The Kumogakure shinobi who had sworn to protect their Raikage found their feet rooted to the ground, unable to move. For a moment they thought it was fear—but then they looked down.
Their legs were gone.
No pain came at first. It was an illusion, a strange sense of unreality. Only when trembling hands touched the stumps above their thighs—where blood was spurting wildly—did the searing agony finally register.
Screams erupted across the battlefield. The few Kumogakure ninja who had escaped the initial strike turned pale, dropping their pouches as they fled in blind terror.
Those who had steeled their resolve to attack Susanoo arrived just in time to witness the horror: the wave of blade-like chakra had annihilated most of their comrades, tearing through the forest and leaving a massive crater in its wake.
High above them loomed the giant clad in crimson armor, shaped like a Karasu-Tengu, blotting out both sun and sky. The sight alone crushed any last shred of resistance in their hearts.
This was not something mortals could fight.
As the dust cleared, the fallen form of the Fourth Raikage was revealed in the crater—unconscious, bleeding, and broken.
Despair spread across the faces of his shinobi. Even their Raikage, famed for his unmatched speed and indomitable body, had fallen in only a few exchanges. One blow from Susanoo had been enough to render him helpless. And as for themselves—they had nearly been obliterated in a single strike.
From atop the battlefield, Uchiha Fugaku raised Susanoo's blade again. Two arcs of condensed chakra cut through the air, their speed so fast they vanished from sight. The surviving Kumogakure ninja attempted every means to escape—Substitution Jutsu, Earth Release burrows, desperate leaps into the trees—but the sheer range of destruction left them no chance.
When the energy settled, the forest was a wasteland. Trees lay shattered like splinters; the ground was scarred and broken, as if a meteor had plowed through it.
Those who still breathed were few.
Fugaku turned his gaze back to the crater, where the Raikage still lay unmoving. Without hesitation, Susanoo raised its colossal foot.
"Stop!" a Kumogakure shinobi cried out in desperation.
But the plea was swallowed by the thunderous impact. The earth shook as Susanoo stomped down, grinding its heel as though to ensure nothing survived. When the dust settled, the Raikage's figure was gone. Only a deep footprint crater remained—within it, nothing but churned soil and the shredded remains of flesh mingled with the dirt.
The Fourth Raikage, the iron wall of Kumogakure, had been reduced to nothing more than dust beneath Susanoo's foot.
Fugaku stepped out from the crystalline chamber within Susanoo's body, onto its outstretched palm. Gently, the avatar lowered him to the ground before dissolving into countless crimson motes of light. The war god vanished, and the battlefield grew quiet once more.
Seeing their Hokage descend, the Konoha shinobi rushed forward. Uchiha clansmen led the way, followed by Hyūga Hiashi and Tsunade. Their faces were alight with awe.
Fugaku leapt into the crater one last time to confirm. Finding scraps of the Raikage's remains, he nodded with certainty—the man was dead.
When he returned to the surface, the voices of his people rose immediately.
"Clan Head! Susanoo's power is truly divine—it leaves your subordinates in awe!" declared the Second Elder, Uchiha Setsuna, his eyes burning with admiration.
Uchiha Yashiro and the others echoed him, their faces filled with pride.
Not to be outdone, Hyūga Hiashi stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Hokage-sama, your might is unparalleled. Under your leadership, Konoha will surely shine brighter than ever before."
Fugaku allowed himself a small smile. "Enough flattery. Elder Setsuna—have our scouts transmit this victory back to the village."
Setsuna nodded, calling over an intelligence officer, a middle-aged Uchiha skilled in long-range message techniques. Producing pen and paper, the man asked reverently, "Hokage-sama, how should I record it?"
Fugaku considered for a moment, then spoke calmly:
"Write the truth. State that the Fourth Raikage was slain by my hand, and the Kumogakure forces scattered. As the saying goes: a country cannot go a day without a king, nor a home without a master. With the Cloud losing its Raikage, the time is ripe for a counterattack.
Send word to Nara Shikaku—he is to dispatch supply teams and bring additional storage scrolls. When we take Hidden Cloud Village, we will return with all of its wealth and resources."
His tone was arrogant, as though Kumogakure were nothing more than prey awaiting the butcher's blade. Yet none of the Konoha shinobi doubted him. They had seen with their own eyes the power of their Fifth Hokage.
Even the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had required a drawn-out battle to face the Raikage as an equal. Fugaku had crushed him in a single blow. The comparison was undeniable.
The shinobi of Konoha exchanged glances, their eyes alight with anticipation. A counterattack on Kumogakure—such bold words would have been unthinkable under the reign of the Third Hokage.
At the crater's edge, several curious Konoha ninja peered down at the gruesome remains, shuddering at the sight.
Fugaku ignored them, turning back to the intelligence officer. "That will suffice. Choose your words carefully and send the message."
The man nodded firmly. "Understood." He set pen to paper, his hand steady, and began writing the report that would shake the entire shinobi world.
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