Meanwhile, across the lake and sea, inside the command rooms of the submarines and carriers, the voice of the Royal Fortress commander came through the radio equipment:
"The fortress was indeed activated by the leader himself, but it was done using the reserve chakra energy source."
"Without tailed beast chakra, the fortress can only hover in the air for ten minutes at most!"
"The leader's behavior is abnormal, suspected to be under the control of intruders. All fleets, be alert! Do everything possible to rescue the leader, then retreat!"
One after another, messages came through.
The Sky-nin commanders inside the submarines and carriers gave a unified reply: "Yes—"
After that, the Sky-nin flying high above also received the battle plan transmitted from the sea.
"Open fire!!!"
The highest-ranking Sky-nin gave the order.
But before the thousand-strong Sky-nin force could respond—
In the next moment, dark red flames slowly burned, condensing bit by bit into the complete form of the Crow-Tengu armor, Yasakani—the full-body Susanoo took shape.
In that instant, it was as if a god had descended upon the land of technology, two contrasting worlds colliding in a single scene.
The dark red Susanoo stood quietly above the Royal Fortress, its twin wings unfurled.
Its crimson glow, soft as moonlight, illuminated every Sky-nin in the air.
At the same time, the red light pierced through the submarine windows, falling upon the Sky-nin inside the subs and carriers.
Inside the flagship carrier's command room, a well-built female Sky-nin in uniform froze in shock, the files in her hands slipping and scattering across the floor.
She watched in disbelief as her colleagues, bathed in crimson light, had their eyes flash red. Strange marks briefly appeared upon them before fading away.
"Abort the battle plan—hold position!"
The highest commander's expression went blank, suddenly revising the mission order. The surrounding Sky-nins echoed him in the same dazed tone.
Those Sky-nin not immediately seized by Eight Thousand Spears' control could only follow the command.
Above the fortress, all the Sky-nin who had been mid-flight circled once in the air, then descended steadily to land in front of Garaga, forming neat battle formations.
Just like that, Uchiha Yu easily brought a massive number of Sky-nins under control, and the dark red Susanoo dissipated.
Inside the Royal Fortress.
In the command room.
The highest-ranking commanding shinobi looked on in disbelief as the submarines, carriers, and aerial combat units stopped following orders.
The commander roared in panic:
"All units, continue the mission! What are you all doing?!"
But no matter how he shouted, no one responded to the command room through the radios.
One of the Sky-nin officers spoke in a low voice:
"Rally every shinobi inside the fortress. Intercept the intruders. Rescue the leader!"
"Yes—"
Several Sky-nins immediately withdrew to carry out the order.
On the fortress's outer surface.
"…"
Garaga was speechless. If it had known earlier that Uchiha Yu wouldn't let it attack the Sky-nin, it wouldn't have wasted the thought.
From the very beginning, Garaga should have just kept those twenty Sky-nins and used them as lunch.
That trip had cost it a huge amount of chakra.
Walking along the streets of the Royal Fortress, Shinno led the way, with Uchiha Yu and Orochimaru following close behind, surveying their surroundings.
The fortress's surface buildings still retained the style of the Sky-nin Village before it was destroyed by Konoha.
Carved columns.
Circular towers.
In the shinobi world, such architecture was unique. If not for the hideous human-face relief at the front symbolizing the Sky-nin Village, the entire Royal Fortress would look like a city in the sky.
When Uchiha Yu had activated his complete-body Susanoo and stood in the "cockpit," he had been able to overlook the entire fortress from above and roughly estimate its size.
Konoha's land area was around 390,000 square meters. By his estimation, the Royal Fortress's size was only about one-tenth of that.
Following Shinno through the district, they arrived at an underground entrance and descended the stone steps into an inner passage.
Orochimaru quickly realized this place held hidden depths.
The inner corridors were built from stacked stone. By analyzing the age-worn walls draped with vines and the stones eroded by dampness, he could roughly estimate when the fortress had been constructed.
Through the shadowy square passageways—
As they turned a corner, both Orochimaru and Uchiha Yu heard cries of pain.
"What area is that?" Uchiha Yu asked, glancing toward the sound.
Shinno replied:
"That's… where the reserve chakra energy is stored…"
Yu and Orochimaru instantly understood. They ordered him to lead the way and soon arrived at the front of a dark dungeon.
Clang—
As Shinno lit a lamp, Uchiha Yu and Orochimaru finally saw the so-called "place where reserve chakra energy is stored."
The dungeon was filled with countless captives—not just shinobi, but mostly ordinary people.
At this moment, they all wore expressions of agony, drenched in sweat, their bodies blazing with bright blue chakra that continuously poured into the walls.
On the dungeon walls were carved numerous eerie sealing symbols glowing with purple light.
Tobirama and Orochimaru recognized them instantly as runes capable of absorbing chakra and converting it into energy.
That was why even ordinary people here could have their chakra extracted.
"There are this many people imprisoned here…" Hashirama said in shock.
Clearly, even now in the shinobi world, in places with no governance, no fairness, and no order, such horrific atrocities still occurred.
Hashirama's expression grew bleak.
His conviction began to waver.
Perhaps… only by unifying the entire shinobi world could such tragedies truly be prevented.
Uchiha Yu swept his gaze over the dungeon, then turned to Shinno. "Take us to the core energy chamber first."
"Yes—"
Shinno continued to lead them onward. After passing through several corridors, they finally arrived at a bright and spacious area.
But just then—large numbers of Sky-nins poured out of the energy chamber, each armed with kunai rifles, forming a line and aiming their weapons at the three approaching figures.
At the back of the group stood the highest-ranking Sky-nin commander, who grit his teeth and bellowed:
"Open fire!"
At that moment, the patterns of the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared in Uchiha Yu's pupils. With just a casual glance, the eyes of the Sky-nin and their commander all flickered with a red glow.
Leading Orochimaru and Shinno, Yu stepped into the Core Energy Chamber. The Sky-nin holstered their weapons and automatically split into two rows, as though welcoming their arrival.
The walls here were entirely etched with jet-black markings that pulsed with a ghostly blue light.
"So, when there's no core energy, they've been using people as the fuel to power this floating fortress," Hashirama said sadly.
But Tobirama—and even Uchiha Yu—found it perfectly ordinary.
Reaching the very center of the chamber, Yu raised his hand toward the front. Countless black markings spread from beneath his feet, branching out to cover the entire area.
Boom—
With a thunderous roar, the Zero-Tails, was released from the Tailed Beast space, hovering sluggishly in place.
The overwhelming dark chakra radiating from its body was instantly drawn into the walls and absorbed.
"With this fortress powered by a core energy source, those imprisoned people won't need to be used as fuel anymore, right?" Hashirama suddenly asked.
Yu casually replied, "Mm. They'll be brought along with this floating city and the Sky-nin to Konoha—to help build the new Hidden Village."
"Heh… better to die than live as your slaves," Tobirama muttered.
Yu ignored him.
After injecting the fortress with a core energy source, he turned his gaze toward Shinno, his expression cold.
"In your next life, don't go around choosing names so recklessly."
The words had barely left his lips when Yu's eyes flashed crimson.
The leader of the Sky-nin Village instantly went pale, his face contorting in agony. He clutched his chest with both hands, blood seeping between his fingers as his heart was crushed and ruptured by the chakra within him.
His body collapsed lifelessly to the floor.
°°°
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