Qianyu summoned the Susano'o onto the battlefield for the first time—a true, formal summoning.
The sheer presence of it made many Kirigakure shinobi falter. A primal urge to retreat bloomed in their chests.
Qianyu manipulated the colossal chakra construct. In its massive hands, a string of chakra magatama manifested. It began hurling them.
BOOM! KRAK-THOOM!
Each orb cratered the earth where it landed. Bodies were pulverized. Shattered.
Kunai, shuriken, elemental ninjutsu—they all rained against the Susano'o's form. None of it mattered. The attacks shattered harmlessly against the violet armor.
The Third Mizukage's hands flew through seals. "Ice Release Secret Technique: Extreme Ice Binding!"
The air around Qianyu plummeted. Crystals formed in a blink. The next instant, the Susano'o was encased—a frozen statue of chakra and ice.
The Mizukage didn't stop. He poured more chakra, compressing the ice, reinforcing it, trying to seal the monster within for good.
Wishful thinking.
CRACK!
From within the solid block, a single skeletal fist of the Susano'o erupted. It grasped one of its three swords and swung.
"NO!" the Mizukage roared, trying to flash-freeze the arm. Ice crystals crawled up the chakra bones—too slow.
The blade struck the Susano'o's own frozen torso. Spiderwebs of fractures exploded across the ice. Then—powder. A cloud of shimmering dust.
Freed, Qianyu didn't hesitate. The Susano'o's sword swept horizontally, a violet arc of annihilation aimed at the Kage.
The Mizukage leapt skyward, the blade passing beneath his feet. "HOLD HIM!" he bellowed at his forces. "DO NOT LET HIM REACH THE VILLAGE!"
A renewed barrage of ninjutsu lit up the sky. Fireballs, water dragons, lightning spears. They crashed against the Susano'o like waves against a cliff. It didn't even shudder.
He was stalling. The Mizukage's plan was transparent. A technique this powerful must drain chakra like a bottomless pit. He just had to outlast it.
Qianyu saw it. His lips curled into a smirk.
His right eye blazed. Dōjutsu: Unseen Summit. Activate. Record. Every incoming jutsu, its chakra pattern, its destructive potential—all imprinted onto his ocular memory.
He advanced, swatting aside the endless waves of Kiri shinobi. Step by crushing step, he marched toward Kirigakure. The Mizukage threw ice after ice, creating glaciers, spears, and walls. They slowed the Susano'o, barely.
The Mizukage was right about one thing. The chakra drain was monstrous. In these few minutes, a sea of Qianyu's reserves had vanished.
At five hundred meters from the village gates, the full-bodied Susano'o wavered. The armor peeled away, receding, shrinking down to its skeletal base form.
A wave of hope surged through the Kiri ranks. Even the Mizukage's eyes sharpened. He's running dry!
On the battlefield's edge, Kakashi watched, arms crossed. "Sensei… it's done, isn't it?"
The shadow clone beside him grinned. "Yeah. It's done."
The skeletal Susano'o was vulnerable. Concentrated, powerful attacks could break through. Under the combined assault of the Mizukage and his elite, the last bones of chakra finally splintered. Dissipated into the mist.
The path to Qianyu was clear.
They charged. The Mizukage leading, shinobi at his flanks. Victory seemed a breath away.
Then the Mizukage saw it. Saw Qianyu's face.
That smile. A cold, spreading thing that didn't touch his eyes. It froze the Mizukage's blood in his veins. Every instinct screamed.
"BACK!" he roared, skidding to a halt. "FALL BACK NOW!"
His men hesitated. Why? The demon was spent!
They understood a heartbeat later.
Qianyu's voice cut through the din, calm and final. "Dōjutsu: Unseen Summit — Jutsu Return."
The world turned white.
Then sound. A roar that swallowed everything. An expansion of pure, recorded destruction exploding outward from Qianyu's position.
Earth, stone, flesh—obliterated.
The Kiri shinobi had thrown everything at him. The Unseen Summit had recorded it all. And now it gave it back. Amplified.
The blast wave tore across the land. It reached the village. Engulfed it.
When the light faded and the deafening roar subsided, nearly half of Kirigakure was gone. Flattened. A smoldering scar of rubble and silence.
Kakashi stood stunned, his teacher's shadow clone gone, having shielded him at the last second. His breath hitched. "This… this is his real power?"
At the epicenter, Qianyu lowered his hand from his right eye. Blood streaked down his cheek from the strained Mangekyō. The pain was a hot lance behind his socket.
His gaze swept forward, his left eye narrowing.
There. A massive, partially destroyed block of ice jutted from the scarred earth. Most of it had been sheared away by the blast. Inside the remaining fragment, encased like a fossil, was the Third Mizukage.
The ice cracked. He fell forward, landing on one knee. A torrent of blood spilled from his lips onto the scorched ground. He was alive, but broken. Internal injuries ravaged his body.
Qianyu walked forward, his steps crunching on debris. "Impressive," he said, his voice carrying a hint of genuine, chilling admiration. "To weave a defensive technique in that split second… to save yourself. Worthy of a Kage."
The Mizukage forced his head up. His eyes moved past Qianyu, to the ruin that was his village. The broken skyline. The dust cloud hanging over what was once homes and streets. A raw, animal sound tore from his throat. He pushed himself to his feet, swaying. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!"
Qianyu's hand rested casually on his sword's hilt. "Dreaming is free." He tilted his head. "You're at your limit. I am not. You know… I've never killed a Kage before. The Third Mizukage of Kirigakure… a fine first. One of the Five Great Villages, after all."
His gaze drifted to the ragged edge of the destruction. Where the ruined sector met the still-standing buildings, faces peeked out. Shinobi. Civilians. Their eyes were wide, hollow with a terror so deep it had frozen them solid.
"A failure of a Kage, aren't you?" Qianyu mused aloud, his tone almost conversational. "Look at you. Standing here, broken. And not a single soul behind you is willing to step forward. Your rule… this 'Bloody Mist'… what a spectacular failure."
The Mizukage wiped blood from his mouth with a trembling hand. His voice was a ragged scrape. "I don't need their help! You understand nothing! Compared to Konoha, Iwa, and Kumo—we are an island nation! We have no advantage! No natural bounty! To survive in this cruel world… you must be crueler! You must be stronger than your own weakness! That is the only way!"
"Maybe you're right," Qianyu said softly, taking another step.
The Mizukage's hands flew up, desperate, forming the first seal of his last technique.
A flash of lightning cut the space between them.
The Mizukage's world tilted. His vision spun, looking up at the smoky sky, then at the ground rushing up. His head hit the dirt with a soft thud.
Qianyu stood over the headless body, flicking blood from his blade. He finished his sentence, a quiet murmur to the dead.
"…But your path ends here."
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