"You've made your choice," Kaito said, his gaze locked on Danzo and the scattered remains of Root.
"Now face the consequence."
Obito vanished into the void.
Kaito let him go.
Chasing a man protected by Izanagi was just wasting time.
He took a step forward. No fury. No haste. Just certainty.
"You always coveted the Uchiha's power," he said, voice cold as drawn steel."Let me show you what it actually looks like."
Behind him, Susanoo stirred.
Not growing—but evolving.
Its skeletal form swelled with precision. Golden chakra didn't radiate—it pulsed, like breath. Like life.
Bones stretched upward. Muscles of chakra layered over them like armor forged by will. A face took shape—not snarling, not screaming—just still. Watching.
Then came the change no one expected.
Runes.
Not decoration. Not symbols. Seals.Alive. Thrumming with ancient, binding power. They laced the titan's body like veins, glowing faintly with intent.
This wasn't armor.
This was ascension.
The titan moved.
The air recoiled.The ground shuddered.Space bent.
A sword formed in its hand—not summoned, but forged. Gold. Jagged. Thrumming. The air around it trembled, heatless but volatile.
Far away, Obito narrowed his eye.
"This… isn't Susanoo anymore."
The ground beneath his feet felt unstable—wrong.
For the first time, Danzo Shimura felt powerless.
Kaito raised the blade.
Reality cracked.
Danzo's voice ripped out of him:
"RUN!"
But no one did.
They tried—but didn't.
Mid-step. Mid-breath.Frozen.
Not genjutsu. Not paralysis.
The world itself… had been interrupted.
"W-What?!" a Root agent gasped, his body trembling violently.
Danzo's mind spiraled.
Not illusion. Not chakra bind. Not even paralysis.This was… spatial override.
"He's rewriting space," Danzo muttered.
Obito, watching from afar, his voice grim:
"His second technique."
Danzo's hands trembled. Even Izanagi couldn't help here.
Kaito wasn't rewriting death. He was rewriting the rewrite.
Danzo's pride roared in rage.
His reason chose survival.
He vanished.
From a distant rooftop, Danzo watched the battlefield, heart pounding, teeth clenched.
Everything I've done is for Konoha.
The operatives? Expendable.The Uchiha? Necessary casualties.
But still—something burned inside him.
That Uchiha brat...
When I wear the Hokage's robes, he'll pay for this.
Then—
Another presence.
Perched on the edge of the compound.
Wind in his robes.Smoke curling behind him.Staff in hand. Eyes heavy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He stared at the golden titan.
A breath escaped him—quiet. Tired.
"So… this is the monster we created."
Earlier...
"Has it already begun?"
Itachi's voice was barely above a whisper, footsteps silent on stone.
The shadows moved. So did he.
Then—motion.
He tensed, kunai raised.
"Who's there?"
A familiar voice.
"It's me."
Itachi paused.
"…Father."
Fugaku stepped from shadow, unreadable.
Their eyes met. Mangekyō spun.
"You awakened it?" Itachi asked, stunned.
Fugaku nodded. "It's been some time."
Silence.
"Why hide it?"
Fugaku looked beyond him.
"My Mangekyō lets me see futures. Not just possibilities—paths.I've seen too many."
He stepped closer.
"I can share them. Guide others."
Itachi's breath caught. The weight of that truth settled.
"This isn't a weapon," Fugaku said quietly."It's a burden."
Then—he vanished.
Darkness wrapped the Uchiha compound like a shroud.
Itachi moved through it like smoke.
He reached the old courtyard.
"Come in," said a voice—steady, calm.
No traps.
Fugaku.
Inside, his parents knelt side by side.
Composed. Still.
"Father…"
"You've made your choice," Fugaku said. "You chose the village."
Mikoto turned toward him.
Her voice was warm.
Her eyes were not.
"The Mangekyō is a gift—and a curse. Tonight, we pass that burden to you."
"This power," Fugaku added, "was never meant for domination. It was meant to protect."
"And Sasuke—" Mikoto's voice cracked. "He'll need you more than anyone."
Itachi flinched.
Fugaku stepped forward, eyes calm. "Even if we chose different paths… I'm proud of you."
Mikoto's smile trembled.
"Don't hesitate. Let our end be quick. Yours won't be."
Itachi's hand moved toward his sword—
BOOM.
The earth shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.The walls groaned.
They turned, ran—
But the air changed.
Thick. Heavy. Wrong.
Itachi gasped.
Couldn't breathe. Couldn't move right.
Then—they saw it.
The golden titan.
It didn't shine. It distorted. Warped the world around it.Gravity bent in its presence.
It turned.
Their hearts froze.
Itachi's Sharingan spun wildly—warning, screaming.
But his body refused to obey.
Even Fugaku went still. His Mangekyō spun, parsing, as he failed to understand.
Mikoto's hand clutched her chest.
The titan stepped.
BOOM.
Stone cracked. A shockwave ripped across the district.
Reality folded.
Itachi's thoughts were drowned in pressure.His mind screamed Move!His legs betrayed him.
Fugaku's breath came hard. Each inhale is a battle.
"This…" he rasped,"…isn't just Susanoo."
Mikoto whispered:
"It's him."
Fugaku clenched his fists.
Buried the fear.
And raised his gaze to the golden giant.