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CLICK-CLACK-CLACK!
The sound of mechanical joints echoed through the dense mist. Kankurō was here. His puppets, Father and Mother, closed in from the front, their palms aligned, a wire sharp enough to sever steel strung taut between them. It aimed straight for Sasuke's neck.
But Sasuke was looking down.
"A frontal assault with the main puppets… while the real hand lies buried underground. If I remember correctly, the one hidden in the ground is called 'Black Ant'. Engineered for capture. It swallows its target whole, then shreds them with internal blades. A masterful piece of engineering."
"Puppets have no chakra. Once buried, they're invisible to the Sharingan's sight… but not to the Byakugan."
"Still… there is room for adjustment."
"Kankurō, if I were you, I'd have used the Black Ant as the feint… and made these frontal puppets the real kill. Pity. No 'ifs'."
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Sasuke's Shikotsumyaku ignored the slicing wire. His hands shot out, seizing Father and Mother by their puppet throats. Magnetic Release chakra pulsed into their bodies, neutralizing every hidden weapon, every spring-loaded trap inside.
Kankurō's fingers twitched on his chakra strings. Click! The Black Ant burst from the earth behind Sasuke, its abdomen yawning open, ready to swallow him whole in one violent motion.
A faint smirk touched Sasuke's lips. "A thought occurs. This 'Black Ant' mechanism… it might prove useful."
Still facing forward, hands clamped on the puppet throats, he twisted his hips. The Kusanagi sword flew from its sheath. He didn't look back. Just spun and kicked the hilt.
CLANG!
The spinning blade sliced through the chakra threads connecting to Black Ant's joints.
Clatter-clatter-clatter.
The Black Ant went limp. Its long, jointed arms, thin as bamboo, slumped uselessly to the ground.
Hssst.
A white serpent erupted from the back of Sasuke's neck. Its maw gaped, swallowed the inert Black Ant whole, and retracted in a flash.
He released Father and Mother. A flick of his magnetic pull, and the Kusanagi flew back to his hand. The entire sequence was seamless. Fluid.
His gaze flicked past Kankurō, into the thick mist beyond. Then he was a blur. He shot forward, Kusanagi leading the charge!
BOOM!!!
A gale of wind erupted, blasting Sasuke back!
WHOOSH!
The mist was shredded. Temari stood revealed, her giant fan held before her like a shield.
"I thought you were different!" she snarled, her voice trembling with fury. "And now you do this?!"
Sasuke calmly brushed dust from his shoulder.
"YOU–!" Temari's teeth ground together.
The mist cleared completely now. The three Kage and their guards, Mifune and the samurai–they all converged.
Kankurō maneuvered his puppets, dragging Gaara and the Raikage's unconscious forms to safety.
Shi checked them. "Thank the gods. They're alive."
"The whole crew's here. Good. Time to start."
Sasuke brought his hands together. Ox sign.
"Fire Style: Majestic Demolition Flame!"
BOOOOOOM!!!
The same technique. But under the power of the White Cursed Seal, State Four, its magnitude was beyond comparison. The inferno roared forward, three hundred meters of pure annihilation, scouring the earth like a tidal wave of fire. The Great Fire Annihilation Madara once used to cow the Alliance… paled before this.
"That fire jutsu… it's insane…!!" Mei Terumī stepped forward, hands flashing through seals.
"Water Style: Water Formation Pillar!"
CRASH!!
A massive pillar of water met the wall of flame. For a moment, they held. A tense, hissing equilibrium.
Then the water began to lose. Fast.
Ōnoki's voice was urgent. "Now, now, NOW!! All water users, reinforce it!!"
Shun! Shun! Shun!
Darui, Chōjūrō, and Ao took their places behind Mei. Hands moved in unison.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Whoosh!
Torrents of water surged, merging with Mei's pillar. The combined effort finally met the hellfire head-on.
SSSSSSSS!
Steam erupted from the clash, a scalding, blinding curtain.
Akatsuchi's jaw was slack. "You gotta be kidding me! Water counters fire! But it took the Mizukage and three elite jonin to hold back one fire jutsu?!"
Ōnoki stared at the glowing light visible even through the steam barrier. His fist clenched. "No… are we really holding it?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fire punched through the disintegrating water wall. Streaks of superheated flame—meteor fire—screamed toward the allied force!
Mei and the three behind her scrambled back.
The ones who stepped up to meet it were Ōnoki, Akatsuchi, and Kurotsuchi.
"Earth Style: Multiple Earth Flow Spears!"
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
A series of massive earthen ramparts erupted in succession, forming a trench line hundreds of meters long. The meteor fire slammed into them, shaking the ground.
WHOOSH!
Sasuke burst through the wall of scalding steam, a streak of lethal intent aimed straight for the trench.
Behind the wall, Ao's Byakugan pulsed. "He's coming!!!"
Mei leaped atop the trench wall, her auburn hair whipping in the heated air. Seals formed.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"
FWIP!
A needle-thin, high-pressure blade of water shot forth, slicing the ground open on its path to Sasuke's core.
Crack. Sasuke didn't dodge. Bone twisted around his right arm into a spiraling gauntlet. He swung. The water blade shattered into spray. His momentum didn't falter. He closed the distance to the trench base in a heartbeat.
A brilliant, terrifying light coalesced in Ōnoki's palms. "Mizukage, DOWN!!"
"!" Sasuke's Byakugan saw it all through the earth. He threw himself backward, putting frantic distance between himself and the trench.
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Technique!"
HUMMMMMMMMMM…!!!
The expanding white cube of Particle Style consumed the earthen trench instantly. Then it kept going, expanding another hundred meters beyond.
Sasuke stood at the very edge of its range, watching the monolithic white cube fade from existence. "…Only Ōnoki is special. A direct hit from Particle Style… even State Four would mean certain death."
As the last remnants of the technique vanished, nothing stood between them. No mist, no steam, no walls.
Seeing Sasuke completely unharmed, Ōnoki sighed heavily. "The Byakugan, as expected. An ambush with my Particle Style… is nearly impossible."
Mei's voice held a tremor of fear she couldn't fully hide. "His power is too great. We must exert our full strength just to counter a single conventional jutsu. He seems… flawless. This battle… our chances look grim."
She had given voice to the dread hanging over them all.
"To speak of defeat now is premature!"
The Tsuchikage's voice cut through the low morale. "Have you all not noticed? From the moment he assumed that new form… he has not used his Susanoo once."
"!?" Everyone stiffened.
Ōnoki had hit the mark. "I suspect that form grants him the power of the Byakugan… at the cost of restricting the power of his Sharingan."
"No matter how great the power, adapting to an entirely new fighting style cannot be mastered instantly. His chakra has grown vastly, true. But without the power of the Sharingan… is he truly stronger, or weaker?"
"Kage of the villages! Do not be cowed by his explosive increase in raw power! He is not as terrifying as he seems. But that window is closing. The moment he adapts to that form, who is to say he won't wield the Sharingan's power once more?!"
"Therefore… we must spare no cost. We kill him here. Now. If we fail… there will be no power left in this world that can stand against him in the days to come! I hold the one sure-kill technique. My Particle Style. A single hit ends it all. Please… provide the opening I need!"
The resolve returned to the gathered shinobi. A unified front of deadly purpose.
Sasuke allowed himself a moment of respect. "Ōnoki… truly a veteran of a hundred battlefields."
"You're correct. While 'assimilating' State Four, my Sharingan's power is temporarily unavailable. But the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku are merely extensions of the White Cursed Seal. The true 'core' of the White Cursed Seal… is the power of Hashirama Senju!"
"That technique… it is time for its return."
Clap.
Sasuke brought his hands together in front of his chest.
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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