The Fourth Raikage stood atop a sea vessel, next to him resting the Six Paths Ninja Tool—the Amber Purifying Bottle.
A gust of violent wind swept across the deck as Rokuro hurled his body into the Amber Purifying Bottle. The Fourth Raikage slammed the lid shut with a heavy thud.
"Got it! Hahaha, that went smoother than expected. As I thought, Mabui is truly formidable. Now, the rest—Uchiha Izumi—leave to me!"
Lightning enveloped the Raikage, transforming him into pure electricity as he sped toward the small fishing village, his fist aimed at the just-landing Uchiha Izumi.
In the moment the lightning flashed, Izumi had already spotted the Fourth Raikage, keeping him firmly in her sight.
"Raikage's Lightning Release chakra mode… not much stronger than Rokuro's," she thought, silently mocking him in her mind, remembering Rokuro's previous instructions to remain quiet.
As the Raikage's fist drew nearer, enveloped in pink chakra, it rapidly took shape as a skeletal Susanoo.
"Bang!"
The Fourth Raikage's punch struck the skeletal Susanoo, but it didn't budge an inch.
Shocked, the Raikage instinctively glanced at Izumi's eyes—and caught sight of her Sharingan evolving from the three-tomoe to the Mangekyō.
"Not good!"
He immediately retreated over twenty meters, moving out of range of her genjutsu.
Izumi internally praised his quick reflexes—truly befitting a village's shadow—and his clever handling of genjutsu. The main weakness of visual genjutsu lies in its range: techniques like Tsukuyomi only reach five meters, and most other genjutsu max out at twenty to thirty meters. Only Mangekyō masters like Uchiha Shisui could strike from hundreds of meters.
Izumi's own Mangekyō was also genjutsu-based, but her Tsukuyomi had an even shorter effective range. Without alternating eyes, hitting the Raikage would be nearly impossible.
From behind, dozens of Root ninja charged under Danzo's command, their urgency palpable—likely fearing Izumi would be captured like Rokuro.
Izumi smiled faintly, ignoring weapons entirely, letting her skeletal Susanoo press forward against the Root ninja.
"Careful not to look into her eyes! Focus all attacks on breaking her Susanoo!"
Danzo formed hand seals and took a deep breath. His chest inflated threefold as he unleashed an eighteen-meter-long wind blade.
"Wind Release: Great Cleaver!"
The wind blade struck the skeletal Susanoo's head, splitting its skull. At the same time, a barrage of basic-natured jutsu struck, rattling the Susanoo, cracking its armor in multiple places.
Ignoring the damage, Izumi stretched her arms to the sides, summoning two five-meter-long Susanoo arms to grab the Root ninja. Amidst flying sand and debris, several Root ninja dodged swiftly, yet two failed to react in time.
"Pfft!"
One was crushed into a pulp, dying instantly.
The other, an Inuzuka-style insect clone, was crushed into a writhing mass of bugs. The parasites immediately began devouring the Susanoo's hands, attempting to consume its chakra.
Izumi internally scoffed at their ignorance. The Eternal Mangekyō's chakra was far beyond such petty attacks; even the First Hokage's Wood Dragon Technique couldn't drain it quickly.
The Susanoo's massive hands ignored the pests and swung toward Danzo.
At that moment, the Fourth Raikage appeared behind Izumi, slashing with his Lightning Scythe Blade.
"Crack!"
The skeletal Susanoo groaned, seeming on the verge of collapse. The Fourth Raikage, Danzo, and the Root ninja all expected it to fall—but then…
A demonic roar erupted from the Susanoo. In the next instant, muscle-like tissue covered its body, and Izumi leapt upward. The Susanoo expanded, instantly transforming into a thirty-meter-tall pink giant—its size rivaling Rokuro's Susanoo.
"Second form… her Sharingan has evolved this much?"
Danzo's expression darkened, but his eyes gleamed with greed.
"Rokuro may be gone, but Izumi's eyes are formidable. I can't let the Raikage get his hands on them… these eyes are mine!"
Blinded by desire, Danzo overlooked the mocking glint in Izumi's eyes, ordering the remaining Root ninja to launch a full assault.
Their attack disrupted the Raikage's rhythm. Fearing Danzo might seize the advantage, he summoned Cloud Hidden elite ninja to join the fight against Izumi. Guarding the Amber Purifying Bottle were now only two upper-level shinobi.
Meanwhile, inside the Amber Purifying Bottle, Rokuro was studying its structure.
Though not necessarily the strongest of the Six Paths Tools, it was the most powerful in Cloud Village's possession. Its usage required calling a target's name—if the target responded, they would be pulled inside.
It seemed simple to defend against, but it was far trickier than it appeared. The Fourth Raikage had called Rokuro's name within a long string of insults rather than directly, and Rokuro's mocking response still counted as confirmation. This was why he had told Izumi to remain silent and communicate only via hand signs.
Inside the bottle, Rokuro examined its structure.
"As expected, this is an independent space… no wonder even the Eight-Tails could be contained."
Cursed markings bound him tightly like ropes—standard sealing technique, restraining both body and chakra. His eyes couldn't even maintain a three-tomoe Sharingan, let alone Mangekyō.
For anyone else, even Izumi, escape would be impossible. But Rokuro carefully tapped at weak points in the sealing ropes.
"Crack!"
The ropes shattered. In seconds, all restraints collapsed, and his chakra formed a skeletal Susanoo for protection.
"The seal's strength is comparable to Adamantine Chains Sealing, but chakra efficiency is almost three times higher. Purposefully letting myself be sealed was the right choice!"
With chakra at his disposal, Rokuro manipulated it, extending it along the space's nodes. Hidden curses gradually materialized throughout the space, turning it into a sea of mystical inscriptions—like an NPC awakening to realize its world is a game, peering beneath its surface at the source code.
"So this is how it works… the Six Paths Sage really did create these tools. The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques must originate from him. Though incomplete after centuries of transmission, with gaps in between…"
Even Rokuro, with his vast knowledge of sealing, couldn't fully decipher a third of the inscriptions—but he pieced together much by context.
"This is just one Six Paths tool. If I study them all, I might decode the chakra structure of the Mangekyō, the true Byakugan, and even the Rinnegan."
Rokuro knew the Eternal Mangekyō was powerful, but even combined with Izumi, their power only equaled Obito's reincarnation in the Fourth Great Ninja War—against the revived Rinnegan Obito or Ten-Tails Jinchūriki Madara, they would be outmatched.
Gazing at the inscriptions, Rokuro felt confident: by fully deconstructing the Amber Purifying Bottle, he could understand its secrets. Failing that, he could seize and study the Seven-Star Sword, Red Gourd, Rope of Golden Fire, and Banana Leaf Fan.
"Mastering the Six Paths' seals… then attaining Sage status, maybe even Six Paths level, is possible."
After further study, his eyes shifted into Mangekyō. Seven-pointed stars appeared, the left eye spinning rapidly.
Rokuro raised his left hand, conjuring a black, starry stone in midair—the Japanese mythological stone that blocks, the Underworld Barrier. He called it the Space Divine Stone, channeling his left Mangekyō.
The stone grew, transforming from a sphere to a one-meter-long sword. Rokuro named it the Dimensional Blade.
Gripping it, he slashed through the sealing space, creating a rift. Through it, he could exit the Amber Purifying Bottle—and he was confident he could slice through any spatial dimension, even Kamui.
Through the rift, Rokuro saw the bottle and two Cloud Hidden upper ninja guarding it.
Without hesitation, he slashed the back of one. Silently, the ninja's body split in two, unnoticed until the second ninja reacted.
"Y-you?!"
Horrified, the second ninja watched his body sliding apart as though two blocks had separated.
"Pfft!"
Blood gushed like a torrent. The ninja felt excruciating pain, clawing at his spilling entrails, desperately trying to shove them back in.
Rokuro stepped forward, slicing the neck with the Dimensional Blade, ending his life instantly.
"Uchiha Rokuro… how did you get out?"
The remaining ninja panicked, pouring all chakra into the Amber Purifying Bottle. Rokuro ignored him, swinging the Dimensional Blade again. The ninja hastily drew twin kunai, but the blade silently cut through both weapons and then his neck.
His body froze; below the neck, he lost all control. A thin line of blood appeared, widening rapidly into a gush.
"Bang!"
The head fell. Along with the previous ninja, the deck was stained red.
"Overkill? First blood with the Dimensional Blade, and it's just two upper ninja… not satisfying enough," Rokuro mused.
The commotion drew attention. The Fourth Raikage saw two subordinates killed and was shocked: Rokuro had escaped the Amber Purifying Bottle—and slain two upper ninja effortlessly.
"Bastard!"
Activating Lightning Release chakra mode fully, the Raikage, with hair standing like Super Saiyan spikes, closed in and swung a Lightning Saber Strike.
"Clang!"
The attack struck Rokuro's skeletal Susanoo, blocked flawlessly.
"Rushing to die? Pathetic. First, I'll secure this Six Paths tool, then send you to the afterlife to meet your father."
Rokuro calmly sealed the Amber Purifying Bottle into a scroll, ignoring the Raikage entirely.
"Don't underestimate me!"
The Raikage's Lightning Armor intensified. Hair bristled, he leapt high and slammed down, right leg transforming into a war-axe.
"Righteous Thunder Fury Axe"
It was a high-altitude war-axe strike, stronger than a hand blade due to foot impact.
Rokuro, having secured the bottle, raised his Dimensional Blade and swung at the descending Raikage.
With decades of combat instinct, the Raikage sensed danger, retracting his leg and spreading his limbs to slow his descent. The sudden shift meant Rokuro's strike only grazed him.
Because of the abrupt change in speed, Rokuro's strike didn't fully connect; only the tip of the Dimensional Blade grazed him.
The Lightning Armor, capable of withstanding even Wind Release: Spinning Shuriken, seemed to vanish—it was cleaved cleanly in two. The blade tip first contacted the Fourth Raikage's stomach, then sliced upward across his entire chest, finally grazing his right shoulder.
The Fourth Raikage let out a muffled grunt, tumbled into the sea, and immediately, a tide of red water surged around him.
"Quick! Save Lord Raikage!"
A dozen or so Cloud Hidden upper ninja rushed forward, simultaneously unleashing Lightning Release jutsu at Rokuro.
Rokuro's Susanoo had evolved to its second form, effortlessly tanking the onslaught of jutsu.
"Boom—Rumble"
The explosion tore the entire ship apart. From the chaos, the black Susanoo appeared, treading the waves as it swung its twenty-meter-long sword, mowing through the crowd like a scythe.
The pink figure rushed in—Uchiha Izumi disengaged her Susanoo midair, entering Rokuro's Susanoo as it moved.
"Did it work?"
Izumi asked in hand signs. Rokuro tapped his ninja tool pouch.
"The Amber Purifying Bottle is secure. It really came in handy—this trip wasn't for nothing."
"Phew… finally, I can talk again."
Izumi exhaled, her gaze landing on the Dimensional Blade in Rokuro's left hand.
"You escaped with this sword? So the so-called Six Paths Tools aren't all that impressive?"
"Depends on how you look at it. Technology evolves. Even though the Six Paths Sage was godlike, the Six Paths Tools are a thousand years old—outdated in design. It's useful to me because its spellcraft contains techniques I didn't know. But in raw power, the Amber Purifying Bottle can't compare to my Arm Guard."
He shook the arm guard, the one embedded with Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in—tools Izumi had personally wielded.
Its power and versatility outclassed the Amber Purifying Bottle by miles. Most importantly, as long as chakra was sufficient, these two jutsu had no cooldown—stronger than the Heavenly Path of Pain's Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in.
No way the Amber Purifying Bottle could compete.
Meanwhile, the Cloud and Root ninja had surrounded them, over 250 in total—not counting those Rokuro had already slain. Counting the dead, the total would exceed 300.
And all were upper ninja; even the few weaker ones were Inuzuka clan members capable of secret family techniques. Elite among elites.
"Don't panic. Even if the Six Paths Tool isn't effective, we still hold the upper hand. Susanoo consumes massive chakra—they won't last long."
Danzo formed hand seals, bolstering morale while extracting chakra.
"The reason Izumi released her Susanoo is chakra depletion. Once we destroy Rokuro's Susanoo, we win!"
Danzo's morality aside, decades on the battlefield honed his analytical skills.
For ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, chakra depletion would indeed be a problem. Rokuro and Izumi, like the previous generation, could awaken Mangekyō, but using Susanoo then was self-destructive—a thousand enemies slain at the cost of their own strength. Even alone, without medical support or Obito holding the line, Rokuro would have struggled against Danzo.
But that applied to half-finished Mangekyō. The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was beyond Danzo's imagination.
"It's time. Go all out," Izumi said, glaring at Danzo before turning to Rokuro.
Rokuro had been monitoring with sensory ninja tools but hadn't detected Obito.
"He's probably not coming… fine. No point in waiting any longer. Show them your true strength."
Over 250 ninja now poured jutsu into Rokuro's Susanoo. To withstand it, his Susanoo evolved to its third form, remaining unbroken.
All eyes were now fixed on him.
Izumi didn't form hand seals; she stood calmly by Rokuro, seemingly passive. Yet the whirlpools in her eyes spun furiously. Suddenly, without warning, a white light shot from her eyes.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi."
END OF CHAPTER
(Some chapters in patreon are double chapters)
3 IN 1 - BE A MEMBER, GET 3 ONGOING STORIES!!
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Forbidden Java Jutsu - MrBehringer's Secret
👉 patreon.com/MrBehringer