Half an hour later, the chaos of battle had finally subsided completely.
Amidst the wreckage of the forest, Yuito lay still in a deep crater. His body was covered in severe burns inflicted by Tailed Beast chakra. He was completely unconscious, a grievous wound on his chest still bleeding profusely.
Outside the crater, the colossal sky-blue Susanoo flickered and slowly faded, dissolving into particles of light. A single line of blood trailed from Jizo's right eye, tracking down his cheek – a testament to the strain of using the Mangekyo.
The battle was over. Ansei Hall had achieved a decisive victory.
A figure flickered into existence beside them – Pakura. They were now several kilometers away from Ansei Hall; the sheer power unleashed in the fight between Jizo and Yuito had laid waste to the surrounding landscape.
"Should we give chase?" Pakura asked quietly, glancing in the direction Inoue, Suien, and the others had fled.
Tatsuya shook his head. "Too late. And unnecessary." He turned his gaze back towards Yamanashi Castle. "Besides, we have more important matters to attend to."
The next morning, as dawn broke over Yamanashi Castle, astonishing news began to spread like wildfire, shaking the city to its core.
The heads of both the Narita and Taniguchi families had been assassinated the previous night! Both were found dead in their own homes, killed silently, without any sign of struggle or disturbance. No one knew who the assassin was.
Soon after the news of the assassinations broke, another shocking report surfaced. The coalition of rogue ninja hired by the Narita and Taniguchi families had launched their attack on Ansei Hall last night – and had been utterly crushed! Of the force numbering over two hundred, most were dead, and the few survivors had scattered in terror. The attack had been a complete disaster.
The combined shock of these two events left the various factions within Yamanashi Castle reeling. A chilling silence fell over those who had been watching the situation unfold; they became, as the saying goes, quiet as cicadas in winter. Everyone knew the Narita and Taniguchi clans had been openly recruiting mercenaries to move against Ansei Hall. Many had been eagerly anticipating the resulting conflict, expecting a good show. No one imagined it would all be over so decisively, so brutally, in a single night.
A sobering realization dawned upon all those who had previously harbored ambitions towards Ansei Hall. A palpable chill ran down their spines. Clearly, the strength Ansei Hall displayed openly was merely the tip of the iceberg. There had to be a much more formidable power backing them from the shadows. They didn't dare speculate on the true extent of Ansei Hall's power.
As for the specifics of the battle itself, the few rogue ninja who had managed to escape alive were conspicuously silent. They were terrified. They feared that saying too much would invite retribution from Ansei Hall later. When dealing with a force this powerful and ruthless, discretion was the better part of valor. It was best to keep one's distance and stay quiet.
While the immediate turmoil subsided within Yamanashi Castle, the ripples from this battle were only beginning to spread throughout the wider ninja world.
Yoshida Jin's Residence – Underground Laboratory.
Tatsuya stood before an operating table, meticulously working. On the table lay the clone, Jizo.
Though Jizo had appeared dominant in his fight against the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Yuito, suppressing him with overwhelming power via the Susanoo, the victory had come at a significant cost.
Thanks to the potent Hashirama cells integrated into his body, the prolonged use of the Mangekyo Sharingan hadn't noticeably degraded Jizo's vision. In fact, Tatsuya's bio-chip detected a slight, almost imperceptible increase in dōjutsu power, likely spurred by the intense battle. Without the bio-chip's analysis, even Tatsuya wouldn't have noticed the minute change.
The physical toll, however, was substantial. Maintaining the Mangekyo Sharingan and the armored Susanoo for extended combat placed an immense strain on the clone's body. Tatsuya estimated that the battle had likely shaved another year or two off Jizo's already limited lifespan, which was less than a decade to begin with. A few more engagements of this intensity, and the Jizo clone would be completely spent.
Furthermore, the battle had starkly highlighted the clone body's critical weakness: its severely limited operational time due to its inability to generate or replenish chakra independently. Against average shinobi, this wasn't a major issue; Jizo's enhanced taijutsu allowed him to win quickly with minimal chakra expenditure. But against Kage-level opponents, who employed a versatile mix of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, relying solely on taijutsu wasn't viable. A more complex fighting style demanded far more chakra, causing consumption to skyrocket.
Given the clone's inherent chakra reserves, even augmented by the Yin-Yang Seal Tatsuya had applied, it couldn't sustain high-level combat for long. Jizo, for instance, could probably only maintain the Mangekyo Sharingan and fight effectively for a matter of minutes without Tatsuya continuously feeding him chakra. Quick victories were essential. Prolonged battles were extremely risky – potentially resulting in not only the loss of a valuable clone but also the precious Mangekyo Sharingan implanted within it.
This effectively dashed Tatsuya's hopes of having Jizo operate independently for extended periods. A clone that had to stay close to the original body had significantly reduced utility. Its main advantage now seemed to be teaming up with Tatsuya to activate the Susanoo – or "pilot a Gundam," as Tatsuya wryly thought of it.
I have to find a solution to the clone's inability to generate or absorb chakra independently, Tatsuya mused. He already had a few preliminary ideas brewing.
After several hours of intensive work in the lab, Tatsuya managed to fully heal Jizo's physical injuries using the Body Activation Secret Technique. The lost lifespan, however, was currently irreparable.
Emerging from the lab, Tatsuya found Pakura sitting patiently in the courtyard. Clearly, she had been waiting for him.
"Need something?" Tatsuya asked, approaching her.
"Where's Jizo?" Pakura asked, her gaze sharp as she noted Tatsuya was alone.
"He sustained some injuries. I left him below to recuperate," Tatsuya replied evenly.
Pakura nodded, accepting the explanation without pressing. "So, what's the plan now?"
Tatsuya met her gaze with a slight smile. "The plan regarding... Jizo's Mangekyo Sharingan? Or the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki we captured from Takigakure?"
"Both, obviously!" Pakura shot back, rolling her eyes. Honestly, is he incredibly nonchalant or just dense? she thought, exasperated. Mishandling either of those situations could bring disastrous consequences down on Ansei Hall, potentially far worse than the recent attack.
"The Jinchuriki? For now, we'll keep him secured. Let Takigakure make the first move and come to us," Tatsuya stated. "Besides, I've already sealed the Seven-Tails' chakra within him. The host alone is no significant threat."
"As for Jizo's Mangekyo Sharingan..." Tatsuya paused, a thoughtful look crossing his face, "...I have other plans." He said it casually, almost dismissively.
Tatsuya recalled the battle. While sealing the Seven-Tails within Yuito, he had also siphoned off and sealed a substantial amount of its potent chakra for his own purposes. His ultimate handling of Yuito would depend largely on Takigakure's response. Their Tailed Beast's power was immense but difficult to control reliably. However, Takigakure possessed something else Tatsuya desired. If the conditions were favorable, Yuito could become a valuable bargaining chip.
"What plans?" Pakura pressed, her curiosity piqued by his evasiveness regarding the Sharingan.
Tatsuya simply said, "Muddy the waters."
"Muddy the waters?" Pakura repeated, confused.
Tatsuya grinned, nodding. "Exactly. Muddy the waters."
"How?"
Tatsuya just offered a cryptic smile. "You'll see soon enough."
"Tch!" Pakura clicked her tongue, annoyed by his deliberate vagueness, but intrigued despite herself.
A few days later, just as the immediate shockwaves from the Ansei Hall battle began to settle, an even more explosive rumor erupted, seemingly from nowhere, and rapidly spread across the entire shinobi world.
The rumor claimed that the mysterious Mangekyo Sharingan user who had appeared during the battle at Ansei Hall... the one wielding the colossal Susanoo... was none other than Uchiha Madara.
Madara Uchiha. The legendary figure, the peerless powerhouse spoken of in the same breath as Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi!
The moment this rumor hit, the entire ninja world erupted into chaos.
_______
+100 chapters on: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls