Over there, the Ten-Tails was finally enraged by the relentless barrage from the four jinchūriki.
It immediately unleashed a continuous volley of Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bombs), spewing energy waves like a machine—wherever they passed, it was practically apocalyptic. The Allied Shinobi Forces suffered grievous casualties.
Naruto shouted anxiously, "Fall back! Leave this to us!"
As he spoke, he split off Kyūbi chakra to shield many people.
Gaara copied him and protected a large number as well.
But Sasuke did not do the same.
He transformed into a Three-Tails form, then wrapped the Three-Tails in a Susanoo armor shell. A colossal sword smashed up toward the sky.
"Susanoo Armor!"
Sasuke, clad in divine war-gear, charged straight at the Ten-Tails.
When Bijūdama energy cannons fired at him, he used Susanoo's greatsword to shatter them and kept advancing.
In short order, he reached the Ten-Tails. Compared to its sheer size, the Susanoo Armor was still a notch smaller—but smaller did not mean weaker.
The Susanoo thrust its sword directly toward the Ten-Tails' massive eye.
The Ten-Tails raised a hand and flicked the blade aside—actually knocking it away with a single motion.
Sasuke didn't lose heart. He lunged in instead. Despite his massive body, he slipped past the Ten-Tails' grab with ease. A Bijūdama formed at his mouth—then he shoved it straight into the Ten-Tails' own gaping maw.
Boom!
The Bijūdama detonated inside the Ten-Tails' mouth, blasting it into a bloody, mangled mess.
The Ten-Tails screamed and, enraged, reached out to grab Sasuke.
Because Sasuke was "armored," his tailed-beast form was protected by Susanoo, so he wasn't harmed by his own Bijūdama. As the Ten-Tails' giant hand came down—
His left eye suddenly activated its dōjutsu.
"Amaterasu!"
Whoosh! Black flames ignited across the Ten-Tails' hand.
The Ten-Tails' screams became even more heart-rending. It kept scraping its hand against the ground, again and again, but the black flames would not go out.
On the Ten-Tails' head, Obito stared in shock. "I didn't expect Sasuke's dōjutsu to be Amaterasu too. And that Susanoo Armor… it's genuinely troublesome to deal with."
Obito was, frankly, jealous.
He had possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan before, yet had never awakened Susanoo.
He had entrusted his eye and Rin to Kakashi out of friendship, and the result was that Kakashi failed to protect Rin—now, Kakashi was using that same eye against him.
He had even missed his chance to "pilot the mecha."
Seeing Sasuke's Susanoo look that cool, it would be strange not to envy it.
At that moment, Naruto and Gaara attacked as well—one threw an enormous Rasenshuriken (Spiral Shuriken), the other spat out a massive Renkūdan (Compressed Air Bullet), provoking another furious roar from the Ten-Tails.
Fū also continued her aerial assault.
Of course, even if tailed beasts seemed like infinite chakra, their chakra was still finite.
If they used Bijūdama nonstop, they would eventually run dry and need time to recover.
That was why Naruto and the others relied on ninjutsu instead.
Especially Gaara, who had to conserve the most—Shukaku's chakra was the lowest. If he didn't ration it, he would burn out quickly.
Obito took one last hard look at Sasuke's Susanoo Armor, then said to Kabuto, "Kabuto, go help—knock the Ten-Tails' left eye aside for a moment."
Kabuto asked back, "Why don't you do it yourself?"
Obito replied, "I'm connected to the Ten-Tails. I need to control it."
Only then did Kabuto fall silent. He waited until Sasuke wasn't paying attention, then leapt down from the Ten-Tails' head and fired a Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), blasting the Amaterasu flames away.
As for Orochimaru—he stared at Sasuke with naked greed.
He had always wanted Sasuke's body. Now it looked like his choice back then had been right. Sasuke really was exceptional.
A Mangekyō Sharingan, a Susanoo wrapped around a tailed-beast form—his strength was absurd. Even facing a Ten-Tails that had absorbed four tailed beasts, he didn't flinch.
Orochimaru wanted him more than ever.
Sasuke noticed Orochimaru's gaze—and also locked onto Obito.
For a disgrace like Obito, Sasuke wanted to personally execute him.
His dōjutsu flared again.
"Enton: Kagutsuchi!"
In an instant, five black-flame arrows formed in front of the Susanoo Armor and shot toward Obito and Orochimaru.
Kagutsuchi was the other Mangekyō technique of Sasuke's second eye. It could shape the black flames into any form, with excellent offense and defense alike.
And that made the other eye's Amaterasu feel awkward by comparison.
Obito didn't dare underestimate it. He immediately used Shinra Tensei to blast the black-flame arrows away.
But Sasuke's pressure didn't stop. The second wave arrived at once—right in the "cooldown window" of Shinra Tensei—so Obito could only choose to phase.
…And that made Orochimaru miserable.
He could only dodge desperately.
The one who suffered most was the Ten-Tails. Because Obito failed to block the arrows, several landed on the Ten-Tails' back, provoking another agonized howl.
"Sasuke, your strength is respectable," Obito tried to put on a cool front. "How about cooperating with me? I'll create a beautiful world for everyone. In your world, the Uchiha won't have been massacred—they'll thrive and become the strongest clan. Your parents and your brother will still be alive. You'll like that world."
Sasuke sneered. "Only idiots would want a fake world like that. I'll repeat something Natsuki said: Rin loves Kakashi. Only Rin who loves Kakashi is the real Rin. The Rin in the world you create is fake."
...
"Shut up! You bastard, shut up!" Obito hadn't expected Sasuke to land such a brutal hit. His composure shattered instantly.
He had thought Sasuke's strength was impressive and tried to lure him with words, hoping for another ally—after all, hatred from the clan massacre could push Sasuke into darkness.
Obito had targeted Sasuke before, tried to "convert" him, only to have his plans ruined.
This time he had only wanted to try his luck again, but Sasuke's words were a direct critical strike. In that instant, Obito no longer wanted to recruit Sasuke at all.
"If you won't take the hint, then die!"
Obito controlled the Ten-Tails and formed an enormous Bijūdama, aiming it straight at Sasuke's Susanoo Armor.
Sasuke didn't dodge.
He intended to tank it head-on. There were too many shinobi behind him. If the Ten-Tails fired that massive Bijūdama into the formation, casualties would be catastrophic.
Sasuke wasn't some bleeding-heart saint, but he couldn't just watch that many people die.
And among the shinobi behind him, there might be friends.
So he would take this shot—and he should be able to take it. After all, he was wearing Susanoo over a tailed-beast form. The durability would be more than enough.
"Shine!"
Boom! The massive Bijūdama arrived in the blink of an eye—because it was fired from extremely close range.
Sasuke was about to receive it when, in the next moment, a figure flashed in front of him, flying straight toward the massive Bijūdama—and even blocked it with an earring for an instant.
"Sasuke, don't throw your life away. At times like this, you should call me!"
(End of Chapter)
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