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Chapter 168: Susanoo!
🕑 Added 2025-09-02 13:53:53 +0000 UTCChapter 168: Susanoo!
A seemingly endless torrent of water formed violent, spinning waterspouts in the air. The sky-rending vortexes threatened to connect the heavens and the earth, making it impossible to tell which way to dodge. The scene was as if the very firmament was weeping. This water-style dōjutsu, unleashed by Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan, was activated with such stealth and speed that even Minato, with his phenomenal reaction time, found it difficult to evade every single lashing current.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Having just landed on the water's surface, Minato was forced to use his space-time ninjutsu to escape to the distant forest, avoiding the sudden assault.
Meanwhile, in the sky, Nara Keisuke was also maneuvering his Shadow Creature, dodging the waterspouts rising from below. Compared to Minato, however, his method of evasion was far simpler. The Shadow Creature just had to fly higher and higher to escape the attack's range.
When the storm of waterspouts finally dissipated, the massive volume of water crashed back down, sending up another great wave. In the roar of the receding torrent, the Hidden Mist Technique that Kagami had created was completely washed away.
Keisuke looked down, his view of the area below the waterfall now completely unobstructed. It wasn't just the fog that had vanished. The vast lake that Kagami had summoned with his "Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave" was also gone.
"So he used a pre-stored reservoir of water-style chakra to unleash a jutsu of that incredible scale," Keisuke deduced, his surprise diminishing.
Compared to ordinary ninja, the Uchiha were certainly blessed with large chakra reserves. But compared to the two clans with monstrous amounts of chakra—the Senju and the Uzumaki—the Uchiha's reserves could only be described as "average." This didn't change much even after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.
In his reanimated state, Uchiha Kagami's power level was—in Keisuke's opinion—definitely enhanced. The "fragility" of a normal Mangekyo was something that anyone in the know understood. Without any external "power-ups," even an Indra reincarnate like Sasuke Uchiha went blind after using his a few times. And for Keisuke's own teammate, Shisui, the cooldown for his Kotoamatsukami was measured in decades.
Why were normal Mangekyo Sharingan so fragile? It was because the chakra pathways within the eyes simply couldn't withstand such a massive output of chakra over a short period.
But as an Edo Tensei, Kagami didn't have to worry about his eyes being damaged, nor did he need to worry about chakra consumption. His normal Mangekyo was effectively an Eternal Mangekyo, and one with an infinite power supply at that. For him, the reanimation was an absolute, massive upgrade.
However, even the enhancements of Edo Tensei had to follow basic principles. Generally, a reanimated ninja's peak power output could not surpass what they had in life. The amount of chakra they could release in a given moment was still determined by their living body's capacity. Unless, of course, someone stuffed half of the Nine-Tails inside themselves right before they died...
If the living Uchiha Kagami could have casually unleashed super-large-scale water jutsu like the ones he had just seen, Keisuke would have suspected he'd been assassinated by Danzō and Madara in a conspiracy. As it stood, while Kagami's water style was impressive, it wasn't impossibly so.
Hidden in the forest, Minato also sensed the ambient chakra levels near the waterfall drop, and he came to a similar conclusion.
"His chakra is depleted! I'll keep him pinned down!"
Minato used his Body Flicker, rushing back towards the waterfall. 'Every jutsu must have a weakness! For the Edo Tensei... is it the caster? Or... the summoning itself?'
Sensing Minato's approach, Keisuke coordinated by descending and firing a Spiraling Shadow Binding Bullet down at Kagami.
But this time, Kagami merely looked up, making no move to dodge. As they stared at each other from a distance, before Keisuke could even get a clear look at the pattern in his eyes, the bullet struck its target.
Poof!
It was like punching through air. The moment the projectile hit, Kagami's body instantly dissolved into a flock of black crows that scattered in every direction.
"A Crow Clone?" Keisuke's brow furrowed, his mind instinctively jumping to his teammate's cool, unique clone jutsu. Considering the relationship between Kagami and Shisui, it made sense that he could use it.
But to Keisuke's surprise, the scattered crows were then pulled back together by some unknown force. Kagami's figure re-formed amongst them, but now a pair of giant, crow-like wings sprouted from his back, holding him aloft in the air.
Mangekyo Dōjutsu, Yatagarasu!
"Now... this is just getting ridiculous," Keisuke muttered, his mouth twitching.
Kagami beat his new black wings and, like a giant crow, shot straight towards him.
Minato, who had just burst out of the forest to re-engage, froze in his tracks at the sight. "Kagami-senpai can fly, too?"
With two aerial combatants now locked in a dogfight, what was his role? Minato snapped out of it and turned his gaze back towards the waterfall.
Up in the sky, Keisuke finally got a clear look at the unique pinwheel pattern of his opponent's Mangekyo Sharingan.
"So it is a Mangekyo ability!"
He raised his hands, condensed balls of Yin Release chakra at his fingertips, and fired them at Kagami. Kagami didn't dodge, allowing the black bullets to pierce his body.
Poof!
Upon being hit, his body once again dissolved into a flock of crows, which immediately re-formed and continued their flight towards Keisuke. Against an enemy who could split apart and regenerate at will, the Binding Bullet had very little effect. And against an Edo Tensei, even a lethal blow was useless.
Keisuke frowned but let Kagami approach, making no move to stop him.
Just as the distance between them closed to about ten meters, dozens of black shadows erupted from the Shadow Creature beneath Keisuke's feet. They danced in the air like tentacles, lashing out to bind the approaching Kagami.
Shadow Gathering Jutsu!
And stuck to the end of each shadow tentacle was a white paper talisman. The character for "Explode" printed on them grew larger and larger in Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan. The paper used for summoning tags and the paper used for explosive tags were essentially the same type of ninja tool—a special medium for storing chakra. To practice his Flash Blade Manifestation technique, Keisuke had purchased a large amount of this paper. Now, having mastered the method for creating Explosion Release chakra, he had the ability to make his own custom paper bombs.
He could have just used his Explosion Release Mask, of course, but paper bombs were a more conventional attack and less likely to give away his secrets. The bombs he was now controlling were all "Explosion Release Paper Bombs," made with his own custom chakra.
With a thought, Keisuke ignited them.
BOOM!!
A deafening roar that seemed to crack the clouds and split the stones erupted in mid-air. Kagami, who had just managed to get airborne, flew straight into the explosive net Keisuke had created. A brilliant flash of light instantly engulfed him. The force of several dozen custom bombs was astonishing, and a rolling shockwave of hot air expanded outwards.
Keisuke stared into the center of the smoke and fire, waiting for it to clear. But at that moment, a translucent arm made of highly condensed, bright yellow chakra shot out of the inferno, swatting at him with lightning speed.
The chakra arm swung through the air, creating a howling wind.
"This is..."
Keisuke's pupils contracted. He manipulated the Shadow Creature, forming a black shield of Yin Release chakra at his side.
Shadow Shield Technique!
WHAM!
The power of the yellow chakra arm was beyond his expectations. With a dull thud, the Shadow Shield failed to hold. It shattered, and the force of the blow sent Keisuke and his Shadow Creature tumbling out of the sky. They crashed into the river below, nearly colliding with Minato, who was on his way to the waterfall.
Keisuke dispelled the Shadow Creature just in time to avoid a crash, but he himself landed on the water's surface.
"Keisuke! Are you alright?" Minato stopped and rushed to his side, then looked up at the sky and froze once more. "What... is that?"
Against the vast, blue canvas of the sky, a colossal, bright yellow giant floated like a god of war, its form majestic and overwhelming.
Susanoo, descended upon this place!
