526-530

Chapter 526: The Devouring of Demons, A World Overturned!

Susanoo had only emerged halfway from the ground, with just its head and one arm visible.

Yet, within Kikyo City, it was as if a towering mountain, hundreds of meters tall, had suddenly risen out of nowhere.

At the moment [He] manifested, the Uchiha clansmen engaged in fierce battle within the city found themselves unable to continue fighting amidst the violent tremors. The earthquake was too intense. They all stopped simultaneously.

Alongside them, the ordinary clansmen—those hiding in shelters, beneath the ruins, or along the main streets—also paused, staring in shock at the divine being's massive, half-exposed head.

They prayed, remained silent, reflected, and stood motionless—

Their eyes fixated on the two blazing suns that had risen in the night, illuminating Kikyo City as if it were broad daylight.

Under the radiance of these divine eyes...

---

Yet, in one corner of the city, the battle had not ceased.

At the center of Kikyo City, more than a dozen Uchiha warriors with Mangekyō Sharingan were still locked in a brutal life-or-death struggle.

The cost of forcefully awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan through the forbidden technique *Izanagi* was that they had lost the ability to stop fighting. Their bodies were consumed by battle madness, beyond their control.

Now, the fight that had erupted so suddenly was nearing its conclusion.

On one side was Uchiha Tsume and his faction, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan naturally. On the other side were those who had forcibly acquired it through Izanagi.

A deep divide separated the two factions.

Although Tsume’s group had successfully overthrown Uchiha Rei in a coup, the previous civil war had already cost them a significant portion of their fighting force. Compared to their opponents, they were now heavily outnumbered.

In reality, it was Tsume's faction that now held the true power within the clan. However, they lacked the *official legitimacy* to rule.

That was why they needed Shinji to denounce Tsume.

But now, thanks to the interference of a hidden mastermind, everything had spiraled into utter chaos.

Amidst the collapsing high walls and crumbling rooftops, eight Uchihas, each controlling a Susanoo over seventy meters tall, sprinted across the battlefield, their crimson eyes locked onto a single fleeing figure ahead!

"Kill him!"

"Whoever takes Uchiha Tsume’s head will be the next clan leader!"

---

The figure ahead was clutching his abdomen as he ran.

He was a young man, barely twenty, with shoulder-length black hair, now soaked with sweat and blood, clinging to his pale face.

One of his eyes burned a deep crimson, while the other was a hollow, deathly white.

His tattered black cloak barely clung to his body.

He was Uchiha Tsume—the current leader of the Uchiha clan.

Blood gushed from his mouth as he ran, his face ashen, yet his gaze remained unwavering.

Gritting his teeth, he leaped over the debris, using both hands and feet to scramble forward.

He was already at the brink of collapse, gravely wounded in the ambush.

Yet, he refused to fall.

It was as if he were waiting for someone...

Or perhaps waiting for the moment of his atonement.

But then—

Tsume glanced down at the gaping hole in his abdomen and let out a bitter chuckle.

At last...

He collapsed into the ruins.

---

The sound of his fall made the eight pursuing Uchihas halt in their tracks.

They exchanged glances, and in each other's eyes, they saw the same mix of greed and exhilaration.

Suddenly, one of them surged forward, sword in hand, leaping toward the fallen Tsume with a manic grin.

"Hahaha! The title of clan leader is mine—Uchiha Shunta!"

But in the next moment—

A blade pierced through his chest!

Behind him stood another Uchiha, a sinister smirk creeping onto his lips.

He twisted the sword viciously before pulling it free.

"Wrong. The one destined to rule the Uchiha clan and dominate the ninja world—"

"—is me!"

However, as he triumphantly reached down for Tsume’s head, he suddenly sensed that something was off.

The sensation of pulling his sword out felt... strange.

Then, as he instinctively looked up—

The "dead" Uchiha Shunta suddenly reappeared behind him.

The body he had just impaled dissolved into an illusion.

Before he could react, Shunta's blade cleaved through his neck!

In that instant, Shunta’s left eye darkened, becoming hollow and lifeless.

Yet he felt nothing—his remaining red eye gleamed with crazed ecstasy.

"You were wrong. The one who will rule the ninja world is *still* me—Uchiha Shunta!"

"All thanks to my *Izanagi!*"

---

But before he could revel in his victory, a chilling voice whispered behind him.

"You think you're the only one who can use Izanagi?"

"*Hahahahahahahaha!*"

None of them noticed—

Behind them, countless blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan eyes gleamed with predatory hunger.

In an instant, swords clashed, kunai flew in all directions, and the battlefield was consumed by deafening roars and howling winds!

For the sake of Tsume’s severed head...

For the title of clan leader...

For the chance to rule the ninja world...

The eight Uchihas—no, the eight *demons*—turned upon one another, devouring each other in their madness.

And soon, even more warriors would arrive to join this nightmarish slaughter!

---

Meanwhile—

A lone figure staggered toward the battlefield.

His silhouette was illuminated by the radiant light of Susanoo, towering like a god in the distance.

He leaned on a wooden staff for support, gripping a short blade wreathed in flames.

Uchiha Naga's gaze was vacant—filled with indescribable shock, pity, and sorrow.

Yet beneath it all, his fury and grief ran so deep they had seeped into his very bones.

Step by step, he advanced toward the chaos.

He clenched his blade tightly.

In the next instant, his eyes turned to ice—

Nothing remained in them but cold, unshakable resolve.

---

On the other side of the battlefield—

Perched upon the colossal, outstretched palm of Susanoo,

Shinji ascended to the heights.

Standing atop Susanoo’s head, over three hundred meters above the ground,

He surveyed the entirety of Kikyo City.

He could see everything—

The blood-soaked chaos at the city’s center.

And beyond the city walls—

A vast army of ninja, wearing headbands adorned with countless clan insignias, marching toward Kikyo City in endless waves.

At their helm was the *Senju Clan*.

Shinji let out a weary sigh.

For the fate of the Uchiha.

For the destiny that awaited Uchiha Naga.

At this moment, he finally began to understand—

Why, in the River of Time, Naga had begged him to *kill him* before the Final Battle arrived.

Even if they were consumed by the madness of the Mangekyō Sharingan,

Even if they had turned into demons, losing all reason—

They were still Uchiha.

They were once his comrades, his kin.

And now—

He had no choice but to *slaughter them all*.

Only to stand alone...

Facing the endless army of ninja beyond the city walls.

This was the peak of the Uchiha’s glory.

And beyond that peak...

Lay an abyss so dark that even *history itself* refused to record it.

Yet at this moment,

Shinji could not help but wonder—

Who?

*Who was pulling the strings behind all this?*

*Who could control everything to such perfection?*

*Chapter 527: The Limits of the World*

Suspended in midair above Kikyo City, Shinji closed his eyes.

Beneath him, his Susanoo followed suit, its massive form mirroring his actions. Then—

The twin eyes in the sky, radiant like a blazing sun, silently dimmed,

And once again, everything was shrouded in the night.

The moon above cast a hazy glow, quietly illuminating the world.

"Hiss..."

In the sudden stillness of the night sky, Shinji took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through clenched teeth, forming a long, steady stream of breath.

In the next instant—

The faint chakra flowing within him trembled violently, like boiling water. Large surges of chakra, deliberately manipulated through the forbidden technique Corporeal Rebirth, were converted into Dark Chakra, then ignited by the Fire Release: Chakra Mode, transforming into a raging and expanding force. This energy was then refined further by the Sage Transformation Curse Seal, morphing into a natural power unknown to this world.

Through this self-reinforcing cycle, he ascended from weakness to strength.

And then—

The very first Sage Chakra of this world was born!

Shinji guided the Sage Chakra into his left chest!

In the next instant—

The long-dormant Sage’s Heart ignited!

With an inhuman pulse rate of 180 beats per minute, scorching chakra surged through his entire body. In that brief moment—

Undying Body, Corporeal Rebirth, Tailed Beast Physique, Ten-Tails Body, Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear, Sage Transformation: Curse Seal Level Two, Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, Fire Release: Chakra Mode, the Blazing Heart in his right chest, Serpent Physique, Sage Mode, Eternal Sage Mode, Kagura’s Mind Eye, and the chakra of One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails...

Countless complex powers, latent within this body, awakened at this moment!

Then, in this nearly indestructible body, akin to a furnace, all those forces converged into a single point!

Shinji abruptly opened his eyes!

*Nuclear Explosion: Eternal Sage Mode—*

*Activate!*

"—Boom!!!"

In an instant, a scorching white-hot shockwave of materialized chakra erupted around him!

Various chakra energies, driven by Fire Release: Chakra Mode, burned wildly, generating an ultimate force that could even transcend the laws of existence!

However, at that very moment—

Crack...

A sharp, unnerving sound, like shattering glass, echoed in his ears.

Shinji frowned deeply,

Staring at the sudden fissure in the air before him.

He felt a force of rejection—

Like the world itself was trying to push him out.

But that force was pitifully weak, as if he could shatter it with a mere flick of his finger.

Yet, the consequence of doing so would be... the complete collapse of this world, hurling him back into that turbulent river between illusion and reality!

After all, this world lacked true mass. At best, it was merely a grain of sand from the Reverse Flowing River, manifesting into a seemingly real yet illusory microcosm.

If Shinji were to unleash power beyond this world’s limits, it would collapse instantly. Time itself would freeze, and every living being within this realm would be annihilated in a single moment—

Then, everything would revert to that single grain of sand in Uchiha Naga’s hand.

At this moment—

Within the Nuclear Explosion: Eternal Sage Mode, Shinji’s body had generated an incandescent, fusion-like chakra that seemed on the verge of triggering a chain reaction. This energy could amplify his techniques to an almost divine level.

With this Fusion Chakra-enhanced Kagura’s Mind Eye, Shinji instantly perceived everything within a hundred-thousand-kilometer radius. Like a god overlooking the world, he gained a near-omniscient view.

And at that moment, he realized—

This world, which he had assumed was as vast as the Ninja Realm, actually had boundaries.

From the Naka River to Kikyo City, and from Kikyo City to the borders of the Land of Lightning’s Chii Mountains—

That was the entirety of this world.

Beyond that lay an indescribable void—

An empty nothingness.

And beyond that void—

The Reverse Flowing River, a pure white current surging between fantasy and reality.

And there—

Sitting cross-legged on the riverbank, wearing an expression of shock and disbelief, was Uchiha Naga—

Observing everything happening in this world.

Shinji furrowed his brows, murmuring to himself:

"So this world actually has a power limit... And that limit seems to be at the level of Hashirama Senju?"

"Too weak... What a hassle."

He had planned to use his overwhelming power to cast Divine Art: Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon, instantly controlling everyone in this world.

To halt all conflicts, erase all wars,

Then, meticulously dig out the mastermind manipulating the world’s fate from the shadows.

Yes, Divine Art: Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Shinji knew this technique.

He wasn’t sure how he knew it, nor could he recall exactly when he had learned it. He didn’t even know why his Sharingan possessed a rank equivalent to the Rinnegan.

However, at this moment, with the chakra natures of all nine Tailed Beasts gathered within him, combined with his Ten-Tails Physique,

As long as he infused enough chakra—

And transformed it into the chakra of the Nine-Tails,

He himself would become the Gedo Statue.

He himself could temporarily transform into the *Complete Ten-Tails!*

All he needed to do was manipulate the heavens, rewrite celestial phenomena, and use the blooming Divine Tree Form of the Ten-Tails to project the Nine Tomoe Rinne Sharingan onto the moon.

Then, Divine Art: Infinite Tsukuyomi would be complete.

He was disturbingly familiar with this entire process.

However, Shinji had not expected—

This world was so fragile, utterly incapable of containing such might.

"Forget it. Luckily, I have other options."

Shaking his head slightly, he halted the process of evolving into the Complete Ten-Tails.

Then—

He raised his hand slightly.

Beneath him—

Kikyo City trembled violently!

Susanoo struggled, its colossal body rising from the ground!

Soon, it pulled itself up—its towering form nearly 300 meters tall, yet still less than a quarter of its full size.

However—

Its movements suddenly stopped.

Around Susanoo, cracks—like the ones before Shinji—spread rapidly.

"Tch... Even my Susanoo can’t be fully realized here?"

Frowning in irritation, Shinji pondered for a moment before sighing in frustration.

"Fine. I’ll have to take the weakest, most underhanded approach. What a nuisance..."

With that, Shinji shifted his gaze to a collapsed building’s basement within Kikyo City.

At that moment—

There—

Uchiha Mitsuru and Uchiha Chiri stood, staring blankly upward.

Their eyes fixed upon Shinji, floating high above, clad in a radiant Fusion Chakra Cloak—

Like a deity.

*Chapter 528: Fireworks*

In front of the ruined underground cellar, Uchiha Chi felt like her face was on fire, burning with embarrassment.

Just thinking back to what had happened moments ago—when she had urged Shinji to escape with her in the face of two captains wielding their Susanoo, or when she had earlier advised him outside the dungeon to flee rather than clash with Uchiha Yusuke and the others—made her feel utterly foolish.

She had never expected—

That what seemed to be an ordinary deserter, just a regular Uchiha with three-tomoe Sharingan, aside from his striking appearance and slightly special status—

Was actually someone who possessed an unfathomable, god-like power!

This power was so overwhelming that it shattered her previous understanding of what "strength" meant, leaving her utterly convinced—

This was the true Susanoo. The true power of a god!

And if such an existence resided within the Uchiha clan, then this catastrophic civil war, along with the inevitable retaliation from the Senju clan—

Suddenly didn’t seem like such insurmountable problems anymore.

As Uchiha Chi was lost in thought, high above—

Shinji waved his hand, and the colossal Susanoo warrior lowered its body slightly, extending a massive, mountain-sized hand toward the two of them.

"Get on!"

The firm and commanding voice snapped Uchiha Chi and Uchiha Hikari out of their daze. Looking up, they saw the enormous hand, held out before them in what seemed like an invitation.

Though this invitation was intimidatingly vast—even when looking up, the outstretched palm resembled the height of a towering building.

Uchiha Hikari was the first to react. Meeting Shinji’s gaze, she hesitated for only a moment before channeling chakra into her feet, then leaping off the ruined walls onto the enormous hand.

It was only then that Uchiha Chi seemed to snap out of her trance. The usually cold and proud Uchiha prodigy suddenly looked a bit lost in the face of such a situation. Stiffly, she attempted to imitate Uchiha Hikari’s movements to leap onto the hand.

However—

Before she could jump, Shinji closed his fingers, letting Susanoo lift off with only Uchiha Hikari in tow.

Chi blinked in confusion, her expression clearly saying, Wait, I haven’t gotten on yet!

Shinji looked at her and, amused, shook his head.

"No need to make that face. You wouldn’t be much help up here anyway."

Sensing the situation elsewhere, Shinji glanced toward the center of Kikyo City, his expression growing serious.

"Besides, I think that place needs you more."

Hearing this, Uchiha Chi snapped back to reality. She turned toward the chaotic battlefield at the heart of Kikyo City.

It seemed she had realized something.

And in that moment—she made a decision.

"I understand!"

She nodded toward Shinji in midair, then turned away, leaping toward the battlefield without hesitation!

---

On top of Susanoo, three hundred meters above Kikyo City—

Shinji stared intently at Uchiha Hikari, who had just landed on the giant hand.

Under the intensity of his gaze, Uchiha Hikari felt her face grow warm. Embarrassed, she looked away, her voice dropping two tones as she muttered,

"Why… why are you looking at me like that?"

Shinji didn’t hesitate. Instead, he spoke seriously,

"Uchiha Hikari, your dōjutsu should be able to gather an immense amount of chakra, right?"

Hikari was momentarily stunned. After thinking for a moment, she nodded.

Shinji let out a breath, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

Then, without another word—

He raised his hand, gathering blinding white-hot chakra to form a chakra scalpel.

And in the next moment—

He reversed his grip and plunged the blade straight into his own chest, cutting deep into the left side, all the way to the bone!

Then—

Under Uchiha Hikari’s horrified gaze, he reached into his chest—

And pulled out a still-beating, pulsating heart.

"You—No! What are you doing!?"

Seeing Shinji acting as though he were about to commit suicide right in front of her, even someone as hardened as Uchiha Hikari—who had experienced the darkest, most brutal sides of the world—froze in shock.

By the time she regained her senses, she stepped forward in a panic, trying to check his condition.

However—

"It’s fine." Shinji casually waved her off, as if nothing had happened. Holding the blood-soaked heart in his hand, he extended it toward her.

"I just want to show you… fireworks."

"Fireworks?"

Uchiha Hikari stared at the still-beating heart right in front of her, stunned.

"That’s right. Fireworks that will ignite this world and save the entire Uchiha clan."

Shinji looked at her and smiled.

"But whether to watch these fireworks… whether to save the Uchiha clan… That choice is in your hands now."

"This heart contains a massive formation called the Uchiha Blaze Formation. As long as enough chakra is poured into it, it can be activated."

"I’m certain—there’s no one in this world who can withstand its power!"

"But—"

Shinji took a deep breath and looked at her.

"In this world, the only person capable of supplying the chakra needed to drive this technique… is you."

"But… aren’t you the one who cast the jutsu?" Uchiha Hikari’s heart clenched. She seemed to realize something, and she lowered her gaze toward her feet, speaking softly.

"And besides… you’re so powerful…"

"That’s true." Shinji nodded.

"But my strength comes from the quality of my chakra. If you look with your Sharingan, you should see—I actually don’t have much chakra at all. In fact, I have less than a regular Uchiha without an awakened Sharingan."

In this world, there was no abundant natural energy like in the shinobi world.

Shinji couldn’t replenish his chakra by absorbing nature energy—he could only refine small amounts through traditional means, making his reserves extremely limited.

So ever since he left the dungeon, he had been running on nearly empty.

This didn’t hinder his power—once in his Nuclear Sage Mode, even with a tiny amount of chakra, he could shatter this world with ease.

However, to activate the Uchiha Blaze Formation—to isolate the earth’s ley lines and flush out the mastermind behind the scenes—an enormous chakra source was necessary.

Simply put, Shinji could enhance the jutsu’s power, but he couldn’t expand its range.

Even a simple Fireball Jutsu from him would be as destructive as a nuclear explosion—but its size would be no bigger than what young Sasuke could produce.

That’s why he needed Uchiha Hikari.

Her Mangekyō Sharingan ability, Yachitano Yari, was a support-type dōjutsu.

It could mark targets, extract and manipulate their chakra, and even control them from a distance.

But like most support abilities, it had… unconventional applications.

The Uchiha clan had realized this early on.

So, they turned it around—marking a significant portion of their own people, drawing from their chakra reserves, and implanting multiple ocular techniques into Hikari’s eyes—

Giving her the terrifying ability to single-handedly topple an entire clan.

Shinji sighed, looking at her solemnly.

"I know… this isn’t an easy choice for you."

"You have every reason to hate the Uchiha. Every reason to hate this world."

"I can’t ask you to forgive the clan that persecuted you… or to save them."

"But this… is our only chance."

"Our only chance to expose that person’s so-called true darkness."

"Even if all of this is just a dream—"

"As the former heir of the Uchiha clan—I want to protect it."

"I want to protect its present… and its future!"

"And I swear to you—the Uchiha of the future… will never be like this again."

"So—"

Beneath the war-torn ruins of Kikyo City, bathed in smoke and fire—

A boy, holding his own still-beating heart, solemnly pleaded—

"Uchiha Hikari, I want you to watch these fireworks!"

Chapter 529: The Flame Matrix, Heavenly Fire Descends!

"I..."

As she gazed at the still-beating heart offered before her, Uchiha Hikari instinctively took a step back. A trace of fear surfaced on her face as the request seemed to touch upon painful memories from her past. In her mind, several cold and stern voices echoed:

*"You were born to ensure the prosperity of the Uchiha clan! Face death with resolve and annihilate the enemy!"*

*"You don't need emotions! Your only purpose is to exist as a weapon until the end!"*

*"Destroy them completely!"*

*"You have no family, so you must dedicate all your strength to our clan! Do you understand?"*

*"I promise you, the future of the Uchiha will not remain as it is now. You will no longer have to bear such a heavy and cruel burden!"*

*"So, Uchiha Hikari, I want you to watch this firework display!"*

Another Uchiha, another pair of seemingly cursed eyes, and yet another demand to do something against her will—again, all for the so-called clan.

To Hikari, the Uchiha standing before her now—Shinji—was no different from those she had encountered in the past.

Two conflicting images overlapped before her eyes.

Though Shinji was standing so close, at this moment, he seemed to drift farther and farther away.

She was alone once again.

Yet...

Her gaze unconsciously fell on the hilt of the long sword at Shinji’s waist. She stood frozen, memories of the dungeon resurfacing in her mind.

She thought back to that time...

Perhaps he had only helped her on a whim.

Perhaps it was mere coincidence, neither out of kindness nor malice—nothing more, nothing less.

So...

"I see."

Shinji nodded slightly, exhaling softly. He stood high above Kikyo Castle, gazing down at the land where a lost history had been written.

A brilliant white fusion chakra quietly gathered at his fingertips.

A sharp "crackling" sound filled the air as fractures formed out of nowhere, resembling the crumbling of the world itself.

Shinji looked on indifferently.

He was ready to shatter this world, to bury everything with his own hands, and to search for answers by reversing the flow of time.

However—

At that moment, a small, dirty, pale hand reached out and placed itself over his own.

It pressed down on the Sage’s Heart!

"I'm not doing this to help you, and I don’t need any promises from you," Hikari huffed, turning her head away. "I just... want to see the fireworks myself!"

"And besides, I have no intention of saving this heartless clan! I’d rather see them all die right now if I could—I just can’t beat them yet. But after this, you have to leave with me! We’ll have nothing to do with them ever again! Got it?"

Shinji blinked.

Then, he smiled.

---

Outside Kikyo Castle

"The chance to strike back against the Uchiha and reclaim the Senju homeland is right before us!"

"That giant is just an illusion—a trick meant to deceive us! There’s no need to be afraid!"

"Think about it! If that Susanoo were real, the Uchiha would have wiped us out long ago!"

"Even the main family and Uchiha Rei’s son couldn’t wield such power!"

"Those arrogant Uchihas would never resort to such cheap tricks unless they were desperate! This proves they’ve run out of options!"

"That’s right, haha!"

"Now, according to our informants, they’ve already begun their second internal war. Kikyo Castle is in complete chaos! Lord Sojin, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don’t hesitate—give the order!"

Outside Kikyo Castle, a massive coalition of over ten thousand shinobi had already assembled beneath the city gates.

Several clan leaders surrounded a long-haired young man with a stern expression, urging him to act.

Senju Sojin let out a deep breath.

This approach felt dishonorable.

He longed for a proper battle against Uchiha Naga, the adversary who seemed destined to be his lifelong rival. If he could, he would buy more time for them to face off in an honorable duel.

But—

Senju Sojin turned slightly, glancing back at the thousands of expectant eyes behind him.

"Think of the children we lost in the last war! You said it yourself—we fight to protect them!"

"You are the only one who can defeat Uchiha Naga! For our clan! For a world free from Uchiha tyranny!"

"Sojin!"

"Give the order!"

"...Alright!"

Senju Sojin took a deep breath, his face steeled with determination.

He turned to face the massive army and raised his hand high, making sure everyone saw what the gesture meant.

Then—

"Follow me—"

But—

*Whoosh!*

Before he could finish giving the command, a wave of commotion suddenly rippled through the crowd.

"Wait, what... what is that!?"

"Look over there!"

"That red light—!"

"Such immense, chilling chakra!"

Hearing the commotion, Senju Sojin’s expression darkened. He turned sharply—

And then, he saw it.

Atop the colossal ‘Illusion Giant’ in Kikyo Castle—

A thick, crimson beam of energy shot skyward, piercing through the heavens!

The surrounding air visibly rippled like waves in response to the overwhelming power.

Anyone could see it—this chakra was so vast it warped reality itself. It was terrifying beyond imagination.

And then—

As the first crimson pillar connected the heavens and the earth, dyeing the entire night sky in a blood-red hue—

More beams followed.

From all across Kikyo Castle, countless red beams, some thick, some thin, shot up into the sky!

Within the city—

Uchiha clansmen, hiding in shelters, basements, collapsed buildings, or resting after the ceasefire, all looked on in confusion as red chakra surfaced from their bodies.

They could only feel it—this chakra coursed through them in a pattern unlike anything they had ever seen before.

And then—

As they raised their hands instinctively, the energy soared into the sky!

Thousands of crimson pillars pulsed in an intricate rhythm, channeling chakra toward the largest and most central beam.

Thousands of red threads reached up to the heavens, forming a massive network. The moment they touched the clouds, they bent at a perfect 90-degree angle and, under the guidance of the central beam, extended outward in all directions.

Above Kikyo Castle, atop the head of the mighty Susanoo—

Shinji smirked.

The scale of this surpassed even the Fire Release Formation seen in the Fourth Great Ninja War.

He raised his hand and sent a single thread of fusion chakra into the sky!

As if a critical threshold had been met—

The sky changed.

The red light screens connected, expanding infinitely into the distance!

From Kikyo Castle to Naka River and Chii Mountain—

From Naka River to the far western shores of the Land of Fire—

From Chii Mountain to the distant borders of the Land of Lightning!

The entire world was enveloped, woven together by a mathematical, flame-bound matrix!

And then—

Outside Kikyo Castle—

Senju Sojin looked up in horror.

He saw it.

The sky, now divided into a crimson grid, revealed only fragments of the heavens—

And through those gaps—

*Countless fireballs, like falling meteors, tore through the sky and plummeted toward the earth!*

It was as if the gods themselves had descended.

Chapter 530: A Rain of Fire and the Extraordinary Ones! 

Whoosh! 

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! 

Massive fireballs, trailing long, dark tails of flames, streaked through the sky like orbital missiles, instantly shattering the clouds above Kikyo City. 

The sky, once clear and blue, now revealed a scene reminiscent of the apocalypse. 

Tens of thousands of crimson fireballs rained down from above, forming a dense fiery downpour. Each ‘raindrop’ measured over ten meters in diameter! 

Under the gaze of everyone inside and outside Kikyo City, this ‘fire rain’ dragged thick plumes of smoke as it traced elegant arcs before crashing down outside the city! 

Then— 

“BOOM!!” 

The first ‘raindrop’ hit the ground. 

Immediately following— 

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Thousands—BOOM! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! 

Surrounding the sudden rise of a vast forest outside the city—and the colossal wooden figure standing within it, arms spread wide to shield the area below—tens of thousands of fiery, crimson mushroom clouds erupted from the ground! 

The earth trembled violently, and ring-shaped shockwaves collided, stirring up billowing dust clouds. 

The bombardment lasted for a full thirty seconds before finally slowing. 

As the black smoke gradually dissipated, the Uchiha members stationed on the city walls could only see that the once-thriving forest outside Kikyo City had been utterly obliterated—reduced to a blazing wasteland. 

The banners of the Senju-led allied shinobi army lay scattered, some still fluttering weakly. The battlefield had fallen into complete silence. 

At the heart of the sea of flames stood a massive, charred wooden colossus. Beneath it, Senju Clan leader Senju Soujin stared blankly at the now-ashen remains of the tens of thousands of shinobi who had followed him into battle. 

In mere moments, they had been reduced to nothing but dust. 

His breath came in ragged gasps, his expression shifting from confusion to trembling, from trembling to a grimace, from a grimace to despair, and finally—from despair to rage. 

However— 

Before he could lift his head in fury to search for the enemy who had annihilated everything he held dear— 

A blinding light once again flashed in the corner of his vision! 

A new wave of ‘mushrooms’ was about to bloom upon the earth. 

And there would be dozens more waves to come. 

Uchiha Hikari blinked in awe, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at the blazing ‘sea of flowers’ blooming across the battlefield. The fiery spectacle reflected in her eyes, making them shimmer brilliantly. 

While she marveled at the scene, beside her, Shinji shifted his gaze toward the center of Kikyo City and exhaled lightly. 

“I’ve taken care of the enemy shinobi outside the city for you. Now, it’s up to your side.” 

Retracting his gaze, Shinji’s expression grew serious. Taking advantage of Uchiha Hikari’s distraction, he extracted a portion of chakra from the core pillar of the Uchiha Fire Formation and swiftly refined it. 

Closing his eyes slightly, he activated both the Kagura Mind’s Eye and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode simultaneously. The expansive sensory perception of the Kagura Mind’s Eye, combined with the malice-sensing ability of the Nine-Tails Chakra, and further enhanced by the Curse Seal Sage Transformation’s heightened sensory powers, enabled Shinji to sweep his gaze across every corner of the world. 

Nothing could escape his sight. 

In an instant, he locked onto thousands of suspicious targets within the Uchiha Fire Formation, which blanketed the entire world. 

At the same time that the shinobi army outside the city was annihilated, one particular entity stood out. 

A mass of pure black liquid. 

It slithered down an ordinary-looking tree trunk, dripping to the ground before morphing into a humanoid figure of pure darkness. 

The moment Shinji laid eyes on the figure, a flood of memories surged within him. Digging deep into his recollections, he finally unearthed a familiar fragment: 

This guy… 

This was Black Zetsu, the infamous “Millennial Filial Son.” 

“Found you.” 

Shinji’s expression turned cold. He raised his arm, and in an instant, the massive Susanoo surrounding him dissolved into a phantom-like glow of chakra. 

In its place, a dazzling white cloak suddenly materialized over his body! 

With a single step mid-air— 

The air beneath his feet warped into a near-solid stepping platform. 

Whoosh! 

Like an arrow of light, Shinji broke through multiple layers of sound barriers in an instant, accelerating beyond Mach 10. At speeds exceeding 12,250 km/h, he arrived at his target within mere seconds! 

“BOOOOOOM!” 

Only now did the deafening sonic boom explode across the sky above Kikyo City. 

At this moment, Black Zetsu had yet to realize the impending danger. It stared in disbelief at Kikyo City in the distance and the crimson prison-like walls enclosing it from the sky. 

Its eerie green eyes widened in horror as it muttered, 

“What is this!?” 

“Hiss!” 

“Wait—did the entire shinobi army just get wiped out in an instant!?” 

“Damn it! What the hell is happening!?” 

The sequence of events had unfolded too suddenly. Black Zetsu had not even realized that the Uchiha Fire Formation had severed its connection to the earth, preventing it from escaping using its Mayfly Technique. 

As it was still in shock, a shadow suddenly flickered before it, as if appearing from a missing animation frame. 

A cold-faced young man. 

In an instant, Shinji’s hand clamped around Black Zetsu’s throat. With a powerful motion, he slammed it into the ground, a sinister smirk appearing on his lips. 

“So it was you, this disgusting thing, pulling the strings from the shadows!” 

Black Zetsu was utterly horrified, feeling as if it had been crushed beneath a stampede of ten thousand elephants. Even its Yin-Yang Release body—capable of freely morphing and displaying immense resilience—was beginning to disintegrate. 

The ground beneath them collapsed into rubble until Black Zetsu’s back slammed into a searing-hot wall of flames. 

“Hiss! It’s burning!” 

Black Zetsu shrieked in pain, instinctively attempting to split its body and escape using the Mayfly Technique. 

No matter who this young man was or how he had discovered it, Black Zetsu had only one option—to flee. It could bide its time until this threat perished naturally from old age before resuming its plans. 

However— 

Sizzle! 

To its horror, Black Zetsu realized that its severed body fragments could not escape. The moment they attempted to burrow into the ground, they collided against the scorching fire walls of the Uchiha Fire Formation! 

Trapped. 

Black Zetsu could only stare in terror at the cold-eyed young man before him, its voice trembling as it asked, 

“Wait… Who are you!?” 

“Who am I?” 

Shinji sneered, tightening his grip. 

“You don’t deserve to know.” 

His scarlet Sharingan spun rapidly, unleashing a monstrous surge of ocular power that warped the very air around them. 

And then—he dove into Black Zetsu’s mind to extract every last piece of information it held. 

(To be continued…)