Chapter 72: Six Paths Potential!
Makoto attacked without hesitation.
The Rust-Rust Fruit, Bis-Bis Fruit, Pump-Pump Fruit, and Munch-Munch Fruit were all abilities from the One Piece system. No matter how powerful their combination became, it should still have exploitable weaknesses.
But once the black-robed man's Smoke-Smoke Fruit and intangibility were added, Makoto genuinely had no idea how to fight the resulting monster.
The black-robed man had already been troublesome enough by himself. Now he had effectively added the powers of four teammates on top of his own.
Makoto stepped through a Spatial Gate and reappeared behind the malformed giant's head. Drawing on his Tailed Beast's chakra, he unleashed Spatial Slash without the slightest restraint.
He deliberately avoided using Naruto's power system this time. From the earlier battle, it was obvious that ordinary five-nature chakra attacks all fell within the Munch-Munch Fruit's absorption range.
Rare chakra natures or clan secret techniques might counter the giant, but Makoto had no time to experiment. He had no intention of getting dragged into another prolonged battle with a giant version of the black-robed man.
To his surprise, despite attacking from behind, the giant twisted one shoulder aside without even looking and gracefully avoided Spatial Slash.
'How is that possible?'
'Can that giant actually sense Spatial Slash?'
Then Makoto realized he'd misunderstood.
'No. Observation Haki.'
He had already seen the giant use Armament Haki earlier. Since it had fused the powers of four Devil Fruit users, any Haki abilities they possessed had probably been merged as well.
The thought alone gave Makoto a headache.
He swung again and launched two Spatial Slashes at once. One targeted the black-robed man forming the head, while the other carved directly toward the giant's back.
The creature stood nearly five stories tall.
'There's no way something that huge can keep dodging everything.'
At that moment, the black-robed man let out a low roar.
"Fate Burn!"
The entire world seemed to distort around those words. Makoto felt the man's presence and power surge at a terrifying speed as an overwhelming pressure erupted from his body.
It was invisible spiritual oppression, impossible to see or touch, yet even Makoto felt his breathing disturbed.
Many distant genin rolled their eyes back and collapsed instantly. Large numbers of chunin also turned pale, and in moments, more than half of Konoha's remaining shinobi had fallen unconscious.
The sudden change even made Danzo tense.
Makoto, however, stared fixedly at the Fate Value above the black-robed man's head.
It had been 9.
Now it was 8.
The lost Fate Value, combined with the words "Fate Burn," clearly explained the sudden increase in strength.
Makoto suddenly remembered Yukinoshita mentioning methods that could temporarily bypass the Main God Space's restrictions.
'So this must be one of them.'
No wonder Yukinoshita hadn't explained it to him. She was probably worried Makoto's Fate Value was too low to waste.
That also explained why Yukinoshita's own Fate Value was so low.
'She must've fought through quite a few desperate battles.'
Then another possibility struck him.
'Wait. Does that mean Story Characters who enter the Main God Space gradually lose Fate Value the longer they survive?'
'Unless everyone has some method of hunting Fate Value from others...'
In an instant, a key piece seemed to fall into place among the questions that had bothered Makoto ever since Chen Guohao.
Even while thinking, Makoto never stopped attacking.
His hands formed seals, creating a Shadow Clone.
If he could force the black-robed man away from the malformed giant, Makoto would have the clone use Domain Expansion and drag the entire monster inside.
What happened next made Makoto's pupils widen.
The malformed giant once again turned its back toward him and dodged in a way that protected the black-robed head.
But it completely ignored the Spatial Slash aimed at its torso.
Half of the giant's body was severed instantly.
There was no flesh inside.
Instead, Makoto saw an internal structure made from steel and concrete.
A swarm of Biscuit Soldiers appeared inside the giant and rushed toward the severed section. Some used chains to pull the damaged structure back together, while others charged out carrying toy-like rockets and launched suicide attacks at Makoto.
Makoto frowned deeply.
The black-robed man was already this difficult before the fusion had even finished.
'I absolutely can't let him complete it.'
He ignored the incoming Biscuit Soldiers and raised six spatial barriers around himself. Once fully enclosed, Makoto rapidly formed seals and created another Shadow Clone.
He intended to drag the entire giant into Mustard Seed Killing Array and shred it with endless slashes.
'Let's see you survive after you're reduced to pieces.'
The black-robed man had no intention of standing there and trading attacks with him.
After avoiding another lethal strike, he used the instant Makoto was forming seals to charge straight toward the center of Konoha's forces.
The malformed giant threw itself into the shinobi formation with all the grace of a zero-point dive.
Danzo immediately retreated while more than a dozen elite shinobi formed around him as guards. Everyone else instinctively attacked, but the Munch-Munch Fruit absorbed most of their techniques.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
That was exactly what the black-robed man wanted.
With Konoha's shinobi surrounding him, he didn't believe Makoto would dare recklessly fire Spatial Slashes anymore.
One mistake could cut through Konoha's own forces.
If Makoto did that, Danzo would almost certainly brand him a traitor and order his immediate execution.
In Danzo's eyes, anyone who wasn't absolutely loyal to him was practically a traitor anyway.
Konoha's shinobi didn't lose their formation despite the giant's charge.
As Danzo retreated, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans stepped forward again.
Nara Shikaku joined two members of his clan and used the Shadow Imitation Technique to restrict the giant's movements.
Akimichi Choza enlarged himself into a giant and dropped his full weight directly onto the creature.
Yamanaka Inoichi followed with the Mind Disturbance Dance Performance Technique, attempting to seize control of the chaotic minds fused inside the giant and force it to separate.
Meanwhile, Aburame Shibi released countless Kikaichu through the opening Makoto had cut into its body, sending them to indiscriminately destroy every mechanical structure they encountered.
From Konoha's perspective, the giant had already been captured.
The battle looked finished.
Danzo's eyes flickered rapidly. Still worried the enemy might possess some bizarre hidden ability, he immediately issued another command.
"Sealing Team, add another layer of restraint with sealing techniques!"
Several shinobi accepted the order, opened their scrolls, and began drawing a massive sealing formation with chakra.
Only then did Makoto and his Shadow Clone appear above the giant.
He stood on a spatial barrier beneath his feet, though to everyone watching, it looked as if he were simply standing in midair.
Makoto was just about to open the barrier and let his Shadow Clone use Domain Expansion when Danzo's voice broke his concentration.
"You're the one who attacked my Root organization, aren't you? I assume I'm correct."
Makoto had intended to ignore him.
Then Root's shinobi moved.
Ninjutsu and ninja tools flew toward Makoto from every direction. After a rapid series of impacts, Makoto remained behind his spatial barrier, staring across the battlefield at Danzo.
"Danzo-sama..."
Hatake Kakashi tried to intervene, but Danzo immediately cut him off.
"I don't remember Konoha ever possessing a Space-Time Ninjutsu user this powerful. State your name and submit to investigation, or this place will become your grave."
Makoto nearly laughed from sheer anger.
He knew Danzo considered him an enemy. If Danzo came after him afterward, Makoto wouldn't even have been particularly offended.
But this was the most critical point of the battle.
Konoha's shinobi appeared to have suppressed the black-robed man's team, yet those Players operated according to Devil Fruit mechanics from One Piece.
'Do you seriously think your ninjutsu, sealing techniques, and Kikaichu are guaranteed to work?'
The battle would only truly end once the black-robed man was permanently killed.
Danzo's arrogance was clearly flaring up again.
Makoto suspected Danzo now wanted to capture the fused giant alive for research, just as he'd conducted so many human experiments in the past.
"Answer me, brat!"
Danzo slammed his cane against the ground.
Makoto glanced around at the enormous number of Story Characters gathered nearby, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
'This might actually be the perfect opportunity to use Making Fake Become Real.'
The only question was how to phrase it.
Makoto had considered before how he might exploit Making Fake Become Real when speaking before a large crowd.
Now he finally had the perfect experiment.
"I'm the inheritor of the Sage of Six Paths. My current strength is still nowhere near his, but someday I'll learn everything he knew."
Makoto deliberately avoided claiming to be the Sage of Six Paths himself.
If Making Fake Become Real actually manifested that statement, the resulting power would probably burst his body apart instantly.
Even after speaking, Makoto didn't expect it to work.
The claim was simply too outrageous.
Worse, he hadn't specified what exactly he would learn, so the system's cognition restrictions might prevent manifestation altogether.
To his surprise, Making Fake Become Real really did fail.
But the reason was something he'd never encountered before.
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has failed...]
[The listeners' understanding of the Sage of Six Paths differs too greatly. A sufficiently similar shared cognition cannot be formed. Manifestation is impossible.]
Makoto stared at the notification.
'What does "differs too greatly" mean?'
It took him only a moment to understand.
To ordinary people, the Sage of Six Paths was a mythical figure, essentially a god.
More knowledgeable shinobi knew the legend that he founded Ninshu, but many probably assumed the story had been exaggerated or invented by ancient people.
Only a tiny number knew the deeper truth: the Sage of Six Paths had divided the Ten-Tails into the nine Tailed Beasts and had truly existed.
Trying to manifest the same claim through all three groups at once was bound to fail.
What Makoto wanted was the actual Six Paths-level power of Otsutsuki Hagoromo from the original story.
Yet hardly anyone even knew that name anymore.
The failure taught Makoto something important.
Using Making Fake Become Real on huge crowds wasn't necessarily efficient because he had no way to unify everyone's understanding.
Unless he manifested something everyone already understood clearly.
Or he found a way to implant the same cognition into everyone beforehand.
Unfortunately, that second option wasn't available yet.
Most genin were unconscious, while those still standing generally possessed at least some resistance to genjutsu.
Makoto only had a Three-Tomoe Sharingan and couldn't simultaneously control this many people with illusions.
While Makoto's thoughts raced, Danzo's cold voice cut through the air.
"As expected, you're nothing but a coward hiding his identity. You don't even dare reveal your true origins."
Danzo raised his voice.
"Everyone, capture him as well. We cannot allow anyone who has attacked this village to escape!"
More shinobi immediately attacked Makoto.
Most techniques were stopped outright, though several genjutsu managed to exert a slight effect.
Fortunately, Makoto's Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already far beyond anything ordinary shinobi genjutsu could challenge.
Combined with Sky Manipulation distorting his apparent position, he successfully endured the entire barrage.
Even so, Makoto's anger rose another level.
Danzo's attitude wasn't the only problem.
The situation itself was becoming dangerous.
Makoto and Yukinoshita's mission required Konoha to win this war.
But if Danzo successfully manipulated Konoha into treating both of them as enemies, their very presence would begin conflicting with the condition of Konoha's victory.
Unless they simply abandoned Konoha, Makoto couldn't see any solution that satisfied both sides.
As for fleeing Konoha while Danzo hunted them...
'At that point, I might as well kill him before leaving.'
Makoto and Yukinoshita could simply imitate Uchiha Sasuke from the original story and become nominal missing-nin of Konoha, the kind nobody ever truly managed to eliminate.
But before killing Danzo, Makoto intended to squeeze out one last bit of value.
With so many people watching, he couldn't use Making Fake Become Real to manifest anything too secretive.
He needed something every Konoha shinobi could easily understand.
Fortunately, Makoto already had a target.
"Stop wasting your strength. I possess the bloodline talents of both the Uchiha and Senju clans. Ordinary shinobi like you were never capable of defeating me."
Makoto pointed toward himself.
"These eyes, these abilities, and this enormous chakra are the best proof."
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has activated successfully...]
[Manifestation Points have reached 100.]
[You have successfully made the talents of the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan compatible.]
[You have manifested the unawakened S-rank Talent: Six Paths Bloodline.]
[How to awaken the Six Paths Bloodline must be discovered on your own.]
The moment the words Six Paths Bloodline appeared in his Talent list, Makoto's breathing quickened despite the fact that it remained unawakened.
This meant he truly possessed the potential to become a Six Paths-level powerhouse.
More importantly, it was a path created through the evolution of his own Talent.
Of course, the Six Paths Bloodline was still dormant.
Awakening it would require considerable effort.
But as someone who knew the original story, Makoto understood exactly how such a transformation could be achieved.
…