Sunagakure's shinobi, overall, were still fairly competent. Uchiha Ran didn't have to wait long before he found himself surrounded by a ring of Sand ninja.
The one leading them was Masuna, a jōnin left behind to guard Sunagakure. The moment Masuna saw that the Kazekage's office contained only a single person—Uchiha Ran—his expression immediately soured.
"Where is everyone else?!" Masuna roared furiously. "Are all the other people in the Kazekage Tower just freeloaders?! The enemy has already stormed this place, and somehow everyone managed to retreat safely?! Useless trash—absolute trash! How is Sunagakure supposed to function with insects like this around?!"
Masuna was seething, almost speechless. If things had really reached this point, the war might as well be over. Their home had been raided. And he'd heard the unbelievable rumor—more than a dozen Uchiha had wiped out Sunagakure's entire upper command structure in one sweep.
Taking a deep breath, Masuna fixed his glare on Ran.
"Since you're here, don't even think about leaving, damn Uchiha! I swear on the name of Masuna—I will not let you escape! Banchuan! Jiushui! Aisha! Form up! No matter what, don't let him get away!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Ran almost laughed.
What era was this? People still giving him chances to show off?
"Hahahahahaha!"
Once again, Ran transformed into the infamous laughing Uchiha as he spoke.
"Escape? That sounds rather amusing. Since you insist, I just happen to have something I'd like to test out. In that case… don't blame me for wrecking your village."
He adjusted his glasses, then raised his right hand and brushed his hair back. In an instant—like a man styling his hair with absurd confidence—Ran's entire look changed. The gentle, refined scholar-like appearance vanished, replaced by a sharp, aggressive presence that radiated danger.
With a powerful leap, Uchiha Ran landed atop the highest point of the Kazekage's office building.
"No one stands in the heavens from the very beginning," he declared calmly, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "Not you. Not me. Not even the gods themselves. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne at the top of the shinobi world… is about to end. From this moment on, I will stand there."
He looked down at the gathered Sand jōnin and smiled faintly.
"How amusing. You're called Masuna, yes? As a Sand shinobi, you're quite entertaining. Very well—entertain me."
Before everyone's eyes, Uchiha Ran drew his sword—Fushō Yume, Floating Life, Dreamlike Illusion.
As space itself subtly warped around him, Ran sensed a peculiar existence hidden within the spatial currents. He decided to display just a fraction of his Mangekyō's power—enough for whoever had placed surveillance even within the Kazekage's office building to witness it clearly.
Perhaps that frail, candle-in-the-wind old man would finally provide him with a pleasant surprise.
From Masuna's perspective, Ran finished his arrogant declaration—and then the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes began to rotate.
Spinning.
Shifting.
Transforming.
A strange, otherworldly eye manifested before every Sand shinobi present.
"T-This… is this the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan?!" Aisha stared at Uchiha Ran, disbelief written across her face.
"Don't panic, Aisha," Masuna said coldly, narrowing one eye as killing intent surged outward. "We're elite jōnin. Are we really supposed to fear a single Uchiha?"
The Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't that invincible.
With the combined strength of several elite jōnin, they could definitely keep Uchiha Ran here—right in Sunagakure. And once they did, they'd thoroughly study this Mangekyō Sharingan, this eye spoken of in terrifying legends, and see what made it so special.
"Masuna," Ran said lightly, "as far as Sand shinobi go, you really are interesting. But boasting so carelessly only exposes your weakness. Don't worry—I'll do my best to restrain my power. I'll even leave you alive in the end."
He smiled faintly.
"After all, stepping over ants without crushing them requires quite delicate control."
As his words fell, terrifying ocular power surged within his eyes.
In an instant—
A black, half-bodied chakra skeleton manifested around Uchiha Ran.
A chilling, oppressive chakra flooded the area, smothering everyone present.
Staring at Ran standing atop the Kazekage building, having activated Susanoo, Masuna clenched the shuriken in his hand and barked orders.
"Don't be afraid! Jiushui, use puppet techniques! Banchuan and Aisha—Wind Release! Test his defenses! My chakra blade will finish him! Move!"
"Come on," Ran said calmly.
He folded his arms across his chest, completely at ease. This was the perfect opportunity to test Susanoo.
Thanks to the overwhelming power of the Hōgyoku, this form of Susanoo placed virtually no strain on him at all.
"Wind Release: Great Net!"
"Wind Release: Great Weasel Slash!"
"Puppet Technique: Three Treasures Emperor!"
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
"Wind Release: Beast Wave Gale Palm!"
In an instant, five Wind Release techniques attacked Susanoo from all directions!
Ran immediately sensed something off.
Susanoo's skeletal frame seemed unable to fully block these attacks—especially along its back, where the bones were being rapidly sliced apart by cutting wind chakra.
"Now's our chance!"
Seeing the cracks forming in Susanoo's defense, Masuna and Aisha's eyes lit up. As the skeletal structure on its back began to scatter, they both drew their chakra-infused shuriken and charged forward!
"How boring," Ran said coldly. "Is this all the ninja Sunagakure has left? You disappoint me."
As the two rushed in, Ran closed his eyes—
Then opened them again.
At the very instant the chakra shuriken pierced toward him, flesh erupted across Susanoo's bones. Muscles formed in a heartbeat, followed by pitch-black armor snapping into place.
Susanoo grew even taller—more imposing than before.
Masuna's and Aisha's shuriken slammed into the armored Susanoo.
"Oh?" Ran tilted his head slightly. "What is this—some kind of classic scene reenactment?"
Standing at the center of the battlefield, Uchiha Ran was encased in towering black armor that shimmered with a terrifying, ominous light.
Susanoo slowly spread its hands. Black energy surged like a tide, and an overwhelming aura pressed down upon everything around him.
Then—
Two enormous blades materialized out of thin air in Susanoo's grasp, their edges blazing with dazzling purple light.
They were Kusanagi swords, forged entirely from Uchiha Ran's chakra.
From the Sand ninja's perspective, Susanoo's gaze glowed with icy indifference. Its massive body radiated crushing pressure, like a god of war standing above all others.
The Sand shinobi still desperately using Wind Release to restrain Ran froze in terror.
"W-What… what kind of monster is this?!"
One of them trembled so violently that he dropped his shuriken to the ground.
"You're far too weak," Ran said disdainfully. "Fighting you is less taxing than sparring with my teacher, Tsunade."
In the next instant, Susanoo swung both swords.
The twin blades ripped through the air like lightning, releasing piercing shrieks of steel.
Their targets—
Were the two Sand elites who had dared to slash at Susanoo with shuriken.