Chapter 57: Clash of Titans
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes narrowed to slits. There was no time for retreat, only defense. The power of his Mangekyō Sharingan erupted at its maximum output.
A torrent of dark yellow, corrosive chakra exploded from his body, materializing with a thunderous crackle of energy. In an instant, a colossal, half-formed human skeleton, standing several dozen meters tall, encased him. This was the skeletal first stage of Susanoo. Though massive, it looked almost fragile next to the mountain-like Nine-Tails.
The fox's claw, carrying the force of a cataclysm, descended.
BOOM!
The impact was not a clean block, but a violent, shattering deflection. Fugaku's Susanoo was swatted sideways like a giant's toy. It skidded backwards for hundreds of meters, its skeletal feet gouging deep trenches in the earth. Every building in its path was pulverized into clouds of dust and splinters, leaving a fresh scar of ruin across the village.
An excited, guttural roar tore from the Nine-Tails' throat. It did not pause to gloat. Its mountain-sized body lunged forward, each step causing the ground to heave and buckle. It covered the several hundred meters in a handful of thunderous strides, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
"ROAR!"
It wanted to crush the Uchiha who had dared to violate its mind, to smear him into the broken earth.
From the swirling dust of the ruins, the dark yellow skeleton rose again. Then, it began to evolve. With a sound like grinding stone and screaming chakra, the skeleton grew, shooting upwards to over twenty meters. Chakra veins and masses of spectral muscle wove over the bones, followed by plates of gigantic, ornate armor reminiscent of a Karasu Tengu. In its newly formed hand, a colossal chakra greatsword solidified. The third stage, the humanoid form of Susanoo, was complete.
The armored giant did not wait. It lunged forward, its speed belying its immense size. The greatsword swept out in a horizontal arc, cutting the air with a shrieking whistle.
Shoom!
A blade of compressed, dark yellow chakra energy shot forth.
The Nine-Tails' pupils contracted. It threw its head back and opened its maw, a swirling mass of scarlet chakra condensing in a heartbeat. A Tailed Beast Ball, smaller than its full power but devastating nonetheless, fired to intercept.
BOOM-BOOM!
The sword wave and the chakra sphere collided mid-air, detonating in a sphere of annihilating light and concussive force that flattened the surrounding ruins.
Seizing the moment of the explosion, Susanoo charged through the dissipating energy, its greatsword raised high for a two-handed overhead slash aimed at the fox's skull.
The Nine-Tails' nine massive tails, each as thick as an ancient tree, lashed out not to strike, but to entangle. They wrapped around the descending blade, their immense strength halting the sword's momentum mid-swing.
A grotesquely mocking grin spread across the fox's muzzle. Its mouth gaped open once more. This time, the chakra gathering was different—visible swirls of blue and black energy, the raw components of Yin and Yang release, spun together in its mouth, beginning the formation of a true, full-power Tailed Beast Ball.
Fugaku's heart clenched inside the Susanoo's core. I can't let it fire!
Reacting on pure instinct, Susanoo's free left hand clenched. Another chakra greatsword materialized from swirling energy. With a desperate, piston-like thrust, he drove this second sword directly at the Nine-Tails' face, aiming for its gathering maw.
The attack was too fast, too close. The fox, its tails occupied, could not fully dodge.
It jerked its head aside. The thrusting blade missed the center of its mouth but scored a deep, burning gash along its cheek and jaw.
KABOOM!
The unstable, half-formed Tailed Beast Ball detonated prematurely right in front of the fox's own face.
Light, heat, and sound ceased to have meaning for a blinding moment. A dome of destruction expanded, then surged upwards into a monstrous, roiling mushroom cloud that seemed to scrape the night sky. The shockwave rattled the teeth of every shinobi in Konoha.
When the light faded and the thunderous roar subsided, the scene was laid bare. Fugaku's Susanoo had been blasted back to its skeletal first stage, cracked and flickering unsteadily. Inside its protection, Fugaku was on one knee, breathing raggedly. Twin trails of blood streamed from his eyes, tracing dark lines down his cheeks.
The Nine-Tails shook its massive head, snarling. A patch of fur on its face and neck was scorched black and smoking, but even as they watched, the damage began to fade, the flesh underneath knitting itself back together with the beast's monstrous vitality.
Fugaku's heart sank like a stone. It's barely scratched. Where is Minato? Why hasn't he returned? He knew his chakra and ocular stamina were finite. A direct, prolonged battle with the Nine-Tails was a fight he could not win alone.
"Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan!"
A new voice, loud and boisterous, cut through the din. Jiraiya, a giant blue Rasengan—over ten meters in diameter—whirling above his palm, came hurtling from the flank, slamming the technique into the Nine-Tails' side.
"Pathetic!" the fox roared. Three of its mighty tails snapped forward like whips, not to absorb, but to batter.
BANG!
The colossal Rasengan held for a mere second against the overwhelming physical force before shattering into a burst of harmless blue sparks. Jiraiya was thrown back by the backlash, skidding across the ruined ground until he dug his heels in. The two Great Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima, balanced perfectly on his shoulders.
Sage Mode, Fugaku observed, his mind working quickly despite the pain. Powerful, but his form is unstable. The toads are stabilizing it for him. The clan records on Jiraiya's abilities were vague but noted his Sage Mode was imperfect.
"Little Jiraiya! What in the world happened?" Shima cried, her large eyes wide as she stared at the Nine-Tails.
"Where is Minato? This is his duty!" Fukasaku added, his voice tense.
"I don't know, old man!" Jiraiya grunted, keeping his focus on the beast. "I was in the middle of my… retreat when all hell broke loose!" He glanced at Fugaku's flickering Susanoo. "The Uchiha's Susanoo… To see that power in this age…" Fukasaku murmured, impressed despite the circumstances.
"We need to combine our efforts. Normal ninjutsu is just tickling it. We'll use that technique," Jiraiya said, his expression turning deadly serious.
"The Five Barriers Fire Bullet? Understood," both sages replied in unison. It was a devastating combination attack—Jiraiya's oil, Fukasaku's wind, and Shima's fire, merged into an inferno that could burn even tailed beast chakra.
"But we need to clear the area! Our own people will get caught in it!" Jiraiya yelled, looking at the Konoha jonin still darting around the fox's feet.
Before he could act on the thought, a new and terrifying development shook the entire battlefield. The ground beneath them began to tremble, not from the Nine-Tails' steps, but from something surging upwards from deep below.
CRACK! CR-RUNCH!
A forest of gargantuan, serpentine tree roots exploded from the earth all around the secondary battlefield where Hiruzen and Akira fought Nagato. They grew with impossible speed, thick as houses, weaving and spreading like a tidal wave of wood. In moments, they had encroached upon the main battlefield, turning the entire devastated zone into a nightmarish labyrinth of coiled, living timber.
Hiruzen and Akira, having been forced into a frantic game of evasion, finally broke through the last of the grasping roots and retreated back to where Jiraiya and Fugaku stood. The four powerful shinobi regrouped, forming a wary line.
From the apex of the newly grown wooden forest, Nagato descended slowly, his feet alighting gently on a thick root. His Rinnegan glowed with cold, detached power.
"Nagato…" Jiraiya's voice was thick with a complex storm of emotions—shock, sorrow, and a hardened resolve. His year of confinement had been spent grappling with the truth of his student's path. The boy he knew was gone, replaced by this vessel of pain and power.
The Nine-Tails, for its part, ceased its immediate assault. It took a half-step back, its great heads swinging between the gathered Konoha forces and Nagato. A low, wary growl rumbled in its chest. The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths… A primal, deeply ingrained caution stirred within the beast. It knew the true potential of those eyes.
For a long, tense moment, a strange three-way standoff solidified in the heart of the burning village: Konoha's defenders, the wild Nine-Tails, and Nagato, the Rinnegan wielder, standing amidst his creation of towering wood.
(End of Chapter)
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