Chapter 197
2-in-1-chapter
-----------------
The sting in his eyes came in needling jabs, tormenting Shisui's skull until it ached. Susanoo's power was undeniably immense, but its consumption of chakra was equally extreme. Were it not for the great blade Samehada strapped to his back constantly replenishing his reserves, Shisui would have disliked this kind of head-on fighting even more.
However—
It seemed that using Kotoamatsukami in the last great war had been worthwhile; only the Eight-Tails had emerged to fight him, and there had been no sign of the Two-Tails.
Of course, gains came with losses. The fact that he had used Kotoamatsukami to alter the Two-Tails' jinchūriki's will during that battle appeared to have been discovered by the Cloud shinobi. Implanting in the jinchūriki's mind a doctrine that prized peace and abhorred conflict had predictable consequences, and Shisui knew full well how much a changed will could alter someone. It was inevitable that the Cloud would notice traces of that interference.
So now the Eight-Tails was on guard.
Even outside the range of his dōjutsu's illumination, the beast refused to look at Shisui, who stood atop Susanoo's head. Instead it fixed its gaze on the limbs of Susanoo, engaging its hands and feet in combat. As a perfect jinchūriki, Killer B need not worry about losing control or about chakra depletion; the tailed beast itself was essentially indestructible, and its durability was formidable.
Likewise, Shisui's endurance, buttressed by Samehada, had become unusually long-lived.
There was no sign that this battle would end anytime soon.
Dodai frowned as he watched the army steadily withdraw to avoid the shockwaves of the Susanoo and the Eight-Tails' clash. In an instant he realized they had walked right into Konoha's trap, but this was an overt stratagem—seeing through it did nothing to change the situation.
"Raikage-sama, if we cannot annihilate that group of Konoha shinobi before their reinforcements arrive, we will either return empty-handed or be forced into a hard fight with Konoha," Dodai said in a low voice.
"I considered that as well."
A's expression darkened. His already sullen face looked as if it had been dusted with ash, radiating misfortune and anger. "The problem is that the main force cannot pass through right now."
"Take a flanking route—"
Dodai swallowed the rest of his words.
A detour was not safe either. Susanoo and the Eight-Tails formed two moving natural barriers. If the army tried to go around them it would be too conspicuous. If Shisui noticed and managed to drag the Eight-Tails along as he shifted position, the detour could end up being a very long one.
Was that Shisui's intent, then, to buy time in this way? In the past, jinchūriki had rarely been coordinated with main armies during the three great shinobi wars. Even the Cloud had never before been so fortunate as to have two perfect jinchūriki in a single generation.
Previously, incomplete jinchūriki could at most achieve half-tailed transformations for a short time, so when a tailed beast's full power was required, commanders typically sent a handful of elite units to deploy a jinchūriki on the battlefield. The main army kept its distance to avoid a rampaging jinchūriki causing indiscriminate slaughter.
That lack of experience in coordinating jinchūriki with a large force had led to the awkward situation now before them.
"An elite contingent should be able to break through," Dodai forced himself to calm his thoughts. "A small number of elite troops, even against this situation, can fight through the engagement zone. But from C's report, the Konoha shinobi on the other side are also experts. Without being able to leverage our numerical superiority, eliminating them will be extremely difficult—"
"Do it," A said at once.
Dodai was not surprised by the Raikage's decision; hesitation was not among A's traits.
"Have you decided?" Dodai asked.
"Yes. Dodai, mobilize the troops at once. I want to see what the Uchiha clan is truly capable of. Darui… I will avenge him."
"I will carry it out immediately."
Dodai moved swiftly. Within three minutes he had selected two hundred and thirty-four shinobi, including C, all Jōnin. They comprised almost the entirety of the Cloud's elite, leaving only about thirty to assist Dodai in overseeing the main force.
The opponent was a member of the Uchiha.
"All units, move in pairs, and remember—be cautious of the Uchiha's genjutsu."
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
"Move out."
"Yes."
Dodai watched as the Raikage's figure disappeared from sight, then sighed quietly and focused on directing his forces to withdraw, keeping them clear of the shockwaves spreading from the clash between Susanoo and the Eight-Tails.
The two titans had fallen into a deadlock. Shisui's attacks could no longer inflict fatal damage on the tailed beast. He wanted to use Kotoamatsukami, but the Eight-Tails was so alert that it never once met his eyes.
Genjutsu cast through the Sharingan belonged to the visual branch of illusionary techniques, a subcategory of dōjutsu. It could only take effect through the eyes—the windows of the soul.
Just as auditory illusions required sound to reach an enemy's ears, visual illusions needed to be seen by the target. If one could not hear or see the trigger, the technique would not activate.
Neither Shisui nor Killer B wanted to remain locked in this frustrating stalemate. Both exhausted every means to bring the other down. Tailed Beast Bomb, Yasaka Magatama, Tailed Beast Eight-Fold Whirl, Susanoo: Hundred Arrows—attacks with enough destructive power to tear mountains apart and reshape the land continued to strike, altering the surrounding terrain again and again.
And yet, neither could defeat the other completely.
"This opponent is on a completely different level from the Two-Tails," Shisui thought, breathing heavily.
Samehada could replenish his depleted ocular power and chakra, but it could not erase the pain or fatigue he felt. Each wave of pressure crashed against him like an endless tide, trying to drag him down into the dark depths where no light could reach.
He was exhausted, but he had to endure. Behind him were his clan and his comrades in the village. If he fell here, they would have to face this monster themselves. No matter what, he had to hold out until Rēn arrived.
"I really need to learn sealing techniques designed for tailed beasts," he muttered inwardly.
Susanoo responded to his will. The armor on its chest split open.
Susanoo: Hundred Arrows.
From the gaping chest of the emerald giant, countless chakra arrows shot outward, raining down on the Eight-Tails. Each arrow carried enough force to pulverize an entire three-story building. In that single moment, over a hundred arrows were released.
This was a technique unique to Shisui's Susanoo—something even Rēn was not sure he could master.
Yet even such powerful attacks were still insufficient to bring down the Eight-Tails.
Tailed Beast Eight-Fold Whirl!
This was a technique the Eight-Tails could only use in its complete form. It wrapped its tentacles around its body and spun at tremendous speed, creating a massive storm capable of reshaping vast stretches of terrain. A force that could alter the very landscape could naturally deflect and shred the chakra arrows flying toward it.
Once again, the two sides clashed without a decisive outcome. Aside from exhausting one another's strength and adding to their fatigue, the only result of their battle was further devastation to the land beneath them. A few more exchanges like this, and the Kusatsu Highlands would soon have to be renamed—the mountains were being worn down, meter by meter, into plains.
"B, can you still hold out?"
"No problem. This is nothing for me."
Within their shared mental space, Killer B put on a show of bravado before the Eight-Tails. Like Shisui, he had never fought such a high-intensity battle before. His chakra reserves were still sufficient, but the mental fatigue had accumulated heavily.
The Eight-Tails could clearly sense his exhaustion, yet it had no solution. Even among the tailed beasts, the power of Uchiha Shisui was not something easily overcome. Those eyes carried the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths, and such inhuman power was only natural.
After living for over a thousand years, the tailed beasts knew well that their power was not invincible. Among humans, there would always emerge certain "monsters." Most were descendants of the Sage, but a few—without any trace of that bloodline—were anomalies strong enough to leave the tailed beasts helpless.
In the end, it was humanity that ruled this world.