Hikaku Uchiha used Amaterasu and manipulated its form with Kagutsuchi, covering the entire body of the Nine-Tails in black flames.
But Amaterasu... you know what that means if you're in the know.
The Nine-Tails used its own Tailed Beast Chakra to peel off the black flames from its body.
Shindai looked at Hikaku in shock. "What the—Amaterasu? Kagutsuchi? You're not Sasuke, are you?"
Thinking about it, Hikaku did resemble that future version of Sasuke a bit, especially his haughty demeanor.
Hikaku frowned. "What the heck are you saying? Hurry up and get out of here—we're still in the Nine-Tails' attack range!"
Elsewhere in Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was grim as he stared ahead at the three figures blocking their path. With only three people, they had managed to halt their elite squad heading toward the Nine-Tails.
Hiruzen was deeply anxious—if this dragged on much longer, Konoha would be in serious danger.
As Hiruzen attempted another counterattack, Fugaku Uchiha stepped forward.
"Third Hokage," Fugaku declared, "I will intercept the Nine-Tails. I'll do whatever it takes to keep it away from Konoha!"
Hiruzen furrowed his brow. "That's the Nine-Tails we're talking about, Fugaku—don't act recklessly!"
Fugaku responded firmly. "I *can* do this! For Konoha, for the honor of the Fourth Hokage's trust in our Uchiha clan, I will give it everything—I'll even die for it if I must! So please, Third, cover me!"
Seeing the determination in Fugaku's eyes, Hiruzen decided to place his trust in him.
"Alright then!" Hiruzen shouted.
"Everyone! Attack!"
Wielding Enma transformed into the golden staff, Hiruzen charged forward first, followed closely by the rest of the ninja behind him.
Deva Path raised both hands toward the approaching group.
[Shinra Tensei!]
A massive wave of force exploded outward, sending Hiruzen and his team flying back.
The moment the force dissipated, Shisui Uchiha's illusion clones surrounded Deva Path, Konan, and Sasori.
"Your technique—I've figured out its weakness. There's a five-second cooldown after each use." Shisui's eyes burned with fury. "Unforgivable… how dare you damage Konoha like this!"
All of Shisui's illusion clones rushed toward Deva Path, Konan, and Sasori.
Konan and Sasori continued launching attacks with paper weapons and puppet mechanisms.
Yet none of their attacks reached Shisui's true form, and the illusion clones didn't vanish even when struck.
Meanwhile, Deva Path silently counted down the seconds.
Just as he reached one and prepared to raise his hand again to use Shinra Tensei, a katana pierced through his chest.
Shisui's blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan blazed with hatred as he stared down Deva Path.
"Perish!"
Deva Path remained expressionless, speaking in a toneless voice: "Now that's truly naïve."
Remaining unaffected, Deva Path stabbed Shisui Uchiha in the abdomen with a Black Receiver.
[Shinra Tensei!]
A powerful repulsive force erupted once more, hurling Shisui backward through the air.
As he tumbled backward, Shisui stared in disbelief at Deva Path's distant form.
His blade had pierced straight through Deva Path's heart—hadn't it?
Meanwhile,
Fugaku Uchiha forcefully broke through the blockade of Deva Path and his two companions and arrived in front of the Nine-Tails.
Fugaku coldly stared at the Nine-Tails with his eyes transformed into Mangekyo Sharingan.
[Susanoo!]
A massive yellow skeletal frame formed around Fugaku Uchiha.
Then the skeleton grew tendons and flesh, wrapped in cloak-like chakra, followed by armor resembling that of a tengu, and a giant ninja sword appeared in its hand.
Fugaku Uchiha had activated the third form of Susanoo.
Fugaku Uchiha swung his Susanoo's giant blade downward at the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails swung its fist, colliding with the ninja sword and causing a hurricane to sweep outward.
Fugaku Uchiha's Susanoo engaged in fierce battle with the Nine-Tails.
The Uchiha clan members looked on with pride at Fugaku.
Who would have imagined their clan leader had already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and unlocked its third and most divine power—the mighty Susanoo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep breath of relief.
With Fugaku Uchiha blocking the Nine-Tails, their burden had been greatly lightened.
Now… they could focus on dealing with these three opponents before them and then immediately reinforce him.
Shindai, who was currently extracting chakra, felt relieved seeing the appearance of Susanoo.
In the end… it all came back to the power of the Sharingan.
Kakashi had already rushed off to reinforce them.
Hikaku Uchiha narrowed his eyes, intently watching the Susanoo: "The third stage of Susanoo consumes an enormous amount of chakra and is extremely unstable. Ordinary Mangekyos struggle to maintain this form for long; this won't be enough to drive the Nine-Tails out of Konoha."
While extracting chakra, Shindai shouted: "Stop standing around, Asu Natsuka! You and Pakura start extracting chakra now—we might need you to replenish ours later!"
Pakura worriedly said: "I hope Sister Kushina is alright."
Shindai replied: "She should be holding up for now. Our current priority is to suppress the Nine-Tails. The Masked Man must have Lord Minato occupied right now. We just need to hold out until Lord Minato returns and then reseal the Nine-Tails within Sister Kushina!"
Shindai, Hikaku Uchiha, and Pakura began extracting chakra together.
Deva Path took a sidelong glance at Fugaku Uchiha's Susanoo, mentally assessing the current situation.
Fugaku Uchiha also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan. Alongside Shisui and Obito, that made three people in Konoha who had activated the Mangekyo Sharingan—meaning three Susanoos could now be summoned at once.
His Shinra Tensei had already been exposed, most of Sasori's puppets had been destroyed, and Konan's chakra was nearly depleted.
The situation was no longer favorable for them, so there was no reason to stay any longer.
Konoha still stood unshaken. Trying to destroy it with just the Nine-Tails was indeed overly naïve.
Still, they had successfully weakened Konoha's forces somewhat.
Deva Path grabbed Konan and Sasori, propelling himself into the air using Shinra Tensei's repulsive force. He retreated without hesitation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "Retreating already? We don't have time to chase them anyway. Everyone, follow me to confront the Nine-Tails!"
In the woodlands of Konoha,
Minato Namikaze and Setsuna Uchiha had already clashed multiple times.
Setsuna Uchiha's spatial and temporal teleportation didn't require a medium like Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai, giving him greater mobility than Minato.
However, that didn't mean Setsuna was faster than Minato—the title of fastest still belonged to Minato. Overall, the two were currently evenly matched.
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