Kushina and Rin instinctively tried to dodge, but their bodies were manipulated by Uchiha Yu's Mangekyo.
Beneath their masks, both of their expressions shifted slightly. Neither of them knew that, even if they were pierced like porcupines, nothing would happen to them.
Only Nonoyu remained calm. She knew that what was coming next was their captain's solo performance.
In an instant—
Dark crimson flames erupted violently, the blaze illuminating Nonoyu's face, awakening a memory that she would remember for a lifetime.
Kushina and Rin turned their heads sharply. What they saw was Uchiha Yu's Mangekyō spinning in his pupils, as a dark crimson Susanoo rapidly materialized.
The dark-red fire resembled the flames of hell itself.
Uchiha Yu stood cold-faced, unmoving, as the sinister energy wrapped the four of them in its aura.
Crack—Crack—Crack—
A skeletal frame materialized from the horizon, crawling out of the earth, towering over twenty meters tall.
Boom—
The fire roared.
The pure white skeletal arm, wreathed in flame, spread its five fingers wide and slammed toward the black curtain of ninja tools.
Clang—
The previously terrifying rain of weapons was easily swatted aside by the massive skeletal hand.
The remaining weapons landed against the skeleton as if raindrops striking a mountain.
Even against the skeletal first stage of Susanoo, ninja tools posed no threat. In fact, the moment they touched Susanoo, they were incinerated by its scorching crimson flames.
Kushina, Rin, and Nonoyu were all enveloped within the massive skeleton.
The three of them looked up at the towering half-bodied giant, their minds going completely blank.
"What a cold and sinister chakra!"
The fox mask Kushina wore was illuminated by the crimson flames, her large eyes reflecting the firelight.
As a Jinchūriki, she had seen massive monsters like the Nine-Tails.
But even so, when she saw Susanoo with her own eyes, she couldn't help but feel shaken to her core.
Since the end of the Warring States Era, Susanoo had rarely appeared in the shinobi world.
"Captain!!!"
Nonoyu's heart surged with excitement.
She had seen Uchiha Yu unleash Susanoo several times before, but every time it left her breathless, her heart racing with exhilaration.
Uchiha Yu ignored the reactions of the women beside him. His cold eyes fixed on the Konoha shinobi in front of him.
The rain of weapons was completely blocked.
Clang—
From the hollow eye sockets of the crimson skeletal Susanoo, two beams of red light burst forth.
In an instant—
The hundreds of Konoha shinobi were enveloped in the scarlet glow. Even though they resisted their curiosity and avoided looking directly at Susanoo, they were still branded with the Yasakani seal.
"This is Uchiha Yu's power to control the minds of others… Damn it!!"
"Run!"
"It's too late—my body won't move!"
The Konoha shinobi screamed in terror.
The only part they could move was their necks. When they lifted their heads toward the crimson Susanoo, the magatama marks in their eyes resonated with the flames.
The massive skeletal giant stood in stark contrast to the tiny Konoha shinobi.
Despair and fear spread through their hearts.
From a nearby street—
Over a hundred Sunagakure puppet masters who had just arrived were also caught by the crimson glow. The magatama marks appeared in their eyes, leaving them frozen in place.
At this point, Uchiha Yu had seized control of over a hundred Konoha shinobi and another hundred Suna puppet masters.
He commanded them into silence, standing motionless, awaiting orders.
That was all the nearby shinobi there were.
Uchiha Yu released his Susanoo. The flames vanished, and the crimson skeleton dissipated.
It was as if Susanoo had never appeared at all.
But the side effects quickly followed. Even activating the initial stage of Susanoo inflicted pain at the cellular level on its wielder.
"Heal me!"
Uchiha Yu's face gradually turned pale.
He cast a glance at Rin, who wore the cat-faced mask, and then at Nonoyu beside him.
Although he had unleashed Susanoo and was currently controlling two hundred shinobi, his chakra reserves were still plentiful.
After all, chakra had to be refined and tempered. Each time a shinobi exhausted their stamina and chakra, it became a way to strengthen their overall reserves.
Now, Uchiha Yu wasn't lacking chakra. In fact, depleting it before battle was his way of warming up.
At the sound of his command, Rin's heart skipped a beat.
She couldn't refuse.
Kushina then witnessed a scene that made her uneasy.
Rin and Nonoyu leaned against Uchiha Yu, performing medical ninjutsu together to heal him.
As their healing chakra flowed into Uchiha Yu, he could feel the cellular pain within his body rapidly diminishing.
The four of them passed through the immobilized Konoha shinobi lines and reached the rocky steps behind the Hokage Building, ascending toward the top.
As Uchiha Yu walked, his mind kept turning.
If he wanted to manipulate a large number of shinobi in an instant, relying on contact through roadside grass was far too inefficient.
To achieve high efficiency, he had to use his own dark crimson Susanoo.
Though compared to the orange Susanoo, its abilities were too limited—only mental domination and chakra absorption—
It was nonetheless an ability that left opponents completely defenseless.
Uchiha Yu preferred to use the dark-red Susanoo as his trump card, while the orange Susanoo served as his regular form.
"You know about the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, don't you?"
Kushina lifted her head toward the Hokage Rock, suspecting that Konoha was caught in the midst of war.
Naruto, still too young to fight, was most likely hiding in the shelter.
Hearing this, Uchiha Yu immediately understood Kushina's distracted guess.
He nodded. "Yes, Uzumaki Naruto. But he's not in the shelter right now."
"You… how do you know?"
Kushina's eyes widened, then as realization dawned, her expression fell into sorrow.
If Konoha fell, the village elders would likely unleash the Nine-Tails.
By then, her son might become yet another sacrifice of this war.
"Konoha's higher-ups are more extreme than you think. Back when you and Minato entrusted your child to Hiruzen Sarutobi, he made him suffer a great deal."
Uchiha Yu's reply was calm and indifferent.
Kushina lowered her head, frowning, remembering how the Uchiha clan had rendered countless services to Konoha, yet were wiped out all the same.
Her and Minato's child, as a jinchūriki, likely never had a chance at the most beautiful childhood.
---
Beneath the Hokage Rock.
The shelter.
It was divided into lower and upper levels, with an outer wall and an inner wall. The outer wall was the first mountain layer beneath the rock, while the inner wall led into the depths of the shelter itself.
Both the outer and inner walls contained many lookout holes and air vents.
At the lower entrance, piles of dead shinobi from the Three Great Villages lay scattered.
Though Hiruzen Sarutobi had not stationed many ninja here, the initial squads tasked with organizing civilians into the shelter still numbered around a hundred.
Some scouting ninja from the Three Villages, after entering the shelter, had been ambushed by Konoha shinobi, suffering casualties.
Inside the inner walls, countless tunnels stretched in every direction, even with underground springs flowing through.
After years of preparation by Konoha, the interior was simple yet equipped with everything necessary for survival.
With ample supplies, it could sustain twenty to thirty thousand people for half a year.
At this moment, in the spacious central area of the lower level, nearly twenty thousand civilians were gathered.
Deeper within the inner tunnels lay the hiding spots of Konoha's great clans.
The surroundings were noisy.
The people were restless.
At the edge of the outer wall, Shinno stood by a viewing hole, watching Konoha's frontlines.
"I thought I might lend a hand to the Three Villages, but they certainly didn't disappoint."
"Heh… without me lifting a finger, they broke through Konoha's barrier and provided me with such delicious dark chakra."
"Only, why did they suddenly stop their advance? Now should have been the moment to strike while the iron's hot!"
Shinno sneered, contemplating his next move.
Through this war, the fear and despair of Konoha's civilians had fed him endless negative emotions, which the Zero-Tails absorbed, producing vast quantities of dark chakra.
This allowed the Zero-Tails to fully awaken, greatly amplifying his own power.
But to fuel the floating fortress Imperial Capital for the long term, he still lacked a little more.
Opportunities like this—war itself—were too rare to waste when it came to gathering dark chakra.
As he thought, a cold smile appeared on his lips while his gaze shifted toward the Konoha shinobi hidden in the shadows.
---
At the center of the shelter.
Many civilians longed to enter the inner tunnels, believing the outer sections unsafe.
Yet when they tried to go deeper, they found that the best hiding places were already claimed by the clans of Konoha.
They could only give up and retreat.
Inside the Hyūga clan's refuge.
"Sis, why do we only have a few hundred people, but get to occupy such a huge space, not letting others in?"
Little Hanabi's clear eyes held confusion as she looked up at Hinata.
"This question…"
Hinata frowned, glancing cautiously around.
The Hyūga refuge was only slightly smaller than the main shelter area outside.
"I'm sorry… I don't know either."
She shook her head at her sister, unable to answer.
"But the war will end someday, right?"
Hanabi pressed.
"Yes… it will definitely end."
Hinata spoke firmly.
At this moment, she and the rest of the main family were being protected at the rear by the branch family.
Neji sat cross-legged on the ground, lost in serious thought. He felt this war might actually be some kind of turning point.
°°°
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