After a few days of training, Itachi began to understand how spiritual consciousness worked, and he awakened. Spiritual consciousness was like a set of eyes that allowed him to see a reality intertwined with the material one.
While with his physical eyes he saw a landscape, with his spiritual consciousness he could see a second landscape, a different view governed by other rules. Distance worked under a different logic: what seemed far away was only a thought away, while some things that his spiritual consciousness perceived as close seemed unreachable. In truth, it was like discovering a new world—or like experiencing a powerful narcotic effect.
Something curious was that he could also use his Sharingan with his spiritual consciousness. He could control the spiritual particles that surrounded him and, although he still didn't fully understand everything he was perceiving, he was able to interact with it.
While Itachi was practicing, a great army was preparing for battle. The Fire Men were experts in building fire-propelled machines with tremendous offensive power.
In a valley about a hundred kilometers from the Great Tree, nearly 100,000 men gathered. The smoke from the machines and the flames rose like a column, polluting everything. The Fire Men cared nothing for their bodies, which were covered in oil; they wore masks to avoid inhaling toxic gases as they sharpened their weapons and calibrated different types of machines.
From afar, clinging to a tree, a veteran elf observed the camp, his face marked with deep concern.
The elf took out a whistle and began to blow. The wind carried the sound through the forest, bending and flowing as it carried the message of his spying.
Before he could finish sending the message, a spinning disk pierced his back, and from a distance emerged a group of Fire Men armed with grenade launchers and disk-throwers. One of them carried a pair of binoculars that allowed him to see any nearby living being—an efficient way to detect enemies.
The news reached the elf camp and caused an uproar.
"The Fire Men are preparing an attack. At any moment they may reach our Great Tree. We cannot allow them to advance a single inch, or we are lost!" declared one of the elders of the council.
"It's impossible. At most we have twenty thousand warriors. A direct confrontation would be sending ourselves to our deaths," responded another elder from the opposing faction.
"The best course would be to flee, find another tree, or hide—"
The mood in the elf camp was divided. The voices of the council rose with desperation and anger. The smoke of the torches made the atmosphere heavy, and though the words sought to maintain calm, anguish seeped through like poison.
Inside one of the tents, apart from the debate of the elders, Shisui and Renji listened carefully to the reports brought by the surviving scouts. They both remained silent, but in their eyes the same thought was reflected: battle was not a possibility—it was a certainty.
"One hundred thousand Fire Men?" asked Renji, his deep voice incredulous, as he adjusted the bandages on his calloused hands from training."Yes, and with their machines," answered Shisui, lowering his head. "If that army reaches the Great Tree, nothing of this forest will remain."
"Itachi is secluded in his training, and until he fully masters his spiritual consciousness, it's not wise to disturb him. We could attempt a surprise attack to buy some time. Do you have a plan, Renji?"
"I do," Renji replied. "We could use our spacecraft—it has nearly infinite energy. If we connect a plasma cannon, we can destroy some of their machines. That would buy us time."
"Good. We need to hurry and make the necessary adjustments. We just need someone who can handle the firing while I pilot the ship and you, if needed, provide ground support with Susanoo."
"Excuse me," came a voice. "If you need someone to fire any kind of weapon, I'm the right person. I was always the best in my class at accuracy and precision while moving. I think I could be useful."
It was Agata, who had been listening quietly on the sidelines, unwilling to miss the chance to be part of the action.
Renji and Shisui exchanged a knowing look, then hurried to customize the spacecraft for its first battle.
Renji already had a blueprint that Itachi had drawn up long ago, which he had since personalized and perfected. The materials had been prepared long before; all that remained was to assemble them. With some help from the tribe, the ship was completed in a matter of hours, just as night was falling.
Agata took position at the newly installed turret of the spacecraft. The turret was designed so that she could move the cannon's tip in the desired direction with a dual joystick control. It had buttons for firing, charging, and reloading. They tested it a few times, and her exquisite skill quickly became evident—she handled the untested equipment as though she had been born for it.
Hours later, a shadow covered the starry sky. Yet if anyone looked upward, they would see nothing unusual, thanks to Renji's spatial camouflage. The ship approached the enemy camp, which had no idea of the surprise prepared by three determined warriors.
"Agata, focus energy into the cannons! We must take advantage of the first shot!" Shisui shouted.
Agata pulled several levers, while different gauges rose from green, to yellow, to red.
The cannon vibrated with lightning and thunder, preparing to be the star of the night.
In the Fire Men's camp, the general turned to an old crone, his face rough and disdainful."I understand, old woman. Tomorrow we will attack at first light. Don't worry—the elves won't stand a chance." His tone was arrogant.
"You don't understand," the crone insisted. "The future is unclear. If we don't attack tonight, our chances diminish. We still hold the element of surprise, and the elf queen is occupied—"
"I cannot march at night," the general interrupted. "We must wait for dawn. Only today were the preparations for the destructor cannons completed. How else do you expect us to bring down that cursed tree?"
As they argued, the metallic utensils in the camp began to vibrate. Some floated into the air, spinning into strange shapes. The general and the crone exchanged bewildered looks.
At that moment, in the darkness of night, a sphere of lightning seemed to tear the very fabric of space, as though reality itself were breaking. A blinding light bathed the entire camp.
All metals were drawn toward the origin of the storm.
"FIRE!" Renji roared.
Agata laughed like a madwoman as she slammed her hand on the red button.
A white line connected with the center of the camp, and a glowing sphere began to expand with the impact—20, 100, 500 meters in circumference—the sphere grew and grew until it exploded, unleashing thunder and more thunder.
On the ground, a crater remained, and everything around was first sucked inward, then blasted far away.
With that single shot, nearly twenty thousand men died instantly.
From the ship, someone jumped without a parachute—dressed in black, a smile on his face. His purpose: to destroy the enemy's long-range weapons. Mid-fall, he performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, dividing into ten, then absorbed chakra and entered Sage Mode before reaching the ground.
Had the noise of the previous explosion not still echoed with terror, the ten additional impacts from the clones would have shaken the land even further.
Shisui was immediately surrounded by machines that had detected him as an enemy. But before the first projectile could strike, a great blue form began to materialize. With two wings and two blades, it looked like an emissary from the heavens. Ten of these giants appeared across the battlefield.
The battle erupted instantly. The machines had terrifying firepower, forcing Shisui to dodge and slash constantly in Susanoo form. Their attacks were so strong that even Susanoo wouldn't hold forever if he were hit directly.
Still, he relied on his speed and the massive chakra blades with which he cleaved machines in half as though they were butter.
In the skies, Renji skillfully evaded missiles and bombs, reading their trajectories and choosing the perfect counter-maneuver each time.
Meanwhile, from the turret, Agata was the terror of the battlefield. She was the main factor of destruction, striking down machines below and even intercepting projectiles that threatened the ship.
Enemy flying machines soon arrived—not as powerful in firepower, but extremely agile and dangerous. Yet in a single volley, Agata obliterated four or five at once, reloading swiftly.
"The cannons are overheating! At most, we have one more minute. Warn Shisui!" Agata shouted.
Staying longer than necessary would mean certain death, especially without the ship's cannon support. But the damage was already done—more than enough time had been bought.
Renji fired a signal flare, and Shisui vanished from the battlefield, having destroyed much of the enemy's long-range artillery.
The ship, intact and victorious, disappeared into the night sky as though it had never been there.