Although they knew Itachi was an enemy, many players couldn't help but shiver when they saw Makoto gouge out his eyes.
Two words simultaneously surfaced in their minds—
So ruthless.
They had already known what kind of person Makoto was ever since he killed Sawanaga Taisuke in front of the entire Shuchi'in Academy.
But witnessing such a bloody scene again still sent chills down their spines.
Just then, a pop-up window appeared in Makoto's blurring vision, visible only to him.
[Obtained Item: Mangekyo Sharingan (Uchiha Itachi Version)]
[Detected that this item can be fused with owned item, Mangekyo Sharingan (Uchiha Fugaku Version)]
[Proceed with fusion?]
'Of course.'
Makoto rapidly retreated, creating distance between himself and the blind Itachi, and silently affirmed.
The two Mangekyo in his item slot vanished simultaneously, merging into a brand new item. The pop-up window reappeared.
[Obtained Item: Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (Uchiha Fugaku + Uchiha Itachi Version)]
"Cough, cough, cough—!!"
Itachi, now blind, collapsed to his knees. Already on the verge of collapse, the excruciating pain of having his eyes ripped out pushed him past his limit. He coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
Obito's face darkened as he glared at Makoto, who had put distance between them.
'Damn... How did he know my identity?'
Although Obito wasn't particularly concerned about his identity being exposed in the original work, the problem was that at this stage, exposure would cause too many complications.
For one, Nagato would almost certainly stop following his orders.
"Heh... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Makoto threw his head back and laughed. His laughter echoed across the entire arena, so loud that even Hiruzen and Orochimaru, trapped within the Four Violet Flames Formation on the rooftop, could hear it clearly.
Hearing his disciple's laughter, Hiruzen, who had been losing ground under the combined assault of the reanimated Hashirama and Tobirama, felt a surge of joy…
'Makoto had finished over there!'
Orochimaru frowned deeply.
'That Flying Thunder God kid?'
'If he came over... that wouldn't be good.'
With that thought, Orochimaru, who had been watching from the sidelines ever since casting the Edo Tensei, finally lost his composure.
He slowly drew the Kusanagi Sword from his throat.
He couldn't waste any more time.
Otherwise, once Makoto arrived, the situation would spiral out of control.
"You can stop running now, Airi, Marina~"
Makoto put away his smile and said.
The Aizono sisters blinked.
Though they didn't understand why, they had 200% trust in Makoto and immediately ran back.
Marina asked worriedly, "Makoto, is it... is it really over?"
Makoto smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's over. The plan went perfectly."
"Phew... you scared us."
Airi let out a long breath, then couldn't help but hug Makoto, burying her face in his chest and inhaling deeply a couple of times.
The other players, hearing Makoto's words, also stopped running.
They had varying impressions of him.
Some, like Hachiman, were grateful but deliberately kept their distance due to the gap in strength.
Some, like Sayuri, hoped to get closer.
Some, like Yukino, held hostility.
Some, like Mrs. Yukinoshita, harbored feelings they dared not voice.
But regardless of their attitude toward Makoto, there was one thing everyone had to admit:
Makoto's absolute strength.
If he said it was fine, then it was absolutely fine.
Makoto closed his eyes slightly, then opened them.
The eyes in his sockets transformed into a brand new pattern… one that seemed to merge Fugaku's Mangekyo with Itachi's.
Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"W-wait, wait, wait, wait... you can't be serious?"
White Zetsu, still standing where he was, was completely dumbfounded.
'Hold on, buddy.'
'You just grabbed Itachi's Mangekyo, and you've already fused it?'
Black Zetsu was equally unsettled.
'After transplanting a Sharingan, fusing it into an Eternal Mangekyo required at least some recovery time!'
'Why could you complete the fusion the moment you got your hands on it?'
A giant question mark appeared over the millennium-old mastermind's head:
'Did you f*cking use cheats?'
'Or is there some Kekkei Genkai in this world that even I don't know about?'
Behind his mask, Obito's face also showed unprecedented wariness.
Having Kamui, he wasn't so afraid of the Eternal Mangekyo.
'But this kid Makoto... was too unsettling.'
"Ready for round two?"
Makoto asked with a grin.
Obito frowned deeply. After a moment's thought, he hoisted the fallen Itachi onto his shoulder.
"No. There'll be plenty of opportunities to fight later."
With that, Obito activated Kamui.
His body and the space around him began to warp, being drawn into the single eyehole of his mask.
"Looking forward to our next meeting. Until then... it's best not to say anything that shouldn't be said… otherwise, it won't be good for anyone."
Clearly, Obito was warning Makoto not to reveal his identity.
Otherwise, the Ninja World's most devoted lover was not to be trifled with.
Makoto smiled and didn't create any unnecessary trouble.
Having obtained the Eternal Mangekyo before the Konoha Crush Plan ended was already exceeding his goals.
There was no need to make things harder for himself.
Moreover, Itachi had already smeared a drop of blood on his right thumb near the wound… clearly the starting gesture for a Summoning Technique.
'If that guy pulled out Kotoamatsukami, it would still be quite troublesome.'
'There would be plenty of chances to deal with these two bastards later.'
'So, next—'
Makoto looked toward the Four Violet Flames Formation atop the arena.
Just as he was about to go see his dear teacher—
"waaagh! Waaagh! Waaagh! Waaagh——!"
Suddenly, screams erupted from all over Konoha Village.
Everyone turned to look.
They saw countless people… Konoha's Ninjas, Otogakure's Ninja, Sunagakure's Ninja… being engulfed by quicksand flowing across the ground, then crushed into bloody pulp.
'Sand Burial!?'
A massive creature smashed through Konoha's gates and slowly approached.
It was a giant monster, shaped like a tanuki, constructed entirely of sand.
"Wh-What the hell is this thing?!"
Eriri screamed, nearly losing her mind.
Though she had gotten used to this world of superpowered Ninjas, wasn't this a bit too much for one day?
Was it trying to make her lose her honor?!
"I killed them! I killed them! Hahaha!"
Shukaku watched the people it had crushed into meat paste, clapping its hands in excitement as it looked for its next target.
It didn't care whether it was killing Konoha's people, Otogakure's Ninja, or even Sunagakure's Ninja from its own village.
It had been sealed away for too long and needed to vent.
Besides, it had never considered itself on the same side as Sunagakure anyway.
"Ah... almost forgot about him."
Makoto remarked.
Shukaku quickly locked onto a new target.
Not far away were the players, led by the Yukinoshita sisters, along with Sasuke, who was still unconscious on the ground from Tsukuyomi.
Scattered sand began to envelop the players and Sasuke.
None of them could break free.
Sasuke was unconscious, and the players lacked the strength.
"SASUKE—!"
Naruto roared and charged, punching the sand off Sasuke's body.
A distinctly orange-red Chakra was now visibly surging around Naruto's body.
'Wow, powered by love, huh?'
The players watched as the sand slowly engulfed their bodies, about to swallow their vision, a fear they had never known rising within them.
'Were we going to die?!'
"Sand Burial!"
Hearing Shukaku's mocking voice, an unprecedented terror washed over them.
Mrs. Yukinoshita screamed desperately: "Makoto, save—!"
"Boom—!"
A massive gray-black skeletal hand shot out, tearing apart the sand that had enveloped Mrs. Yukinoshita and the others.
But Susanoo's arm only stretched so far.
Some still couldn't be reached.
"Squelch——!"
A player's body, farther from Makoto, was crushed by the sand. Blood splattered like a burst from the yellow sand.
Haruno and Yukino's pupils contracted sharply. Tears burst from their eyes as they wailed in anguish:
"FATHER——!!!"