Uchiha Fugaku was not given even a moment more to think.
At that very instant when his mind faltered—
From within the massive ninja blade in Uchiha Keizumi's Susanoo's hands, a violent, overwhelming power erupted—far surpassing anything before!
[Clang—]
[Crack!!!]
[Boom!!!]
With a thunderous roar that split the heavens, echoing like a collapsing mountain—Uchiha Fugaku's dark-purple glaive, covered in cracks, shattered apart midair like fragile glass.
The glaive turned into countless fragments of violet chakra, scattering in all directions—
Then vanished into the air.
The crimson molten blade did not slow; carrying unstoppable, destructive force, it swept through as easily as a hot knife through solidified butter!
[Whoosh—!!!]
A crimson arc of death flashed across the air.
The two arms of Uchiha Fugaku's purple Susanoo, already covered in fractures, were severed cleanly at the base!
The massive arms of Susanoo crashed heavily to the ground, stirring clouds of dust before slowly dissolving into primal chakra particles.
The residual force of that single slash transformed into an intense crimson shockwave of scorching wind, ripping forward along the ground.
[Rumble—!!!]
The earth itself was plowed as though by a giant's blade.
In an instant, a massive trench several meters deep, over ten meters wide, and stretching almost across the entire Uchiha Clan compound was carved open.
The walls of the trench gleamed smooth as mirrors, their surfaces crystallized into glassy formations from the instantaneous heat!
Dark-red magma trickled and flowed slowly at the bottom of the rift, dripping with a suffocating heat and stench of sulfur.
Cold beads of sweat slid down Uchiha Fugaku's forehead, tracing across his rigid cheek.
He could even feel the soul-melting scorch of the crimson wind pressure that had just grazed past him.
Suddenly—
He jerked his head up, pupils trembling violently from sheer terror!
Before him, the crimson Susanoo of Uchiha Keizumi had not stopped.
Its body was rising, swelling at an astonishing, jaw-dropping speed!
Thirty meters…
Fifty meters…
And it was still far from over!
An even greater torrent of crimson chakra surged upward from beneath the earth like a tsunami, rapidly condensing into a complete lower body—an immense pelvis, thick legs, and feet encased in massive armor plating!
That towering giant finally revealed its full-body form!
At the same time, layers upon layers of ancient, heavy, and fearsome crimson armor plates began to cover its torso and limbs.
Molten patterns flowed across the armor, and searing gusts of heat burst forth from its joints.
It was as though a molten demon god had crawled out from the deepest level of the Eighteenth Hell—
Towering above the entire Uchiha Clan compound!
Uchiha Fugaku had to crane his head to the utmost just to barely see the burning sockets beneath that massive battle helm—eyes ablaze with cold hellfire!
A near-vacant pallor spread across Fugaku's face.
The decisive will and fighting spirit within him, once burning bright, were as if pierced by an invisible needle—deflated in an instant, leaving nothing behind.
His Susanoo, now with both arms severed and only half a body remaining, stood at less than one-third the height of the opposing Susanoo.
He even suspected that, even if he jumped with all his might, he might not reach the other's waist!
Even with both arms intact, he would likely only strike at the knees!
This absolute disparity in size and power was like that between a six-year-old child and a towering armored giant—a despair so deep it crushed the soul.
A sense of powerlessness and insignificance, unprecedented and bone-deep, surged over him like a tide, completely submerging his heart.
The next instant—
The crimson molten blade, which had also grown in size along with Susanoo, was raised high in Uchiha Keizumi's Susanoo's hands.
Despite its immense size, its speed had not slowed in the slightest—on the contrary, due to the extremity of its concentrated power, the force and pressure it carried as it descended were even more terrifying!
[Boom!!!]
Before the blade had even fallen completely, the compressed air alone erupted outward like a passing typhoon, sweeping across the entire Uchiha compound!
Nearby buildings were blown apart and crushed like paper models!
The very ground shook and wailed under the impact!
Uchiha Fugaku gazed up at that world-devouring blade of fire, his final glimmer of light extinguished from his eyes.
Through that fatal edge, he seemed to glimpse the sight his eldest son had seen before death.
"Itachi…"
He murmured, his voice hoarse and nearly inaudible, "I think… I can finally understand the despair you felt before you died. It isn't fear of death. It's the helpless despair of giving everything—and still being unable to move your enemy even an inch."
[Boom!!!]
In his final vision, everything before him began to twist and melt, like wax figures cast into a blazing furnace.
The Susanoo he had once taken pride in—the manifestation of his strongest ocular power—was as fragile as a carved block of butter before that colossal molten blade!
Even before the blade made full contact, the extreme heat had already begun to melt and vaporize the defensive structure of his Susanoo.
Should I use Izanagi? —the thought flashed instinctively across his mind.
It was meaningless. —And in the next instant, that thought was utterly crushed by the cold weight of reality.
Before such an absolute difference in power, even if he sacrificed one eye for a single resurrection…
Then what?
Would he face this undefeatable power all over again?
At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku could no longer even bring himself to think of using any other Mangekyō technique.
Because—
It was useless!
As the blistering heat tore at his skin with burning agony, as the shadow of death completely enveloped him, as he could already smell the scorched scent of his own hair—
Uchiha Fugaku made the final, and only, choice left to him.
He suddenly raised both hands, his index and middle fingers hooked like claws, and drove them brutally into his own Mangekyō Sharingan!
[Splurt!]
Two bloodstained Mangekyō Sharingan, their patterns twisted and eerie, were gouged out from his eye sockets by sheer force.
"Keizumi!!!"
Summoning the last ounce of strength in his body, he hurled the pair of blood-soaked eyes toward the distant, relatively safer direction with all his might!
"Take my eyes… to Sasuke!!!"
Whether he and Uchiha Keizumi were mortal enemies or not, he would never allow himself to end up like his eldest son, Itachi—to let these precious Mangekyō Sharingan be destroyed along with him.
The future of the Uchiha Clan… might still need this power.
This was the final thing he could do—as a father, and as the former patriarch of the clan!
Itachi fought Uchiha Keizumi for the "peace" of Konoha.
I fight for the "future" of the Uchiha.
Even in defeat, he would still do one last thing for his clan.
[Whoosh—!!!]
In the next instant, that colossal molten blade finally tore through the already-ruined dark-purple Susanoo, its terrifying edge blazing with annihilating heat, engulfing Uchiha Fugaku—whose eye sockets were now two bleeding voids.
A human body of flesh and blood stood no chance before a strike infused with the power of Lava Release.
Every cell, every nerve, every fragment of bone within Uchiha Fugaku's body screamed in unimaginable agony for a fraction of a millisecond—
Then were instantly vaporized and annihilated by that indescribable heat.
No screams. No struggle. No trace left behind.
As though he had never existed in this world.
The smoke and waves of heat slowly dispersed.
"A villain who willingly plunged himself into the abyss—only to be moved by his own demise. Truly, Uchiha Itachi's madness must have been hereditary."
Uchiha Keizumi's cold voice echoed through the air.
...
Hiruzen had been continuously watching the situation at the Uchiha compound.
Fortunately, the sizes of the two Susanoo were large enough that, even from the Hokage Building, he could clearly see the distant scene.
When he personally witnessed the dark-purple Susanoo being cleaved apart and collapsing under a single slash from the massive crimson Susanoo—
Hiruzen could not help but take a deep breath.
He did not know whether it was merely an illusion, but he faintly felt that this breath carried a trace of sulfur and a dry heat.
"Fugaku… has lost."
Hiruzen slowly uttered these words, and he could roughly guess Fugaku's ending and fate.
After all, since both sides had already used Susanoo—this legendary ocular jutsu of the Sharingan—it was, by nature, a battle that would not end without one's death.
And now that the commotion had come to an end, it could only mean that one of them had been killed—and the one who died was, in all likelihood, Uchiha Fugaku.
Hiruzen realized that after this night, the stance, the situation, and the ideology of the Uchiha Clan would be completely rewritten.
Within the entire Uchiha Clan, there was now no one left who could oppose Keizumi.
[Absolute Justice] would prevail throughout the Uchiha Clan!
Whether it was the efforts of Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Itachi, or Uchiha Setsuna—all of it had become the bridal attire for Absolute Justice.
And he, the Hokage himself, had not stopped any of this from happening.
Or rather—
He simply had no time to!
Once again, Uchiha Keizumi's strength had far exceeded Hiruzen's expectations. He had never imagined that Fugaku would lose so quickly, so cleanly, and with utterly no power to resist.
"Hah! Come."
At Hiruzen's command, two ANBU shinobi appeared before him with a swift "swish."
Hiruzen's old face remained composed as he said, "Infiltrate the Uchiha compound in secret and see if you can find Fugaku's eyes. Based on my understanding of him, a man who possessed such power would never allow it to be buried together with him. He must have left this power behind… for the village."
What he had originally meant to say was "for the Uchiha Clan." But if he said that aloud, wouldn't such an act appear somewhat disgraceful?
Hiruzen still cared about his own reputation, so he changed "for the Uchiha Clan" into "for the village."
After all, the dead could not come out to argue.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The two ANBU responded in unison.