From its outline, it was humanoid, with only its upper body visible, yet even so, it boasted an exaggerated size of seven to eight meters.
As the smoke dispersed, everyone finally got a clear view of the entity. It was entirely dark blue, with a slender waist and a broad chest. Its body was covered in red lines, like circulating blood vessels, forming an inverted triangle shape. Its upper limbs and arms were extremely thick, bringing to mind crab claws.
Protected by Spirit Fire in front of him, Tōshirō was completely unharmed.
However, he was not satisfied with this.
With his current control over Spirit Fire, he could only barely shape half a body for it.
To further shape a complete body, and even to make Spirit Fire evolve further, it would require continuous soul consumption.
Uchiha Madara watched Spirit Fire with interest, thinking that Tōshirō's dōjutsu was very similar to Susanoo.
Now it was only the upper body; there should be a lower body as well, so it probably wasn't in its complete form yet.
Considering that Tōshirō could still activate Susanoo later, Uchiha Madara had a sudden idea: he should be able to put Susanoo's armor onto this creature.
That would be a very interesting sight.
He wondered how it would compare to when he used Armored Susanoo to clad the Nine-Tails. He thought it shouldn't be too far off.
However, considering that Tōshirō had no siblings, even with the best maintenance, the Mangekyo Sharingan would inevitably lead to blindness. Uchiha Madara couldn't help but feel a bit of regret...
The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, believing it to be Susanoo, quickly formed hand signs for a Lava Release ninjutsu. Both his arms billowed with black smoke, launching a torrent of lava fists forward in a molten form.
Legend had it that Susanoo's defense was astonishing, but he had never had the chance to fight one.
Today, he would thoroughly experience it to see whether his lava fists had higher offensive power or if Susanoo's defense was superior.
As the Four-Tails Jinchuriki unleashed his attack, the surrounding ninjas didn't just stand by. They fanned out to encircle Tōshirō. Through analysis, while Susanoo's defense was indeed formidable, its master might not be. They planned to attack Tōshirō from behind with ninjutsu while he used Susanoo to defend against the lava fists.
Tōshirō saw through their intentions, leaped up, and landed in the palm of Spirit Fire. Chakra gathered in his narrowed eyes. After a slight charge, he suddenly opened his crimson eyes and roared: "Spirit Fire, freeze everything!"
Spirit Fire's eyes snapped open, and blue flames erupted from the ground around it, surging outwards.
Even scorching lava fists instantly sizzled upon contact, then blackened, and finally froze solid into ice.
If mere lava was affected in such a way by the blue flames, then what of the ninjas who rashly approached and were hit?
They all screamed, clutching their heads. Instead of burning, the areas touched by the flames felt intensely cold. In a flash, they all turned into ice statues.
Such flames, capable of instantly freezing people, were unheard of even to Uchiha Madara: "How can such flames exist...?"
Tōshirō stood in Spirit Fire's palm, like a monarch on his throne, his gaze sweeping over the astonished expressions of the crowd.
After a moment, he retracted his gaze, shifting it to the ninjas turned into ice sculptures.
The next second, blue flames erupted from Spirit Fire's lower body, propelling it forward in a direct punch. Wherever it went, the immobile ninjas were all shattered, turning into fragments of ice scattered on the ground.
The next second, ethereal figures floated out from these puddles of shattered ice.
"This is..."
Upon seeing the faces of these ethereal figures, the ninjas were shocked to discover that, without exception, these were all their comrades who had been killed by Tōshirō's blue flames just now.
These figures, without exception, all had blank eyes, as if in an unconscious state.
"Are these all souls?"
The ninjas' faces turned grim, vaguely sensing that something terrible was about to happen.
They instinctively wanted to stop Tōshirō, but it was already too late.
Tōshirō's gaze was chilling as he gave his command, literally "stealing the show" with his words: "Spirit Fire, devour these souls!"
Spirit Fire reached out its hand, swept its arm, gathering all these souls into its palm in bundled fashion, and then put them into its mouth, devouring them directly.
Tōshirō's Spirit Fire had two ways of devouring souls: the first was the "live eating" from before, and the second was directly consuming the souls.
In this world, souls exist after a person dies, and ordinary people can also see these souls.
However, under normal circumstances, souls directly enter the Pure Land after death, so people cannot see them.
Spirit Fire kills its targets by releasing a special flame. The souls of the killed units do not immediately enter the Pure Land but remain in the real world for a few seconds.
The principle is somewhat similar to the scene after an Edo Tensei release.
Because Spirit Fire is essentially born from Tōshirō's soul and is also a type of soul, it possesses the ability to touch souls, which creates the inherent conditions for devouring them.
Seeing this, the ninjas felt a chill run down their spines: "This monster is eating their souls..."
Many of these killed ninjas were comrades and friends of the living ninjas. They could accept their comrades losing their lives on a mission, but they could not accept their comrades' souls not finding peace after death, becoming food for others.
Danzo, disguised as one of the crowd, even though he was deliberately holding back, watched with a pounding heart.
He could even devour souls directly.
What a truly evil power.
No wonder their teacher Tobirama once said that they were a naturally evil clan and that they should be wary of them day and night.
Danzo looked at the Stone Village and Mist Village ninjas around him, sneering inwardly, You two can fight Tōshirō to the death...
Danzo had many thoughts. This way, he could weaken the strength of both villages and eliminate the major threat of Tōshirō.
Although Tsunade was unfortunately sacrificed in the process, if they could eliminate Tōshirō, this evil Uchiha, everything would be worth it.
At this point, the die was cast. Danzo could only keep reassuring himself mentally, and then, after Tōshirō died, figure out how to explain it to Hiruzen...
Seeing Tōshirō wildly devouring souls with Spirit Fire, committing such an inhumane act,
At this moment, a ninja, perhaps with a wire crossed in his brain, charged forward, just like some hot-blooded protagonist.
Then, Spirit Fire extended five claws and mercilessly pierced his heart.
Someone wept inconsolably at this. Tōshirō glanced coldly.
It was a woman. From her appearance, she was neither a lover nor a spouse of the person he had just instantly killed.
Tōshirō curled his lip: "Hmph, what a truly pained expression."
At this moment, Spirit Fire, having absorbed enough souls, underwent further transformation under the enhancement of Tōshirō's dōjutsu. Its size increased by a full circle compared to before, and it also grew legs. Interestingly, its heels were wheels.
He looked around, his expression completely darkening. He clenched his fists, his face distorted: "But, my pain is far beyond this—!"
As Tōshirō let out a roaring shriek, Spirit Fire clenched its massive fist and forcefully slammed it into the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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