Chapter 363: Susanoo Hogyoku vs. Dragon Vein Puppet
Uzumaki Naruto's eyes stretched wide, the vivid blue of his irises trembling as he stared at the impossible sight before him. "This... How is this possible?" he stammered, his voice cracking under the strain. "I pierced right through him!"
A horrifying sound of grinding metal and twisting wood answered him. Mukade's gigantic puppet head snapped around, the massive joints emitting a grating, ear-piercing screech. Purple chakra flared violently from the gaping wound in its chest, knitting the shattered components back together in the blink of an eye.
"I told you," Mukade's voice boomed, distorted and dripping with malice. "Here, I possess infinite Chakra! I am immortal!" The massive construct loomed higher, casting a dark shadow over the subterranean ruins. "No matter how many times you destroy me, the Dragon Veins will resurrect me!"
The puppet's jaw unhinged. A blinding concentration of purple energy gathered in its mechanical maw, instantly firing a searing laser across the battlefield.
"Tch, what a pain!" Heavenly Might Naruto clicked his tongue. His figure blurred, using the Body Flicker Technique to narrowly evade the scorching beam. The ground where he had just stood erupted into molten slag. He dusted off his clothes, unable to stop himself from complaining. "Is this guy a cheat? If he breaks, he just fixes himself. How long are we supposed to keep fighting a broken toy?"
Beside him, Uzumaki Naruto gritted his teeth, his fists clenched tight enough to turn his knuckles white. "Damn it! Isn't there any way to completely finish him off?"
High above the chaotic fray, standing atop a jagged outcropping of ruined masonry, Uchiha Akira watched the spectacle with absolute detachment. The violent winds whipped his dark hair, but his posture remained perfectly still. His crimson eyes tracked the flow of energy.
'The power of the Dragon Veins is endless,'Akira analyzed silently.'Conventional physical damage, even localized Chakra impacts, are instantly repaired by the subterranean flow. Unless we cut off the Dragon Veins'supply at the source, or...' A cold smirk ghosted across his lips.'Annihilate Mukade completely in a single, overwhelming blow.'
He recalled the trajectory of the original timeline. In that history, Naruto and Minato had to combine their strength, using Chakra of a similar nature to create a resonance. That desperate collaboration birthed the Taiji Rasengan, the only force capable of putting the puppet down.
But standing here now, observing the pathetic flailing of the mechanical beast, Akira found the idea entirely unnecessary.
"Naruto." Akira's voice was not loud, but it cut through the din of battle with absolute authority. "Come back."
The moment the command reached his ears, Heavenly Might Naruto's body halted mid-motion. He did not question the order. Without a fraction of a second's hesitation, he vanished in another burst of the Body Flicker Technique, leaving the combat zone entirely. He reappeared silently beside Akira, landing with the grace of a seasoned predator.
"Teacher, I..." Heavenly Might Naruto lowered his head, his usual confidence replaced by a deep flush of shame. Failing to obliterate the enemy on his own made a bitter taste rise in his throat. He felt he had disgraced his teacher's flawless reputation.
Down below, the other Naruto reacted entirely differently. "Why are we retreating!" Uzumaki Naruto stamped his feet against the cracked earth, shouting at the top of his lungs while clumsily diving under another sweeping laser blast. "I haven't lost yet! If we hit him a few more times, we can definitely wear him down! What kind of Hokage runs away at a time like this!"
Akira's brow twitched. A microscopic frown marred his calm features. "Noisy."
That single word was all Heavenly Might Naruto needed. He understood his teacher's intent perfectly. His figure blurred once more, plunging straight back into the danger zone. He did not aim for Mukade. Instead, he materialized directly behind his alternate self, his hand shooting out to grab the back of Uzumaki Naruto's collar in an iron grip.
"Let go! What are you doing!" Uzumaki Naruto thrashed wildly, kicking at the empty air.
"If the teacher tells you to go back, then you go back!" Heavenly Might Naruto barked, his eyes narrowing in sheer irritation. "Do you want to die, idiot!" He wasted no more breath on the loudmouth. With a sharp yank, he dragged the struggling boy backward, hauling him like a dead dog across the rubble until they crossed back into the safe zone.
"Hahahaha!" Witnessing the retreat, Mukade's mechanical laughter echoed through the cavernous ruins, growing increasingly hysterical. "What? Giving up already? So-called Konoha Ninja are nothing special! Since you won't fight anymore... then you can all die!"
The gigantic puppet reared back, its internal gears screaming as it began charging power far beyond its previous limits. A terrifying sphere of concentrated purple light gathered deep within its metallic throat. The sheer density of the energy caused the surrounding air to warp and distort, creating a suffocating pressure.
Minato Namikaze's expression hardened into a mask of pure urgency. "This is bad!" he shouted, his hand already dipping into his pouch. "Everyone scatter quickly!" He drew his specialized Flying Thunder God Kunai, his mind racing through spatial coordinates. He intended to forcibly transport the entire group out of the blast radius.
"No need."
A calm hand raised, smoothly intercepting Minato's line of sight and halting his movement. Uchiha Akira stepped forward, the gravel crunching softly beneath his boots. He rolled his shoulders, a casual gesture that sharply contrasted with the apocalyptic energy building before them. "Just a little... time to stretch my muscles."
Mukade, who had been roaring his triumph to the heavens, suddenly clamped his metallic jaw shut. The oppressive silence that followed was heavier than the noise.
Kakashi's lone visible eye widened, his gaze locked intently onto Akira's back. The air around the Uchiha grew impossibly heavy.
"Susanoo," Akira whispered softly.
Substantialized Chakra erupted from his body like a dormant volcano finally breaching the surface. A pillar of blinding purple light shot into the sky, tearing through the gloom of the ruins.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The sound of spectral bones snapping into existence echoed like thunder. A gigantic, ethereal skeleton spontaneously formed around Akira. Ribs thick as ancient tree trunks curved outward, followed by a massive spine and towering arms. The manifestation did not stop there. Heavy, demonic Chakra armor materialized, locking over the skeletal frame with the sound of slamming vault doors.
Because the subterranean space was narrow, Akira deliberately restricted the manifestation. He did not activate the Full Body form. This was only the third stage.
But even so, it was devastating. Like a purple demon god pulled straight from the abyss, the armored giant stood towering over the shattered landscape. Its massive, hollow eyes emitted an eerie, burning glow, coldly looking down upon the trembling Mukade opposite him.
"That damned guy!" Mukade let out a hysterical roar, his mechanical voice cracking under the strain of pure terror. "Stop trying to act high and mighty!"
The gigantic puppet head suddenly split wide open. The Dragon Vein energy frantically gathered within it reached critical mass. "Vanish for me!"
An incredibly thick, highly concentrated purple laser shot directly at Akira. The light was so intense it bleached the world white. It stung Uzumaki Naruto's eyes, forcing him to instinctively throw his arms up and squeeze his eyelids shut.
"Danger!" Minato shouted, his muscles tensing as he prepared to activate the Flying Thunder God to rescue the arrogant Uchiha.
However, the next second defied all logic. There was no devastating explosion. There was no shockwave of destruction.
Sizzz...
A pathetic hissing sound echoed through the cavern. That was the sound of the world-destroying laser scorching against the surface of the Susanoo. That was all.
Uzumaki Naruto slowly lowered his arms, secretly opening one eye to peek at the destruction. Instantly, his jaw dropped, his mouth stretching into a comical shape.
He saw the devastating beam hitting the chest of the purple demon god squarely. But forget about piercing the armor. The concentrated energy of the Dragon Veins couldn't even scratch the spectral surface. It merely washed over the Chakra plating like water breaking against an immovable cliff.
"H-how is that possible..." Naruto mumbled, his brain failing to process the sight.
High above, within the puppet's core, Mukade felt the icy grip of genuine despair. But the survival instinct of a cornered rat took over. "I don't believe it! I don't believe you are this strong!"
He drew upon the energy of the Dragon Veins, pushing the subterranean flow to its absolute extreme. "Super Dragon Vein Great Fireball Technique!"
A gigantic, roaring sphere of purple flames erupted from the puppet, fiercely slamming toward Akira's Susanoo. A blistering wave of heat swept over the battlefield, threatening to incinerate everything in its path.
Yamato reacted instantly, slamming his hands together. Wood Release erupted from the ground, creating a massive, curved wooden wall that shielded the rest of the group from the incoming firestorm.
Behind the safety of the wood, everyone braced for the impact, fully expecting Akira to finally dodge.
Instead, the Susanoo advanced. The massive purple giant took a heavy step forward, the ground quaking beneath its spectral feet. It directly extended its gigantic left hand, opening its palm wide. Facing the massive fireball that was roaring toward it, the demon god simply reached out... and grabbed it.
A dull, massive thud reverberated through the air. That super gigantic Great Fireball, a mass of concentrated superheated chakra, was firmly caught in the palm of the Susanoo's large hand. Purple flames frantically licked and escaped between the spectral fingers, desperately trying to expand, yet they were completely unable to break through the crushing confinement of the giant's grip.
"A boring trick," Akira snorted coldly, his voice echoing from within the armored giant.
The Susanoo's palm suddenly squeezed hard.
That gigantic fireball, just like a ripe tomato caught in a hydraulic press, instantly disintegrated. The massive sphere of energy was crushed out of existence, turning into nothing more than harmless purple sparks that scattered across the sky like dying fireworks.
Akira did not give Mukade a single second to recover from his stunned stupor. This kind of one-sided crushing was simply too boring to drag out.
"Let's end this."
Following those cold words, an even more terrifying, infinitely deeper Chakra began to gather in the palm of the Susanoo's right hand. This was not the ambient energy of the earth. This was power reaching the pinnacle of the world—the Six Paths level.
Dense, pitch-black matter condensed in the center of the spectral palm, rapidly compressing and forming into a perfectly smooth black sphere. As the sphere stabilized, the surrounding space visibly began to warp and distort, unable to handle the sheer density of the object.
"What is that?" Minato stared at the black sphere, his breath catching in his throat. The honed intuition of a Kage-level powerhouse made every single hair on his body stand on end. Every instinct screamed that the object was extremely dangerous. If that attack were aimed at him, Minato knew with absolute certainty there would be no way to block it. His only option would be using the Flying Thunder God to flee.
"Six Paths: Susanoo Hogyoku," Akira whispered softly, his voice carrying the finality of an executioner's blade.
The purple demon god raised its massive arm, locking its glowing eyes onto the trembling puppet, and blasted the black sphere forward.
"Regenerate! I have the Dragon Veins! I can regenerate infinitely!" Mukade screamed hoarsely, his voice cracking as the black sphere of annihilation tore through the distorted air toward him.
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