Chi Yu formally summoned his Susanoo for the first time on the battlefield.
The towering chakra construct rose with a thunderous force, its deep-blue armor gleaming under the mist-shrouded sky.
Facing Chi Yu's Susanoo, many Hidden Mist shinobi instinctively faltered, a palpable urge to retreat surging through their ranks.
With a flex of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Chi Yu commanded his Susanoo to materialize a string of magatama in its spectral hands.
In the next moment, the Susanoo began hurling the magatama indiscriminately, each impact generating massive shockwaves.
Every magatama strike left a crater in the ground, crushing shinobi upon impact and sending debris flying in all directions.
Meanwhile, the barrage of shuriken, kunai, and elemental ninjutsu from the Hidden Mist forces failed to even chip the Susanoo's ribbed armor—it was an absolute defense.
The Third Mizukage, grim-faced and silent, swiftly formed a complex sequence of hand seals.
"Ice Release: Secret Technique – Extreme Ice Binding!"
The temperature around Chi Yu plummeted in an instant. Moisture in the air crystallized, and frost spiderwebbed across the battlefield.
Within seconds, Chi Yu's Susanoo was entombed in a colossal glacier of reinforced ice.
Upon seeing the Susanoo frozen solid, the Third Mizukage didn't relax. He poured even more chakra into the technique, reinforcing the ice and ensuring Chi Yu couldn't escape.
But ideals seldom align with reality.
From within the glacial mass, one of Susanoo's arms suddenly erupted outward, grasping a blade—Totsuka no Tachi—and slashing ferociously at the encasing ice.
The Mizukage let out a harsh snarl and released a concentrated blast of Ice Release in a desperate attempt to refreeze the emerging limb.
Though a thin shell of frost formed around the arm, it was too late. The massive sword cleaved through the surrounding ice, cracking it along fault lines. The glacial structure shattered into powder.
Now fully freed, Chi Yu's Susanoo brandished its blade and brought it down in a sweeping arc toward the Third Mizukage.
The Mizukage reacted instantly, leaping high into the air to avoid the devastating strike. The sword sliced the earth, carving a deep trench into the battlefield.
"Hold him back! Do not let him get any closer to the Village!" the Mizukage bellowed.
Dozens of Mist shinobi unleashed coordinated ninjutsu in unison—Water Dragons, Hidden Mist techniques, Ice Senbon—but none could penetrate the Susanoo's defenses.
The Third Mizukage wasn't attempting to defeat Chi Yu directly. He was stalling.
Susanoo—especially its complete form—devoured chakra at an unsustainable rate. The Mizukage's goal was simple: wait until Chi Yu could no longer maintain it.
Chi Yu, aware of the strategy, sneered coldly.
He activated the right Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Dōjutsu: Mt. Unseen."
The eye glowed ominously. Every jutsu launched at him was recorded—absorbed, memorized, and stored like reflections in still water.
Chi Yu continued to advance, cutting down any Mist shinobi who dared approach, pressing forward step by step.
The Third Mizukage fired off repeated Ice Release attacks, attempting to slow him down, but the results were negligible.
But the Mizukage's guess was accurate: the chakra consumption of Susanoo was immense. In less than ten minutes, Chi Yu's avatar had begun to degrade, its armor peeling away, bones exposed.
Five hundred meters from the Hidden Mist Village's outer wall, Susanoo had reverted to its skeletal form.
The Mizukage and his shinobi saw their opportunity—and struck.
"Chi Yu-sensei... is it over?" Kakashi muttered from the periphery of the battlefield.
A nearby shadow clone of Chi Yu gave a faint smile. "Ah... it's done."
With its armor gone, Susanoo's defenses were now vulnerable. Under the combined offensive of the Mist's forces and the Mizukage's precision Ice Release, the skeletal frame was shattered.
Susanoo dispersed into fading chakra particles.
The Mist forces surged forward. Believing Chi Yu had reached his limit, they charged with renewed hope.
But Chi Yu merely smiled. A smile so calm—so cold—that it made the Third Mizukage's instincts scream.
"Retreat! Get back—now!" the Mizukage roared, the color draining from his face.
His forces hesitated. Why retreat now, when victory seemed imminent?
Then they understood.
"Dōjutsu: Mugen'en – Jutsu Return!"
Centered on Chi Yu, a massive explosion of pure destructive force erupted outward. It wasn't chakra—it was a reflection of the dozens of recorded jutsu, multiplied in power and unleashed in a single catastrophic wave.
Everything within a several-hundred-meter radius was obliterated. Terrain, structures, shinobi—it all ceased to exist.
Even the outer edge of the Hidden Mist Village wasn't spared. A small portion of the village was reduced to flat, scorched earth.
Chi Yu's shadow clone shielded Kakashi from the worst of the blast before dispersing.
Kakashi stared in disbelief at the devastation. "Is this… Chi Yu-sensei's true power? This is insane…"
Chi Yu bled from his right eye, clutching it in pain. The Mangekyō strain was immense, but he remained standing.
As the smoke cleared, he spotted a massive block of ice. Most of it had shattered in the blast, but one portion remained intact.
Inside was the Third Mizukage.
The ice cracked. With a guttural growl, the Mizukage broke free, kneeling and coughing blood violently.
He had survived—but barely.
Chi Yu lowered his hand and gave a grim smile. "You're tenacious. Even in that chaos, you managed to save yourself. As expected of a Kage."
The Mizukage turned to look behind him, at the destruction. Fear, shock, and helplessness flashed across the faces of Mist shinobi and civilians watching from the shadows.
"I will kill you!" the Mizukage roared, blood dripping from his lips.
Chi Yu unsheathed his sword. "Why claim what you can't accomplish? You're finished. I, on the other hand, haven't even begun. Killing a Kage in battle… now that's a worthy feat."
Chi Yu surveyed the broken village wall and the fearful eyes watching from beyond it.
"You've failed, Mizukage. Look around you. Your people cower instead of standing beside you. Even your rule, soaked in blood, has only bought fear—not loyalty."
The Mizukage spat blood again, his voice raw. "You know nothing! Unlike Konoha, Iwa, or the Hidden Cloud, we have no natural defenses! We're an island nation surrounded by enemies! If we're not ruthless, we don't survive!"
Chi Yu paused, his tone more contemplative. "Perhaps there's truth in that…"
But the Mizukage was already forming hand seals for a final jutsu.
He never finished them.
A streak of lightning flashed.
His vision blurred, then shifted downward.
His own head hit the ground.
Chi Yu exhaled slowly, sheathing his sword.
"But this is where your road ends."
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