As it continuously absorbed the ocular power of the Uchiha clan, the numerous Sharingan embedded across the Sharingan Orb began to awaken one by one, releasing an even more formidable torrent of pupils and unlocking a sequence of enhanced traits.
The technique deployed moments prior leveraged the multi-faceted accuracy of the Compound Eyes trait, paired with the illusion amplification of the Mental Force trait.
This permitted the crimson sun to simulate an ability closely resembling the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
However, this was merely a heavily constrained, limited version; it was only capable of ensnaring its targets within a localized illusionary dreamscape, temporarily paralyzing them.
Yet, this single trait alone threw Konoha into an unprecedented state of pandemonium. The Third Hokage's face turned completely livid as he glared at Uchiha Kaede.
It was at this exact millisecond that the Sharingan Orb slowly rose from the center of the crimson sun.
Staring at the grotesque, fleshy mass studded with dozens of blinking Sharingan, the Third Hokage's expression contorted in revulsion. "What a foul, malevolent entity!"
"Call it malevolent or righteous as you please, Lord Third. What meaning do such labels carry at a time like this?"
Amidst the roaring inferno, Uchiha Kaede stripped away the remnants of his top, exposing his lean, muscular upper body.
His hands snapped together into a sequence of unfamiliar hand seals, activating a specialized forbidden formula.
The fleshy Sharingan Orb, which emitted a bizarre, sickening stench, sank directly into his chest, melting into his flesh to form a complex, runic brand. In the next instant, a massive quantity of fully functional Sharingan erupted across Kaede's entire upper body.
This grotesque, aberrant physical transformation caused the Third Hokage's heart to seize with instinctive dread.
Enduring the catastrophic strain of harboring such a colossal concentration of ocular power, Kaede gritted his teeth as the three-tomoe configurations across his skin began to spin frantically, discharging a unique wave of volatile chakra.
Lacking Hashirama's Wood Style cells, Uchiha Kaede instead relied entirely on the cells of his own Fire Style Sage Body to forcefully integrate the Sharingan Orb with his anatomy, allowing the raw kinetic energy of the crimson sun to continuously feed back into his system.
However, activating the collective power of countless Sharingan simultaneously subjected Kaede to a staggering drain on his spiritual energy.
Deep within the subconscious mindscape, Shiraishi and his three other mental splinters sat cross-legged in a meditative circle.
The four of them bound their spiritual energies into a singular, cohesive entity, working in absolute synchronization to shoulder the tyrannical consumption rate of the Sharingan Orb on Kaede's behalf.
Although the drain from the Sharingan Orb was exceptionally severe, the amplification it granted to his ocular power was nothing short of monumental.
Simultaneously, from the vast pool of newly unlocked capabilities refreshed by the orb, Shiraishi specifically selected two distinct traits perfectly suited to complement Kaede's current combat style.
Secret Art · Pure Power — Awakened!
Secret Art · Speed Boost — Awakened!
Through the lethal synergy of these two newly acquired traits from the Sharingan Orb, Uchiha Kaede now possessed Pure Power, which instantly doubled his raw offensive output, alongside Speed Boost, which continuously accelerated his kinetic velocity with each passing second.
This was in addition to the inherent Compound Eyes and Mental Force traits supplied by the orb, as well as Kaede's baseline abilities: Ending Earth and Turbo Flame.
The combination of these traits elevated Kaede's combat capacity several times over. Cloaked in a raging torrent of fire, every single punch he threw now carried an apocalyptic, destructive force capable of tearing through anything in its path.
With a thunderous boom, Kaede preemptively vanished from his position, launching an onslaught that was exponentially more ruthless than before.
The Third Hokage barely managed to wrench his torso backward, tilting his upper body at a sharp angle.
He felt the vacuum generated by the sheer force of the incoming fist rip past his face, the localized air pressure cutting into his skin like a razor.
"Ha! Let's see how many of those you can dodge!"
Despite his advanced age, the stubborn, unyielding spirit of the Third Hokage refused to break.
His spine snapped back into alignment like a compressed steel spring, returning to his baseline stance as his fist rocketed forward in a swift, fluid counterattack aimed directly at Kaede's face.
Yet, the cold, calculated cruelty within Kaede's crimson eyes remained entirely unchanged. Capitalizing on the upward momentum of his counter, he launched himself into the air.
With a sharp twist of his hips, he drove his knee outward in a brutal lateral block, neutralizing the Hokage's strike.
Borrowing the kinetic recoil of the impact, he spun gracefully in mid-air, unleashing a sweeping horizontal kick that whipped up a raging tornado of fire.
One kick followed another, each strike transitioning seamlessly into the next in a relentless, unforgiving loop of hyper-accelerated martial fury.
Under the continuous acceleration of the Speed Boost trait, the Third Hokage's visual perception ultimately failed to keep pace with Kaede's movements.
His defensive guard was breached, and his body was violently hurled backward by a clean, devastating impact.
"Lord Hokage!"
Having sustained a rapid sequence of severe internal injuries, the Third Hokage spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.
Nevertheless, his fingers remained locked in a death grip around his massive staff as he directed a frigid, calculating gaze at Uchiha Kaede.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more the Third Hokage realized that his physiological systems were being insidiously eroded by the ambient heat of Kaede's flames, causing his physical output to steadily deteriorate.
Conversely, his opponent's velocity was compounding exponentially, reaching a threshold that he could no longer effectively contest.
Furthermore, under the absolute domain of the activated Ending Earth terrain, conventional Water Style ninjutsu was rendered fundamentally inert.
The absolute authority of these environmental traits proved far more absolute than standard jutsu formulas.
This was especially true for the current Kaede, who had stacked multiple trait amplifications to reconstruct himself into a literal monster on the battlefield.
However, the expenditure of his physical stamina was also exceptionally severe. After all, anchoring the colossal feedback of such an astronomical amount of ocular power inevitably exacted a brutal toll on his physical vessel.
Meanwhile, as Obito and Itachi steadily and systematically eradicated the remaining combatants of the Uchiha clan, the energy within the Sharingan Orb continued to compound at a frantic rate.
Under the influence of this massive influx of ocular chakra, the illusionary output projected by the crimson sun began to mutate.
High above, Kaede's fingers flew together into a sequence of hand seals, executing a specialized, forbidden technique completely unrecognized by the Third Hokage.
"Secret Art: Dream Eater!"
The bizarre, parasitic frequencies of the Dream Eater technique rippled outward across the village infrastructure.
Instantly, countless Konoha citizens who had previously been ensnared by the skyward genjutsu contorted in agony.
Portions of their vital life force and spiritual essences were forcefully extracted from their bodies, funneled skyward into the atmosphere to serve as pure, refined sustenance for the crimson sun and Uchiha Kaede.
Within Shiraishi's catalog of specialized abilities, there existed a highly specialized, esoteric psychic-type art known as Dream Eater.
It was specifically engineered to prey upon the subconscious mental reserves of an ensnared opponent, converting their cognitive energy directly into physical vitality for the caster.
"This technique... bears a terrifying structural similarity to the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Concealed deep within the shifting shadows of the landscape, Zetsu observed Kaede utilizing the synergy between Dream Eater and the Sharingan Orb to drain the life forces of Konoha's populace.
He couldn't help but click his tongue in genuine surprise; he clearly hadn't anticipated that anyone in this modern era would possess the capacity to engineer a specialized forbidden art of this caliber.
White Zetsu nodded, speaking with an air of supreme confidence, as if everything remained well within their calculations.
"The mastermind backing Uchiha Kaede must be the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure. In the entire span of the current shinobi world, he is the only individual capable of fabricating a technique of this magnitude."
"Congratulations, you guessed correctly."
The sudden, cool voice slicing through the air caused Zetsu's entire composure to shatter in shock. Spinning around instantly, the Akatsuki intelligence operative found a young man dressed in the unassuming attire of a wealthy merchant, staring down at him with a placid, enigmatic smile.
"Who are you?"
The absolute lack of a detectable signature emanating from the young man opposite them filled Zetsu with an instinctive, visceral dread.
The merchant merely tapped his chin casually. "Me? I am simply Lop Nur, a humble representative of the Roulan Chamber of Commerce."
The moment that specific alias registered, a spike of pure terror flashed through Zetsu's mind. He instantly activated the Mayfly technique, attempting to sink seamlessly into the earth to execute a high-speed underground retreat.
However, Lop Nur—or rather, Shiraishi—had no intention of letting this creature slip away so easily.
His palm snapped outward, condensing highly specialized threads of Water Style chakra that impaled deep into the subterranean strata, mutating into a network of predatory water dragons that tracked Zetsu's escape trajectory with absolute precision.
The specialized combination of Inorganic Reincarnation and high-density water threads allowed the water dragons to replicate the mechanics of the Mayfly technique, integrating directly with the organic network of the earth's roots and vegetation to achieve hyper-velocity subterranean movement.
Shiraishi himself remained completely motionless. The subtle fluctuation of chakra hovering at the tips of his fingers indicated that he had already stamped a permanent, specialized tracking coordinate onto Zetsu's form long before this confrontation.
The entire terrain was violently upheaved and torn apart. Realizing that escaping underground was a mathematical impossibility, Black Zetsu erupted back through the surface.
Leaping into the air to sever his connection to the earth, he watched as the subterranean water dragons converged into a singular, blinding blade of hyper-pressurized fluid that shot skyward, piercing clean through Zetsu's neck.
Amidst the sudden, dazzling flash of the kinetic impact, Black Zetsu made a split-second decision.
He cleanly severed his consciousness from the primary White Zetsu vessel, utilizing a highly specialized, independent escape art to vanish into the darkness. The remaining White Zetsu's body was cleanly bisected by Shiraishi's water blade, collapsing lifelessly to the dirt.
Walking slowly to the side of the severed White Zetsu corpse, Shiraishi's brows knitted into a slight frown as he inspected the remains. "This tissue structure..."
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