"Damn it," Minato muttered, his face contorted with frustration. As the Hokage, the overwhelming feeling of helplessness at being unable to protect his villagers weighed heavily on his soul.
He had tried to teleport the source of the disaster away, but as soon as he approached the black sphere in the sky, his chakra was violently siphoned off by the massive gravitational pull, leaving his consciousness sluggish and numb.
Chibaku Tensei was no ordinary ninjutsu; it was a formidable sealing technique!
Unable to find a solution in the heat of the moment, Minato had no choice but to place his faith in Makiya.
The sturdy Hokage Rock could no longer endure the strain. It began to crumble from the top. Even with the internal steel reinforcements, it couldn't withstand the gravitational pull of the Chibaku Tensei. The four carved Hokage heads were now essentially bald.
The ceiling of the upper shelters was ripped away, leaving countless villagers staring up at the sky in despair, awaiting their final judgment.
Young couples clung to each other, whispering their final goodbyes. Beside them, old husbands and wives gripped hands tightly. Children wailed while the stationing ninjas gritted their teeth in silent resolve.
Boom! Boom!
Tekka and Yashiro appeared above the shelters. Their massive Susanoos blocked the path for anyone being pulled upward, their ethereal weapons driven deep into the mountainside for stability.
As blood-red tears streamed from their Mangekyo Sharingan, the villagers realized for the first time just how reassuring the Uchiha's eyes could be.
But it wasn't enough...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The energy weapons of the Susanoos carved deep furrows into the mountain as the two half-bodied giants began to rise slowly.
"Damn it... Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King Enma!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared atop the Hokage Rock. Cursing under his breath at the sight of the ruined statues beneath his feet, he bit his finger and quickly drew the summoning seals.
A cloud of white smoke cleared to reveal the bearded Enma standing before Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, have you encountered another powerful foe?" Enma sensed something was wrong the moment he arrived. He dropped to all fours to steady himself, his expression grave.
The Sarutobi and Enma clans had been allies for generations. The King of the Enma clan possessed an indestructible body and could transform into the Adamantine Staff—a weapon that could change size and length at will and even perform hand seals. It was hailed as the strongest summoning beast.
Of course, titles like 'strongest' were often just empty praise. Hiruzen himself was called the 'Strongest Hokage,' yet much of that was just people inflating each other's reputations.
"Enma, go and crush that thing." Hiruzen gestured toward the black sphere in the sky.
The Chibaku Tensei was growing larger by the second. It had already formed a massive sphere of rock that rivaled the moon behind it.
Enma looked up at the sky.
What's going on? When did I offend Hiruzen? 'If you want a new summoning beast, just say it. There's no need to go through all this trouble to kill me.'
Hiruzen knew he was asking the impossible, but to save the village, he couldn't care about anything else. "I'll support you with everything I have. Please, Enma."
"Since you're the one asking... fine. Let's go!"
Enma transformed into the Adamantine Staff and landed in Hiruzen's grip. With a look of grim determination, the old man resolved to give his life to stop this jutsu.
The rock beneath him exploded as Hiruzen Sarutobi shot toward the sky like a black streak.
Boom!
Suddenly, a terrifying surge of chakra erupted, striking everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer and making them tremble.
"This chakra..." Hiruzen's heart shook. As he ascended, a black dot appeared in his vision. Judging by the attire, it was a Konoha ninja. "Is that... Makiya?"
Hiruzen knew Makiya was strong—extremely strong. Intelligence reports indicated he was not to be trifled with, but the old man had never seen Makiya go all out. Today would be his first time witnessing it.
In terms of pure chakra volume, Makiya had already far surpassed him. Hiruzen felt a wave of relief that he had chosen to compromise on the Danzo issue. If they had come to blows, the Fourth Hokage's surname might very well have been Uchiha today.
Makiya hovered at the same altitude as the Deva Path. Nagato's eyes narrowed. It was natural for him to fly through the manipulation of gravity and repulsion, but his opponent was floating in mid-air without any external aid. Just how was he doing it?
Makiya's hands blurred through seals. A vast ocean of chakra surged forth, an endless torrent that washed over the world, momentarily causing the omnipresent gravity to stutter.
Nearly materialized chakra enveloped Makiya, forming a translucent pale-blue vortex. It stirred the winds and clouds into a hurricane, grinding the rising debris into dust.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
The chakra ignited instantly, like a spark in a gas-filled mine. Golden flames roared to life, filling the sky in the blink of an eye.
The people below stared at the golden sky, rendered speechless.
"To think the Great Fire Annihilation could reach such a scale... Makiya..." Hiruzen fell silent. A certain figure from his childhood surfaced in his mind—the legend he had grown up hearing stories about.
Makiya's style was so similar to the First Hokage's. If both used Wood Style, Konoha would likely welcome a second God of Shinobi.
"This is Lord Makiya's true power!" Tekka and Yashiro were flushed with excitement, their bodies trembling with fervor.
"Is that... chakra?" The civilians and ninjas in the shelters gaped, looking up in disbelief.
After years of development, Konoha's population was enormous. The number of registered ninjas neared ten thousand, and civilians far outnumbered them. While Makiya was powerful, many still didn't know him personally.
Not knowing him before didn't matter. After today, the image of a 'powerhouse' would be forever solidified in everyone's minds by that single figure in the sky.
"Sage Art: Asahi Blade!"
Blue steam erupted from Makiya's body. He clapped his hands, stirring the sea of fire. The golden flames were touched by white frost, turning the entire sky pure white as a colossal blade took shape within the inferno.
The sea of fire seemed alive, churning and converging violently. As the tip emerged from the flames, a two-hundred-meter-long blade slowly extended. The leaping flames on its surface resembled the flares of a sun, radiating a terrifying heat.
The pure white Asahi Blade fully formed. Its sheer size was oppressive, hanging across the sky alongside the celestial body created by the Chibaku Tensei. The terrifying pressure shrouded Konoha, making the air feel heavy. Below, people found it hard to breathe as the invisible weight echoed through space.
"Hmph. A futile struggle." Nagato's face was as cold as water. Makiya's jutsu had exceeded his expectations, but he still believed in the invincible power of the Rinnegan.
"Go!"
With a low growl, Makiya thrust his hands forward. The massive two-hundred-meter blade shot out like a cannonball, hurtling toward the Chibaku Tensei in the sky.
Everyone watched with wide eyes. The collision between these two giants was imminent. Even though the light from the white flames was blinding, they forced their eyes open to witness this incredible moment.
The air warped and hissed under the extreme heat. The giant sword left a long trail of fire in its wake, like a meteor streaking across the heavens, and crashed into the Chibaku Tensei in an instant.
Rumble...
The tip of the sword met the rock, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter. It drove deep into the celestial body, and the sheer force of the impact created a visible shockwave that rippled through the surrounding air.
Heat radiated rapidly through the rock. Makiya's flames began to melt the outer shell of the Chibaku Tensei, causing vast quantities of magma to flow down, only to be sucked back in by the gravity. From a distance, it looked like a planet of molten lava.
"I won't let you have your way! Open! Reverse the situation!" Nagato roared again. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his body—pierced by the black receivers of the Gedo Statue—trembled violently as dark blood seeped from his wounds.
A massive influx of chakra surged into the Chibaku Tensei. The gravitational pull fluctuated wildly, beginning to twist Makiya's Asahi Blade bit by bit.
Makiya frowned. Although the flaming sword had damaged the rocky shell, it hadn't struck the core. The Chibaku Tensei continued to function, and the internal pressure was so great that the Asahi Blade could no longer advance after reaching a certain depth.
Gravity like an abyss radiated outward once more. The earth cracked, and mountains shattered as even more matter was captured by the Chibaku Tensei.
The entire mountain where the Hokage Rock sat began to shake. It slowly lifted off the ground, gaining speed as it rose into the sky—taking the shelters within it along for the ride.
"What's happening?"
"The shelter is shaking! No, we're rising! The whole shelter is flying!"
"Help! Please, someone save me!"
"To think even that jutsu couldn't break the gravitational pull... Damn it."
Makiya pursed his lips. 'Nagato wants to compete with me in scale? You've got to be kidding. When it comes to making a scene, I've never been afraid of anyone.'
"Susanoo!"
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly as pitch-black ocular power and chakra flooded out without restraint. Massive vertebrae materialized out of thin air, followed by a skeletal skull and the bones of two arms.
"Look! That's..."
"It's the Uchiha's Susanoo! But it's useless!"
"What a waste..."
Thanks to Tekka and Yashiro, the villagers below recognized the technique Makiya was using. However, their minds soon went blank. They looked at the gargantuan entity forming around Makiya, then back at the two half-skeletons nearby, and lost the ability to speak. Their minds were filled with nothing but question marks.
'They're both Susanoo, so why is the size difference so astronomical?'
The giant's skeleton gradually took shape. An eight-hundred-meter-tall skeleton revealed its terrifying visage. Soon, massive muscles appeared as if cast from steel, followed by skin and armor. When the ancient mythological samurai warrior fully emerged from the abyss, the entirety of Konoha fell silent.
The samurai, clad in black armor, looked as if he were carved from tempered steel. Every hard scale released an ancient, primal aura, like a beast of the human world.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth felt dry. He looked at the Adamantine Staff in his hand, then up at the sky where the Susanoo blocked the moonlight and cast a massive shadow over the earth. A profound sense of gratitude washed over him.
'Thank God. Thank God I didn't clash with Makiya back then. Thank God I chose restraint. Thank God Makiya has a stable personality. Thank God Danzo's death was enough to appease his anger. Thank God...'
'A man with this kind of power could likely flip the entire village on his own. Once the conflict between the village and him reached an irreconcilable point, the only ones meeting their end would be the Konoha higher-ups and their direct lineages.'
Standing within their own Susanoos, Tekka and Yashiro looked at Makiya with eyes full of worship mixed with envy. Makiya was their goal. They believed that as long as they worked hard, they too would one day develop their Susanoo to this level.
One can only say that having dreams is a good thing...
The eight-hundred-meter-tall giant stood tall against the heavens, feeling the gravitational pull most intensely. Makiya stopped resisting and allowed himself to be drawn toward the Chibaku Tensei.
Boom!
The pitch-black giant adjusted its orientation, its legs bending in anticipation of the impact. As its feet slammed into the 'ground' of the rocky sphere, the outer layer of the Chibaku Tensei shattered instantly, unable to withstand the violent force.
A third of Makiya's Susanoo was embedded in the rocky celestial body. Behind him, chakra erupted, condensing into two massive black wings.
The wings whipped up a hurricane, pulling the Susanoo's body out of the crater. Makiya appeared within the diamond-shaped crystal space in the giant's forehead, controlling the Susanoo's hands to grip the flaming sword.
Compared to the eight-hundred-meter giant, the two-hundred-meter flaming sword looked a bit undersized. Makiya unleashed his chakra again—a seemingly endless stream that flowed through the Susanoo's arms and into the blade.
The blade trembled and grew rapidly. To Nagato's horror, it expanded in length and width, while its heat radiation whipped up a tsunami of magma.
"It's just a ball of dirt! Break for me!" Makiya roared. The Susanoo applied its full strength, the muscles connecting its bones contracting under the chakra's drive to provide immense power.
The now five-hundred-meter-long white blade moved beneath the crust of the Chibaku Tensei. The terrifying force pushed the sword deeper, causing the magma to fracture and roar as it geysered from the surface under the extreme internal pressure.
At a certain point, the tip of the sword—now piercing the core—suddenly shuddered. Its progress came to a halt as the energy blade of white fire struck a tiny black sphere, carving a small notch into its perfect surface.