Their gazes locked. Accepting Menma's invitation, Uchiha Hikari struck first, launching herself forward like an arrow released from a bow string.
Her small foot, still bearing its shackle, kicked off the stone wall, transforming her into a blur that cut through the wind straight for Menma.
POW! POW! POW!
Within the ruins of Uzushiogakure, two figures clashed violently amidst the vine-entwined debris. Hikari unleashed the consummate taijutsu of the Uchiha, her Sharingan precisely reading every micro-movement of her opponent as her fists and kicks rained down like a torrent.
Menma, enveloped in his chakra shroud, met her move for move. He countered with his own unique, self-styled taijutsu, engaging in a fierce, head-on battle with this girl who had been sealed for centuries. Stone fragments sprayed everywhere as they traded crushing blows.
The taijutsu clash was merely the appetizer.
Following a simultaneous fist collision, they were forced several meters apart. A slight smile played on Hikari's lips. Having been bound by sealing jutsu for hundreds of years, this pure physical exchange had loosened every stiff joint in her body. The sensation was so refreshing she couldn't suppress a small hum of delight.
A budding sense of camaraderie—a feeling of having met a kindred spirit—began to form toward the youth opposite her.
"I'm getting serious now!" Hikari cried out a warning before her hands blurred into rapid seals.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A massive amount of fire-natured chakra gathered in her throat. As her fingers snapped to her lips, a wall of flame surged forth, a cataclysmic tidal wave of fire rushing toward the youth.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
Menma didn't move an inch, countering with his own seals. A high-pressure jet of water tore straight through the fiery curtain, aiming directly for the girl's brow.
Hikari flickered away, using the diversion of Menma's chakra shroud resisting the flames to close the distance. By the time Menma had endured the firestorm with his Tailed Beast cloak, Hikari was already upon him. Amidst the dissipating flames, her vivid Mangekyō Sharingan bloomed, her visual prowess instantly invading Menma's mental realm.
"Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi!"
Menma's world shifted abruptly. He found himself in a mental space as blue and clear as a mirror. Stars hung upside down, and ripples shimmered beneath his feet. The vast, empty genjutsu space reflected Hikari's inner world—hollow, lonely.
This was Hikari's specific dōjutsu, the 'Tsukuyomi Dream World.' Within this dimension, the caster held absolute control over time, location, and even mass.
"It is my victory."
A playful grin graced Hikari's face. She spoke cheerfully, her tone like a child playing with a best friend.
"Your dōjutsu is impressive, but I'm afraid I've spent too much time in a ' Tsukuyomi' world already. This technique..."
Menma abruptly lifted his head, his right eye glaring.
"Is absolutely no threat to me!"
Zzzzt—!
A tear suddenly ripped through Hikari's genjutsu dimension, and the entire dream world shattered and collapsed.
Before Hikari's shocked expression, a blood-soaked battlefield replaced the serene blue space! The scent of smoke and blood flooded her nose, making her feel as though she had been thrust back into the Warring States period.
Her pupils constricted. Looking down, she saw countless shinobi corpses and weapons strewn across the scorched, black earth beneath her feet.
Following the trail of bodies, her gaze lifted to see a throne constructed from a mountain of shinobi corpses. A dark-red Nine-Tails was coiled upon this throne of death, while the youth she had been fighting reclined against the fox's head, looking down upon the battlefield like an emperor.
Even as the strongest weapon of the Warring States period, Hikari couldn't stop her body from trembling in this blood-colored realm. But she did not give up. Gritting her teeth, she pushed her visual prowess, and the design of her Mangekyō Sharingan began to spin rapidly.
"Inscribed Tsukuyomi!"
Hikari's dōjutsu reflected onto the moon of the genjutsu space. The crimson moon, originally blood-red, now displayed the pattern of her Mangekyō Sharingan. This jutsu was powerful enough to immobilize even Naruto completely!
Just as Hikari believed she had secured the final victory...
Her connection to the crimson moon high in the sky was suddenly severed. A bamboo scroll snapped open across the surface of the moon.
"How is this possible!"
Hikari's Sharingan suffered a massive backlash, and blood seeped from the corner of her eye.
The two returned from the dream world to reality.
Hikari gasped for air, gritting her teeth as she stumbled back two steps. She had never imagined that her proudest dōjutsu could fail. The youth before her was even stronger than she had anticipated! And judging by his relaxed manner, he was nowhere near his limit.
She decided to utilize the third power of the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Crimson chakra erupted from Hikari's body, flooding out like a tide before rapidly coalescing around her. A deep red skeleton rose from the ground, followed by chakra spreading across the frame to form flesh. Countless crimson chakra plates then clad the giant in armor!
Behind the titanic figure, the chakra manifested into giant wings, each bearing a massive hand, with the right hand gripping a chakra scabbard. Hikari stood within the crow-tengu mask atop the giant's head, piloting the Susanoo.
As the wings unfurled, the shriek of the giant chakra blade being drawn echoed through the heavens. The resulting gale pressed the entire forest down into a crawling wave of green. Standing at the apex of the crimson Susanoo, having unleashed her ultimate technique, Hikari was impatient to see the shock on the face of the youth below.
Without her even realizing it, the friendship she felt was beginning to blossom into a different kind of emotion.
On the ground, Menma braced against the wind, his black cloak whipping violently. This was the first time he had ever seen a Susanoo. He had never encountered such a thing back in his 'Limited Tsukuyomi World.'
"Little Nine, it's your turn now." Menma lightly brushed a stray leaf from his fur collar.
In the next instant!
An even more powerful dark-red chakra erupted from Menma. The massive form of the Dark Nine-Tails rose from beneath his feet! Its sharp claws immediately swiped toward the crimson giant.
"What?!"
Hikari's face paled in shock. The sudden assault of the Dark Nine-Tails caught her completely off guard.
Menma stood atop the fox's head. As the Dark Nine-Tails lifted its neck, he rapidly zoomed toward Hikari. Seeing the startled look on the girl's face, Menma shouted:
"You aren't the only one who knows how to pilot a Gundam!"
"Little Nine! Let's go! Attack with a Tailed Beast Bomb!" Menma commanded, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
Hikari quickly reacted, manipulating the Susanoo to counter-attack. The crimson giant used the chakra blade in its hand to block its chest. Even in the Warring States period, Hikari had never fought a Tailed Beast; her defense was hurried and clumsy.
As the Dark Nine-Tails' claws were deflected by the crimson chakra blade, it had already closed the distance. It opened its massive jaws directly in front of the Susanoo.
A black sphere, speckled with dark red, began to condense within the Dark Nine-Tails' mouth!
BOOM—!!!
The island trembled under the collision of the two giant beasts. A tsunami-like shockwave swept across heaven and earth!