"Found you!" Shisui's voice carried confidence.
The environment of flames was a shackle toward Minato, yet toward him, it was an absolute home field! The Fire Release power multiplied, and Susanoo's defense remained steady as a rock.
Both his hands rapidly formed hand seals, and the raging flames upon the battlefield appeared as if instantly gaining life, condensing upon call!
A flame giant dragon far more massive than before took shape within an ear-deafening roaring sound, opening a massive mouth sufficient to swallow mountains and valleys, pouncing toward the position where Minato just revealed his form with a sky-burning and sea-boiling majesty!
"Boom-rumble!"
The flame giant dragon completely swallowed the target, bursting forth with piercing firelight and a destructive shockwave.
However, Shisui's pupils abruptly shrunk! That figure swallowed by the raging flames actually transformed into a wisp of drifting white smoke in the next instant!
"Shadow Clone?!" A strand of coldness instantly climbed up Shisui's spine.
Almost at the exact same instant the clone dispersed, a heart-palpitating, terrifying chakra fluctuation, like a volcanic eruption, blasted out with a boom behind his back without any warning!
But, it was useless! Common ninjutsu can forget about breaking through Susanoo's defense!
Shisui had absolute confidence within his heart toward Susanoo's defense.
But what Minato awaited was precisely this moment!
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
One could see an ultra-giant vacuum blade, which condensed the entirety of Minato's pure chakra and was compressed to the limit, abruptly manifest!
This vacuum blade not only harbored a sharpness that tore apart everything, but more so at the instant it appeared, crazily swept up and swallowed the endless raging flames upon the surrounding battlefield!
Wind aided fire's momentum, and fire borrowed wind's majesty!
In a flash, an unprecedented composite-type energy lightwave, which fused the Wind Release possessing ultimate cutting power together with the sky-burning and earth-extinguishing fire, was born!
It was no longer a pure Vacuum Wave, but rather a roaring, burning, destructive torrent jointly constituted by wind and fire, a true "flame lightwave"!
Minato's eyes carried a trace of a smile; although speaking of it, this kind of environment was not friendly toward him, but regarding such a matter as utilizing the environment, he was also extremely familiar.
One could see that single flame vacuum wave slice through the scorching air, chopping down with extreme precision and crashing fiercely upon the exact same defense point upon Susanoo that had already endured countless attacks!
"Crack, hum!!!"
The cracking sound, accompanied by the ear-piercing ringing of energy intensely rubbing, abruptly exploded!
Minato's gaze was sharp; every single one of his previous attacks, whether a feint attack or a probing attack, was by no means in vain!
The drop points of all ninjutsu were astonishingly consistent, continuously impacting the exact same position of Susanoo, having long since left a minute yet continuously spreading fatal crack upon that emerald-green skeleton that appeared unbreakable!
And at this moment, this ultimate strike that poured in a massive amount of his chakra and cleverly utilized the battlefield environment to reinforce its power finally became the last straw that broke the camel's back!
"Let's call it—Scorch Release: Vacuum Scorch Wave Dragon Roar First Style!"
Minato felt extremely satisfied within his inner heart toward this naming.
That crack spreading upon Susanoo's surface, beneath the wild impact of the flame lightwave, instantly expanded crazily and disintegrated!
Piercing light burst forth from within the crack!
Under Shisui's difficult-to-believe gaze, his Susanoo that he took pride in, accompanied by a earth-shaking booming roar, finally crashed into pieces!
Countless emerald-green chakra fragments, like stars, splattered out in all directions within the fire-sea!
The impassable absolute defense, beneath Minato's exquisite offense, declared its collapse!
That single vacuum wave condensing wild flames, its power far exceeded everyone's imagination.
It not only shattered the Susanoo dubbed "absolute defense," but moreover after breaking through, wrapped with unexhausted destructive energy, precisely chopped toward Shisui at the core!
If it were common times, relying upon "Shisui of the Body Flicker's" peak speed and the Sharingan's observation power, evading this kind of attack was by no means a difficult matter.
But at this moment, he completely did not think Susanoo would actually be smashed into pieces; this difficult-to-believe fact caused a fatal lag to appear within him.
Merely a single flash of losing his mind was already sufficient to be fatal.
At the life-and-death juncture, the body's instinct transcended thinking.
Shisui performed an extreme evasion!
However, he was ultimately slower by one fraction.
That scorching, sharp vacuum wave mercilessly tore through his flank, and warm fresh blood, like a burst dam, sprayed out wildly.
The wound, deep enough to see bone, was ferociously terrifying; short by a mere hairsbreadth, this Uchiha genius would have been thoroughly chopped into two segments!
The intense pain caused Shisui to let out a muffled groan, his face instantly pale like paper; he had no choice but to tightly clutch that fatal wound, fresh blood gurgling and flowing between his finger joints, his body trembling minutely because of the severe pain and blood loss.
"Let's stop here, Shisui." Minato's voice rang out once more, carrying a trace of difficult-to-notice lingering fear; fine cold sweat also seeped out from his brow-corners.
Just now with that strike, he indeed exerted his full power.
Facing Susanoo's unbreakable defense, any holding back could possibly result in failure.
But the consequence of this full-power execution was that the power exceeded the scope of his precise control, nearly brewing an unretrievable tragedy.
At this moment, the purpose of the battle should have already been reached; it was time to end it.
Just as Minato expected, this subverting scene before their eyes raised a sky-covering giant wave within the hearts of all onlookers.
Not merely the radical faction, but even the dove faction members, at the instant of witnessing Susanoo crash into pieces, their pupils abruptly shrunk, their faces written full of ultimate shock and difficulty to believe!
That giant who was akin to a deity descending and was unbreakable... was actually truly routed by common ninjutsu?
Massive doubt and shock spread wordlessly among the crowd.
Someone even subconsciously suspected whether this was a meticulously arranged performance.
However, Shisui's eye-striking severe injury, his abdomen nearly cut open, and fresh blood dyeing a large stretch of the ground red—this near-death tragic state was so real and tragic, which caused the thought of putting on a show to be unable to stand.
A notion that shook foundations even further irrepressibly germinated within everyone's heart:
Could it be that the Mangekyō Sharingan, which was praised as the power of a god, its limit was merely nothing more than this?
To be sure, the power it displayed caused people to feel awe; Susanoo's majesty perfectly fitted all fantasies the crowd possessed toward this legend.
However, at the precise flash when that Susanoo fell apart before the Fourth Hokage's ninjutsu, this layer of invincible halo cloaking the Mangekyō subsequently crashed down as well.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was admittedly powerful to the point of causing suffocation...
But at this moment, they also recognized a fact: the Mangekyō Sharingan's power ultimately could not reach the current Fourth Hokage, Minato!
This piece of recognition, like an invisible brand, was deeply engraved into the bottom of the heart of every single person present.
Looking at this scene, a trace of surprise also flitted across Takuno's eyes.
As everyone knew, although Minato's strength was powerful, he was actually somewhat lacking in terms of ninjutsu with particularly massive power.
Originally he thought the other party should have mastered the nature transformation of the Rasengan, but never expected the other party actually used a point-breaking-the-surface method to shatter Shisui's Susanoo.
One must know, Shisui's Susanoo was not the initial form.
As an initial form, Susanoo generally only possessed bones, and its defensive power was indeed relatively common; but subsequent to possessing "flesh and blood," its defensive power abruptly and violently increased.
Even if it were a ninjutsu like Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, wishing to burst open Susanoo's defense in one go was also relatively difficult.
But even so, Minato actually used a relatively common ninjutsu to accomplish this point; it truly... caused people to lament.
Takuno conversely did not have much surprise; after all, that person was Minato.
Furthermore, after Shisui used Susanoo, his fame-establishing supreme technique, the Body Flicker Technique, lost its effect.
After all, the current Shisui was incapable of accomplishing what Madara did regarding being able to direct Susanoo like moving one's own arms.
When wanting it, one can instantly condense it; when not wanting it, one can also let it directly dissipate away.
If Shisui let Susanoo dissipate away, then the next time's condensation toward his Mangekyō's pupil power would also be a massive challenge.
Even less need to speak of such a matter as Madara letting clones also open Susanoo.
It can be said that the matter of clones opening Susanoo could perhaps only be accomplished by the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Furthermore, even if it were Madara, the Susanoo opened by clones could not possibly all be complete bodies, merely stage forms.
However, this battle Shisui still suffered a loss; his Mangekyō's capability had no way to be used.
Could it be that he should be allowed to use Kotoamatsukami toward Minato?
While common genjutsu, even if possessing the reinforcement of the Mangekyō Sharingan, toward powerhouses above the Kage level, the effect was generally not large—of course, except for a certain snake who made its own soul flawed.
Takuno this time also came for the sake of seeing Shisui's as well as Minato's strength.
But while Shisui's strength was indeed seen, which could be counted as standing at the stage of a strong Kage, the strength displayed by Minato was still not his full power.
At least, his Sage Mode was not revealed.
Takuno shrugged his shoulders, conversely not placing it upon his heart; just like Shisui's Susanoo, if he wished to, a single punch would be enough to smash it to pieces.
Senjutsu plus Monster Strength was already sufficient.
Even going upward, he could still stack a layer of Lightning Release Chakra Mode opened using senjutsu chakra.
In this way, even if it were a complete body Susanoo, even if he could not break it, he could also cause it to shake a bit.
Right at this moment, Takuno froze.
Because, the battle which was originally thought to have already ended was actually not yet concluded?
Shisui actually rose again bearing an even more powerful strength!
Seeing this, the corner of Takuno's mouth hooked up.
"Interesting."
On the other side, Obito's gaze also locked onto that piece of battlefield below where Minato and Shisui fought.
Within the crimson Sharingan, that piece of already deep-seated wariness at this moment became increasingly dense.
Whether it was Shisui or Minato, both were like two sharp thorns, deeply stabbing into his nerves.
The existence of these two people was itself the greatest threat toward his plan.
Allowing them to continue growing? That was undoubtedly digging a grave for oneself with one's own hands.
And this was also precisely the greatest reason why he did not spare any cost to personally plot and push forward this scene of the Uchiha clan.
Looking at it now, his decision at that time was correct!
What caused his heart's haze to be densely covered even more was that other than this Shisui before his eyes, the Uchiha clan actually still possessed another genius who did not yield a single fraction, Itachi.
That brat... if given some more time, if some days later he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Shisui and Minato...
Obito near-dared not imagine what kind of suffocating strength Konoha at that time would condense up.
A ninja village possessing such a foundation would become an impassable natural chasm upon his path of materializing the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
Within his line of sight, Shisui's figure staggering due to severe injury instantly ignited that thread of killing intent still wavering within Obito's heart.
Hesitation? At this moment it vanished like smoke and dispersed like mist!
Even if exposing that he himself was the chief culprit stirring up all of this, it was also far better than sitting by and watching these future major heart-troubles continue to grow robustly beneath his eyelids!
However, right at the flash when his killing heart just rose and he was prepared to act, the battlefield situation abruptly birthed a massive change!
"Hmm?!" Obito's pupils abruptly shrunk.
One could see that giant green energy skeleton frame, Susanoo, which by right should have dissipated due to the caster's severe injury, actually crashed into manifestation once more with a surging majesty that far surpassed before!
Not only so, its form furthermore underwent a shocking mutation.
The massive energy fluctuation even caused Obito, who was far away within the dark place, to feel a burst of oppression.
"This is... a step-further form of Susanoo!"
Black Zetsu, who was wriggling like a shadow at his side, also could not conceal his shock, his voice carrying difficulty to believe.
Obito naturally understood what this meant.
As a person who likewise experienced the ultimate outbreak of the Sharingan's power, that tragic drama that thoroughly changed his destiny let him leap directly from two tomoe across to the Mangekyō.
He deeply knew the terrifying potential latent within the Uchiha clan's bloodline that could only be stimulated under extreme emotions or at a life-and-death juncture.
Shisui being able to open this higher-level Susanoo form, although outside expectations, was within reason.
What truly caused him to feel incomprehension and perplexity was the motive.
According to his view, this duel before his eyes was nothing more than a "grand drama" jointly directed by Shisui and Minato, a political performance.
Even Shisui's current severe injury exceeded his expectations.
Then the question came: merely a performance, why would Shisui go so far?
Why did he need to fight until oil was exhausted and lamps were dry yet still continue to fight, opening this higher form of Susanoo?
Could it be... this battle was by no means putting on a show? But was truly and genuinely risking lives to fight each other?!
Obito's thoughts tumbled, for a time difficult to clarify.
But there was one point he was matchlessly certain of: no matter what the truth was, this abrupt mutation, toward him, was absolutely a heaven-bestowed excellent opportunity!
Minato, Konoha's "Yellow Flash," Fourth Hokage;
Shisui, the genius not born in generations of the Uchiha clan, "Shisui of the Body Flicker."
These two names, no matter which one thoroughly vanished from the ninja world, the layers of obstacles toward his plan would subsequent to it decrease by one fraction.
If they could... perish together!
That would be the perfect conclusion dreamed of!
Of course, rationality told him that counting on two such powerful ninjas to happen to burn jade and stone together was inevitably too naive.
However... if adding him, this "oriole" lurking within the dark place and prepared at any time to bestow a fatal strike, the situation would be completely different.
The Sharingan flashed with the cold light of calculation and greed; Obito held his breath and concentrated his spirit, staring tightly at everything within the field.
Most of his sharp gaze's time focused upon that massive green Susanoo, focusing upon Shisui whose internal breath was already unsteady.
The reason was very simple: Minato mastered the coming-and-going-like-a-ghost Flying Thunder God Technique.
Launching a sneak attack upon him? The probability of success was microscopic and faint.
But Shisui... even if opening a more powerful Susanoo, a severely injured body was conversely a solid flaw.
And he did not possess time-space ninjutsu!