As Tsunade and her strike team rushed forward, Chiga spread his arms slightly.
A sudden wave of gravitational force surged outward. Without warning, Tsunade and several Anbu were yanked forward, completely helpless against the invisible pull.
A glint of darkness flickered in Chiga's Mangekyō Sharingan, and dark, spear-like tendrils exploded out from his shadow, piercing through them mid-air.
The entire clash happened so fast that even the watching shinobi hadn't registered it until it was over.
The Anbu lay unconscious, collapsed like puppets with cut strings. Only Tsunade remained awake—barely.
Sasuke, still on the ground, was stunned silent. Even with the power he'd gained through training under Orochimaru, Sasuke knew better than to claim he could fight this many Anbu—let alone Tsunade, a Sannin on par with Orochimaru himself.
He couldn't help but wonder: If it had been Itachi standing there instead of Chiga, could he have done this?
The answer was clear.
Even Itachi's Susanoo, while formidable, would've struggled in his condition against Tsunade. Add the Anbu to the mix, and the result would've been vastly different.
Chiga's overwhelming display shattered every assumption Sasuke had made. For the first time, he realized how foolish his earlier words had been.
Tsunade gritted her teeth. The wound in her stomach throbbed, the diamond-shaped Yin Seal on her forehead flickering.
With a growl of defiance, she grasped the black spike protruding from her abdomen and tore herself free.
Chiga watched impassively as she stepped forward again, standing tall despite her bleeding form.
"As expected of the First Hokage's granddaughter," he said flatly. "Stubborn to the core."
The dark tendrils slowly retracted, dissolving into mist and merging back into his body.
The Anbu he'd skewered groaned on the ground—alive but wounded. Unlike the Root members earlier, Chiga hadn't gone for lethal damage this time.
It wasn't sentimentality. As he'd noticed earlier, one of the Anbu—recognizable by her long purple hair—had hesitated before engaging. That hesitation had earned a measure of mercy.
The clan heads nearby moved instinctively, ready to assist, but Tsunade raised a hand and stopped them.
Had the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, still held the seat, they likely wouldn't have intervened at all. When Orochimaru had fought Hiruzen, not one of them had lifted a finger—choosing instead to "evacuate civilians."
Tsunade's wound rapidly closed, thanks to the Yin Seal's regenerative power. But her face remained grim.
Those dark spears… That gravity... What kind of power is this?
Her medical knowledge and shinobi experience screamed that neither of those were typical Ninjutsu.
She muttered, "Could that be... his Mangekyō ability?"
Shikaku Nara stepped to her side, lowering his voice. "Lady Tsunade, both abilities appear to be Mangekyō Sharingan techniques—and both extremely offensive in nature. We need to test him further."
They spoke quietly, but Chiga heard every word.
He didn't even need to strain. Thanks to the sensory net he'd set up using Observation Haki, their whispers were as clear as a shout.
Chiga nearly chuckled. They think those abilities were my Mangekyō?
Not quite.
The gravity wave and the dark tendrils were fruits of the Gravity Fruit and Dark-Dark Fruit—not his dojutsu. The real power of his Eyes still remained unseen.
He cast a glance toward the crowd—no sign of Naruto.
Tsunade must've confined him, Chiga reasoned. It was a smart move. She knew Naruto's emotional volatility and his connection to him.
Letting Naruto charge into a confrontation like this, especially against a Mangekyō Sharingan, would be dangerous for everyone.
If I really wanted to control him, Chiga thought, it would've been over a long time ago. The Nine-Tails is nothing more than a pet to these eyes.
Even the Ten-Tails would dwarf the Nine-Tails in comparison. That's how far above the rest Chiga now stood.
With a sigh, he turned from their idle strategies and walked to the sealed entrance of the Root base.
Without a word, he reeled back and punched the air.
Cracks of cyan lightning veined out from the epicenter like broken glass across reality. Then, with a deafening boom, space shattered—blasting apart the entire Root complex in a single strike.
The underground lair burst into rubble.
Tsunade and the clan leaders stood frozen in shock. Their earlier analysis of Chiga's powers now felt like a bad joke. This was far beyond what they had anticipated.
The force of the blow rippled across the village. Chiga hovered in the air above the wreckage, his long hair fluttering behind him, a silent god overlooking what was once Root's fortress.
No sign of Danzo... he thought. But when he closed his eyes and focused, he sensed the slippery old man hiding beneath the ruins.
So typical of Danzo.
Chiga began rising higher, to the stunned gasps of the shinobi below. None of them had realized he could fly.
The unspoken fear settled in everyone's chest—If he fires attacks like that from above... how would we even defend the village?
A hush fell across Konoha. From rooftops to alleyways, civilians and shinobi alike gazed up at the airborne Uchiha.
This wasn't a shinobi anymore. This was something else entirely.
Chiga raised one hand, and with a surge of power, the entire underground section of the Root base began to rise, slowly levitating into the air.
The sheer scale of it was monstrous.
For a moment, no one breathed.
Sasuke's lips parted. "Is the Mangekyō Sharingan... really that powerful?"
Chiga stared at the massive chunk of floating stone and smirked.
"Danzo... how much longer do you plan to keep hiding?"
As if summoned by his words, a cloud of black smoke burst from within the rubble, heading toward him.
Shibi Aburame's eyes narrowed. "That's the Poison Dust Technique. It's Torune!"
The cloud twisted, buzzing with infected insects.
Chiga's eyes narrowed in disgust. "Filthy creatures."
He extended his palm, unleashing a web of concentrated purple lightning—a variant of Electromagnetic Rail Pulse. The heat vaporized the insects mid-flight, their remains falling like embers.
Then, the Root base exploded again as three figures leapt out—Danzo Shimura, Torune Aburame, and Fū Yamanaka.
They landed, feet skidding against the cracked stone.
Chiga floated down to meet them, landing with eerie grace. His Mangekyō spun slowly, filled with amused contempt.
"Danzo... so you've finally decided to show yourself."
---
Thanks for the support <(￣︶￣)>