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HSU: Ch. 40
🕑 Added 2024-12-02 23:55:46 +0000 UTCAbandoning his original plan, Obito used Kamui to vanish.
"Just you wait," he said before disappearing.
The Konoha ninja waited for half a day, but there was no sign of him appearing anywhere. They shifted positions regularly, maintaining a strategic formation around the potential threat zones.
Everyone couldn't help but feel as though they were back in their ninja academy days, experiencing the awkwardness of a classmate yelling, "Don't leave after school!" during an argument.
It felt strange.
"Has he left?" someone asked.
Eventually, all eyes turned to the Hyūga clan members.
The Hyūgas, without needing further prompting, activated their Byakugan and began scanning the area.
"Everyone maintain your positions," a Hyūga jonin commanded. "We'll need full coverage of the area."
Despite being from the same village, the female shinobi present instinctively avoided their gaze.
After all, the Byakugan could see through objects, and the sudden call to action had left many of them rushing out of their homes. Some were still wearing their more... intimate undergarments.
"At least give us some warning next time," a kunoichi muttered, adjusting her hastily donned gear.
After a thorough search, one of the Hyūga jonin spoke up, "Outside the village... Wait a moment..."
Sweat began to bead on the jonin's forehead. "It's the Nine-Tails. That Uchiha is controlling the Nine-Tails! It's headed for the village!"
"Which direction?" Hiruzen asked immediately.
"From the south."
Hearing this, Minato's expression darkened. The place where he had saved his wife earlier was somewhere in the southern outskirts of Konoha.
The Nine-Tails had been there all along?
"Sandaime-sama, I think I know where it is. Please have everyone prepare defenses on the wall," Minato said, vanishing instantly with his Flying Thunder God.
"Fugaku-sama, Setsuna-sama, I'm going as well," Masashi said to the Uchiha leaders behind him before using the same teleportation technique.
Hiruzen and Danzō exchanged glances, wasting no time as they immediately began organizing their forces.
However, when it came to assigning tasks to the Uchiha clan...
"I propose that the Uchiha clan handle guiding civilians to shelters," a senior member of the Sarutobi clan suddenly suggested.
This elderly ninja, a contemporary of Hiruzen, was one of the key decision-makers within the Sarutobi clan. His wrinkled face betrayed decades of ingrained prejudice.
This proposal likely wasn't directly ordered by Hiruzen. He would never risk such an obvious move—it wasn't his style. That didn't prevent some of his clan from acting independently.
"What nonsense is this?" Setsuna shot back with a stern face, his Sharingan flickering to life momentarily. "Evacuating civilians is something our Uchiha clan, along with the Hyūga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans, have already been coordinating. Given the current situation, withdrawing all Uchiha members to the rear is unrealistic."
"This is not the time for your Uchiha clan's arrogance," Danzō interjected.
Though he found the Sarutobi elder's suggestion clumsy, the proposal aligned with his own goals. "The arrangement is in line with the Police Force's responsibilities. Considering the Sharingan's involvement, it's better for you to avoid suspicion."
You shameless snake! I knew you'd try to stir trouble! "Avoid suspicion? Didn't the village have a very different stance on this when Sharingan theft occurred in the past?" Setsuna retorted sharply, cutting off Danzō.
"Besides, why should the Sarutobi clan lead the assault? How long has it been since their members saw the battlefield? Their current skills hardly justify such an arrangement."
He stopped just short of outright calling the Sarutobi clan weaklings in front of everyone. This immediately angered the hot-tempered Sarutobi clan members. Several reached for their weapons.
But Setsuna wasn't wrong. Even those in the ANBU from the Sarutobi clan had been assigned relatively less demanding tasks in recent years, leaving their combat skills rusty.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha were more aggressive than ever, and tensions between the two clans had been simmering for years.
Before the Nine-Tails could even reach the village, the two clans were on the verge of clashing.
"Can't you Sarutobi people stop making things worse?" someone from the Inuzuka clan barked. A large dog growled beside its master as the Inuzuka ninja shouted, "Sandaime-sama and Danzō-sama haven't said anything! Aren't things chaotic enough already!?"
"Everyone knows the Uchiha clan's strength. It's nonsense to say they shouldn't be on the front lines," added a member of the Aburame clan, insects buzzing agitatedly around him.
"This isn't the time to argue. If the Nine-Tails breaches the village, the consequences will be disastrous. I think the Uchiha should also go to the front lines," even the Hyūga clan chimed in.
Out of the eight notable ninja clans in Konoha, four—including the Uchiha themselves—now stood against the Sarutobi clan's stance.
We don't have time for this foolishness. Faced with this balance of power, Hiruzen made a swift decision.
"Enough arguing. Regular ninja are useless against a tailed beast. All ninja ranked chunin and above, head to the wall to stop the Nine-Tails! Everyone else, guide the civilians to safety!"
This decision was neutral and appeased everyone. Each clan quickly split their forces accordingly.
Hiruzen and Danzō headed straight for the wall.
As they ran, the two old comrades remained silent for a while.
"This doesn't bode well, Hiruzen," Danzō suddenly said.
"I know. Where is Orochimaru? Isn't he with you? Why hasn't he come out for something this big?"
"He's guarding the Root base to prevent spies from taking advantage of the chaos." At least, that's what he claimed.
The conversation ended there, leaving Hiruzen's face grim and Danzō expressionless.
Their years of collaboration gave them a mutual understanding; each knew what the other meant without needing further explanation.
But their thoughts were quickly interrupted by a sound not heard in years: the roar of a beast.
The roar came from the south, accompanied by a fierce wind that swayed the surrounding trees. The ground trembled beneath them, cracks spreading across the earth.
In the southern sky, the night was dyed a terrifying shade of crimson. Their hearts sank as they quickened their pace.
Finally, the wall came into view. Beyond the distant barrier, they saw it—a colossal, flame-red fox with nine tails swaying behind it, striding towards the wall.
On the wall, the defenders were unleashing a barrage of shuriken, kunai, and elemental jutsu.
Fire, water, and lightning lit up the night sky, but these attacks were futile.
The Nine-Tails didn't even acknowledge them as it marched forward, the attacks dissipating harmlessly against its chakra-cloaked form.
Inside the village, cries of panic filled the air as civilians fled in all directions. Parents clutched children to their chests, and the elderly were helped along by neighbors.
"Nine-Tails!" Hiruzen's eyes burned with rage. His aged hands formed fists tight enough to draw blood.
Since taking over as Hokage from the Second, Hiruzen had worked tirelessly to shield Konoha from the horrors of war. Now, such a sight felt like the ultimate mockery of his efforts.
Danzō, though maintaining a composed exterior, was just as furious.
The two elders increased their pace, leading a wave of shinobi from Konoha's northern and southern sectors toward the wall.
Beyond the wall, Masashi stood atop a tree, watching the Nine-Tails approach. His Sharingan spun slowly, analyzing the massive chakra presence before him.
Moments ago, Minato had teleported away one of the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bombs using the Flying Thunder God, forcing Obito to engage him directly elsewhere.
Now, only the Nine-Tails remained, its eyes blazing with the Sharingan.
Ordinary kunai couldn't pierce Susanoo. Likewise, typical ninjutsu was useless against the Nine-Tails.
To deal with such a massive chakra entity, only a power of equal magnitude would suffice.
Masashi began forming hand seals.
He had a considerable amount of chakra. Or rather, the Uchiha clan itself could be seen as a massive reservoir of energy.
While Madara's chakra was less abundant than Hashirama's, that didn't mean he had a small amount—at the time, nobody had more chakra than Hashirama.
Another characteristic of the Uchiha was that their Sharingan enhanced their chakra capacity. Each evolution of the Sharingan significantly increased their chakra reserves, strengthening their overall power.
The Uzumaki clan was known for their extraordinary physical resilience, naturally abundant chakra, vibrant vitality, and long lifespans.
The Uchiha and Uzumaki were quite comparable in this regard. When the Sharingan reached the three-tomoe stage, the Uchiha's chakra was as abundant, if not more, than the Uzumaki of a similar level.
However, the Uchiha didn't show the same ridiculous vitality, as they rarely tapped into their physical energy reserves.
This might have been due to Indra.
However, Indra trained under Hagoromo, practicing both spiritual and physical energy from the start. Coupled with his innate three-tomoe Sharingan, he was at peak form from the beginning, while Asura only managed to catch up without ever surpassing him.
With knowledge from his lifetimes, Masashi had focused on developing his physical energy from the start. His three-tomoe Sharingan was far beyond the standard.
Even he didn't know the full extent of his chakra reserves.
The most he'd used was during the Third Great Ninja War near its end. After his teammates were wiped out, he went all out, chasing a group of Kiri ninja for an entire day.
He ended it by using his Ice Release to create a 'Kiri ninja museum' along the shoreline. Afterward, he still had enough energy to teleport back to camp and make it just in time for dinner.
The sensation of exhaustion—tongue lolling out, struggling to squeeze out chakra as if milking a dry cow—was something he hadn't experienced even across two lifetimes.
Maybe the Nine-Tails would be strong enough to push him to that point. Opportunities to expend chakra so freely so close to home didn't come often.
Whether the number of tails correlated with a tailed beast's strength, he couldn't remember. However, the Ten-Tails did indeed have ten tails.
Ninjas loved speculating and creating theories. For instance, some claimed the One-Tail from Suna represented wind and sand, though its chakra inherently carried magnetic properties.
Similarly, there were wild claims about the Nine-Tails being fire-aligned.
Looking up close, it did appear somewhat fiery. While the Nine-Tails in manga was depicted as a giant, furry fox, in Masashi's eyes, it was more like a mountain of flames.
Its crimson chakra radiated blinding brilliance, like an inferno illuminating the skies.
However, this was merely chakra. Its essence wasn't different from human chakra, though the tailed beasts' chakra surpassed human limits in its violent intensity.
The Nine-Tails' claws slammed repeatedly into the ground, shaking the earth and whipping up powerful gusts. Trees fell en masse, uprooted by the force.
"Nothing's working! Our strongest jutsu..." a ninja called out in desperation.
They're right. Conventional tactics are useless here.
It seemed godlike, embodying fire itself, as if to burn away all darkness and unleash brilliance.
On the walls, the ninja's expressions were filled with sorrow and despair—not for their lives but for Konoha behind them, where their families resided.
Those who had leapt from the walls to try and halt the beast's advance couldn't even make it pause. Techniques that once decimated enemies on battlefields barely scratched the Nine-Tails.
The beast, on the other hand, could sneeze or swat its claws and send people flying.
The walls provided no sense of safety.
Now, from the Konoha ninjas' perspective, only Masashi stood before the Nine-Tails.
Hiruzen and Danzō, along with the Konoha forces they led, had also arrived at the walls.
"Hold the line! We must protect the village!" Hiruzen's voice carried across the battlefield.
"The evacuation isn't complete. We need more time," Danzō added, his single visible eye fixed on the approaching beast.
Standing near the titanic beast, suffocation pressed heavily on them. Its sheer presence was overwhelming.
They, too, saw Masashi facing the Nine-Tails.
Even among those from the Sarutobi clan, historically unfriendly with the Uchiha, none harbored schadenfreude. In the face of such catastrophe, there were no clan divisions—only Konoha ninjas united.
Two sides remained: a mountain-sized tailed beast and the humans as small as sand grains.
All sound vanished from the walls. Only the Nine-Tails' heavy footsteps echoed.
Eyes filled with sorrow as another determined comrade prepared to sacrifice themselves against the beast, trying to slow it down by even the smallest margin.
This person wasn't the first, nor would they be the last. At this moment, every ninja present was prepared to die.
In the silence, Masashi's voice was crystal clear.
"Ice Release: Prometheus!"
In an instant, white replaced crimson, shrouding everyone's view.
A towering white titan stood firm on the earth. Its rugged, angular form seemed humanoid yet alien. Even the Akimichi clan's bulk couldn't achieve such a physique.
The giant's legs flared outward, with its lower torso resembling a skirt.
Somewhere, someone had once spoken of Prometheus, who defied the gods to bring fire to humanity.
The ninja world, of course, had no Mount Olympus. But as Masashi molded a mecha-like figure using Ice Release, everyone instinctively felt that the monstrous giant before them was terrifying.
For the older generation, including Hiruzen and Danzō, it evoked memories of something disturbingly similar.
Then, they heard Masashi's voice once more.
"Sage Art: Armament!"
What had appeared white became semi-transparent crystal, crawling over the giant's body and forming what looked like armor.
At least, the ninjas thought that massive piece must be a shield.
But the armor's design... seemed oddly familiar.
"Wait, isn't that his work?" someone on the wall suddenly exclaimed.
"That design... from the festival!"
"Masashi-sama created this!"
It was one of the evacuating civilians. Although the southern district wasn't as crowded as the north, it was still densely populated. Evacuation was far from complete.
Konoha's forces had improved the evacuation's efficiency, but the Nine-Tails was so close to the wall that even those far back could see the titan Masashi created.
The southern district had hosted last year's Uchiha Ice and Snow Festival, where he had showcased his immense skill. Among the massive ice sculptures he created were two massive figures: the Prometheus Titan and the Atlas Guardian, both inspired by ancient tales of beings who challenged the gods.
Though the ninja world had no Greek mythology, the sight of giant mecha-like sculptures had left a deep impression.
"Masashi-sama is that powerful of a ninja?"
Masashi, however, wasn't paying attention to this. He was inside the Prometheus, in Sage Mode, the markings on his face still shifting.
Ahead of him, the Nine-Tails paused, staring at the unfamiliar entity. Controlled by the Sharingan, it still felt a surge of rage.
Opening its mouth, it began forming another Tailed Beast Bomb.
Masashi changed his hand seals.
The Prometheus' feet released bursts of wind, lifting it off the ground.
With incredible speed, it charged at the Nine-Tails, extending a massive hand to grab the Tailed Beast Bomb.
