At that moment, a furious surge of spiritual power, like a venomous snake climbing a pole, suddenly reversed its course, drilling into Yu's own mind.
It was the Zero-Tails' method of manipulating emotions, strikingly similar to Yasakani Magatama.
By affecting others' emotions and stirring negativity, it could refine endless dark chakra and remain forever undefeated.
In the movie, even the Nine-Tails and Naruto had once been dragged into such darkness.
"Hahaha! Surprised, aren't you? Your tricks are useless against me!"
From the mask of the Zero-Tails, the upper half of Shinnō's body suddenly emerged, sneering coldly:
"Uchiha Yu, not only do I know you've been searching for me recently—I also know every single detail of the information you've revealed."
He was originally the leader of the Sky Ninja Village, so naturally he possessed a well-connected intelligence network.
As he finished speaking, the previously shattered fragments of the Zero-Tails reformed, its body swelling until it revealed its complete form.
Rumble—
The remaining Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato statues of the Rock Memorial were crushed into rubble beneath the expanding bulk of the Zero-Tails.
The ground shook with continuous tremors.
The upper body of Shinno appeared upon the white mask of the Zero-Tails. He controlled it to unleash countless tendrils that bound the Complete-Body Susanoo tightly.
Uchiha Yu could clearly feel that the Complete-Body Susanoo was being strangled as if by an octopus.
The opponent's strength was not inferior to Susanoo's.
This scene shocked all who were watching the battle, filling them with disbelief.
At the same time, it solved their doubts—so the appearance of the Complete-Body Susanoo was due to the existence of such a monster within Konoha!
"Become my nourishment!"
Shinno roared madly.
The Zero-Tails wrapped around Susanoo's body like countless giant serpents.
Zzzzt—
Dark mist spread across its surface, suppressing the hellfire that burned upon Susanoo's armor.
The serpent's head coiled around the battle helmet.
Its long neck extended, and its eyes met those of Uchiha Yu and the others within the gem of the helmet.
The white mask looked ghastly and eerie.
The battle helm was ferocious and demonic.
A purple-white serpent and a dark red energy giant tangled together in combat.
The swollen body of the Zero-Tails now rivaled the Complete-Body Susanoo.
This war had drawn in the entire village of Konoha, providing the Zero-Tails with unimaginable amounts of dark chakra, making its power equal to Susanoo's.
Suddenly, Uchiha Yu's expression changed.
His face filled with anger. When Nonoyu moved forward in concern, he blocked her with his hand.
As Uchiha Yu was consumed by "rage," the massive Susanoo radiated the dark emotions the Zero-Tails craved.
Through Nonoyu's Byakugan vision, the world shifted from dark red to complete darkness.
Absorbing the dark chakra distilled from Uchiha Yu's negative emotions, Shinno trembled in excitement, exclaiming:
"Haha! Delicious, truly delicious! Uchiha Yu, the dark chakra you produce is the most exquisite taste I've ever known!"
"No matter what you sought me for, today, you will become the stepping stone for the Sky Ninja Village's return to the ninja world!"
"Feel honored for that!"
The Zero-Tails, insatiably greedy, opened its maw and bit down upon Susanoo's chestplate.
It frenziedly extracted negative emotions, devouring the dark chakra born from the Complete-Body Susanoo.
The Zero-Tails' body swelled larger and larger, like a mountain that endlessly grew, crushing down upon Susanoo.
"Hahaha!"
As Shinno laughed coldly,
He suddenly heard Uchiha Yu's restrained voice beneath his forced anger:
"Then you should also know—I can absorb chakra too.
"Hm?"
Shinno's expression froze.
He growled coldly:
"This is dark chakra, not ordinary chakra!"
"Before, someone else also thought I couldn't absorb tailed beast chakra."
Uchiha Yu's voice grew calmer.
Shinno looked down.
He saw that Uchiha Yu's face had already returned to serenity, his earlier fury vanished. The emotional influence exerted by the Zero-Tails had failed.
Shinno's pupils shrank sharply.
On Susanoo's armor, once dark red, purple patterns suddenly spread across its surface.
Shinno could clearly sense the dark chakra within the Zero-Tails draining rapidly, flowing endlessly into the Complete-Body Susanoo.
Shinno cried out:
"No! Impossible! Even if you can absorb dark chakra, your dōjutsu shouldn't be able to control the Zero-Tails' mind!"
As he spoke, the mark of Yasakani Magatama appeared in his pupils.
Moments earlier, as time passed, the vast Yin Release chakra and spiritual power Uchiha Yu had infused into the Zero-Tails had nearly been expelled completely.
Yet, a single thread of spiritual power pierced through the abyss of the Zero-Tails' negative will, reaching Shinno hidden deep within its psyche, branding him with the mark.
This was thanks to the results of Uchiha Yu's constant training with Mikoto after acquiring the Pink Medicine.
Had it been before, even if Uchiha Yu's spiritual power reached Shinno's inner world, he would never have been able to seize control so smoothly.
Shinno's eyes widened in horror, realization dawning:
"You controlled my mind!!"
Uchiha Yu said calmly,
"You're right. I can't use the my Sharingan to place a seal directly on the Zero-Tails, but I can mark its jinchūriki."
The Zero-Tails was the Zero-Tails, while the jinchūriki was the jinchūriki.
It was the same concept as tailed beasts and their hosts.
The Zero-Tails was a manifestation of negative emotions, an existence that couldn't be bound by spiritual control.
But its jinchūriki, Shinno, was still just an ordinary man.
After speaking, Uchiha Yu offered no further explanation. His pupils gleamed scarlet again as the Yasakani Magatama activated.
He drew endlessly from the Zero-Tails, siphoning the dark chakra refined from its negative emotions.
In an instant—
Shinno was forcibly torn out of the Zero-Tails and pulled into Susanoo's "cockpit."
When he regained awareness, he found himself trapped inside the helm of the colossal Susanoo.
Panting heavily, Shinno glared at Uchiha Yu's back and tried to resist, only to realize that his spirit and body were completely disconnected.
Uchiha Yu cast him a sidelong glance.
With that, Uchiha Yu turned his gaze forward, ignoring the man entirely.
Instead, he used the Yasaka Magatama to seize Shinno's spirit, forcing him into unconsciousness. Shinno collapsed to the ground.
"Hissss—"
Deprived of its host, with its chakra being relentlessly drained, the Zero-Tails let out a shrill scream.
Its serpentine body, wrapped around Susanoo, began to shrink rapidly.
It had always devoured the chakra of others—yet now it was the one being consumed!
Struggling frantically to escape, the massive beast found itself bound as though by an endless void.
Boom!
Susanoo moved once more, seizing the Zero-Tails with one hand and smashing its head violently into the ground.
"Hissss—"
The Zero-Tails instantly went limp.
As time passed, the crimson Susanoo's armor became veined with dark violet lines.
The red glow within its helm's eye sockets shifted into a deep, sinister violet.
Its wings, greaves, boots, and chakra blade—all transformed from crimson to black-violet.
And yet, the flowing blood-red stream of light still shimmered along its armor's contours, dazzling and alive.
The transformation gave the Susanoo an even more demonic presence, though it retained an unsettling majesty.
Under the devouring power of the Yasakani Magatama, the Zero-Tails—an entity of pure dark chakra—was completely absorbed into Susanoo's armor, merging seamlessly.
Where the "Armored Susanoo" of legend had been achieved by wrapping Susanoo around the Nine-Tails,
Uchiha Yu had simply clad Susanoo with the Zero-Tails itself.
Brutal. Efficient.
Uchiha Yu could clearly sense it:
his new "Mutated Armored Susanoo" now possessed the ability to interfere with minds, inducing negative emotions that could in turn refine more dark chakra.
What that dark chakra might ultimately achieve—remained to be studied.
And so, before the shattered Hokage Rock,
only the fully-formed Susanoo remained—its body black-violet, its armor coursing with rivers of blood-red light.
It stood towering and immovable,
its oppressive aura casting all of Konoha into shadow.
That day, every villager recalled the fear passed down from the older generations—
the fear of being utterly dominated by Susanoo.
"Yu!!"
"Captain!!"
The Uchiha squad leapt onto Susanoo. With Uchiha Yu's permission, they passed through the chakra armor and entered the gem within its helm.
Mikoto stepped forward, carefully examining Uchiha Yu—safe and unharmed. The worry on her face finally dispersed like smoke, though she didn't know what to say.
"I'm fine."
Uchiha Yu told them calmly.
The Uchiha all breathed a sigh of relief.
At the edge of the shelter—
a cliff-like ruin.
Sasuke stood frozen, staring blankly as he personally witnessed everything that had unfolded outside.
This battle had completely overturned his understanding of what it meant to be a shinobi.
Susanoo, the Zero-Tails—such things had never entered his imagination.
"One day… I'll become this strong too?" Sasuke whispered in trembling excitement, then clenched his teeth fiercely.
"No—I must become this strong! Only then can I kill Itachi with my own hands!!"
He raised his head, eyes fixed on the towering Susanoo before him—its form woven from deep violet and blood-red light.
At that moment, Shikamaru and the others were hiding near the railing where Yakumo Kurama was.
Sakura, still shaken, looked at Sasuke's back in worry.
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Look—look there!!"
Kiba, horrified, raised a trembling hand toward the gaping hole in the outer wall.
Ka—ka—ka—
In their eyes, the god-demon-like Susanoo moved once more.
It slowly crouched down, its monstrous face drawing close to the shelter. As its features grew clearer, panic swept the crowd, driving them backward in fear.
Shikamaru and the others trembled, hearts pounding, pressing their backs to the wall, shielding their faces with both arms.
Then, the godlike Susanoo suddenly extended its right hand toward Sasuke's location.
Everyone was terrified.
Everyone—except Sasuke.
He stood unmoving, eyes red, tears spilling uncontrollably down his cheeks.
On that massive hand stood more than a dozen figures. Among them was a woman in Uchiha clan attire, blood staining her face, anxiously scanning the shelter. When her eyes landed on Sasuke, she immediately cried out:
"Sasuke!!!"
"Mother!!!"
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply, his breathing quickened, and at last he confirmed—
it truly was the mother he had longed for day and night.
The emotions suppressed within him since the Uchiha Massacre erupted in that instant.
"Sasuke!"
Mikoto's eyes filled with tears. Clenching her jaw, she was the first to leap down from Susanoo's palm.
She landed before Sasuke, crouched down, and pulled her youngest son—her most beloved child—tightly into her embrace.
"Mother—!"
Sasuke clung desperately to her neck, his tears flowing without end, sobbing uncontrollably.
For a moment—
Uchiha Yu led the other Uchiha past mother and son, without disturbing their reunion.
Mikoto, reunited at last with her son, barely had time to speak a few words with Sasuke. Suddenly, something struck her. She leaned close to his ear and whispered urgently:
"Sasuke… from now on, you must address Uchiha Yu… as Father."
°°°
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