The instantaneous explosion of dozens of Paper Bombs was as powerful as one might imagine.
The original ruins vanished in an instant, replaced by a massive crater.
Will it succeed?
Shikaku stared at the battlefield with a grave expression.
It was not that he lacked faith in the power of dozens of explosive tags, but rather that the formidable defensive capabilities displayed by the Susanoo had truly shocked him. Even an explosion of this magnitude might not necessarily break through the opponent's defense.
However, Fugaku Uchiha's chakra was nearly depleted; perhaps there was a chance for success!
Itachi's figure appeared from another direction nearby. Clearly, the Itachi who had acted as a lure earlier was merely a clone.
Being able to deceive Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan proved that Itachi's Crow Clone Jutsu had reached an incredibly high level, capable of passing as the real thing.
This time, it should be enough to shatter your Susanoo, Father.
Itachi stared calmly at the slowly dissipating smoke, waiting for the moment the result was revealed.
As the smoke cleared, the result of Itachi's carefully prepared strike finally came into view.
In the giant crater created by the blast, Fugaku Uchiha stood weakly. The blue giant that had previously stood tall was now reduced to a few remaining ribs stubbornly guarding him.
A large portion of the upper structure had been completely blown away.
This did not mean that the Susanoo could not withstand the explosion of Paper Bombs; rather, Fugaku's chakra was almost gone, making it impossible to maintain the Susanoo's terrifying durability.
Itachi understood this as well.
"If you hadn't constantly used the Susanoo to attack me, the victor might not have been decided so quickly."
Itachi tapped his right hand against the white cloth on his left wrist.
The cloth, inscribed with a sealing formula, immediately erupted into a cloud of white smoke. With a "poof," a massive Fuma Shuriken appeared in his hand.
Even at this stage, Itachi did not intend to put himself in danger; he planned to settle the match from a distance using shuriken.
That is, against his own father.
A cold wind surged, and the remaining skeletal fragments around Fugaku Uchiha completely vanished into the breeze.
He watched Itachi as he slowly approached, observing him constantly, and flashed a mysterious smile. "Itachi, you appear peaceful, but the pride in your heart is no less than that of any other Uchiha."
Hearing his father's assessment, Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. He slowly raised the Fuma Shuriken. "Regardless of what you say, I am the winner, am I not? Father."
Fugaku Uchiha laughed. "Itachi, you think that because Shisui's Mangekyo had his exclusive Kotoamatsukami, I, who have possessed the Mangekyo for over a decade, have not developed my own unique ocular jutsu?"
Itachi's pupils shrank instantly. A chill erupted from deep within his body.
I must stop him!
Without the slightest hesitation, Itachi hurled the Fuma Shuriken he had prepared.
This was no ordinary Fuma Shuriken; it had been infused beforehand with Wind Style chakra!
Once thrown, the attached Wind Style chakra immediately transformed into a terrifying airflow, accelerating its rotation. It flew toward his father with a lethal wind blade!
Fugaku Uchiha did not react to the incoming attack. Instead, the Mangekyo in his eyes constricted violently.
In an instant, countless electrical currents swarmed out from his body. The sudden flash of lightning illuminated the entire battlefield, stinging everyone's eyes.
At this moment, time seemed to stop. Only the continuous, surging electricity from Fugaku Uchiha's body kept flowing.
The pupils of everyone watching were filled with shock. The stray electricity in the air made their hair stand on end, filling their hearts with terror.
In this atmosphere of fear, the massive amount of electricity emerging from Fugaku Uchiha condensed in front of his left pupil, compressing into the shape of a tomoe.
The blue electric light turned into a white that filled everything the moment it was compressed to its limit.
"Itachi, this is the final lesson I shall teach you. I hope you can grasp it well."
"Lightning Style: Ming-Tenjin!"
The white tomoe in front of Fugaku Uchiha's eye suddenly bloomed, forming an extreme pillar of lightning that instantly engulfed the incoming Fuma Shuriken.
In a mere second, the Fuma Shuriken Itachi had thrown was melted into molten iron and then evaporated.
The surging lightning occupied everyone's vision. Finally, following the trajectory of the Fuma Shuriken, it swallowed Itachi Uchiha like a fierce beast!
This happened in less than a second.
Before anyone could react, the pillar of lightning had pierced through more than half of the Hidden Leaf. It destroyed everything in its path—houses, forests—until it broke through the barrier on the outskirts of the village.
"This has to be fake."
Shikaku stared blankly at the scene.
Everywhere the lightning passed was turned into nothingness, leaving only a deep trench and the dust rising from it.
This incredibly long and narrow trench was like a massive scar branded onto the face of the Hidden Leaf.
Not only Shikaku, but other Hidden Leaf ninjas, including Choza, were filled with disbelief.
Even ninjas on other battlefields were drawn to the dazzling flash of electricity. The fighting throughout the Hidden Leaf came to a brief standstill.
Fugaku Uchiha gazed at the massive mark stretching from his feet, looking as if a god had slashed down with a sword. He murmured, "This is the true power of the Uchiha, Itachi."
In that massive trench, amidst the lingering smoke, a cluster of red chakra burned like a flame.
As the smoke cleared completely, Itachi reappeared, blood and tears streaming down his face.
A large amount of red chakra swirled around him, and a massive, incomplete skeletal structure similar to Fugaku's earlier one manifested beside him.
In the face of a life-or-death crisis, Itachi Uchiha had also unleashed the Susanoo!
"So that is your ocular jutsu? Truly terrifying... even the Susanoo almost couldn't withstand it."
Itachi's voice was somewhat strained. He was telling the truth; the Susanoo he had just summoned was nearly shattered instantly in that terrifying thunder.
Fortunately, he had survived.
Itachi's chest heaved violently. The brush with death just now made his eyes even deeper.
However, there was no joy on Itachi's face. After using the Susanoo to block the strike, his chakra was completely empty.
Furthermore, using the Mangekyo Sharingan had become sluggish.
A second later, because of his lack of chakra, the Susanoo surrounding him vanished completely. He nearly collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
Seeing his son in this state, Fugaku Uchiha's aging face finally broke into a smile. He spoke with a praising tone, "Well done, Itachi."
He looked like an old father who had finally seen his son achieve something great.
Itachi crouched on the ground. He did not relax because of this tender moment. Instead, he continued to watch his father warily. "If I'm not mistaken, your chakra is also empty. Now, I just have to wait for other Hidden Leaf ninjas to arrive and take you down. Why bother acting like a victor?"
Hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha maintained his kind smile. "Itachi, do you want to know what the unique ocular jutsu of my other Mangekyo is?"
The color drained from Itachi's face instantly.
This man still has another move?
But he quickly gritted his teeth and said, "Impossible! Even if your Mangekyo has other abilities, you absolutely don't have enough chakra to use them. Stop bluffing, Father!"
Fugaku Uchiha shook his head. "Itachi, some ocular jutsus can be activated without chakra."
With that, his other Mangekyo constricted slightly.
Immediately after, a terrifying aura erupted from him.
The massive amount of chakra consumed by using Lightning Style: Ming-Tenjin miraculously reappeared in Fugaku Uchiha's body.
Not only that, but the numerous injuries Fugaku had sustained from the explosion after falling into the trap also vanished in this instant.
Although Itachi could not clearly see how much chakra his father had recovered, he could draw one conclusion from his father's overall state.
This is a disaster.
A completely revitalized Fugaku walked toward Itachi step by step, explaining as he went, "The ocular jutsu of my other Mangekyo is called Time Loop."
As he spoke, a trail of blood and tears ran down the corner of Fugaku Uchiha's eye. He ignored it and continued, "This jutsu can be activated silently, creating a time loop. Within this duration, no matter what injuries the body suffers, it will return to the starting point when the loop ends."
Hearing his father's explanation, Itachi finally understood. He gritted his teeth. "So you activated this jutsu the moment you fell into the trap. Your current state is because you returned to the start of the loop, right?"
As a genius ninja, Itachi was well-versed in various ninjutsu. He understood the principle of the technique the moment his father explained it.
Although it involved space-time ninjutsu, which he did not specialize in, he could still comprehend it.
After understanding the technique, Itachi began to secretly estimate its duration and range.
From the moment his trap was triggered, to Fugaku's Susanoo being blown apart, then throwing the Fuma Shuriken, Fugaku using that terrifying Lightning Style ocular jutsu, and finally his own awakening of the Susanoo...
While it seemed like a lot had happened, the actual time certainly did not exceed five minutes.
To be precise, it should have been a little over three minutes.
In other words, the time limit for this powerful ocular jutsu that could influence time should be between three and four minutes.
As for the range, it should be limited to his own body.
However, at this point, such analysis seemed meaningless.
After all, with his chakra drained, Itachi had no chance of victory against a Fugaku who had recovered his chakra.
Fugaku Uchiha nodded slightly to Itachi's question. "Correct."
"Therefore, you have lost, Itachi."
These words struck Itachi like a sentence of judgment.
"I lost..."
Itachi's body trembled slightly. Drops of blood and tears dripped onto the ground.
Then, with great difficulty, he rose from the ground. He picked up the ninja blade that had fallen nearby and pointed it at his father. "I haven't admitted defeat yet, Father."
Even though his body had no chakra left—he couldn't even activate Tsukuyomi, and his last chance at a turnaround had vanished—he still bore the expectations of his friend Shisui and the hope for peace in the village. Itachi Uchiha would never give up the fight!
"An admirable spirit. So..."
"It's over!"
The moment he finished speaking, Fugaku Uchiha appeared directly in front of Itachi.
He's here!
The thought barely had time to flash through Itachi's mind before Fugaku's silhouette firmly loomed over him.
Itachi instinctively swung his blade, stabbing fiercely at the figure before him.
Fugaku Uchiha also swung his blade in a horizontal slash, aiming straight for Itachi's neck!
Clearly, Fugaku had more stamina and chakra. Consequently, he was much faster than Itachi.
At this rate, Fugaku would surely slice Itachi's neck before Itachi could stab him!
Itachi felt this as well.
Facing the threat of death, his friend Shisui's dying words echoed in his mind. He murmured with regret: I'm sorry, Shisui. I can't fulfill our promise.
Then, the dull sound of a blade entering flesh rang out.
Warm blood splattered across Itachi's cold face, looking like red spider lilies blooming in the snow.
He opened his eyes. His gaze, which had returned to black, was filled with shock.
The scene of his head being cut off, which he had imagined, did not occur. Fugaku Uchiha's blade stopped a centimeter from his neck.
Meanwhile, the blade in Itachi's own hand had truly pierced through his father's abdomen.
"Why... why..."
At this moment, Itachi's mind was a blank. Tears flowed uncontrollably from his black eyes.
Fugaku Uchiha was pale. He reached out with a trembling hand and gently touched Itachi's cheek. "In the end, I still couldn't bring myself to strike my own son."
"I'm sorry, Itachi. You will have to bear the pain of the Uchiha clan alone."
"I thought I could do it..."
The color quickly faded from Fugaku Uchiha's face. Blood flowed relentlessly from the wound in his abdomen, staining Itachi's hands red. His voice grew weaker and weaker.
"Father, I'm sorry..."
Itachi could barely make a sound.
Fugaku shook his head slowly. "Itachi, there is nothing to be sorry for. My pain is temporary, but you have to live on while carrying such immense agony. I am the one who should feel sorry."
He looked at Itachi and instructed, "Remember to take my eyes. And then, protect Sasuke."
With that, Itachi immediately felt a warm current flowing from his father's hand into his own body.
His chakra was recovering rapidly. His body showed no rejection of this external chakra because they were... family.
"Itachi, never underestimate anyone. This is the final thing your father can teach you."