Uchiha Yue secretly activated his Sharingan's innate ability to mimic, silently imprinting Sarutobi Hiruzen's technique into memory—something the aging Third Hokage could never have anticipated. But even had he realized it, Hiruzen wouldn't have hesitated. Instead, he only intensified his offense.
Because for him, Yue's copying signaled an opportunity.
If he could just breach Yue's defense—just once—he might reverse the tide and claim an achievement that would shake the shinobi world: wounding the reincarnated prodigy of the Uchiha.
Yet that fleeting hope grew dimmer with each passing moment. The longer their taijutsu clash extended, the more Hiruzen's initial confidence eroded. His breathing grew heavy, and a weight pressed tighter on his heart.
The Sharingan's copying ability was simply too perfect—too unreasonably effective. Each second that passed allowed Yue to analyze, adapt, and eventually predict his movements. Even his most refined taijutsu forms—honed over decades of battle and once lethal enough to contend with legendary figures like Hanzo and Sakumo—were being unraveled.
And if he couldn't break Yue's defense, then what could he do next?
"Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a decisive thought, Hiruzen launched another sweeping blow to create space, forcing Yue back half a step before immediately forming the necessary hand seals. In an instant, four shadow clones emerged, spreading out in formation.
"Ninjutsu: Genjutsu – Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"
The clones surrounded Yue from four directions while Hiruzen activated one of the Second Hokage's inventions—a genjutsu refined specifically to blind even Sharingan users.
"Huh? Bringer-of-Darkness? Tobirama specifically created this to counter the Uchiha?"
Uchiha Yue's eyes widened as his vision abruptly vanished into an abyss. Despite wielding the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't pierce the veil of darkness. The sensation was jarring, the blindness unexpected.
Yet although he momentarily halted, blinded and surprised, Yue remained calm. He understood that while his eyes were deceived, his body and chakra were not vulnerable.
To Hiruzen's perception, the space around Yue suddenly warped as pure chakra surged outward, crystallizing into the rib-like framework of Susanoo's skeletal stage. The chakra armor formed a complete shell, blocking all incoming assaults from the four shadow clones.
Their taijutsu techniques—each bearing lethal precision—were rendered useless against the armored avatar.
"So that's it… this illusion doesn't attack the chakra flow or brainwaves like a typical genjutsu. It alters the surrounding environment directly, creating a field that eliminates all visible light."
Yue's voice rang calmly from within the dark, dissecting the nature of the illusion with a scientist's precision. "Essentially, it forms a dome of perfect darkness—making the eyes, even mine, utterly ineffective."
Even as he unraveled the jutsu's mechanics, he couldn't help but admire its designer. Senju Tobirama… truly a genius of his era. Inventor of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Edo Tensei, and now this…
"Damn it! Ninjutsu: Five Release – Great Combination Technique!"
Seeing Yue dismiss his shadow clone assault so easily and even analyzing his genjutsu aloud, Hiruzen's frustration boiled over. Cursing, he activated his final offensive trump card.
He and all four of his clones surged with chakra simultaneously. Each formed elemental hand seals—Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water—coordinating their five affinities in a technique once hailed as the embodiment of the "Professor" title Hiruzen once held.
Five devastating elemental streams intertwined and collided midair, amplifying each other's strength. The result was a massive, compound explosion of pure destruction.
BOOM!!!
The impact was cataclysmic. The shockwave shattered buildings across multiple city blocks. Even in the battle-worn district where they fought, now reduced to rubble, the force of the combined ninjutsu ignited a firestorm, flattening what little remained of the street.
Fortunately, due to Yue's foresight, the Uchiha clan had preemptively evacuated all nearby civilians. And Sarutobi's own ANBU detail had wisely followed his orders to stay back, sparing innocent lives from the devastating blast.
"Haa… haa… did I do it?"
Panting heavily, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood atop a half-destroyed structure, sweat rolling down his face. His lungs burned. That final strike had consumed nearly all his chakra.
This was his strongest technique—one he hadn't used since the Second Shinobi War. If this couldn't fell Uchiha Yue, then only one final measure remained…
"Master Patriarch!"
Cries echoed from afar. Several Uchiha clansmen, watching the battle from a safe distance, screamed in horror and concern. Even with faith in Yue's strength, the sheer force of the explosion had shaken them.
And they weren't alone.
Across Konoha—shinobi, civilians, and clan members alike—crowds stared toward the rising smoke in stunned silence. The earlier rumble had rattled the entire village. Now, all eyes turned to the epicenter.
Then, the thick dust began to churn and twist, as though something immense was stirring within.
Under countless breathless gazes, a massive silhouette rose from the smoke. Gusts of wind roared outward, parting the haze like curtains, revealing the towering form within.
And there—bathed in the glow of raw chakra—stood Susanoo in its complete, armored form.
A giant hundreds of meters tall, shaped from the spiritual energy of an Eternal Mangekyō user.
"The God… Is that… a god?"
"That's the Uchiha's divine technique! That's… that's Madara's power!"
"Is that thing really made of chakra? How can something like that even exist!?"
Shock and awe swept the village. Ordinary citizens dropped to their knees in reverence. Even seasoned shinobi stared with gaping mouths, overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the behemoth.
Then, from atop Susanoo's head, a voice rang out—calm, steady, condemning.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen… still willing to call yourself Hokage after this?"
Uchiha Yue's robes were untouched, his expression ice-cold. His voice, though not loud, was amplified by chakra, reaching every corner of the village.
"Look at what you've done. Using a technique of this magnitude inside Konoha? Destroying your own village's buildings, endangering its people?"
"If I hadn't ordered the Uchiha to evacuate the district in advance, how many innocents would you have killed?"
"You call yourself a guardian of this village? A Hokage?"
His words cut deeper than blades. Around the village, the people listening stirred—some angry, some ashamed, all contemplative.
"Even if you had never orchestrated the rumors against us, never laid the foundation for our isolation… even then, your actions today are unforgivable."
Yue's gaze sharpened as he stared down at the man who once led Konoha.
"You're not worthy of the title 'Hokage.'"
JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCE 50+ CHAPTERS
Patreon.com/Kora_1