The battlefield trembled beneath the weight of a monstrous chakra eruption.
A blinding surge of blue spread like wildfire, forcing every nearby shinobi—friend and foe alike—to shield their eyes.
Then, towering above the shattered earth, a thirty-meter giant in skeletal armor materialized.
A half-body Susanoo, its ribcage gleaming like crystallized steel, stared down at the lone warrior below.
The First Raikage.
The air itself froze. Even the howling winds of the Lightning Country seemed to retreat before the insane power overflowing from Uchiha Makoto.
The First Raikage narrowed his eyes.
"This monster… this chakra density… and that ocular power mixed inside it…"
His heart pounded, not out of fear—he was a seasoned warrior who had survived seas of blood during the Warring States Period—but out of pure thrill.
He could feel it.
A killing intent so cold it pierced bone.
Makoto Uchiha didn't bother hiding it.
He wiped blood from the corner of his eye, and Susanoo's massive fists clenched—each one large enough to crush a small hill.
"Are you mimicking Madara's crazy laugh now?" the First Raikage said with a grin.
Makoto sneered. "I hope you can still laugh later."
Before the words even finished, Susanoo moved.
Four gigantic fists shot out simultaneously, punching through the air like thunderbolts.
"Fast!"
The First Raikage dashed aside, lightning flickering around his limbs—but even with his speed, he couldn't escape them all.
Two fists slammed into him.
The impact blasted him across the field, crashing him through boulders until his body finally skidded to a stop, half-buried in rubble. He spat out blood in thick spurts.
Defense meant nothing here.
His Hell Stab could penetrate mountains, but against Susanoo's raw, overwhelming power, it had felt like punching through iron with bare flesh.
The First Raikage steadied himself while wiping blood from his lips.
"A massive structure like that yet it moves with such speed… and its defense…"
He tightened his fists.
"I can't fight that head-on."
He hated the admission, but the truth was clear.
If he kept fighting Markoto's Susanoo in its current form, he would die before landing a meaningful blow.
"…So I have to go all out."
The First Raikage pressed his palms together.
"Secret Technique—Flesh and Blood Incineration!"
His enormous muscles—normally bulked and hardened through decades of lightning-based conditioning—began to contract. His tall, jagged frame shrank rapidly, reassembling itself into a lean, compact, almost ordinary build.
But his aura…
His aura now shot upward like a second sun.
From the sidelines, the Cloud shinobi watching gasped.
"It appeared! Raikage-sama's ultimate secret! When his muscles are forcibly suppressed back to normal… they reach a density beyond human comprehension!"
"His speed, power, and defense—they'll skyrocket!"
"It's the strongest version of his Lightning Release Body!"
Makoto's Susanoo lifted one massive arm as the First Raikage vanished in a streak of blinding light.
A punch struck Susanoo's chest.
Makoto didn't dodge.
He didn't need to.
But the moment fist met chakra armor—
Makoto's eyes widened slightly.
Something was off.
His Susanoo shook, absorbing the blow—yet the sensation didn't match the force. He had the distinct feeling his strength was being… redirected?
Before he could analyze it more, another punch struck.
Makoto caught the Raikage's silhouette in the flickering lightning.
"You're—"
But the Raikage was already gone, reappearing at Susanoo's flank, then its back, then its ribs.
Strikes landed from every direction, not stopping for even a breath.
When the smoke finally cleared…
A massive crack ran down Susanoo's arm.
Makoto narrowed his eyes.
"What… was that technique?"
A Cloud ninja shouted from afar, unable to contain his excitement.
"It's Power Dampening! The highest realm of Taijutsu! It twists and redirects incoming force, nullifying direct power!"
Makoto didn't bother listening.
Because the Raikage was already attacking again.
His movements were no longer rigid lightning strikes but soft, fluid motions—each one sending back Makoto's own force with terrifying precision.
An entire section of Susanoo's armor shattered from a single punch infused with all the momentum Makoto had used earlier.
Makoto's vision shook. His breath hitched.
He was… impressed.
"I didn't expect there'd be a Taijutsu master on Guy's level in the Warring States era," Makoto muttered.
The First Raikage grinned darkly. "Keep attacking me! I know you can still hold on!"
Makoto laughed, louder and more unhinged.
"Hahaha! I said I'd blast you to pieces—and I will!"
He roared—
"SUSANOO!"
The shattered half-form disintegrated, then rapidly reformed.
Bones rebuilt.
Chakra surged.
Armor materialized.
But this time…
It didn't stop.
Susanoo grew larger—towering past fifty meters—its ribcage widening, arms multiplying, torso solidifying.
Makoto's eyes burned, yet he refused to stop.
"Continue!"
He urged his chakra to its limits.
The armor thickened.
The skeletal frame expanded.
A third stage—massive, armored, towering at over seventy meters—took shape.
Cloud shinobi nearly fell to their knees in shock.
"That… that's a monster…"
The Raikage didn't flinch.
He dashed forward again, a streak of lightning meeting a titan of blue chakra.
Fists thundered.
Kicks shattered air.
Each of Makoto's strikes was heavier than the last, matching the Raikage's rebounding counterforce blow for blow.
Dust, lightning, and chakra whipped the battlefield into chaos.
More than ten minutes passed in pure, relentless violence.
Finally, the Raikage's Lightning Armor flickered weakly.
His body trembled. Blood dripped from every pore.
One more collision—
And the First Raikage staggered back, breath heaving. Then he collapsed onto one knee.
He was covered head-to-toe in blood, his chest rising and falling violently.
He looked less like a man and more like a figure carved from scarlet mud.
Makoto's own vision blurred.
His Sharingan dimmed slightly.
He knew the signs—his ocular power was nearing exhaustion.
But he still smiled.
"Keep going," he said coldly.
The Raikage let out a weak laugh.
"This battle… was worth it. But… I can't win."
He looked up at Makoto with a mixture of regret and bitter admiration.
As long as Makoto stayed alive, his system would restore his chakra and ocular power.
Susanoo would enter cooldown for days, but Makoto would survive.
The First Raikage?
He had no such luxury.
The Raikage limped forward anyway.
Makoto raised Susanoo's fist.
A final blow smashed the Raikage into the ground so hard the earth cratered.
He didn't rise.
Makoto dismissed enough of Susanoo to speak down to him directly.
"As the first Kage I've killed," Makoto said calmly, "I'll give you a dignified ending."
Susanoo drew its massive bow.
Energy gathered in the shape of a blinding arrow.
It was a finishing move with terrifying destructive power—but an equally long charge time.
The Raikage sighed bitterly.
"I see… So this is the end."
His gaze softened.
"Please… be lenient with Kumogakure.
And… the two Chunin… If I'd accepted the compensation terms earlier… would this war have been avoided…?"
Makoto tilted his head.
"No. I would have provoked you either way."
The Raikage stared, stunned.
"…Why?"
Makoto smiled.
"Do you think those two Chunin are important to me? Or the compensation you owe me?"
The Raikage groaned, "Naturally… the compensation. It's far larger."
"Guess again."
"The Chunin…?"
"Nope."
"What else could it be…?"
Makoto leaned forward.
"Not having your Kumogakure is more important to me."
The Raikage's expression froze.
"You… you demon… Did Konoha put you up to this?"
Makoto snorted.
"Konoha? Compared to your Kumogakure… having Konoha is even more important to me."
The Raikage screamed in disbelief.
"YOU VILLAINOUS BASTARD!"
Makoto shrugged. "Our conversation is over."
The arrow finished charging.
Makoto raised one hand lazily.
"Goodbye, Raikage."
The Susanoo loosed its arrow.
A colossal beam of blue annihilated the ground.
Light devoured everything.
And the First Raikage—the man who founded Kumogakure with his own hands—was destroyed utterly.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)