all with three-tomoe Sharingan, even equal numbers meant overwhelming advantage. They would not lose.
Rokuro didn't even activate Mangekyō—just the three-tomoe—as he charged straight at Nii Yugito.
"Last time you survived only because Konoha was busy tearing itself apart. This time, you die for sure."
Four chakra chains shot from Rokuro's ring-type ninja tool, transforming into serpents as they lunged toward Yugito.
Yugito instantly transformed into the Two-Tails' Version Two state—the human-shaped flaming demon cat. This form granted immense power, speed, defense, and considerable self-healing.
All Jinchūriki had powerful regeneration—though inferior to Senju Hashirama or Tsunade with Byakugō and Creation Rebirth, superficial wounds from blades would heal almost instantly.
Yugito leapt between the chains with lightning-quick movements. She suddenly burst forward, body parallel to the ground, slipping through the gaps and appearing just five meters in front of Rokuro.
Her jaws opened wide—unleashing a massive fireball that required no hand signs, detonating at near point-blank range.
Rokuro snorted coldly. His left hand gleamed with seven-colored light as he chopped downward.
The massive fireball—five or six meters wide—was cleaved clean in half. The strike didn't slow at all as it aimed straight at Yugito's neck.
"Let me take first blood!"
Rokuro deliberately shouted. Yet, at the last instant before decapitating her, he suddenly leapt back.
A beam of white light swept across the spot where he had just stood, striking a small basalt hill a hundred meters away.
The hill—solid volcanic rock—was silently pierced through, leaving no explosion or flames, as if the stone had simply been erased.
"So this is Dust Release, huh? Its raw power is frightening. But even the strongest technique is worthless if it can't hit its target… isn't that right, Third Tsuchikage—Ōnoki?"
Rokuro turned his gaze upward. Floating a hundred meters above the ground was a small, aged man—the pillar of Iwagakure, the oldest of the current Five Kage—the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
"Hehehe… So you are the Uchiha prodigy of this generation, Uchiha Rokuro. Forced your own clan head to suicide, dug out your comrade's eyes… Truly fitting for an Uchiha."
While speaking, Ōnoki slowly descended. Rokuro activated his sensory tool—no other signatures.
"Just the two of you? You won't kill me with this. Danzo brought over a hundred ROOT elites, plus the Fourth Raikage brought two hundred Cloud shinobi, and Izumi and I still defeated them. Ōnoki… you think your own power can match the combined force of ROOT and Cloud?"
"Hehehe… I would like to test that theory."
Ōnoki placed his hand on Yugito's shoulder.
"Super—Light-Weight Rock Technique."
Yugito's entire body suddenly became nearly weightless. With a light tap of her tails, she shot forward like an arrow, reaching Rokuro in a blink—twice as fast as before.
Her claws slashed for his face. Rokuro retreated sharply, avoiding the disfiguring swipe. But before his feet touched the ground, Yugito had already closed in again, both claws targeting his kidneys.
Rokuro drew two kunai, chakra nature transformation activating—seven-colored light wrapped around the blades as he blocked her claws.
Clashing metallic echoes erupted as chakra sparks blasted outward. Yugito flipped into the air—claws even growing from her feet—attacking from all directions.
Rokuro parried while retreating, his kunai weaving countless afterimages. His Sharingan captured her every movement perfectly.
"Dust Release!"
Yugito suddenly disengaged—leaping away at the exact instant Ōnoki's Dust Release beam rained down on Rokuro. Their cooperation was flawless, like long-time partners.
"So this is the strength of veteran shinobi? In pure battle experience, they're two leagues above me… but—"
A black Susanoo erupted around Rokuro, tanking the Dust Release head-on.
On impact, the skeletal Susanoo began to disintegrate rapidly under Dust Release. Rokuro's eyes turned into Mangekyō, overwhelming it with torrents of ocular power—reinforcing Susanoo faster than it could be erased.
"So this is Dust Release? Not much. The power of ninjutsu depends on chakra. If the gap is too large, even a max-power technique like Dust Release… is nothing but a tickle."
A roar shook the field as a twenty-meter-tall Susanoo appeared—its second stage—breaking Ōnoki's Dust Release with a single punch.
Ōnoki's expression darkened. Facing the massive titan, the old terror he once felt under Uchiha Madara surged back.
Susanoo drew a forty-meter longsword, ready to cleave Ōnoki in half—but suddenly, Rokuro sensed an immense chakra surge. He glanced down.
Yugito was kneeling, mouth wide open—forming a two-meter-wide Tailed Beast Bomb.
"So a humanoid Tailed Beast Bomb? Let's test its quality."
BOOOM
The Tailed Beast Bomb shot forward. Susanoo shifted to its third stage—an enormous shield, the Yata Mirror, forming on its left arm.
The collision detonated in a blinding flash followed by a thunderous explosion. Shockwaves blasted outward.
"Retreat!"
Uchiha Meika had already ordered Konoha's forces to pull back. Cloud shinobi, familiar with their own Jinchūriki, also fled instantly.
When the smoke cleared, Susanoo stood untouched—only the surrounding forest had been flattened.
Exhausted, Yugito dropped from Version Two to Version One, reverting to human appearance.
Her expression was grim. Ōnoki's face was even worse.
"That Tailed Beast Bomb was no weaker than Dust Release… and it didn't even crack his shield…"
Could this brat truly rival Uchiha Madara…?
Before Ōnoki could think further, Rokuro aimed Susanoo's Yata Mirror at both him and Yugito.
"Move!!"
Ōnoki reacted instantly and escaped—but Yugito was half a beat too slow.
"[Uchiha Reversal]."
Using the Yata Mirror the way Madara used the Gunbai, Rokuro reflected the absorbed Tailed Beast Bomb back as an energy cannon.
Ōnoki barely escaped the direct blast, tumbling through the air from the shockwave. Yugito was not so lucky.
BOOOOOOM
A thousand-meter trench was carved into the battlefield, twenty meters wide. At its center, the battered, panting Yugito lay half-buried.
Susanoo stomped forward, raising its blade for the finishing strike
Suddenly, a massive stone hand burst from underground and yanked Yugito away, making the attack miss.
Rokuro sneered, swinging Susanoo's blade behind him.
A gigantic stone titan—almost as tall as Susanoo—erupted from the ground, fist raised.
The sound of cutting rock echoed as the titan was cleaved clean in two. In the raining rubble, Ōnoki carried Yugito, fleeing at top speed, putting distance between them and Susanoo.
Rokuro prepared another strike—when he sensed something approaching at near-light speed.
"Heh. As expected. Heavenly Transfer Technique—this is your final card, isn't it?"
Three flashes appeared out of thin air. Two of them expanded instantly—manifesting as massive beasts—that slammed fully-formed Susanoo back with a single blow.
But Susanoo expanded mid-air—evolving into its Complete Body, towering over a hundred meters tall, four wings unfurling as it rose skyward.
Below, standing were:
—The Eight-Tails, Gyūki
—The Five-Tails, Kokuō
—and atop Gyūki's head, enveloped in crackling lightning
The Fourth Raikage.
"Heh. Three Jinchūriki and two Kage. Quite the luxurious lineup. Ōnoki, why not bring the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki too? Missing one could ruin the whole trap."
Ōnoki landed on Kokuō's head, breathing heavily.
"So that's Complete Body Susanoo… Boy, back then you survived against Danzo only because he teamed up with you. You escaped from this monster? Unbelievable."
The Fourth Raikage touched the stitched scar on his chest, his expression sour.
"He didn't even use Complete Body back then. Danzo's men lost because they fell into Uchiha Izumi's Mangekyō illusion!"
"So that's how it was. Meaning even with you, Danzo, and over three hundred jōnin… you still couldn't force this thing out."
"Ōnoki, this isn't the time for sarcasm! If we don't win this battle—then the entire shinobi world will belong to the Uchiha!"
The Fourth Raikage snapped back at Ōnoki in irritation, then immediately surged his Lightning Release Armor to its highest output—he was ready to put his life on the line.
Ōnoki shut his mouth. The only reason he had been running it earlier was to relieve the crushing pressure building in his chest.
In the original timeline, the first time he saw Uchiha Madara's Complete Susanoo, Ōnoki—and the other four Kage—were so terrified they nearly lost the will to fight.
But their current lineup was, strictly speaking, stronger than the original Five Kage. Back then, the Fifth Mizukage Mei and Fifth Kazekage Gaara were mostly functional support-type shinobi.
They might've been strong under normal circumstances, but against an Edo Tensei Madara of super-Kage level? They were relegated to support. Their actual damage output was close to zero.
Tsunade, after activating the Strength of a Hundred Technique, had some offensive power, but she was primarily a tank and healer. The real carries were the Fourth Raikage and Ōnoki together.
The Raikage provided mobility; Ōnoki's Dust Release delivered the actual damage.
But now Tsunade, Gaara, and Mei had all been replaced by three fully transformed Jinchūriki. They were weaker in utility, but their offensive power had skyrocketed several tiers above the previous formation.
Because of that, Ōnoki's psychological burden was noticeably lighter than in the original timeline—he wasn't crushed enough to lose his fighting spirit outright.
Boom.
The Complete Susanoo slammed down onto the earth. The Eight-Span Mirror in its left hand shifted into a massive katana. With twin blades in hand, Rokuro was preparing to unleash everything.
"We originally planned to kill just one tailed beast… but since three came at once, then all three can die here!"
Several kilometers away, from the trunk of a great tree, Black Zetsu peeked its head out, acting as a scout, silently observing the distant battlefield.
At the same time, it divided its chakra, transmitting information through the soil toward the battle raging on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.
The eastern coastline had already devolved into a human meat grinder. Corpses lay everywhere; the blood not only soaked the earth but had even dyed the coastal waters crimson.
Obito hid far away, using his Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, while monitoring the entire battlefield.
Just then, a White Zetsu emerged from underground.
"The battle over there has already begun. Three Jinchūriki, plus the Third Tsuchikage and Fourth Raikage—five top-tier fighters surrounding Uchiha Rokuro! Hehehe… this time Uchiha Rokuro won't escape!"
Obito questioned White Zetsu closely. Learning that the Hidden Cloud had secretly conspired with Ōnoki—using multi-point breakthroughs to scatter Konoha's forces, then using a Jinchūriki to lure out Rokuro, and finally preparing to seal the kill with Heavenly Transmission Technique—he nodded slightly.
"The Hidden Cloud's tactical execution is excellent. Three Jinchūriki and two Kage-class powerhouses… If Uchiha Rokuro can break out of a killing formation like that, then his eyes aren't ordinary Mangekyō—they must be Eternal Mangekyō."
White Zetsu shook its head.
"No way. Black Zetsu said it clearly: only Madara has Eternal Mangekyō. Aside from him, no Uchiha—no matter how talented—could possibly obtain it!"
"…I certainly hope so."
A thunderous boom erupted. On the battlefield, Yagura had gone full Tailed-Beast Transformation, finally unleashing his full might.
At the same time, Jiraiya used a summoning technique to bring forth Gamabunta, who immediately blocked Yagura—escalating the battle's intensity to a whole new level.
Obito tightened his control over Yagura, preventing the Mizukage from breaking free under the influence of the Three-Tails.
"Have Black Zetsu continue the surveillance. Report immediately if anything changes."
"Understood."
White Zetsu sank back into the ground, relaying the information to Black Zetsu.
On the battlefield of the Land of Hot Water, Ōnoki's Dust Release struck Susanoo square in the face. The Fourth Raikage leapt in and hammered Susanoo's knee, attempting to destabilize its stance.
One ahead, one behind—but the result was completely ineffective. Dust Release couldn't even crack Susanoo's mask, and the Raikage's strike was little more than a light scratch.
Susanoo raised its blade to strike. But at that moment, several octopus limbs wrapped tightly around its arms, restraining its movement.
With heavy pounding footsteps, a fully transformed Gyūki charged in. Lowering its head, it drove both horns straight into Susanoo's abdomen.
Boom!
The impact forced Susanoo two steps back. At the same moment, Matatabi, also fully transformed, launched a Tailed Beast Bomb straight at Susanoo's forehead—right where Rokuro's true body was located.
Susanoo swatted the Eight-Tails away, then shifted its right-hand katana back into the Eight-Span Mirror, blocking the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb.
The instant they collided, Susanoo angled the mirror and deflected the bomb.
The Tailed Beast Bomb rocketed several kilometers away, crashing into a forest and obliterating it entirely.
Coincidentally, Black Zetsu was hiding in that very forest. Startled, it momentarily lost focus and leaked a faint trace of chakra.
And that minuscule leak was instantly detected by Rokuro's sensory tools.
"This peculiar chakra… Black Zetsu? If he's here, Obito must not be. But compared to Obito, Black Zetsu is far less predictable… I should end this quickly."
END OF CHAPTER
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