Chapter 328: Susanoo Offers a Sword, Limitless Power!
At this moment—
Above the surface of the sea,
Six ice dragons, each over ten meters long, roared skyward as they charged head-on toward a human figure rocketing forward like a cannonball!
Fire scorched, lightning seared, water crashed, wind slashed, rock crushed—
Midair, five of the ice dragons shed their crystalline outer shells, revealing their true forms of various hues. Along with the sixth dragon—still wholly crystalline and translucent—they launched themselves into a violent collision!
The howling wind tore the skies and stirred towering waves!
Confronted with these six massive beasts—this overwhelming attack born of the Gedo Statue and Hashirama Cells—
Even in the Fourth Great Ninja War, powerhouses like Hiruzen Sarutobi, dubbed the "Strongest Hokage," and the Raikage were helpless against it.
And yet—
For Uchiha Ci, this was the perfect opportunity to test the results of his training!
Right then,
Uchiha Ci took a deep breath and, as he flew forward at extreme speed, suddenly raised his left hand!
His fingers spread wide—
And in his palm, a white crescent-shaped mark emerged!
With the infusion of overwhelming natural energy, this innate, side-effect-free Sage Transformation constitution—which surpassed even Jūgo's—could now be further developed.
For example—
Sage Transformation: Cursed Seal Stage Two!
Even in his base state, Uchiha Ci possessed nearly the full power of Jūgo's second cursed seal form.
But now, with natural energy overflowing to excess, he pushed the Sage Transformation to the limit, reaching the Cursed Seal Stage Two state—
The white crescent mark in his palm rapidly expanded, transforming into white streaks that spread across his entire body in an instant.
At this moment,
This ability, built upon Cellular Attraction, evolved into—
Heaven's Baptism!
A massive surge of natural energy flooded his body, granting him healing power far surpassing Jūgo's and empowering his form with a force of extreme evolution!
Guided by this power,
Uchiha Ci's body underwent a brief transformation—
From a height of only 160 cm, he slowly grew taller—
Until he reached 169 cm.
Cough. He now looked like he'd aged a year and stepped into the rebellious phase of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old teen.
At the same time, his cells, previously weakened from activating Sage Mode, were continuously revitalized.
Sage Mode side effects temporarily removed. You may now re-enter Sage Mode.
Estimated Sage Mode duration—
∞
Ignoring the subtitles that suddenly popped up before his eyes, Uchiha Ci snapped his eyes open—
The crimson glow in his pupils faded, replaced instantly by a pair of radiant golden dragon eyes!
Endless power surged through his body, bones creaking from deep within his spine.
Then—
He threw his head back and, with his right hand, drew the massive blade—Samehada—from behind his back and rested it on his shoulder.
At this moment,
Uchiha Ci's posture was this: left hand outstretched with open fingers, right hand resting a greatsword on his shoulder—
The explosive thrust of natural energy propelling his body forward like a cannonball, charging directly toward the six massive, terrifying dragons!
In a flash—
Collision!
Watching from afar, a flash of violent killing intent flickered in Bailan's eyes. Standing atop the wooden giant's shoulder, he curled his lips into a cruel smile.
"It's over."
This technique of his was even stronger than the Wood Human Five Element attack Obito unleashed during the Fourth Ninja War.
Using Ice Release to give the five elemental natures physical forms and shape-shifting ability, their interactions amplified each other's power—capped off by pure-ice Ice Release as the finishing blow.
Not even the Raikage with the "strongest shield" could endure such damage!
However—
The next instant—
Bailan's smile froze on his face.
What he saw—
Uchiha Ci didn't dodge or evade at all. Instead, he raised a single hand and caught the oncoming dragon head-on—trying to stop the dragon with his bare hands!
Veins bulged across his forehead, his left arm's muscles swelling so fast they tore through his sleeve.
"HAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
At the moment of impact, as their opposing forces clashed—
Uchiha Ci still had power to spare. He forced the dragon's head downward, slamming it into the sea's surface!
Then—
He leapt onto the dragon's body, sprinting up its back with Samehada dragging behind him, slicing into the ice as he ran!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
Samehada's head repeatedly slammed into the ice, tearing it open while greedily absorbing the chakra that made up the ice dragon's body.
In the instant Uchiha Ci sprang off the dragon's tail again, Samehada, aggrieved, finally transferred all the chakra it had stored into Uchiha Ci.
After absorbing the chakra, Uchiha Ci glanced at Samehada in his hand, then shook his head, grumbled in disgust, and tossed it into the sea with a sigh:
"Too short. Too weak."
"Completely unsatisfying."
"Guess I'll use this instead!"
As those words fell, crimson once more flooded Uchiha Ci's eyes!
A skeletal frame instantly materialized behind him—twenty-six bones between blazing yellow and crimson red erupting from his back!
Half-body Susanoo rapidly formed in the blaze of fire,
And at the shoulder joints, a massive skeletal arm condensed instantly!
"That's… Susanoo!?"
"Damn it! That bastard Kisame—how did he lose Samehada to him?!"
Seeing this, Bailan—standing atop the Wood Human's head—shuddered uncontrollably, eyes widening as if he'd seen a ghost!
Having nearly been crushed to death by Madara's Susanoo in the past, he knew better than anyone how terrifying it was.
Realizing Ci was about to use Susanoo to endure his attack, Bailan quickly formed the "Ram" seal, attempting to command the Water Release dragons to lift Ci from beneath—
Because half-body Susanoo couldn't defend against attacks from below.
At least, that's what he'd learned from fighting Uchiha Madara!
However—
What happened next—
Left Bailan questioning reality.
At that moment—
After summoning Susanoo, Uchiha Ci didn't immediately control it to attack the remaining five dragons as Bailan expected.
Instead, he calmly reached out a hand—
And behind him, the blazing Susanoo, from between its massive skeletal hands, drew—
An 18-meter-long lightning greatsword!
Immediately after—
The summoned Susanoo, as if performing a sacred ritual, respectfully handed the thunderous greatsword to its master.
And once Uchiha Ci took the sword with fervent eyes—
He leapt straight out of Susanoo's protective range and charged forward with the massive blade, slashing at the five dragons with wild excitement!
Just then—
Because Bailan had anticipated Uchiha Ci's defensive move, he'd commanded the five dragons to turn around.
The resulting scene—
Looked for all the world like Uchiha Ci, wielding Sword of Raijin, had leapt out of Susanoo to chase the five dragons around!
The stark contrast in size between him and the dragons—
In that instant—
Made the entire scene look incredibly bizarre.