On the other side, Uchiha Obito had finished his task—he had killed everyone he was meant to kill—and now he waited for Uchiha Itachi to arrive.
Unfortunately, Itachi did not come.
"What is that? Susanoo? No—how could anyone in the Uchiha clan have awakened a Mangekyō Sharingan besides Itachi?" Obito lifted his head and watched the battle not far off. When he saw the two gigantic avatars clashing, he froze for a moment, then hurried over. According to his investigation of the Uchiha, no one but Itachi should have awakened a Mangekyō.
Under the moonlight, in only a short instant, the fight had turned ferocious; the Uchiha compound looked as if struck by meteors and had become a field of ruins.
Boom!
A raging shockwave rose, and a devastating blow slammed into the red skeletal giant with overwhelming force.
Crack!
Numerous fissures spread across Itachi's Susanoo.
To Itachi's stunned gaze, the pale-blue skeletal giant opposite him sprouted flesh and grew a set of heavy armor that looked indestructible, as if formed from rock.
"Die! Ora ora ora!!!" Uchiha Yue roared. In the next instant, a rain of fist shadows descended; wind whipped up and the surrounding air was driven toward vacuum.
"Ora ora ora!!!"
Chakra spun wildly as terrifying force surged with each punch—each blow heavier and more powerful than the last.
Crack!
"Ho… how…?" Time seemed to freeze; fragments fell from the orange-red Susanoo as if the giant were a glass vessel about to shatter.
"No! I have this kind of power too! I bear such pain and the hopes of my father and mother—For the village, for the clan, for Sasuke…I will not die! Power, show yourself!" Itachi's face changed as he watched his Susanoo being torn toward destruction. In that moment he seemed to see the clan members he had just killed, he saw his parents who had chosen death at his hand, he saw Sasuke's terror and hatred, and he saw the village he had longed to protect.
He bore all that pain to resolve the conflict between clan and village, to protect Sasuke, to safeguard the village and the family—how could he lose now? How could he fall to this trash who should have died by his blade?
"Clan members, father, mother, Sasuke! Villagers—lend me your strength!"
"Kogya!!!" Itachi roared. At that moment his resolve and strength were pushed to the limit; how could he possibly be defeated?
Boom!
A massive surge of ocular power flowed, and in an instant the cracking Susanoo was repaired and elevated to a deeper crimson giant—he intended to—
"Ora!!! Itachi Uchiha, you dog—die for me! Chakra drive—twelvefold power—explode!!!"
A furious cry rose; spiraling, overwhelming power surged through Yue's massive fist and struck the Susanoo Itachi had reforged. Terrible force poured into the giant form.
Time seemed to stop.
Crack!
Many fissures appeared across the giant once again, just as before.
"How… how is this possible?"
Bang!
In the next moment, the towering giant shattered, and the remaining force slammed into Itachi.
Ugh—pff!
Itachi went slack for a moment: half his skeletal frame was broken, blood spat from his mouth, and he was blasted like a cannon into the distant ruins.
"How can he be so strong… this… this is impossible… ah!!!" Itachi lay on the ground in agonized disbelief, his face contorted in fury. He could not understand why Yue's power was so immense. He had already pushed all his strength to the limit and should have matched Yue's power—so why…?
Move! Move, body, move!
He roared inwardly.
Itachi roused himself like a mad dog, driving the chakra through his broken body. His father's words echoed in his ears: your suffering is a lifetime, theirs is a moment—so why won't you die for my ideals and the village's greater good?
He forced his aching eyes open, gathered chakra, and tried to unleash Susanoo to stand again; that previous strike had reduced half his bones to powder—Itachi was now paralyzed, a broken husk.
Boom!
A heavy fist bearing a thick shockwave fell toward Itachi; Yue had arrived and meant to finish him—
"Stop!"
At that moment Uchiha Obito finally reached them. Seeing Itachi about to be crushed by Yue's punch, Obito attacked.
Wood Release: Hellish Chaos.
Several thorny tree trunks spiraled up and wrapped around Yue's body.
Yue ignored Obito's assault, tore through the brambles, and charged again at Itachi.
"Impossible!" Obito cursed. He hadn't expected such terrifying power; his attack hadn't even pierced Yue's defense before being shattered. But that moment had been enough.
Itachi suddenly lifted his head and fixed his gaze on Yue.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Yue was immediately trapped by the genjutsu and froze.
"Strike!!!" Itachi shouted.
In the next instant, Obito split a shadow clone, carried the already maimed Itachi, and his true body moved to the chest of the massive Susanoo.
Seize the chance…