Seeing the retreat of the Cloud Shinobi troops, the Uchiha clan also began to fall back in an orderly manner, leaving only the clan head and the young heir to face the two rampaging Tailed Beasts.
"Yo, yo—bastard, ya fool!
Feel the rage of the bee you tried to school!"
Although he was fully transformed into a beast, Killer Bee still retained his consciousness. The moment he thought back to those seventy-two hours of torture, his entire body seemed to ache all over again.
Even in a world of illusion, the pain had been all too real.
He absolutely did not want to experience that again.
"Killer Bee, let's finish this quickly. If we drag it out, our chakra will be worn down, and others will take advantage of the opening."
Han wanted to end the fight as soon as possible. Once this battle was over, he needed to hurry back to Iwagakure—one of his village's jinchūriki had been captured.
He had no idea what the situation was like back home now.
Hearing Han's words, Killer Bee nodded, then glared at the two "villains" standing before them.
"Then I'll wrap this up in no time, ya fool!"
The mouths of the two giant Tailed Beasts began to gather chakra.
Tailed Beast Bomb.
Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku immediately turned and shouted at the rear line.
"All clansmen, fall back even farther! Don't panic—keep retreating in formation!"
He and Uchiha Itachi stood side by side, firmly holding their ground in front of the withdrawing Uchiha.
Not long after, the two Tailed Beast Bombs were fully charged—and then they thundered forward.
Boom!!
The earth shook violently. Two Tailed Beast Bombs were enough to obliterate a mountain; their destructive power was obvious.
The explosion at such close range sent a crushing shockwave sweeping out. The ninjas on both sides who hadn't retreated in time were blown away by the blast.
After a while, the dust slowly cleared—and the scene Killer Bee had expected did not appear.
Standing there were two towering giants of chakra—one dark red, the other a lighter crimson.
Susanoo.
The ultimate ocular technique of the Sharingan.
This was the Uchiha clan's trump card in facing Tailed Beasts head-on.
Even without relying on genjutsu, they could overwhelm a Tailed Beast through sheer power.
Although the Susanoo of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi had not yet reached their final, complete forms and lacked fully formed legs, their upper bodies alone were enough to rival the two massive Tailed Beasts before them.
Four titans faced each other across the battlefield.
Killer Bee and Han exchanged shocked looks.
"So this is the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan… what a terrifying power."
"It's been written in the records for a long time—that the Mangekyō Sharingan of the Uchiha can stand against Tailed Beasts. I always thought it meant genjutsu… but to think it could manifest something like this…"
Neither Han nor Killer Bee had ever seen the Uchiha's Susanoo with their own eyes before.
Now that they had witnessed a power that allowed mere humans to stand on equal ground with Tailed Beasts, how could they not be shaken?
But shock did not mean fear. The two Tailed Beasts roared and charged straight in.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—!!
Each step the Tailed Beasts took made the ground thunder and crack.
Moments later, the four titans collided head-on.
From a distance, Samui watched the clash and sighed inwardly. A battle on this level was no longer something ordinary people could even think about joining.
Let alone fighting alongside them—just the aftermath of their attacks was enough to kill a normal shinobi.
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
The sound of violent impacts echoed continuously as the battle entered a fierce, all-out stage.
Both sides wanted to end things quickly. In a short span of time, they unleashed everything they had.
Tailed Beast Bombs and other devastating attacks were all blocked by the Yata Mirror wielded by Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo.
With the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror together, the Eight-Tails and Five-Tails found themselves at a disadvantage.
"We can't keep this up. That Uchiha kid's defense is too strong."
Forced back yet again, the Five-Tails muttered to the Eight-Tails.
"I'll pin him down. You go after Uchiha Fugaku, ya fool."
"Got it."
The two reached an understanding instantly. The Eight-Tails wrapped several massive octopus tentacles around Itachi's Susanoo, constricting it tightly, while Han lowered his head and charged straight at Fugaku's Susanoo, aiming with his horn.
Boom!!
The sharp horn slammed into Fugaku's Susanoo, cracking the light-red chakra armor along its surface.
But it still did not shatter.
Killer Bee and Han both knew that Uchiha Itachi's Yata Mirror was monstrously strong in defense, but what they hadn't realized was that Susanoo itself already had overwhelming defensive power.
Ordinary impacts weren't enough to break through a complete defensive Susanoo.
Even if the chakra armor cracked, more chakra would surge out to repair it.
This was the benefit of having Senju Hashirama's cells—the user possessed vast reserves of chakra, enough to sustain such a high-level Susanoo without the Sharingan going blind.
"Totsuka Blade."
Entangled by the Eight-Tails, Itachi made his move.
The gourd in Susanoo's right hand tilted, and from its mouth emerged a massive ethereal longsword.
The Totsuka Blade's ability was sealing—anything it pierced would be trapped in a genjutsu world for eternity.
He had refrained from using it earlier for fear of disrupting the overall plan.
But now, through his Sharingan, he had sensed several uninvited guests drawing near.
If the enemy's goal was to capture the jinchūriki, they would never allow Uchiha Itachi to seal a Tailed Beast with the Totsuka Blade.
If the Tailed Beast was sealed away, their target would be lost.
As expected, by the time the gigantic Totsuka Blade swung down, the Eight-Tails' huge body was wrapped tightly around Itachi's Susanoo—he had no room to evade.
He could only watch as the Totsuka Blade descended.
Clang!!
A metallic clang rang out.
Three figures appeared not far away.
Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sand… and Uchiha Obito.
What blocked the Totsuka Blade's strike was a wave of black iron sand—Sasori had manipulated the puppet body of the Third Kazekage to intercept the attack.
They weren't foolish. If any living person had tried to block that strike directly…
There was no need to say it—the one who blocked it would have been sealed.
That was the terrifying power of a divine weapon.
But a puppet without a soul or living flesh was a different story. There was no need to worry about it being sealed away.
Seeing the three figures appear, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Uchiha Itachi's lips.
Just as the leader had predicted.
Akatsuki had arrived.
"Itachi-kun, long time no see."
Uchiha Obito greeted him like an old acquaintance. Sasori nudged Deidara with his puppet body, already looking interested in teasing him.
Taking advantage of the Eight-Tails and Five-Tails being distracted, they moved swiftly to seal both Tailed Beasts in one go.
Samui, watching from afar, felt cold sweat on her back.
She immediately led her squads toward the battlefield. Because she had retreated earlier to avoid being caught in the crossfire, she had unintentionally given the enemy the perfect opening.
By the time they rushed in, the Eight-Tails and Five-Tails had already been sealed one after another. Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi dispersed their Susanoo forms at the same time.
"Itachi, you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan as well. You've read the inscription on the stone tablet beneath the Naka Shrine, haven't you? Once the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan is activated, we'll truly open the door to a new world."
Uchiha Obito spoke in an inviting tone, still trying to draw the other two into his camp.
"…Pathetic puppet."
Uchiha Itachi looked at Obito calmly, his gaze icy.
"You don't deserve the name Uchiha. Puppet… just finish your task and disappear."
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