The Konoha pursuit force stared at the mushroom cloud in stunned silence.
Not one of the hundred or so ninja dared to make a move. Uchiha Nagi could likely defeat them all single-handedly, but with seven or eight of his own people on the scene, a direct confrontation would be risky.
Truth is only within the range of the cannon.
A single blast from the Sky Fortress's chakra cannon, creating a mushroom cloud as large as a Tailed Beast Bomb, had terrified the Konoha ninja into submission.
"Kakashi, we..."
"Yes. The battle is over."
With that, Uchiha Nagi used his Magnet Style, lifting the Swordsmith Village ninja into the air with iron sand. They ascended towards the Sky Fortress, looking down on Kakashi and the others as they flew into the flying citadel.
By the time they were airborne, it was too late for the Konoha ninja to change their minds, even if they wanted to. Who among them could fly?
Oh, that wasn't entirely true. Sai of the Root, with his Super Beast Scroll, could fly...
Ordinarily, no one could board the Sky Fortress besides Uchiha Nagi. Only the core members and a few loyal students were allowed, using the personal flight devices from the former Sky Ninja Village.
It was safe to say that the Swordsmith Village's personal flight devices, heavy artillery, and the Sky Fortress itself put them technologically far ahead of the other villages.
"I have to get stronger... or I won't even be able to protect the village," Kakashi murmured, looking up helplessly at the flying fortress. He couldn't fly. He touched his single eye; fighting with only one was always a disadvantage.
Maybe I can get a matching eye, he thought. Konoha had cloning technology, though most of it was kept secret. Having served in the Anbu, Kakashi knew all about the countless human and cloning experiments conducted by Root and Orochimaru. The Anbu had confiscated many of those records...
Aboard the Sky Fortress, Uchiha Nagi finally breathed a sigh of relief. A fight against so many would have put his students in danger, especially with Kimimaro's illness having progressed to the point where he could barely move.
"Are you alright, Kimimaro?"
"I'm fine, Sensei. I can still hold on. Cough, cough..."
Nagi took a look. The bloodline disease had become severe. If Kimimaro were to fight at full power as he had before, it wouldn't be surprising if he dropped dead on the spot.
In that, Itachi and Kimimaro were similar. Both suffered from the late stages of a bloodline disease, and one final, all-out battle had been enough to kill them. But if they didn't push themselves to the limit, they could hold on for a while longer.
"We'll operate as soon as we get back. But first, I'm going to do some more research. You rest and get your strength up for the surgery." Transplanting a Byakugan into Kimimaro would be easy, but Nagi had just obtained Otsutsuki Urashiki's cells.
He wanted to see if Urashiki's cells might have a positive chemical reaction with Kimimaro's.
"You're all in for a treat when we get back. I got my hands on the Scroll of Seals, haha! You won't have to worry about a lack of ninjutsu anymore."
"Hm? Danzo is dead? Then I should recall Uchiha Fugaku, before Konoha has a chance to seal him..."
At the Root base in Konoha, Danzo died again and again. During the Warring States Period, the two Uchiha brothers, Madara and Izuna, had dominated the world with their Mangekyo Sharingan, a testament to its power.
Fugaku, piloting his Gundam, had amplified Amaterasu with Kagutsuchi, cloaking his Susanoo in the black flames. Fueled by the infinite chakra of his reanimated body, he went on an absolute rampage. Danzo was completely outmatched.
The dozen or so Sharingan, each providing one minute of Izanagi, were finally all used up.
On the verge of death, Danzo screamed that it was all for Konoha and activated the Four Symbols Seal. He managed to seal half of the reanimated Uchiha clansmen, but the seal's range was limited, much like how the Reaper Death Seal only targeted souls.
Fugaku's Susanoo was only half-sealed; its sheer size allowed him to escape.
As for where the Four Symbols Seal sent its victims, no one knew. But it was not on the same level as the Reaper Death Seal, which targeted the soul directly and was incredibly secure.
With Danzo dead, Konoha's support troops turned their wary eyes on Uchiha Fugaku.
"Uchiha Fugaku, you don't belong here. Go back to where you came from," Yamanaka Inoichi said gravely.
"I don't belong here?" Fugaku turned, his gaze like ice. "Then where do I belong? Konoha was founded by the Senju and the Uchiha, together."
"Every brick, every tree, every house here was built by our two clans, hand in hand. When we founded this village, where were you?"
"The Sarutobi clan, the Shimura clan, and you, the Ino-Shika-Cho—you are all outsiders who came later." Fugaku's eyes blazed with fury, and the Susanoo materialized once more. "None of you have the right to drive me away."
"When the Uchiha clan was being massacred, you all stood by and watched. Do you have any right to speak to me now?"
Inoichi felt a headache coming on. This was the exact situation he had dreaded. When the Uchiha were wiped out, the smaller clans had been too afraid of getting caught in the crossfire to intervene.
Who could have known that Konoha's "F4" would later push their luck even further, testing the limits of another clan by demanding the head of the Hyuga clan hand over his own brother to pay for a crime?
After that, although Konoha enjoyed many years of peace, the smaller clans had privately grown estranged from the leadership. The fact that so many ninja had stood by and watched the Hokage die inside a barrier during the invasion was proof enough.
Could a single barrier really withstand the combined assault of so many Konoha ninja? It was nothing more than a flimsy excuse, a way to ensure the Third Hokage couldn't escape...
"If I refuse to leave, who among you can stop me?" Uchiha Fugaku swung his sword, and a deep chasm was instantly carved into the earth.
The watching ninja felt a wave of terror.
[Mind Transfer Jutsu]
Yamanaka Inoichi was the first to act, launching his jutsu to take control of Fugaku. But in the next second, he was on the ground, clutching his head and screaming in agony.
"Hmph. Before the Mangekyo Sharingan, your clan's secret techniques are like ants," Fugaku said coldly, looking down at Inoichi.
The moment Inoichi had entered his mind, Fugaku had used his Mangekyo to give him a brutal lesson.
[Shadow Imitation Technique]
Nara Shikaku and several of his clansmen managed to temporarily restrain the Susanoo with their jutsu.
[Expansion Jutsu]
Akimichi Choza transformed into a giant and swung his staff at Fugaku's Susanoo.
However, while Fugaku's body was immobilized, his ocular powers were not. He manipulated the black flames of Kagutsuchi, sending them climbing up Choza's staff and onto his hands.
Choza cried out in pain and immediately dispelled his jutsu, but no matter how he slapped at the black flames, he couldn't extinguish them.
The flames quickly spread up his arm. A nearby ninja, seeing this, hastily swung his blade to sever the burning limb, but it was too late. The fire had already reached his shoulder. After losing half his torso, Choza was on the verge of death.
"Everyone, do not touch those black flames! They're extremely dangerous!"
"Hmph. Konoha..." Uchiha Fugaku unleashed years of pent-up fury. "Get the two advisors out here to face me. Otherwise, I will destroy Konoha today."
With a wave of his hand, the black flames of Amaterasu began to spread. The Nara clan was forced to release their Shadow Imitation; they couldn't hold on any longer against the immense power of the Susanoo.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Uchiha Fugaku, piloting his Susanoo, advanced step by step. The Konoha ninja unleashed a torrent of jutsu, kunai, and paper bombs at him.
But it was all useless. The power of a top-tier combatant, the power of a Gundam, was on full display, filling them with utter despair.
The only one who could possibly stand against him, Jiraiya, was gravely injured and couldn't make it to the battle.
The two advisors might have known what was happening, but years of conflict had taken their toll. Their bodies were no longer what they were in their youth. They hadn't received Hashirama's cells, and the older one gets, the more one fears death...
Fueled by old grievances and a heart full of rage, Uchiha Fugaku marched into Konoha, unstoppable.
With every swing of his blade, those who stood in his way were cut down. The might of the Gundam was absolute.
"Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, get out here!" Fugaku roared, smashing through Konoha's outer wall with a single slash and walking inside.
The surrounding ninja were helpless. All they could do was throw kunai and paper bombs. Even A-rank ninjutsu was useless against Fugaku's Susanoo.
The consequences of Sarutobi Hiruzen's decades of authoritarian rule were now laid bare. The entire village of Konoha couldn't produce a single high-end, Kage-level shinobi capable of dealing with a behemoth the size of a Tailed Beast.
"Damn it! This guy... I have to stop him! What do I do, what do I do?"
Naruto, having just returned to the village with Kakashi, saw the Susanoo destroying Konoha and began to panic. Chief Gamabunta had already been un-summoned and was gravely injured. Naruto didn't know who else he could rely on.
"Kakashi, leave it to me," Guy said, turning with a serious expression. "The time has come to let the flames of youth burn brightly..."
Guy wasn't sure how many of the Eight Gates he would need to open to deal with a Kage-level opponent, but the real problems were his opponent's infinite chakra and immortal, reanimated body.
"Stop, Father!"
A small figure leaped quickly in front of Uchiha Fugaku. It was Sasuke.
He hadn't been completely consumed by darkness yet; a sliver of kindness still remained in his heart. Even in the future, after turning to darkness, he barely killed anyone—Danzo was arguably the only one. Naruto had killed far more people than him.
Now, seeing his own father destroying Konoha, he couldn't stop himself from rushing out.
"Sasuke..." Uchiha Fugaku stopped.
"Wait, Guy, hold on." Kakashi stopped Guy just as he was about to open the Gates, looking expectantly at his student. "Let Sasuke handle this. I believe in him..."
Uchiha Fugaku stood quietly, looking at his youngest son. He then looked towards the Hokage Rock, and then at the army of Konoha ninja on the ground.
He roared, his voice booming across the village: "Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, I am here today to show you! If the Uchiha clan had truly decided to rebel, with the power I have now, could you have stopped us?"
"The Uchiha were annihilated because we chose not to resist, not because you could have defeated us!"
"If anything happens to Sasuke, I will return and destroy Konoha."
With that, Uchiha Fugaku's Susanoo began to dissipate. A coffin slowly rose from the ground. He walked towards it with a complicated expression, as the caster was now recalling him.
"Sasuke, live well. No matter what you decide, you will always be the son I am proud of..."
He had just finished speaking when he vanished. All that was left was Sasuke and the legions of Konoha ninja...
"Father..."
Elsewhere, the Konoha ninja unit pursuing Orochimaru was burning with rage, determined to avenge their Hokage. After Sakon and Ukon were dispatched to hold them back, Orochimaru still couldn't escape, as the pursuit unit had also split up.
"Fools. I'll stay and deal with them. You take Lord Orochimaru and retreat," Kidomaru of the Sound Four told the female ninja, Tayuya, before stopping to block the enemy.
"Can you handle it alone?"
"Don't worry. Lord Orochimaru gave me a secret weapon... cannons."
Cannons?
Kidomaru threw down a scroll, and from it emerged dozens of cannons—the very ones Uchiha Nagi had sold to Orochimaru in their many trades.
"Come on, you bastards from Konoha who are so eager to die..." Kidomaru grinned savagely, using his spider silk to control the dozens of cannons and aim them.
In the forest, insects were king. After his modifications, he had gained the ability to use spiders as his eyes, which was how he had been able to snipe Neji Hyuga in the original timeline. It wasn't that his vision was better than the Byakugan, but that his spider spies shared their vision with him, much like how Orochimaru's snakes were his eyes.
BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens of cannons opened fire simultaneously. The pursuing Konoha ninja's pupils shrank as they saw the black dots in the sky. Their sixth sense screamed of impending danger.
"Scatter and take cover! Use defensive jutsu, quickly!"
"Earth Style...!"
"Water Style...!"
When the shells hit, the Water Style defensive jutsu evaporated instantly, and the ninja inside were boiled alive, their screams cut short.
The Earth Style defenses fared better, but any ninja who took a direct hit didn't survive. Their jutsu was shattered, and they were either caught in the high-temperature blast or killed by shrapnel.
"Don't follow them! It's a trap!" the leader of the pursuit unit immediately lost his nerve.
"Damn you, Orochimaru...!" The Konoha ninja gritted their teeth, watching Orochimaru's retreating figure. But after that barrage, they truly didn't dare to give chase.
Orochimaru had too many trump cards. First the Edo Tensei, then the "Serpent's Blood," and now he had cannons from the Land of Iron. They were traumatized.
Who knew what other traps lay ahead?
"Tell Kabuto... when we get back, find a way to get Sasuke to the Sound Village. I think it's time for my reincarnation ceremony..."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice rasped. He could feel the immense strain on his current body; it was about to give out. The Reaper Death Seal had not only sealed his arms but had also cursed his physical body with excruciating pain.