Amidst the swirling golden maelstrom, Kagami's clone remained eerily calm, his eyes shifting as the tomoe bled into the distinct, lethal pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan. The torrent of golden sand, a violent, spinning waterfall, converged into an unstoppable cascade, tightly encasing him in its grasp.
Just as the onlookers believed the battle had reached its conclusion, a piercingly bright light streaked across the sky like the first rays of dawn, momentarily illuminating the sand-wreathed battlefield. That light belonged to Onoki, standing resolute not far away, his frame enveloped in a faint, divine white chakra, resembling a god descending to the mortal realm. Shielded by Rasa's cover, Onoki unleashed his most potent technique without a second thought.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!" he thundered. A gleaming white beam shot forth, tearing through the very fabric of space as it struck Kagami's clone, who was still ensnared in the golden sands. Wherever the beam passed, reality itself was rent asunder, revealing a yawning abyss of nothingness. All matter in its path was instantly and utterly annihilated.
"We won!" A cheer erupted from the assembled forces as they watched the beam find its mark.
A confident smirk spread across Onoki's face. His Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta fusing wind, earth, and fire chakra, was a power that surpassed mere bloodline limits. It turned all matter it touched into atoms, an attack of terrifying, absolute power. Until now, no enemy had ever survived a direct hit. He was certain Kagami's clone had been erased from existence.
Glancing at the other nine clones, he sneered, "Kill one, and the real body must be among the rest." Although it was a pity he hadn't killed Kagami's true self, he was confident he could now pick off the remaining clones one by one. But their placid, indifferent expressions gave him pause. Why aren't they reacting? He quickly dismissed the thought. "Who cares! No one can survive my Dust Release!"
But just as Onoki began to channel his power again, a playful, provocative voice echoed from the very core of his annihilation technique, a chilling laugh in the dead silence. "What a terrifying attack. However, it seems to have no effect on me~"
The sound was like a thunderclap in Onoki's heart, causing him to tremble, the Dust Release in his hands freezing for a critical moment. His eyes widened, his pupils reflecting a mixture of disbelief, shock, and primal fear. From the heart of the attack that should have left nothing but void, a faint figure slowly emerged. It was Kagami.
He stood with his hands casually tucked in his pockets, a smug, infuriating smile on his face, completely unharmed.
"This... This is impossible!" Onoki's voice trembled, each word squeezed from his lungs. "How could you survive a direct hit from Dust Release?"
He simply could not believe what he was seeing. This man had ignored his ultimate attack. The scene before him completely shattered his understanding of ninjutsu, his decades of experience, and his very will to fight. The Dust Release technique, deprived of its caster's focus, dissipated with a fizzle, returning the world to a strained calm.
Kagami's clone immediately deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, knowing that the strain on a clone's eyes would be fed back to his true body. He had no desire to hasten his own blindness.
All eyes were now fixed on him. He stood there, robes fluttering, a king surveying his domain, his expression laced with a sarcasm that made every shinobi present feel an unprecedented wave of oppression and shock.
"How is this possible? You... you monster!" Onoki staggered backward and fell to the ground, his eyes hollow with despair. The shocking scene replayed in his mind on a loop. How could he possibly defeat a monster like this? He had thought he could finally wash away the shame of his past encounter with Madara, but this new Uchiha was even more terrifying. Kagami had not just defeated him; he had replaced Madara as the indelible nightmare seared into his soul.
The other shinobi were equally shocked. They had all heard of the legendary power of Dust Release, yet it hadn't even scratched one of Kagami's clones. Faced with such an enemy, they were filled with an absolute, crushing despair.
The armies of the three great ninja villages looked at Kagami as if they were seeing a god—an invincible, untouchable deity of destruction. His power, both offensive and defensive, was beyond their comprehension. The will to fight had completely evaporated, replaced by the certainty of their own demise.
Just as Onoki and Rasa resigned themselves to their fate, Kagami's clone smiled. "Hand over the secrets to your Dust Release and Magnet Release," he said, his voice casual, as if discussing the weather. "Do that, and I will let you go. How about it?"
After witnessing the power of their techniques, Kagami's clone was intrigued. He was certain his original self would be fascinated by these abilities. They were not Kekkei Genkai tied to blood but advanced jutsu born from skill and chakra manipulation—jutsu that could be learned.
If he could master these, he might be able to reverse-engineer other, similar abilities, accelerating his own path to power. It was far more efficient to analyze existing masterpieces than to start from scratch.