The Susanoo stood motionless for a single heartbeat. The massive construct towered over the remote landscape, its presence a declaration of power that seemed to warp the very air around it. Then cracks began spreading through the armour; glowing seams flickered, the skeletal frame collapsed, and armour dissolved into emerald particles. The enormous construct dispersed into the atmosphere like mist under the morning sun, its energy dissipating into the wind.
The battlefield suddenly became silent.
Renjiro stood where the Susanoo had been, his expression frozen, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. He did not even look at Minato initially; he kept staring at the space where his god-like armour had stood moments before. His internal thoughts churned, each one more disbelieving than the last. He had felt the power of the Susanoo, the perfect synchronisation, the absolute control; and yet, it had been bypassed as if it were nothing, like it was a tin can.
How? he thought, his thoughts sharp with shock. He bypassed every defensive layer. He stood beside me. Inside. He teleported me out of my own Susanoo.
He had faced impossible odds before; he had survived battles that should have killed him, had overcome enemies that should have destroyed him. He had fought Orochimaru and emerged victorious; he had faced the Third Raikage and lived to tell the tale. But this was different. The Susanoo was supposed to be impenetrable, a fortress of chakra that should have protected him from any attack. And yet, Minato had simply walked inside.
He began mentally reconstructing every second of the exchange. He replayed the moment of teleportation, the sudden appearance of Minato inside the Susanoo, the hand on his shoulder, the instant displacement. Did the Flying Thunder God ignore chakra constructs? Did Minato teleport through the armour? Did the Susanoo possess an opening that he had not noticed? Did his EMS fail? Did his precognition fail? Was there an unseen weakness that he had overlooked?
He kept replaying the scene, searching for any detail that would explain how the Hokage had bypassed his defences so effortlessly. Nothing made sense. The Susanoo was supposed to be the ultimate expression of Uchiha power; it was a manifestation of his will, a fortress of chakra that should have protected him from any attack. And yet, Minato had simply walked inside as if the armour did not exist.
He finally asked, his voice carrying the weight of his confusion.
"How?"
No anger, no frustration, just pure curiosity. He wanted to understand the mechanism. He needed to understand the mechanism.
Minato blinked, then smiled. He genuinely thought Renjiro already knew.
"Did you really think I wouldn't mark you when I teleported us?" he asked, his voice carrying the particular warmth of someone who had just revealed a clever trick.
Renjiro froze. Everything clicked into place.
The explanation was simple, elegant, and devastating. When Minato had transported Renjiro earlier, the physical contact had allowed him to apply a mark. The mark had remained on Renjiro, invisible and undetectable, waiting for activation. The Susanoo was generated around the user; the Flying Thunder God targeted the marked object, not the surrounding chakra. Minato had therefore teleported directly beside Renjiro, ignored the external armour entirely, grabbed him, and teleported him away. Once the caster left the Susanoo, the chakra construct naturally lost its anchor and collapsed.
I never lost because the Susanoo was weak, Renjiro realised, his internal voice quiet with understanding. I lost because Minato attacked the pilot instead of the armour. The weakness wasn't the Susanoo; it was me.
He silently admired Minato's tactical brilliance; the Hokage had identified the fundamental weakness of the technique and exploited it without hesitation despite this being the first time he came across this ability. He thought about his own perception, his EMS, his enhanced nervous system, and his reflexes; yet he had barely reacted. He wondered if this was really how fast Minato was, or if the Flying Thunder God had completely overwhelmed even his EMS-enhanced perception. The Yellow Flash was legendary for a reason; his speed was not just physical, but tactical.
Renjiro began arguing with himself, his internal conflict becoming one of the largest introspective sections of the spar. One side of his mind said that he had been surprised, and no one expects an enemy inside their own Susanoo; his reaction time had not been properly tested. The other side immediately rejected that; a shinobi could not afford surprise. Every assassination, every ambush, every battlefield, and every unknown variable was built upon surprise. Surprise killed, hesitation killed, underestimating an enemy killed, and rationalisations killed.
He questioned himself; was he making excuses? Was his pride protecting his ego? Or was his analysis actually correct? He was not certain. He ultimately refused to lie to himself; whether it was surprise or not did not matter. He had still failed, and therefore he must eliminate the weakness.
Surprise kills, he thought, his internal voice cold with self-awareness. Hesitation kills. Underestimating an enemy kills. Rationalisations kill. I cannot afford any of them.
Instead of frustration, Renjiro smiled. Minato noticed immediately; the Hokage knew that he had figured something out. The smile was not one of triumph, but of understanding.
Renjiro activated the Susanoo again; the manifestation was shorter than the first reveal, emphasizing his growing mastery. Skeleton, muscles, armour, helmet, and weapons assembled almost instantly, each component forming with seamless precision. There was no pain, no eye bleeding, no fatigue, no instability, and no recoil. The Susanoo simply emerged, as natural as breathing. The emerald chakra coalesced around him, forming the familiar structures with an ease that spoke of hours of practice condensed into moments.
Minato's eyes widened; he had not expected Renjiro to manifest the construct again so quickly. He commented, his voice carrying the weight of his surprise.
"…Already?"
"You can manifest it again immediately?"
He had expected chakra exhaustion; instead, there was none. The EMS had truly eliminated every weakness of the Mangekyō.
Inside the Susanoo, Renjiro was genuinely amazed. His internal thoughts carried the weight of his appreciation for the EMS. The old Susanoo had demanded enormous chakra, caused eye pain, and required a long cooldown. The current Susanoo was effortless, repeatable, sustainable, and natural. He silently appreciated how complete the evolution really was.
The Eternal Mangekyō truly removed every weakness, he thought.
Minato smiled and prepared another FTG assault; he joked, his voice carrying the particular warmth of someone who was about to demonstrate superior tactics.
"You never learn, do you?"
Then he vanished.
Instead of panicking, Renjiro calmly waited. Inside the Susanoo, he had already erected a barrier around the cockpit, not around the Susanoo, but around himself. The barrier was subtle, invisible to casual observation, and designed to interfere with the Flying Thunder God's targeting mechanism. He had learned from the first exchange; he had identified the weakness and addressed it.
Minato activated the Flying Thunder God; something felt wrong. He could not instantly arrive beside Renjiro. The barrier interfered, not completely, but enough to disrupt his teleportation. He was a master of fuinjutsu; he instantly analysed the barrier, locating structural stress points, seal overlap, and chakra circulation flaws. He identified a microscopic weakness and broke it; the barrier shattered, and the teleport succeeded.
Minato appeared beside Renjiro again, exactly like before. Except this time, Renjiro did not look surprised. He was waiting.
The instant Minato materialised, Renjiro's left pupil contracted sharply. His gaze locked onto Minato; the three-second visual tether completed, and the invisible mark formed. Minato suddenly felt foreign chakra slipping into his network, not violently, but quietly and deliberately. His instincts exploded in warning; he could feel the seal embedding itself in his chakra, its presence subtle but undeniable.
For the first time since the spar had begun, the Fourth Hokage felt genuine danger.
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