The confrontation between the black Susanoo and Danzo Shimura grew increasingly heavy as the secret of Izanagi was laid bare. A cold wind swept through the hollow, dispersing some of the dust.
"So what if you know?"
Danzo's voice was hoarse as he slowly lifted his left arm, the one that had been wrapped in thick bandages.
"In the face of absolute power and preparation, a little information won't change the outcome."
As he spoke, he exerted force and tore away the layers of bandages wrapped around his left arm.
The bandages fell away, revealing the pale, wrinkled, yet exceptionally strong skin of the arm beneath.
Embedded in that arm were three crimson Sharingan that seemed to still be slightly spinning.
The cold eyes lined the arm, exuding a bizarre and evil beauty that contrasted sharply with Danzo's sinister expression.
"Three... which means, counting the one possibly transplanted into your right eye, you can activate Izanagi at most four more times."
Uchiha Shao Yu's voice emanated from within the Susanoo, analyzing calmly as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.
"Is this your greatest reliance? Using my clansmen's eyes to trade for a chance at a lingering life and sneak attacks."
Danzo's face darkened further; the opponent not only knew about Izanagi but was also perfectly clear about the number of times he could use it.
"The eyes of the Uchiha are wasted on you naturally evil people! Only in my hands can they exert their true function, clearing away the calamities for Konoha!"
He argued stubbornly while the three Sharingan on his left arm suddenly glowed with a crimson light, and a massive amount of Chakra began to gather around him.
"Talk is useless." Uchiha Shao Yu's eyes sharpened. "Then let me see just how much this stolen power of yours is worth."
Before his voice had even faded, the black Susanoo moved.
It was no longer just a skeletal frame; Chakra surged wildly as muscles, meridians, and even a rudimentary Chakra mantle began to rapidly cover and take shape over the bones.
Though still not complete, it had already entered a second form with a greater sense of power and defense.
Even more startling, within the right hand of this advanced Susanoo, pitch-black Chakra condensed, compressed, and deformed wildly, eventually forming a massive skeletal war hammer entirely entwined with ominous black flames.
Controlling the Susanoo, Uchiha Shao Yu swung the massive black-flamed war hammer, bringing it down fiercely toward Danzo Shimura with a terrifying momentum capable of crushing mountains. Before the hammer even landed, the gale-force winds already caused debris on the ground to fly.
Danzo's single eye narrowed, not daring to take head-on an attack that clearly surpassed the scope of conventional Ninjutsu.
His body retreated rapidly while his hands formed seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!" Several incredibly sharp, high-pressure wind blades slashed out in a cross pattern, attempting to cut or stall the war hammer.
However, the defensive power of the advanced Susanoo far exceeded the skeletal first form. The wind blades struck the Susanoo's Chakra mantle and war hammer, only kicking up a series of piercing sparks and ripples before dissipating, unable to break the defense at all.
"BOOM!!!"
The war hammer smashed down, the ground trembling violently as another huge crater was added. Although Danzo narrowly avoided it, he was shaken by the shockwave, his internal energy churning.
The battle that followed became almost a one-sided suppression and pursuit.
Relying on his rich combat experience and exquisite Body Flicker Technique and Substitution Jutsu, Danzo constantly shifted and dodged within the hollow, avoiding the violent strikes of the Susanoo's heavy hammer time and again. He tried various Wind Release techniques and even countered with his summoned beast, Baku, but Uchiha Shao Yu was different from the Sasuke in the original story; with the support of the Six Eyes, his Susanoo was even harder.
Ordinary attacks hitting the advanced Susanoo had negligible effects, leaving at most shallow marks that were quickly repaired by the surging Chakra.
His only chance to pose an effective threat to the Susanoo was in the brief moment after each use of Izanagi to resurrect and reset his state.
When Izanagi is activated, it forcibly "rewrites" the fatal damage Danzo receives into a dream and allows him to "resurrect" in a perfect state at an advantageous position.
In the instant after resurrection, Danzo's own state is fully restored, and due to the disruption of rules, he has enough time to build up power. The attacks he launches then can temporarily weaken or penetrate the Susanoo's defense.
Using this, Danzo twice managed to hit the Susanoo with premeditated, powerful Wind Release after "resurrecting," indeed causing significantly more damage than usual, even tearing large gaps in the Susanoo's mantle and causing Shao Yu inside to suffer some impact.
But Uchiha Shao Yu was already prepared.
He had calculated the number of times Danzo could use Izanagi and this characteristic; every time Danzo resurrected to launch a surprise attack, he controlled the Susanoo to bear or deflect the attack at the minimum cost, while immediately launching a more ferocious counterattack, forcing Danzo to continue wasting Chakra and energy to maneuver, unable to expand his gains.
This was a war of attrition, a contest not just of immediate combat power, but of calculation, patience, and hidden trump cards.
Time passed in the intense offense and defense. The hollow was already unrecognizable, filled with giant craters, cracks, and the traces of rampaging Ninjutsu.
One by one, the Sharingan on Danzo's left arm lost their light permanently due to the activation of Izanagi, turning gray and closing.
When the third Sharingan dimmed, only the last crimson eye on his left arm remained spinning, but its light also appeared somewhat scattered. The frequent use of Izanagi and the fierce battle placed a massive burden on his mental energy.
Uchiha Shao Yu's black Susanoo had also become battered and broken.
The Chakra mantle was damaged in many places, revealing the cracked bones beneath, and the black-flamed war hammer in the right hand had dimmed, its size shrinking considerably.
Maintaining such a high-intensity Susanoo form for combat was likewise a huge test for his ocular power.
Although he could recover through the Six Eyes and Circular Deer, Uchiha Shao Yu still wanted to give Danzo a bit of hope.
Then... "Now!"
A cold light flashed in Uchiha Shao Yu's eyes.
He suddenly released the tattered Susanoo, and the massive black Chakra giant instantly dissipated, his figure exposed to the air once more.
Danzo was stunned, thinking the opponent finally couldn't hold on anymore. A flash of wild joy and ruthlessness crossed his single eye as he prepared to seize the opportunity to launch a fatal blow.
However, Uchiha Shao Yu's hands quickly formed a peculiar seal, and he let out a low shout.
"Manzo!"
"ROAR—!!!"
A dull roar like thunder, seemingly from ancient prehistoric times, exploded without warning in the sky above the hollow.
Space distorted, and a giant elephant-like Shikigami—"Manzo"—with a body as massive as a hill, skin like gray rock, a trunk like a giant python, and tusks like crescent moons appeared.
Like a falling meteor, carrying unparalleled weight and impact, it smashed down fiercely toward Danzo Shimura, who had just slightly relaxed due to the dissipation of the Susanoo and was preparing to charge forward.
This sudden change happened in the blink of an eye, the timing captured to perfection! It was exactly the moment when Danzo's old strength had been spent and his new strength had not yet risen, and his attention was drawn by Shao Yu's main body.
"Nani?!"
Danzo looked up in horror, seeing only a massive shadow obscuring the moonlight.
He wanted to dodge, but the range of Manzo's fall was too wide and the speed too fast. He wanted to perform a Substitution Jutsu or defensive Ninjutsu, but found his Chakra momentarily stagnant due to previous consumption and shock.
"Izanagi!!!"
At the moment of life and death, Danzo let out an unwilling roar, and the last Sharingan on his left arm erupted with a final, blinding crimson light.
"BOOM—!!!!!"
A world-shaking explosion! Manzo's incredibly massive body slammed solidly into the position where Danzo was.
The earth rose and fell violently like waves, and dust shot up dozens of meters high, the shockwave blowing away all nearby rubble.
When the dust cleared slightly, one could see Manzo's giant body deeply embedded in the ground, and beneath it... only a patch of ground pressed incredibly firm, as if crushed by a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press.
And... a few remnants of clothing and flesh.
Danzo, at the last moment, was forced to use the final Sharingan on his left arm to activate Izanagi for the fourth time.
Without the speed limitation of the Susanoo, Uchiha Shao Yu could easily dodge Danzo's powered-up strike.
However, Uchiha Shao Yu's attack did not stop.
"Tu Tu!"
With a thought, the ability of the Shikigami he had recently tamed was activated. Countless illusory, extremely fast rabbit-shaped energy afterimages appeared out of thin air like a white torrent, rushing madly toward the positions where Danzo might reappear after activating Izanagi.
These Tu Tu had no real offensive power, but they were numerous and incredibly fast, specifically designed to interfere with vision, disrupt perception, and hinder movement.
Sure enough, about twenty meters to the side and rear of Manzo's landing site, the air distorted, and Danzo Shimura emerged in a wretched state, his face as pale as a ghost, all the Sharingan on his left arm gray and closed, and his aura greatly diminished.
As soon as he appeared, he was surrounded and buffeted by countless Escape Rabbit phantoms. Although they caused no damage, they made him irritable, obscured his vision, and caused his movements to inevitably lag for a split second.
And it was that very split second!
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Uchiha Shao Yu seized the opportunity. His main body and a clone joined forces to perform a composite Ninjutsu. The wind aided the fire's momentum as a blazing fire dragon roared and pounced toward Danzo.
Danzo barely managed to perform a Wind Release to block, but was blown back repeatedly by the explosion, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his aura becoming even more disordered.
This was an inspiration Uchiha Shao Yu had gained from Hiruzen Sarutobi's Five Release Great Combo Technique, though he wasn't very proficient yet and could only use two attributes for now.
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808