Chapter 459: Fugaku vs. Uchiha Itachi
Fugaku snorted coldly, the sound barely audible over the violent surge of his Chakra. The fireball he spat outward swelled into a massive inferno, physically pushing back the intense heat of Itachi's own flame.
Itachi's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. His form blurred, vanishing into the heavy air an instant before Fugaku's surging fire devoured the very spot he had just occupied.
'Shurikenjutsu.'
Hanging upside-down in mid-air, Itachi became a blur of motion. His arms whipped outward in a deadly, calculated rhythm.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
Dozens of shuriken rained down upon Fugaku from every conceivable angle. It was a flawless execution of the Uchiha clan's signature throwing arts—behind the blind spot of every spinning blade lurked another, completely hidden from normal sight.
'Trying to toy with shuriken in front of me?'
Fugaku's expression hardened into a mask of absolute disdain. He drew two kunai from his pouches. The crimson irises of his Mangekyo Sharingan whirled to life, tracking every microscopic shift in the air. With a mere flick of his wrists, he moved.
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
A crisp, rapid-fire chain of metallic impacts rang out across the battlefield. Sparks showered the ground like brief, dying stars. Every single shuriken Itachi had thrown was knocked from the sky—deflected with nothing more than two kunai.
also.
The moment the final shuriken clattered to the dirt, Fugaku hurled his own weapons. The twin kunai became streaks of cold, lethal light, shooting straight toward Itachi's suspended form overhead.
Thud! Thud.
Both blades buried themselves deep into Itachi's chest.
There was no blood. Instead, Itachi's body dissolved instantly, bursting into a chaotic flock of black crows that scattered into the darkening sky.
'Crow Clone...'
Fugaku's gaze turned glacial. Without hesitating, he spun on his heel, driving a brutal kick into the empty air behind him.
From the nothingness, Itachi materialized. His arms were already crossed in front of his chest, absorbing the heavy impact of his father's strike.
'As expected of you, Father. Superb Uchiha-style Taijutsu.'
Lowering his bruised arms, Itachi regarded the clan head with a steady, unreadable gaze.
Fugaku wasted no words.
Body Flicker Technique.
He vanished, reappearing directly in front of his eldest son with a devastating punch aimed at his jaw.
Itachi sidestepped the blow by a hair's breadth, hooking a single finger around Fugaku's wrist to expertly redirect the kinetic force.
But Fugaku anticipated the parry. His elbow snapped inward with sudden, bone-crushing torque, forcing Itachi to block again.
The two Uchiha locked into a blistering exchange of close-quarters combat.
Their Sharingan pushed their visual insight to the absolute limit. Every strike was foreseen before the muscle even twitched. Every prediction was shattered by an even greater burst of raw speed, turning their fight into a deadly dance of precognition and reflex.
On the far side of the war-torn battlefield, the earth trembled under a different kind of chaos.
'Damnable brats!'Kinkaku hefted the Bashosen, the gigantic, brightly colored fan of the Sage of Six Paths, his face twisted in feral rage.'If you seek death, I will oblige!''Bashosen: Fire Tempest!'
With a single, sweeping arc of the massive fan, a colossal dragon of pure flame roared into existence, surging directly toward Naruto.
This was no ordinary Fire Release. Forged by the legendary power of a Six Paths treasured tool, the sheer density of its nature transformation was enough to incinerate solid stone to white ash in a heartbeat. The heat warped the air itself.
'Something like this...'
Naruto stood his ground. The golden aura of his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode blazed brighter, pushing back the oppressive heat of the incoming inferno.
He charged straight into the maw of the fire dragon.
'Just gotta smash it, right!'Raising his right hand, swirling blue chakra rapidly condensed and expanded into a massive, shrieking sphere of pure destruction.'Great Ball Rasengan!'
The glowing blue orb slammed head-on into the crimson dragon. The collision tore the earth beneath them, sending shockwaves of fire and wind rippling across the wasteland.
Kinkaku's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
'Not done yet!'
From the thick, billowing smoke of the explosion, a dark silhouette slashed through the air like a bolt of black lightning. Using the blazing dust cloud as perfect cover, Sasuke had flanked the Gold Brother.
Lightning erupted from his hand, the high-pitched chirping of a thousand birds drowning out the roar of the flames. The electricity condensed, extending outward into a blinding, five-meter spear of pure voltage.
'Chidori Sharp Spear!'The crackling lance of lightning skewered Kinkaku cleanly through the shoulder, drawing a spray of hot blood.'You bastard!!'
Roaring in agony and fury, Kinkaku lunged blindly at Sasuke.
Sasuke's Sharingan had already traced the desperate line of attack. He twisted his body mid-air, evading the clumsy strike with cold precision.
'Ginkaku! What are you doing?'Kinkaku shouted, backing away while clutching his bleeding shoulder.'Quit nagging, big brother!'A short distance away, Ginkaku looked entirely battered. He tightly gripped the Crimson Gourd and the Seven-Star Sword, desperately trying to lock Gaara into a deadly word-curse.'Hey, gourd brat!'Ginkaku yelled, pointing the sword at the Kazekage.'What word have you said most in your life?''Is it sand?''Or Mom?'
The rules of the cursed tools were absolute. If Gaara answered, or if he uttered his most frequently spoken word, his soul would be severed and sucked into the Crimson Gourd at once.
However.
Gaara merely stared at him. His pale green eyes were completely cold, looking at the legendary shinobi as if he were nothing more than a loud, raving idiot.
'Sand Tsunami!'
The ground beneath Ginkaku suddenly collapsed. A massive tidal wave of crushing, suffocating sand surged upward, threatening to swallow the Silver Brother whole.
No pointless talk. Only lethal intent.
'Tch! These punks are tough!'
Ginkaku cursed, realizing the treasured tools were useless against an opponent who refused to play the game. He abandoned the word-curse entirely, his body convulsing as he forcibly released the Tailed Beast Chakra sealed within his flesh.
A dark, suffocating column of red Chakra erupted into the sky, violently scattering the onrushing wave of sand.
'If tricks will not work...'Ginkaku snarled, dropping heavily to all fours. His jaw unhinged as he let out a guttural, beastly howl that shook the very air.'I will tear you apart!'
Swoosh! Swoosh.
Both brothers simultaneously entered their partial Tailed Beast forms.
Dense, bubbling black-red Chakra cloaked their entire bodies, burning away their skin and leaving only their glowing, white bony eyes visible through the demonic shroud. Their speed, raw strength, and physical defense multiplied several-fold in an instant.
'Raaah!!!'With an inhuman roar, the two miniature beasts pounced toward the trio, tearing craters into the earth with every step.'Here they come!'Naruto's golden glow flared with intense heat.'Sasuke! Gaara!''Do not lag behind!''Shut it!'Sasuke snorted, his Sharingan spinning wildly as lightning danced across his blade.'Sand Burial!'
Gaara raised his arms and violently clenched his empty fists. Countless massive hands made of compressed sand erupted from the earth, seizing the two red streaks of light in mid-air.
Boom! Boom! Boom.
Even fiercer, devastating clashes erupted across the battlefield.
Back on the Uchiha battlefield.
The taijutsu duel between Fugaku and Itachi had reached a blistering fever pitch.
'Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!'
Leaping backward, Itachi hurled a volley of wire-controlled shuriken, the thin metallic threads wrapping tightly around Fugaku to trap him in place. Without missing a beat, Itachi exhaled a concentrated stream of white-hot flame that raced directly down the conductive wires.
Fugaku only sneered, his expression dark and unbothered.
'Such parlor tricks.'
Taking a deep breath, the clan head exhaled his own massive dragon of fire, sending it roaring back along the exact same wires.
The two intense flames met midway in a blinding flash of heat, melting and snapping the steel wires in an instant.
Freed from the trap, both men leapt back, vastly widening the distance between them.
The rain had stopped without either of them noticing. The heavy clouds above seemed to hold their breath.
Fugaku drew a slow, measured breath.
On the surface, he held the upper hand in their physical exchanges, yet the sheer pressure radiating from Itachi's eyes pressed down on him like a physical weight.
After all, they were both Mangekyo.
'The warm-up is over.'Fugaku slowly shut his eyes. When he snapped them open, a cold, dark, and utterly ominous Chakra gushed outward, suffocating the surrounding air.'Come, Itachi.'
A towering skeletal frame of dark Chakra formed around him in an instant.
Veins, muscle fibers, flesh, and heavy armor manifested in the blink of an eye, layering over the bones with terrifying speed.
Susanoo, Third Stage.
Facing the armored titan.
Itachi remained perfectly calm, though the gravity in his gaze deepened considerably.
Very well.
A blinding eruption of crimson Chakra exploded from Itachi's form.
Another colossal skeleton rose from the earth, matching his father's in scale. Thick red armor plated the ethereal bones in mere moments. In its left hand, it held the Yata Mirror. In its right, it gripped the flaming gourd that housed the Sword of Totsuka.
'Show me your measure!'
Fugaku's Susanoo raised its massive, twin Chakra blades high into the air.
And slashed straight down at Itachi.
Itachi did not evade. His Susanoo simply lifted the Yata Mirror.
The massive dark blades crashed violently against the ethereal red shield.
A thunderous shockwave erupted from the point of impact, ripping the ground apart and sending massive boulders flying into the distance. The sheer force of the collision flattened the surrounding landscape.
'Blocked, huh?'Fugaku's eyes flashed with a dangerous, predatory light.'This time, I will not hold back!'
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