Hearing the thunderous roars in the distance, the Hidden Mist shinobi standing on the outskirts went pale with fright.
The shattered stones blasting across the ground were like kunai flying in every direction. They didn't even dare to approach.
"So this is the power of a Tailed Beast transformation?"
"So this is the strength of Susanoo?"
"He can actually fight the Three-Tails to a standstill."
Terumi Mei's face was ashen. Whether it was Uchiha Natsuki or the Fourth Mizukage, their power was completely beyond her understanding.
At this moment, Susanoo and Isobu were grappling fiercely, neither able to overpower the other.
"Worm! You're the one who controlled the Nine-Tails during the Konoha disaster back then! And now you're using the same trick to manipulate the Mizukage! Do you dare take off your mask!?"
Natsuki's voice boomed like thunder, echoing again and again throughout the Hidden Mist Village.
"The Mizukage… is being controlled?"
"That guy was the one behind the Nine-Tails incident in Konoha?"
"Is that true?"
Many of the Hidden Mist shinobi had only come after hearing the commotion. Some had only heard rumors that someone was impersonating Uchiha Madara. And now, their own Mizukage was locked in battle with a Uchiha.
But to hear that their Mizukage was being controlled?
Obito was shocked to his core! How could Natsuki know that the Nine-Tails disaster was his doing!?
Seizing the moment, Natsuki drove his ocular power directly at Yagura.
"Wake up!!!"
Yagura's body froze, and immediately Susanoo slammed him flying.
But just as Yagura paused, Obito forced his own ocular power harder, reasserting control over him.
Natsuki's eyes throbbed with pain as tears of blood trickled down his cheeks.
He was furious. His genjutsu ability was too weak—after burning so much ocular power, he still couldn't wake Yagura from Obito's grasp.
He couldn't keep fighting like this—otherwise, he'd expose the truth of his Eternal Mangekyō.
"Your eyes… they hurt, don't they? I wonder how much power you have left?"
Obito's sinister voice rang out. Seeing Natsuki's blood-stained tears, he spoke with certainty, standing arrogantly with his arms folded as if everything was under control.
So what if you had Susanoo?
Natsuki's mind raced. He suddenly feigned exhaustion, gasping harshly and clutching at his eyes.
Susanoo began to collapse, reverting to a flesh-and-blood form, its weapon slowly dissolving into nothing.
Obito sneered inwardly. Just as he thought.
Then Natsuki's entire body shook as he roared with fury: "Final strike!!!"
In an instant, Susanoo returned—armored once more, weapons in hand.
Obito smirked at his desperate act.
In front of the Three-Tails, Yagura's mouth gathered a purple-black Tailed Beast Bomb…
Seeing Obito so smug, Natsuki's heart settled.
He poured his ocular power into his technique—Ame-no-Murakumo! In that moment, his energy surged madly into Susanoo's weapon.
A radiant aura coated the blade, the very space around it trembling.
Natsuki swung down violently—aiming directly at Obito!
Obito's lips curled with mocking disdain. I have Kamui—how could you hurt me?
But the instant the strike fell, his instincts screamed.
The primal terror of a small creature before a natural disaster overwhelmed him, the same despair he'd only ever felt when he first awakened the Mangekyō!
Impossible!
Obeying his deepest instincts, Obito instantly abandoned control of the Mizukage—activating Izanagi!
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
There was no deafening explosion, no choking dust. The ground silently split open into a massive trench fifty meters deep, a bottomless abyss.
The edges were smooth as glass, as if erased by a giant rubber.
The fake "Uchiha Madara" had vanished completely.
The entire audience was struck dumb, their faces frozen in terror.
Some shinobi's legs gave out, collapsing onto the ground.
As Obito invoked Izanagi, Yagura regained control of his own body and quickly canceled the Tailed Beast Bomb.
If that attack had detonated in the village, the Hidden Mist would have been devastated.
The Tailed Beast transformation receded, and Yagura returned to his normal form.
Staring at the bottomless trench Natsuki had carved, he was utterly speechless.
Hah… finally crushed that cockroach once!
Exhausted, Natsuki dispersed Susanoo. Back in the dreamscape, when he had tested Ame-no-Murakumo, his eyes had been at full strength.
But ever since sharing power with Fugaku, he had never unleashed it in full again.
He hadn't expected that with incomplete power, channeling Ame-no-Murakumo would be so draining.
Still, to kill Obito once—it was worth it.
All around, silence reigned. When Natsuki looked up, the shinobi around him were frozen like wooden statues.
He frowned. Shouldn't this be where Terumi Mei steps forward with her lines?
"Ahem!" Natsuki coughed.
Terumi Mei snapped out of her stupor, stepped forward, and after glancing fearfully at the trench, turned to Yagura.
"Mizukage-sama! Because you were under genjutsu control, the village has suffered great losses. That's why I went to Konoha and requested the aid of the Uchiha Clan's deputy leader, Uchiha Natsuki-sama, to free you from it!"
While controlled, Yagura had been fully conscious. He knew everything he had done. He had felt rage, despair.
As a Kage, as a perfect jinchūriki, to be enslaved by another's genjutsu and made into a mere puppet—this was a shame he could never wash away.
But now, his expression was empty. Looking at the trench Natsuki had left, he shuddered.
If that strike had landed on him…
A chill ran down Yagura's spine, as if he were only now waking fully from the nightmare.
After a long silence, Yagura finally sighed deeply, his eyes lingering on Natsuki.
"All Hidden Mist executives—assemble for a council meeting."
He ignored the stares of the crowd, ignoring the complicated looks in every shinobi's eyes, and strode off toward the meeting hall.
The Mist shinobi dispersed in silence, though many stole secret glances at Natsuki, their eyes filled with both awe and dread.
Natsuki left the stage to them, quietly scanning for Kisame's whereabouts.
Kisame lay sprawled on the ground, Samehada tossed aside.
Even the massive trench nearby couldn't compare to the hollow pit in his heart.
So Uchiha Madara was fake.
What was the truth of this world, really?
At that moment, Uchiha Natsuki's face appeared before Kisame's eyes.
"Hey, want to join my faction? Stick with me and you'll never have to worry about food, or betrayal, or killing your comrades again."
Kisame's shark-like eyes slowly shifted toward him.
He sat up, staring at Natsuki's grinning face, then at the massive trench beside them.
He couldn't reconcile the two images.
"What are you planning?" Kisame's voice was hoarse.
"Me? If I don't have the power, I'll slack off. But if I do… I'll do the things I want to do." Natsuki grinned, flashing a mouthful of bright white teeth.
Kisame opened his mouth as if to respond—but in his mind flashed the image of a certain girl.
"Your life has been… hard, hasn't it?"
Kisame lay back down. "Too hard. Forget it."
Natsuki only smiled, saying nothing.
"Big Brother Kisame."
A gentle voice whispered in his ear.
An illusion? Kisame thought at first, incredulous—but still turned his head toward it.
Kurita Kyōko tilted her head with a smile.
"We promised, remember? To share a meal together."
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