Uchiha Yoru's body had developed perfectly, and the foundation of his Lunar Spirit Body was solid and flawless. Naturally, the Mangekyō Sharingan born from it had no defects.
He wouldn't go blind after using it a few times, nor would his eyes bleed from overexertion.
Because of that, his golden Susanoo didn't need to start from a half-bodied skeleton and gradually increase its combat level.
The moment it appeared, it was already at the limit Uchiha Yoru could currently reach.
As for the final armored stage with wings, Uchiha Yoru had other ideas and had no intention of following that path.
So that stage would never exist for him.
On the Third Hokage's side, the moment the golden Susanoo appeared and crushed Hiruzen Sarutobi's ultimate technique in one hand, every ordinary shinobi was effectively expelled from the battle.
The fighting that followed became even more intense, far beyond anything shinobi could comprehend.
Giant toads nearly twenty meters tall fought against a thirty-five-meter Susanoo.
Their battle resembled a clash between gods.
Every movement shook the earth.
A casual ninjutsu from one of the giant toads covered enough area to kill half a company of shinobi in a single strike.
And because these gigantic creatures were fighting, the battlefield itself expanded enormously.
One powerful kick from Susanoo could send an enormous toad flying several kilometers away.
As the giant toad crashed through the earth and forest, it carved out a massive trench along the way.
It was nothing less than terrain modification.
Forget participating in such a battle.
If an ANBU shinobi was merely caught by the aftermath, there wouldn't even be a corpse left behind.
During this round of combat, the three giant toad brothers could only defend.
They had no ability to counterattack.
Only Jiraiya's senjutsu seemed capable of producing meaningful results.
Unfortunately, his strongest supporting Sages had already been forced from the battlefield, preventing him from using several of his most powerful senjutsu.
That made it extremely difficult to inflict fatal damage on Susanoo.
In truth, the real problem was that the giant toads simply couldn't endure the attacks.
If someone could buy him enough time, Jiraiya was confident that he could fight Susanoo.
Senjutsu was not nearly so weak.
Jiraiya loosely clenched his right hand several times.
Finally, he reluctantly abandoned the idea of using that technique early.
Its power was tremendous.
It was enough to break Susanoo's defense.
But it was a close-range technique.
If he couldn't get close to Susanoo, its effective range wouldn't reach.
Jiraiya sighed.
"If only Orochimaru were here."
"Hell, Tsunade would be fine too."
At that moment—
The golden Susanoo smashed through the lingering white smoke and once again appeared before Gamabunta.
It raised its fist.
This time—
No one could stop it.
Gamabunta wasn't prepared to block either.
His purplish-red face instantly turned pale.
Jiraiya could only form seals as quickly as possible, trying to dismiss Gamabunta first and send him back to Myōboku Mountain before he was killed.
But at that instant—
The golden fist was blocked.
By another crimson fist.
Two Susanoo!?
Indeed.
There were now two Susanoo.
The crimson Susanoo was no weaker in appearance than the golden one.
They were nearly the same height.
Their builds were similar.
It, too, possessed a complete body of flesh-like chakra and clothing rather than remaining a skeletal frame.
A voice emerged from the crimson Susanoo.
"Uchiha Yoru."
"Your Sharingan is clearly still sealed."
"How can you use Susanoo?"
"This is the strongest divine power that resides within the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"What right do you have to use it without even activating your Mangekyō?"
Uchiha Yoru looked upward at Uchiha Fugaku, who was positioned within the Susanoo's head.
He rubbed his chin.
"I didn't expect Clan Head Fugaku to have secretly developed Susanoo all the way to the fourth stage."
"Why haven't you manifested the armor and weapons?"
"Hmm…"
"Is it because they consume too much chakra and ocular power?"
"That should be it."
"But you still deliberately created the legs."
"Was that because you didn't want me looking down on you from above, so you specifically increased its height?"
Uchiha Fugaku remained silent.
Clearly—
Uchiha Yoru had guessed everything correctly.
"You're right."
"All of it."
Only after a long pause did Fugaku speak again.
"But you still haven't answered my question."
Uchiha Yoru smiled.
"Fine."
"Consider it returning the favor."
"My answer is this—"
"Clan Head Fugaku, you and our elders and ancestors have all misunderstood the Sharingan."
"The eyes are merely one part of the body."
"So naturally, the Sharingan is only one part of the body as well."
"It is the greatest fruit produced by the body I have named the Lunar Spirit Body."
"The Sharingan is the fruit."
"The Mangekyō Sharingan is the mature fruit."
"The Sharingan is extremely important."
"It is extremely powerful."
"But in the end, it is still only the fruit borne by the tree."
"It is not the tree itself."
"As long as one understands the Lunar Spirit Body deeply enough and masters it thoroughly enough, then even without the Sharingan, I can still use the various powers unique to the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Including, but not limited to, Susanoo."
"The only exceptions are the unique ocular techniques."
"Those truly cannot be used without the eyes."
The golden Susanoo extended its right hand and pointed toward the crimson Susanoo.
Uchiha Yoru smiled.
"Clan Head Fugaku."
"I answered your question."
"Now shouldn't you use your full strength and fight me properly?"
"Otherwise, in your current state—"
"You won't survive more than a few blows from me."
Uchiha Fugaku released even more chakra.
An even greater amount of ocular power poured into his Susanoo.
Armor in the form of a tengu manifested across the crimson giant's body.
A massive sword appeared at its waist.
Even by Susanoo standards—
The blade was as long as an oversized nodachi.
The crimson tengu drew the weapon and assumed a middle guard sword stance.
With the armor and weapon manifested, it appeared larger and stronger than the golden Susanoo.
Yet Uchiha Yoru showed no panic whatsoever.
Instead, he calmly shifted into a fighting stance and said regretfully,
"What a pity."
"The deity I intend to manifest as a pure god of battle has not yet received recognition from the laws of heaven and earth in the shinobi world."
"I truly wanted to let Clan Head Fugaku see what a real victorious god of battle looks like."
"To think that a mere tengu is treated as Susanoo's highest combat form…"
"It really doesn't live up to the title of 'strongest divine power.'"
Uchiha Fugaku's patience finally snapped.
"Nonsense!"
"After I subdue you, I'll make sure to correct that twisted thinking of yours!"
The crimson tengu shifted its nodachi from middle guard to high guard.
Then—
It charged.
At the moment it entered striking distance—
The sword came crashing down in a ferocious overhead chop.
What could only be called—
Splitting Mount Hua with one strike.
The golden Susanoo slid sideways with astonishing agility.
It moved outside the blade's path.
Then—
It stepped forward, lowered its body, and punched viciously into the crimson tengu's ribs.
Uchiha Fugaku was clearly an experienced fighter.
He didn't forcefully retract the nodachi.
Instead, he stepped back half a pace.
At the same time—
The downward slash transitioned diagonally into a horizontal sweep.
Once again—
The golden Susanoo fell within the sword's killing range.
Uchiha Yoru's attack couldn't match the weapon's reach.
He had no choice but to leap.
Twisting sideways in midair—
He kicked directly toward the tengu's face.
More precisely—
Toward its ridiculously long nose.
That long tengu nose was simply too tempting.
Looking at it made one constantly want to break it.
Two enormous giants fought with extraordinary agility.
Several exchanges passed without either side managing to land a clean hit.
Their contest was extremely tense.
Of course—
From the perspective of tiny shinobi, the movements of those gigantic gods appeared unbelievably slow.
It looked almost like two ordinary people performing a boring slow-motion fight underwater.
Everyone understood that this was an illusion.
An illusion created purely by their enormous size.
It was just like watching birds high in the sky.
They appeared to move slowly.
Yet if you tried chasing them—
Their speed was completely beyond reach.
Regardless—
Once the two Susanoo began fighting in earnest, every "ordinary" shinobi present, including the Third Hokage himself, could only retreat even farther away.
Among Hiruzen's faction—
Only Jiraiya the Toad Sage and Gamabunta were strong enough to remain relatively close to the battlefield, waiting for an opening to support the crimson tengu.
At some point—
A tiny toad appeared beside Jiraiya.
A wooden stopper was held in its mouth.
A thick sacred rope was tied tightly around its waist, squeezing it into a narrow shape.
The Gourd Toad.
It served as the medium for the strongest ability Jiraiya currently possessed.
And it represented his hope of destroying the golden Susanoo.
Even with the Gourd Toad's help—
Jiraiya still required enough time to complete the hand seals and accumulate sufficient chakra before he could independently activate the barrier.
Fortunately—
Uchiha Fugaku's impressive performance had bought him that time.
His preparations were now complete.
He only needed to wait for the right moment to activate it.
But currently—
The two Susanoo were locked in close combat.
Neither Jiraiya nor Gamabunta dared approach.
They could only continue waiting.
The crimson tengu unleashed another tremendously powerful downward slash.
The strike missed the golden Susanoo—
But carved a trench several kilometers long into the earth.
Jiraiya suddenly noticed something.
A short section in the middle of the trench was filled with shattered bricks.
Looking at those clearly artificial objects—
He abruptly remembered.
That was the pass where they had been lying in ambush earlier.
It had first been buried beneath the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.
And now—
The crimson Susanoo had turned it into a trench.
No.
Something was wrong!
Jiraiya suddenly remembered—
The reason that location had become a strategic pass in the first place was because a small hill stood there, allowing it to choke off the road.
It was called a small hill—
But it was still a rocky hill more than ten meters tall.
And now—
The hill was gone.
Gamabunta became more frightened the longer he watched.
He murmured,
"When did the shinobi world become this terrifying?"
Jiraiya had no answer.
Only after a long silence did he say,
"Bunta…"
"It's not the shinobi world that became terrifying."
"It's the Uchiha clan."
…
On the opposite side of the battlefield—
Hatake Sakumo couldn't help swallowing.
He sighed.
"Fugaku-kun really is impressive."
"To think I once stood beside him in reputation…"
"I'm almost embarrassed."
Senju Tobirama's face was pitch black.
He didn't think he was incapable of dealing with these two Susanoo.
After all—
He had developed so many forbidden techniques.
Most of them had been specifically designed to deal with enormous monsters like these.
More importantly—
He had personally killed Uchiha Izuna.
That man had also been an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
What made Tobirama feel miserable wasn't the Susanoo.
It was his disciple's performance.
From Tobirama's perspective—
Being somewhat morally questionable was not an unforgivable flaw.
For a Hokage—
The greatest problem was incompetence!
Hiruzen Sarutobi had schemed and meddled in countless matters.
He had even indirectly caused his elder brother's bloodline to die out.
Although Tobirama was angry about that, as ruthless as he was, he could still set it aside.
What truly infuriated him—
Was that idiot's complete failure to identify the village's real problems.
And the fact that Hiruzen had actually failed to win the Second Shinobi World War.
Then came the Third War.
Konoha had been attacked by Sunagakure from the very beginning—
And had remained on the defensive ever since.
It was humiliating.
When Tobirama had been Hokage—
Konoha had only been caught off guard on the first day of the war.
After that—
He had personally led Konoha shinobi in campaigns across the battlefield.
One great village after another had been beaten until they couldn't raise their heads.
Sunagakure hadn't even dared enter the war.
If not for the accident in Kumogakure—
Konoha would have achieved a complete victory.
Yet—
None of those failures angered Tobirama as much as what he was witnessing now.
This was an ambush personally initiated by the Third Hokage.
And yet—
After barely displaying anything himself—
Hiruzen had been pushed completely out of the battle.
Only his disciple and the Uchiha clan head were still fighting.
A Hokage—
Unable even to participate in his own battle.
Forced to hide in the rear and rescue his ANBU shinobi.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Shouldn't the greatest way to protect those shinobi be to stand in front of them and stop the danger?
Senju Tobirama couldn't understand it.
In his memories—
Hiruzen Sarutobi had never been like this.
That monkey had been bold.
He had possessed tremendous courage.
He would never have acted like this—
Having enough strength to participate, yet hesitating and hiding in the rear.
It was deeply disappointing.
And anger born from disappointment—
Was the most terrifying kind.
It was also the most enduring.
Because it meant—
Senju Tobirama had chosen incorrectly.
Decades of investment—
All wasted.
But no matter how angry Tobirama became—
It wouldn't change anything.
Whether he wanted to mediate the battle or vent his anger—
He needed enough strength to suppress the scene.
Right now—
He didn't have a massive stockpile of explosive tags.
Without them—
He had no good answer for Susanoo.
If he couldn't beat one side down first—
No one would listen when he stepped forward to speak.
So—
Senju Tobirama turned toward Senju Hashirama.
"Brother."
"In your current state…"
"Can you deal with this situation?"
Senju Hashirama was watching the battle with great interest.
His entire body practically itched.
His hands itched.
His head itched.
Even his feet itched.
He looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump down and join the battle personally.
Hearing his younger brother's question—
He answered without hesitation.
"Of course."
"They're fighting impressively."
"But they're still far below the level Madara and I reached."
Tobirama immediately corrected him.
"Brother."
"I'm not asking about when you were alive."
"I'm asking about now."
"With this Edo Tensei body—"
"Can you defeat those Susanoo?"
"Now?"
Senju Hashirama hesitated.
He lowered his gaze and carefully examined the condition of his body.
After a while—
He couldn't help exclaiming in surprise.
"This is really good."
"My body is in excellent condition!"
He lightly pressed his hands together.
Sage markings appeared across his face.
Hashirama became even more surprised.
"I can even use senjutsu without any problems!"
Several seconds later—
The First Hokage happily said to his younger brother,
"This is excellent!"
"Wood Dragon Technique is no problem."
"Wood Human Technique is no problem either!"
"The only thing I'm not confident I can use is True Several Thousand Hands."
"Hahaha!"
"Maybe I could even sweep across the entire shinobi world again, just like when we founded Konoha."
"Do you need me to interfere right now?"
Senju Tobirama hurriedly stopped his eager elder brother.
"No, no, no!"
"You absolutely can't interfere yet."
"Otherwise, we'll offend both sides."
"Wait."
"Wait until the monkey's side has completely lost hope."
"Once the outcome is basically decided—"
"Then step in and stop the battle."
"Wait?"
Senju Hashirama looked puzzled.
"But this Uchiha is really strong."
"Even though the monkey has the Uchiha clan head on his side, that man only looks impressive."
"He's about to lose…"
Hashirama abruptly stopped.
Halfway through speaking—
He finally realized what his younger brother had actually said.
He froze.
Then—
He finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Little brother…"
"Are you saying…"
"We're standing on the Uchiha's side?"
Senju Tobirama answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
The First Hokage was stunned.
He looked utterly incredulous.
"I thought…"
"You only wanted to teach the monkey a lesson."
"Then replace him as Hokage."
"But what you're doing now…"
"You're practically handing Konoha over to the Uchiha."
"This is unbelievable."
"You actually learned to trust an Uchiha?"
Senju Tobirama shook his head.
"Idiot brother."
"Did you forget?"
"I already had an Uchiha disciple."
"Oh."
"Oh!"
Senju Hashirama remembered.
Then—
He couldn't help asking again.
"But I remember you always saying the Uchiha clan was naturally evil."
"Did I remember wrong?"
Senju Tobirama answered decisively.
"No."
"But the two things are not contradictory."
He continued,
"Brother."
"No matter how strong you are right now—"
"You and I are already dead."
"We cannot continuously influence Konoha for long periods."
"When we act—"
"We can only push the boat along with the current."
"We have to move with the greater trend."
"We can no longer reshape the entire trend according to our personal wishes."
"And right now—"
"The strongest shinobi in Konoha is Uchiha Yoru."
At this point—
A trace of gloom appeared across Senju Tobirama's expression.
He said regretfully,
"His strength…"
"Is beginning to resemble yours and…"
"Uchiha Madara's."
"The gap is becoming discontinuous."
"You've seen it yourself."
"All the other shinobi here combined aren't his opponent."
"Because he has become this powerful—"
"He himself is now the greater trend."
"His will…"
"Is the greater situation."
Senju Hashirama looked shocked.
"It's already like that?"
"How did things become this way?"
Senju Tobirama gave him a sideways glance.
Then—
He sneered.
"As if you weren't exactly the same back then."
He pointed directly at his elder brother's nose and began scolding him.
"You think I couldn't see that distributing the Tailed Beasts to the other villages would create hidden dangers?"
"You think I didn't know that your so-called balance among five villages would inevitably lead to even larger wars?"
"You think the other four villages genuinely wanted peace with Konoha?"
"Peh!"
"It was all because you were too strong!"
"No one could oppose you!"
"So your will became the greater trend."
"Everyone else could only follow that trend and bury their own ideas!"
"That's why—"
"The very month you died—"
"War broke out!"
"And you should have known that would happen long before then!!"
Senju Hashirama had indeed realized some of his mistakes after death.
So—
He had absolutely no room to argue.
He could only dodge left and right, trying to avoid Tobirama's spit landing on his face.
At the same time—
He kept smiling apologetically.
Trying his best to calm his younger brother down.
"I promise I'll listen to you this time."
"I'll listen to everything you say!"
"So stop being angry, okay?"
Under the First Hokage's repeated persuasion—
Senju Tobirama finally calmed down.
At last, he said,
"It's not that I especially trust Uchiha Yoru."
"It's that we have no way to stop him."
"So we can only move along with what he wants…"
"And add as many safeguards as possible."
"Only this way—"
"Can we maximize the chances of…"
"Protecting Konoha."
"And considering that Uchiha Yoru will continue controlling Edo Tensei after this…"
"In practice—"
"We have no choice but to stand on his side."
"Otherwise…"
"We won't be able to do anything at all."
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