The mist was suffocating.Uchiha Yashiro stood with both blades drawn, chest heaving, his scarlet Sharingan flicking across the haze for any sign of movement.
Why was it getting thicker?The edges of his vision blurred into black. Blood trickled from a fresh cut above his eye — the White Ghost's blade had nearly taken his head.
The battle had dragged on too long. One man against the White Ghost and a swarm of Mist-nin? It was a miracle he was even alive. But every minute that passed chipped away at that miracle.
"Overestimated yourself, didn't you?"
The White Ghost's mocking voice seeped out of the fog.
Yashiro tightened his grip. His chest burned, his arms trembled, but his eyes stayed locked forward.
"I can fight you for another day if I have to."
It was a lie, and they both knew it. His chakra reserves, built from years of relentless discipline, were running dry. If this dragged out, he'd collapse.
The Ghost sighed, impatient."Enough games. Kill him. Full force."
Echoes stirred in the fog.
"…Full force?!" Yashiro's face darkened. You weren't even serious till now?
Wind howled suddenly, ripping through the canyon. The fog shredded, peeled away as if the heavens themselves had blown it apart.
"What—?!" The White Ghost's expression twisted. All the hidden assassins were exposed, their cover ripped away.
And then they all saw it.
A titanic, skeletal half-form — bright yellow bones glowing like molten gold.A giant. A god of war.
Susanoo.
Within its ribcage stood Uchiha Fugaku, blood and tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. His gaze blazed with a new shape of the Sharingan — one Yashiro had only ever read about in forbidden clan scrolls.
"The ultimate power of the Uchiha…" he whispered, awestruck."…Mangekyō Sharingan."
The golden Susanoo raised its massive sword. With one swing, the canyon split with a hurricane slash, tearing Mist-nin apart like paper dolls. A scar of destruction ripped into the earth itself.
"That's not… that's not human!" The White Ghost's bravado shattered into panic. His voice rose shrill. "No ordinary shinobi could—!"
He turned to run.
But Susanoo's blade was already coming down.
Slashes fell like cannon fire, each swing flattening swathes of enemy ninja. The White Ghost almost made it to the canyon's edge — before a golden arc bisected him, body shattering into unrecognizable scraps.
The massacre was surgical. In the blood-soaked canyon, only one untouched circle remained: the ground where Yashiro stood. Susanoo had spared him.
Yashiro's chest tightened. Words failed. The sheer size, the power, the way the battlefield bent around one man—
"This… this is the strength of the Uchiha," he murmured. "The power that once dominated the Warring States."
A semi-finished Gundam, clad in fire and fury. Susanoo.
No Mist-nin survived. All were reduced to corpses.
The giant faded, its bones dissolving into sparks. Fugaku staggered, his legs nearly giving out. Yashiro rushed to his side and caught him.
"Fugaku… that was—?"
Fugaku's hand pressed against his bleeding eyes. His voice was hollow."…Mangekyō Sharingan."
Yashiro's breath hitched. That power… even Hokage might not be out of reach.
But Fugaku's face was grim. Pain in his eyes, and worse in his heart. This strength had been bought with Uchiha Shin's life.
"Yashiro," Fugaku said quietly, "no one must know about this. Not yet."
"What?!" Yashiro stared at him. "With that power, we could—"
"The clan can't take more turmoil. This power is… mine to carry."
Reluctantly, Yashiro nodded. Fugaku was the hope of the Uchiha. If he said to keep silent, then silence it would be.
But when Fugaku asked, "Where's Shin?" Yashiro realized the truth. His comrade was gone.
The silence between them was heavy. Finally, Yashiro muttered, "If Shin knew his death gave you this power… he'd be glad."
Fugaku glanced at him, heart heavy as lead. He couldn't agree. He couldn't.
Because the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan was born of blood and grief.
And it tasted like ash.
Meanwhile, at Konoha's forward base in the Land of Hot Water—
A scroll of reports dropped into Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands. His face paled as he read.
"Kirigakure forces spotted moving into the Land of Hot Water.""New outposts destroyed.""Entire Konoha units wiped out."
It was clear.
Kirigakure had declared war.