The appearance of the Uchiha in the Dead End Hollow left Zhao Anmen stunned—especially upon seeing him locked in combat with the Dead End Butcher. He could hardly believe his eyes.
"Can the world really be this coincidental?" Zhao Anmen's lips twitched. Not long ago, he'd risked his life to save five of his comrades from this very man.
And now, they'd reunited—under these circumstances?
Zhao Anmen's feelings toward the Uchiha were complicated.
During the terrorist attack, the Uchiha had killed two of his fellow Shadows and loosed the devastating arrow that obliterated half a city block and injured or killed over a thousand people.
But to be fair, if the other Shadows of the Nin-Village hadn't insisted on attacking Victoria Housekeeping, things probably wouldn't have escalated to that point.
In that sense, part of the blame fell on them too.
As for the Uchiha—his feats in exterminating giant-class Ethereals within Hollows had already spread across New Eridu. Even many officers within New Eridu Public Security held him in a kind of reverent respect.
After all, from beginning to end, the Uchiha had only ever targeted Ethereals—unlike the Red Fang Gang or the Nin-Village, who would do anything for the right price.
There were even numerous Hollow Investigators who claimed they'd been saved by the Uchiha—whether he meant to or not, the fact remained.
"Legendary" was never used sarcastically when it came to him.
"Hey, is that guy trying to die or something?" the little girl beside him suddenly asked, snapping Zhao Anmen back to the moment.
He glanced toward the distant battlefield and chuckled lightly. "For anyone else, yeah—this would be a death sentence. But he's different. Just watch."
If the Uchiha could slay the Dead End Butcher, the entire Hollow would collapse significantly. That would be great news for them.
Once the collapsed Hollow reconnected New Eridu and Canvas Street, the trapped residents could escape—and Vision Corporation's crimes would be fully exposed.
Still, Zhao Anmen knew better than to be careless. He needed backup plans in case Vision tried to take them all down with them.
As a senior officer in New Eridu Public Security—and the lead investigator in the high-profile terrorist attack—he could easily mobilize resources on the ground.
…
On the other side, Zhong Yan had already noticed the two new observers—but chose not to acknowledge them. His focus was entirely on the massive beast before him: the Dead End Butcher.
This elite boss from the game had once haunted him during a particularly brutal Hollow run.
But now, things were different.
"Susanoo..."
At his command, the skeletal frame of Susanoo instantly materialized, wrapping around his body. The bones rapidly grew, morphing into the giant skeletal form.
Then, layer upon layer of armor spread over the bones like flesh and sinew, completing the transformation into Susanoo's second form.
Even in this state, Susanoo already dwarfed the Dead End Butcher in size.
Though its intelligence was limited, the Butcher instinctively sensed a dire threat—ether began surging through its body, and its aura swelled at a visible rate.
Zhong Yan made no immediate move. He gave it a chance.
After all, to a max-level player who had already cleared the game, a newbie-zone boss entering phase two wasn't much of a threat.
"He activated the Dead End Butcher's etheric response just by standing there?" Zhao Anmen's eyes widened in disbelief.
He knew that under normal conditions, the Butcher's ether remained dormant—only when threatened by a powerful foe did its energy spike into high-activity mode.
And in previous encounters, very few had ever pushed the Butcher to its second form. Even if they managed to, none had the strength to deal with it.
Yet the Uchiha triggered that transformation with sheer presence alone—his oppressive aura was terrifying.
No wonder he'd killed two Shadows in a one-versus-eight battle.
In fact, those six Shadows who had assaulted Victoria Housekeeping were more than capable of taking down the Dead End Butcher.
But against the Uchiha, they didn't even get a chance to fight back—and two of them died.
So then... how vast was the gap between the Butcher and the Uchiha?
That answer was about to be revealed.
"ROOOAAAR!"
As the Butcher's high-density ether surged to its peak, its limbs grotesquely mutated and twisted. Two new arms sprouted from its back, and its internal core emerged—now exposed within its armored skull.
"Now we're talking," Zhong Yan muttered inside Susanoo. Beneath the mask, his lips curled into a smirk.
Done transforming? Then get ready to be erased.
At his mental command, Susanoo's hands summoned a massive great sword.
A blazing black flame burst forth from Zhong Yan's eyes, coating the sword's edge in a deadly sheen.
"Amaterasu."
"Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi."
Amaterasu summoned the black flames, and Kagutsuchi controlled them. Together, they maximized the flame's destructive power—
—for instance, by enchanting a weapon.
As the colossal Susanoo raised its flame-clad sword, the Dead End Butcher finally realized the full danger of its opponent.
Instinct screamed at it to run.
But reality denied it the chance.
BOOM!
As the sword struck, the earth split with a deep gash, burning black flames clinging to the fractured ground.
The Dead End Butcher's massive body was crushed under the weight of the strike—reduced to ash. The floating ether particles in the air were the only proof it had ever existed.
"T-That thing… it's really gone?" The girl beside Zhao Anmen stared in disbelief.
Only Zhao Anmen understood—this wasn't even the Uchiha's full strength.
If he'd unleashed that arrow—the one that leveled half a city block—most of the Dead End Hollow would have been flattened.
He really had held back.