The moment the crimson magatama, forged of highly concentrated chakra, touched the earth, blinding light clawed its way out from the cracks in its surface.
Chakra compressed to the absolute limit released its energy at a frantic pace, converting into mechanical work, light, and heat! The resulting explosion expanded almost instantly, spiraling out of control.
A visible shockwave rippled outward from the mountain peak beside the Tenshu Pavilion, scattering soil, dust, and massive chunks of Tailed Beast tissue in an instant.
Amidst the howling winds, Hyuga Shōta stared blankly at the ruins before him, feeling a deep, pervading chill throughout his body.
Is this... the power of the Uchiha?
To be fair, as a member of the Hyuga Main House who spent his days in luxury within Konoha, Shōta had heard far too many legends regarding "Ren Uchiha" over the last three months. But he had never truly respected them. Even when he accepted the Daimyo's invitation to protect the Land of Lightning's ruler, he had held the simplistic thought: "A mere Three-Tomoe Uchiha is nothing special."
But now... until this very moment...
When he finally stood in the middle of it, feeling the despair-inducing gap in strength, Shōta finally woke up to reality.
That guy—the hardworking figure he had seen countless times passing by the Naka River. The one whose bag of carefully collected cans he had kicked back into the river three months ago. The one he had looked down upon as a loser who repeated boring, simple D-rank missions every day.
What kind of... monster had he actually been?!
"No!"
Shōta's face turned as white as paper, his heart hammering against his ribs. The heat from the explosion slapped his face despite the protection of the Eight-Tails' massive body, yet he didn't feel warm. Instead, he felt icy cold, his palms slick with sweat.
"It's too dangerous. I can't stay here. I have to leave!"
"I am... the hope of the Hyuga clan!"
Just as the cowardly "artilleryman" began looking for an escape route, young A leaped from the rocky heights of the Pavilion, landing before the heavily wounded Gyūki.
"Bee! Are you alright?!"
The massive octopus tentacles slowly retracted, revealing a soot-covered Killer Bee. Meeting his brother's concerned gaze, Bee suppressed the horror in his heart and forced a grin.
"I'm fine, Bro. The Chakra Cannon is safe too."
Like a weight being lifted from his chest, A let out a sharp sigh of relief. "Good. That's good..."
For the Cloud at this moment, standard attacks—including the Tailed Beast Bomb—could hardly slow Ren Uchiha down. After all, back at the Valley of Hell, Ren had used a single Sage Art: Ultra-Tailed Beast Bomb—Great Spiraling Dark Expansion to forcibly crush two Tailed Beast Bombs simultaneously.
The specialized armor-piercing shells and the Chakra Cannon were their only remaining weapons capable of dealing effective damage to Ren. Moreover, if coordinated correctly at the second ring of defense, the combined ninjutsu of the Cloud army—paired with that "unexpected ally"—had a high probability of forcing out Ren's final [Sage Art] trump card.
They might even be able to kill him outright in the open space between the Earth Flow Rampart and the Tenshu Pavilion.
But if their ultimate weapon was destroyed by the Uchiha before the plan even truly began, the first two defensive lines would be nothing more than paper to Ren.
"Bee, we don't know how many times Ren can use that attack. To be safe, enter Tailed Beast Mode and carry the cannon to the Earth Flow Rampart in the second ring..."
A made his decision instantly, outlining the new plan. "With the coordinated army's protection, you can fire as much as you—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
Killer Bee suddenly looked up at the space behind A, his eyes bulging.
"Wait... Bro..." He raised his head blankly, looking as if he had been scared witless, staring at the sky. "What... what are those things?!"
"What!?" A spun around in shock.
There was no time to breathe. Standing kilometers away, the terrifying skeletal giant swung its arm once more!
In this moment, the sky lit up again with eight objects as brilliant as the sun!
Trailing tails of fire like falling meteors, they streaked directly toward the Chakra Cannon under the horrified gaze of ten thousand people!
The scene looked like a live-action shot of the Survey Corps facing the Beast Titan, watching the massive boulders being hurled at them, left with nothing but the despair of waiting for death.
Or perhaps like a myth where humans finally managed to coax the sun goddess Amaterasu into her cave, only to look up and realize they were actually in a Chinese myth—the one they survived was just one sun...
There were still eight more in the sky.
And unfortunately, there was no hero named Hou Yi in their camp.
Despair spread through the battlefield like wildfire! Even young A was momentarily dazed by the scale of the assault. But his expression soon shifted to one of grim determination.
He looked up at the eight falling suns, his fists clenched. "Bee!"
"I'm here, Bro!" Bee replied instantly, his face pale as he analyzed the situation. "We have to abandon the cannon... we can still make it out if we leave now."
A single hit from a True Yasaka Beads was comparable to the explosion of a full-power Tailed Beast Bomb. No matter how durable Gyūki was, or how strong a perfect Jinchuriki might be, taking five hits was the absolute limit. If he tried to tank nine in a row, Bee would be meeting the Sage of Six Paths on the spot.
However...
"No!" A's voice was firm. "We cannot abandon it!"
"Our plan is fundamentally successful. Ren has already walked into our trap. The next wave of our offensive has begun. If we can just survive this round of retaliation, victory will belong to the Cloud!"
"Bee, do it for the village! We must stop this attack here!"
"Even if... it costs us our lives!"
Bee took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were burning with fighting spirit. "Alright! Bro, let's fight side-by-side! We are the strongest 'A-B' combo, after all!"
The brothers locked eyes, seeing mutual resolve. They both took a step forward, faces tensed as they faced the eight descending beads of fire!
Meanwhile, standing atop the Susanoo, looking down at the panic etched on the faces below, Ren Uchiha's gaze fell upon the two men stepping forward.
A playful smile touched his lips.
"Impressive will. You still intend to resist?"
Ren's face went cold, and he shook his head with calm indifference. "But this is nothing more than a pointless struggle. It's about time..."
As the words left his mouth, Ren raised his hand.
SNAP!
He snapped his fingers toward the sky. The seeds he had buried the moment he stepped into the city now took root and sprouted!
"Sage Art: Genjutsu—Mirror of the Sun!"
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