Chapter 223: Fugaku's Death!
"That must be... Ikeizumi's dōjutsu, right?"
Tsunade frowned, gazing at the distant scene, and muttered, "Causing such a massive commotion in the village... has he encountered a powerful enemy?"
"Shizune!"
Tsunade immediately adopted a serious expression and said to Shizune beside her, "Keep an eye on those Hyūga clan members; make sure they don't wander off tonight."
Shizune was startled and quickly said, "Lady Tsunade, are you planning to...?"
Tsunade was direct: "That guy Ikeizumi is making far too much noise, and he's the type who never considers the consequences when fighting. I'm going to check it out, lest he destroy nearby buildings and facilities. The village would then have to pay extra money to repair them."
Shizune: "???"
Wait a minute—
Since when was Lady Tsunade so concerned about the village? Moreover, shouldn't that be the Hokage's concern? Didn't Lady Tsunade promise not to involve herself in ninja matters anymore?
Hmm...
"She probably just wants an awkward excuse to go help Ikeizumi Uchiha. Lady Tsunade is so thick-skinned when it comes to gambling and skipping out on debts, yet in situations like this, she suddenly cares deeply about saving face..."
Shizune saw right through Tsunade, muttering to herself while hugging Tonton.
"Um..."
At that moment, a curious yet somewhat timid voice came through: "Excuse me, what... what is happening in the village?"
Shizune turned and saw Hinata Hyūga, the former heiress of the Hyūga Main Branch.
Oh, right.
The Hyūga clan no longer recognizes her as the heiress.
The other members of the Hyūga Main Branch stood behind Hinata.
Shizune offered a brief explanation.
"Ikeizumi Uchiha?" Among them, the only Tokubetsu Jōnin from the Main Branch gasped, staring at the two Susanoo, one crimson and one dark purple, in the distance.
He couldn't help but swallow hard.
Perhaps
Ikeizumi Uchiha showed mercy to the Hyūga Main Branch after all.
If he had rampaged through the Hyūga clan with that kind of power, probably very few of the Main Branch would have survived, right?
"Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama, those are Susanoo, correct?"
Jiraiya stood atop a tall building, his face grim as he gazed at the Uchiha Clan compound not far away.
Fukasaku-sama nodded: "Indeed. The Susanoo with the magma aura must be Ikeizumi Uchiha's. What a terrifying presence! You can sense that aura, like a fiend from the underworld, even from two kilometers away."
Shima-sama said, "It's a pity that a person wielding such power is not the Child of Prophecy meant to save the world. If his ideology wasn't so extreme, perhaps he would be the true savior."
"Teacher Ikeizumi..."
Sasuke, who had been evacuated to a safe distance by the Military Police Force ninja, stared blankly at the two Susanoo locked in a struggle.
He had never imagined things would escalate like this. His father had actually become a villain in the eyes of Absolute Justice.
And his father, instead of showing any remorse for his criminal actions, had actively attacked the Military Police Force ninja!
Teacher Ikeizumi had given his father a chance by not having the Military Police Force ninja immediately take him down.
If his father had been willing to surrender, he would likely only have had to reflect in the Konoha Prison for a few months, two or three years at most, before being released.
But his father chose to become an enemy of Absolute Justice. His actions, his ideology...
They were exactly like Brother's.
"Mother..." Sasuke couldn't help but look at Mikoto Uchiha beside him, noticing that his mother was staring intently into the distance with a strained expression.
Just looking at his mother's profile, Sasuke sensed that she was enduring a profound spiritual shock.
Perhaps it was due to the profound unfamiliarity his father had suddenly displayed, leaving his mother completely blindsided. Sasuke's voice brought Mikoto Uchiha back from her daze.
A look of complexity and pain crossed Mikoto Uchiha's beautiful face.
"Hah..."
In the end, it could only be released as a sigh. She spoke bitterly: "Sasuke, your father could never reconcile with a situation he couldn't control. He always thought you and I, his wife and son, couldn't see the village's true state, but in reality, he was the one with his eyes closed. And he had no self-awareness about it."
"He made the exact same choice as Itachi. And his ending, his fate, will likely be the same as Itachi's..."
Hearing this, Sasuke keenly noticed the barely suppressed sob in his mother's voice.
Sasuke opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
He knew his mother was torn: on one hand, she was doing this for his sake; on the other, his father was her husband; and on a third hand, there was Absolute Justice, which was making the Uchiha better.
And the person who brought Absolute Justice into their home was also his mother.
"Mother..." Sasuke gritted his teeth and said seriously, "You did nothing wrong. If Father hadn't clung to his extreme ideas, if he hadn't crossed the line of justice, Teacher Ikeizumi would never have attacked him."
"The root of all the blame—"
"Lies with Father!"
CRACK— A faint but incredibly clear sound, like cracking ice, sharply entered Fugaku Uchiha's ears.
His scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan violently constricted to the extreme. He looked in disbelief at the arms of his Susanoo!
The arms, which were originally surging with profound chakra aura, were now cracking with minute but clear fissures!
The cracks were spreading rapidly like spiderwebs.
What terrified him even more was that the massive dark purple blade in the Susanoo's hand was also developing dense cracks along the edge where it was locked with the crimson magma ninja blade!
The entire blade body was groaning under the unbearable strain, and the long hilt was curved into an exaggerated crescent arc, hinting that it might completely snap at any moment.
"How is this possible!?!"
A storm raged in Fugaku Uchiha's heart. His face was etched with shock and disbelief.
"They are both Mangekyō Susanoo! Can the difference, just from the fusion of Magma Release characteristics, really be this immense?!"
He couldn't comprehend it!
This was beyond his understanding of Susanoo's power. However, reality gave him no more time to think.
In the instant his concentration wavered.
An overwhelmingly savage and unmatched force, far exceeding what came before, suddenly erupted from the giant ninja blade in Ikeizumi Uchiha's Susanoo, the blade that looked forged from the earth's core magma!
CLANG—
CRACK!!!
BOOM!!!!
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, like a collapsing mountain!
Fugaku Uchiha's cracked dark purple blade shattered instantly, like fragile glass.
The blade dissolved into countless purple chakra fragments, scattering outwards.
And then annihilating into the air.
The crimson magma ninja blade continued its momentum, sweeping across without hindrance, like a hot knife slicing through hardened butter, utterly destructive!
SWISH—!
A crimson arc of death flashed and was gone.
The two arms of Fugaku Uchiha's purple Susanoo, already covered in fissures, were severed at the shoulder!
The Susanoo arms crashed heavily onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust, before slowly dissipating into primal chakra particles.
The residual force of that single strike even transformed into an extremely scorching crimson wind pressure, plowing fiercely forward across the side of the ground.
RUMBLE—!!!
The earth was violently churned, as if ploughed by a giant's share.
A massive trench, several meters deep, over ten meters wide, and nearly running the entire length of the Uchiha compound, was instantly formed.
The walls of the trench were smooth as glass, even crystallized due to the instantaneous, intense heat!
Dark red magma slowly flowed and dripped at the bottom of the trench.
Emitting suffocating heat and the stench of sulfur!
Several drops of cold sweat slid down Fugaku Uchiha's forehead, tracing paths across his rigid face.
He could feel the soul-searing pain of the heat from the passing crimson wind pressure.
Suddenly!
He snapped his head up, his pupils frantically trembling from extreme terror!
He saw that Ikeizumi Uchiha's crimson Susanoo in front of him had not stopped.
Its body was expanding and rising upward at an astonishing speed!
Thirty meters... fifty meters...
And it was far from over!
Even more colossal crimson chakra surged up from beneath the earth like a tidal wave, rapidly coalescing the complete lower body—a massive pelvis, thick legs, and feet covered in heavy armor!
This towering giant finally displayed its Perfect Form!
Simultaneously, thick, primitive, and savage-looking crimson armor plates began to overlay its torso and limbs layer upon layer.
Magma-like patterns flowed across the armor, and superheated air blasted from the joints.
It stood, a towering Magma Demon crawled from the deepest layer of the eighteenth hell.
Majestically dominating the Uchiha compound!
Fugaku Uchiha had to tilt his head back to the maximum extent just to barely see the eye sockets, burning with cold, dark flames, beneath the huge battle helmet!
Fugaku Uchiha's face was chalk-white, nearly vacant.
The absolute fighting spirit and momentum deep within him, his resolve, felt like it had been violently punctured by an invisible needle, instantly deflating completely.
His Susanoo, with its severed arms and only half a torso, was barely one-third the height of the opponent's Susanoo.
He even suspected that even if he jumped with all his might, he might not reach the opponent's groin!
Even with intact arms, he'd probably only reach the knees!
This absolute disparity in size and power was like a six-year-old child facing a fully armored, hulking giant in despair.
An unprecedented, bone-deep sense of powerlessness and insignificance completely drowned him.
The next instant.
The crimson magma ninja blade, which had similarly increased to a colossal size along with the Susanoo, was raised high by Ikeizumi Uchiha's Susanoo.
Despite its immense volume, its speed not only failed to slow down but, due to the ultimate concentration of power, the wind pressure it generated as it descended was even more terrifying!
BOOM!!!!
Before the ninja blade had fully dropped, the tangible wind pressure created by the displaced air was already sweeping across the entire Uchiha compound like a hurricane!
Nearby buildings were blown away and crushed like paper mâché!
The very earth was trembling and wailing!
Fugaku Uchiha gazed up at the sky-obscuring, flame-burning giant blade of destruction. The last glimmer of light in his eyes was extinguished.
He seemed to see the final moments of his eldest son through this fatal blade.
"Itachi..."
He muttered, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible, "I think I can understand—that despair you felt right before you died. This isn't fear of death. This is the despair of trying your absolute hardest and being utterly unable to shake the enemy in the slightest."
SMASH!!!
In his final view, everything before him began to warp and melt like a wax figure thrown into a furnace. His proud Susanoo, condensed from his strongest dōjutsu power, was as fragile as a strangely shaped block of butter before that giant magma ninja blade!
The blade hadn't even fully made contact, yet the extreme heat had already begun to melt and vaporize the Susanoo's defensive structure.
Should I use Izanagi?—The thought flashed instinctively through his mind.
It's pointless.—The thought was utterly crushed by cold reality the next second.
In the face of this absolute power disparity, even sacrificing one eye for a single resurrection...
What then?
To face this unbeatable power again?
Fugaku Uchiha couldn't even conjure the thought of using any other Mangekyō dōjutsu at this moment.
Because it was useless!
As the intense heat made every inch of his skin feel the searing pain of being torn apart, as the shadow of death completely enveloped him, and he could even smell his own hair scorching.
Fugaku Uchiha made his final, and only remaining, choice.
He suddenly raised both hands, his index and middle fingers hooked like claws, and viciously gouged into his own Mangekyō Sharingan!
PLUCK!
Two Mangekyō Sharingan, wet with warm blood and bearing bizarre patterns, were forcibly ripped out of their sockets by him.
"Ikeizumi!!!"
He used the last of his strength to violently hurl the two bloody eyes toward a relatively safe direction in the distance!
"Take my eyes—to Sasuke!!!"
Regardless of whether he and Ikeizumi Uchiha were mortal enemies, he absolutely could not let these precious Mangekyō Sharingan be destroyed, as his eldest son Itachi's had been.
The future of the Uchiha Clan might still need this power.
This was the last thing he could do as a father and former Clan Head!
Itachi fought Ikeizumi for the "peace" of Konoha.
And I am fighting for the "future" of the Uchiha.
Even defeated, he had to perform one last act for the Uchiha Clan.
SWOOSH—!!!
The next moment, the gigantic magma ninja blade finally tore completely through the dark purple Susanoo, which had long become a mere pretense. The terrifying blade, carrying heat that could incinerate all things, ruthlessly swallowed Fugaku Uchiha, whose eye sockets were now only two bleeding holes.
The human flesh and blood body could not exist for even an instant against this strike infused with Magma Release power.
Every cell, every nerve, every bone of Fugaku Uchiha's body—let out the most extreme scream of agony in a fraction of a millisecond.
Then it was instantly evaporated and vaporized by the indescribable heat!
There was no scream, no struggle, no trace left behind.
As if he had never existed in this world.
The smoke and scorching blast slowly subsided.
"A villain who self-destructed into the abyss, yet manages to act the self-pitying martyr at the end. Predictably, Itachi Uchiha inherited his mental illness from you."
Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold voice rang out.
.............
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