The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, couldn't help but feel a complex mix of excitement and dread. Memories surged back—memories of the Warring States period, of the fearsome Uchiha Madara, who had once left an unforgettable impression on him.
Back then, Ōnoki had been a young disciple of Mu, the Second Tsuchikage. In the early days of Iwagakure, he accompanied Mu to Konohagakure for diplomatic discussions. But instead of peace, they met Madara Uchiha—one of the most feared shinobi in history.
Madara had rejected their proposals without hesitation and proceeded to demonstrate why. In a brief but violent clash, both Mu and Ōnoki were utterly overpowered. Though gravely wounded, they were spared—not out of mercy, but because Madara dismissed them as too weak to be worth killing.
"You're not worth the effort. Children shouldn't play at war," Madara had said coldly. That scornful look had seared itself into Ōnoki's memory.
Now, decades later, seeing Byakuya Uchiha activate his Mangekyō Sharingan and manifest a perfect Susanoo, Ōnoki felt the same suffocating pressure he had known as a child. That crimson armor, that chakra—the resemblance to Madara was undeniable.
His pride wounded and his judgment clouded by old fears, Ōnoki attacked.
"You damned Uchiha... go to hell!"
"Earth Style: Fist of Stone!" he roared.
The earth trembled as a massive stone fist surged from the ground, aimed directly at Byakuya's Susanoo.
"Good," Byakuya murmured. Chakra surged through the Susanoo's right hand, materializing a towering blade of pure chakra. With a single slash, the sword cleaved the stone fist in half.
But Byakuya wasn't done.
A second chakra blade formed in Susanoo's left hand. With a fluid motion, the Susanoo brought it down toward Ōnoki's position.
"Earth Style: Giant Stone Golem!" Ōnoki quickly countered.
The ground rumbled again, and a colossal stone golem erupted to shield him. It raised its arms, attempting to intercept the descending sword.
But it was futile.
"Boom!"
The Susanoo's blade cut straight through the golem like paper. The shockwave from the impact sent Ōnoki flying through the air. Dizzy and dazed, he tumbled backward, only stopping when he stabilized himself mid-air using his Lightened Boulder Technique.
"Lucky I can fly..." he grunted, spitting dust.
From the ground, the Third Raikage scoffed. "What was that, old man? Acrobatics? Maybe you should stick to stone masonry!"
He hadn't forgotten how Ōnoki had mocked him earlier. And now that the tables had turned, he seized the moment.
"Hmph!" Ōnoki snarled. "Then shut up and watch what real power looks like!"
He turned back to his forces.
"All Iwagakure shinobi—attack!"
Even Ōnoki now understood that Byakuya's strength rivaled that of the legendary Madara. There was no defeating such a monster one-on-one. So he turned to the overwhelming numbers of Iwagakure—ten thousand shinobi, all trained and battle-hardened.
"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!" the shinobi responded in unison.
Hands weaved in swift synchrony.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
Dozens of thick, towering walls erupted from the ground, surrounding Byakuya and Susanoo from all sides.
But Byakuya remained calm.
"Crude tricks..."
With a flicker of thought, Susanoo raised its blade and swung.
"Boom!"
The chakra sword sliced through the earthen walls with contemptuous ease. Yet, more walls emerged, rising like waves to contain him again.
A dozen shinobi leapt onto the stone structures.
"Earth Style: Adhesive Mud Flow!" they cried.
Sticky, cement-like mud rained down from above, attempting to engulf the Susanoo.
Byakuya frowned.
"Cement? How very... industrial of you."
He chuckled, amused.
"I see Iwagakure is expanding into infrastructure. Shall I apply for a permit before I demolish everything?"
With that, the Susanoo erupted in chakra once again. Both blades raised, Byakuya cut through the incoming sludge, stone, and shinobi alike.
No matter how many walls they built or how much mud they hurled, they were merely delaying the inevitable.
At the same time, with so much cement-like earth falling, Byakuya's Susanoo grew extremely heavy, its movements slowing under the increasing weight.
Yet even so, not a flicker of fear appeared on Byakuya's face.
"The Uchiha brat..."
"You'll die here."
Floating mid-air, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki formed seals with remarkable speed. A small, glowing white cube materialized between his hands—radiating a dangerous, high-frequency hum.
"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu—Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
In the next instant, the cube expanded rapidly and launched forward, transforming into a searing beam of light that ripped through the air toward Byakuya.
This was Dust Release—Jinton—a rare and terrifying kekkei tōta, formed through the fusion of Earth, Wind, and Fire chakra natures. It didn't simply destroy—it disintegrated matter at a molecular level.
The beam struck Byakuya's Susanoo head-on. For the first time, the radiant ribcage armor cracked and splintered under the onslaught, fragments dissolving into the air like ash in a windstorm.
Even the mighty Susanoo was vulnerable before this technique.
But Byakuya was already in motion. At the moment the beam collided with his defense, he leapt free—an elegant flash of chakra wings and high-speed evasion. He landed on the shattered ground with effortless poise.
"So this is the fabled Dust Release of Iwagakure," Byakuya murmured, eyes narrowing as he examined the space where his Susanoo had been struck. "To think it could pierce my Susanoo…"
He sounded neither panicked nor angry—only curious.
He had always considered the Susanoo to be a fortress of absolute power, capable of standing against bijū. Never once since awakening it had it been broken.
Until now.
Ōnoki's aged lips twisted into a grim smile as he hovered above.
"Yes. This is the power that once made even Madara Uchiha wary," he declared. "You can't escape, Uchiha Byakuya."
"Today, I'll erase you and the shadow of Madara both—with the power of Jinton."
With a sharp wave of his hand, the surrounding Iwagakure shinobi surged forward, surrounding Byakuya once again.
Ōnoki had waited decades for this chance. The humiliation of the Warring States era—of watching Madara reduce him and his master to nothing more than insects—had haunted him for a lifetime.
Madara might be gone.
But Byakuya… Byakuya bore the same eyes, the same chakra, and the same overwhelming arrogance.
To defeat him would be to rewrite history.
To finally bury the shame of Iwagakure.
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