Chapter 48: The Fall of a False God
"What's going on, Sarutobi?"
"Old man, are you okay?"
The air crackled with tension as Konoha's leadership converged on the scene. The two village elders, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, arrived alongside the Sannin—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. The Anbu Commander, the famed "White Fang" Hatake Sakumo, was also present, as were the patriarchs of all the major clans. Their collective gaze was fixed on the towering, spectral giant that had once been the Hokage's office.
"I'm fine," Sarutobi Hiruzen stated, though his robes were dusty and his expression was grim. "This is Susanoo, a kinjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan. It's said to be an impervious defense, a technique of the gods. All chunin and genin are to retreat immediately! They will be nothing but casualties here."
"Sharingan?" The word rippled through the assembled elites. Dozens of eyes, filled with suspicion and accusation, swiveled to land on Uchiha Tajima, the head of the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Tajima's face darkened. "I have never seen this shinobi before," he declared, his voice tight with controlled anger. "He is not a member of my clan."
Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed the Uchiha patriarch with a deep, searching look. His skepticism was palpable.
"Where is Danzo?" Hiruzen scanned the crowd, his brow furrowing when he didn't spot the Root leader. The assailant's words echoed in his mind, sending a chill down his spine. Could it really be?
"I am here." Shimura Danzo emerged from the shadows, his single visible eye calmly assessing the yellow Susanoo. A flicker of surprise, quickly suppressed, passed through his gaze before it returned to its usual impassive state.
Hiruzen gave a curt nod. "Our priority is to subdue him! And evacuate all civilians from the area immediately! I will not have them harmed!"
BOOM!
A massive chakra blade swept down from the Susanoo, carving a deep trench into the earth and obliterating several nearby buildings. Hiruzen barely managed to leap aside, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He had been too busy giving orders and had almost been bisected.
"Less talking, Sarutobi-sensei, and more fighting!" Orochimaru's voice cut through the chaos. "We need to contain it now! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" A swarm of giant snakes erupted from his sleeves, coiling and biting at the Susanoo's legs in an attempt to bind it.
Hidden safely in the shadows some distance away, Shinra watched the spectacle with a grim smile. "Hah... To be honest, there aren't many in Konoha right now who can actually break a complete Susanoo. This should give them a real headache."
He wasn't wrong. Piercing the defenses of a mature Susanoo required overwhelming, concentrated force. It would take either a full-power assault from Sarutobi Hiruzen himself, or a prolonged battle of attrition to drain the user.
Konoha's military strength was in a transitional period. The Sannin were not yet in their prime. The village currently relied on three true Kage-level shinobi: Hiruzen, Danzo, and Hatake Sakumo. The other clan patriarchs were, at best, quasi-Kage or elite jonin, and their attacks simply bounced off the divine construct.
"Looking at it now, Konoha is actually quite vulnerable," Shinra mused aloud.
On the battlefield, the Susanoo waded into the ranks of Konoha's defenders, its colossal sword reaping a bloody harvest. In a matter of moments, four jonin were dead, and many more were wounded.
However, Uchiha Ryo was not faring well. There was a saying that ants could kill an elephant if there were enough of them, and Uchiha Ryo was no elephant. The combined ninjutsu assaults, while individually ineffective, were relentless. Under the constant barrage, cracks began to spiderweb across the Susanoo's form. Although it could repair itself with chakra, the expenditure was immense, and Uchiha Ryo's stolen reserves were draining rapidly.
"Pupil Art: Phantom Body!"
A second, identical Susanoo materialized on the battlefield, doubling the chaos and the despair of the defenders.
"Don't falter! He's reaching his limit!" Hiruzen roared, his sharp eyes having caught the tell-tale sign of blood streaming from Uchiha Ryo's eyes within the protective shell. "He can't maintain this much longer!"
Encouraged, the shinobi redoubled their efforts. The volume of ninjutsu intensified, hammering against the two giants.
"Tch," Shinra clicked his tongue in disappointment. "I knew he couldn't cause too much of a stir, but this is just pathetic." One moment he was thinking Konoha was in for a long night, the next, his puppet was being suppressed. The slap-back to reality was sharp. "It seems that unless you reach a level beyond the Kage, you can't ignore the advantage of numbers, even with a Susanoo."
"But I can't let it end so meekly." A dark grin spread across Shinra's face. He focused, and through his Tenseigan's connection, he began channeling his own vast chakra directly into Uchiha Ryo.
The faltering Susanoo suddenly flared with renewed power. The two giants began attacking with wild, unrestrained fury, cutting down jonin as if they were stalks of wheat. Hiruzen's heart clenched with every life lost.
"Summoning Jutsu: Enma!"
In a puff of smoke, the Monkey King, Enma, appeared. Without waiting for a greeting, he instantly transformed into the extendable, nigh-indestructible Adamantine Staff.
Hiruzen hefted the mighty weapon, leaping high into the air. With all his strength, he brought the staff down upon the head of the primary Susanoo.
CRACK!
A sound like shattering glass echoed through the night. A web of fractures spread across the Susanoo's form.
BOOM!
The colossal construct could no longer hold together. It dissolved into a shower of fading chakra. A storm of ninjutsu immediately poured down toward the now-exposed Uchiha Ryo.
At the last possible second, Uchiha Ryo's Mangekyo spun. "Pupil Art: Body Flicker!" He swapped places with his phantom Susanoo, which was instantly vaporized by the combined attack, while he reappeared, panting and bleeding, a dozen yards away.
"Surrender!" Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was a mask of cold fury. "Tell us who sent you, and you may yet receive mercy."
The battle had been devastating. Nearly twenty jonin were dead, and three elite jonin were seriously injured. For a village whose total jonin strength, including the hidden reserves of the clans, was unlikely to exceed five hundred, this was a painful blow to its core strength.
Uchiha Ryo responded with a hollow, broken laugh. "Heh... Amaterasu!"
His gaze locked onto a nearby elite jonin. Instantly, black flames erupted upon the man, clinging to him and consuming him with an unholy hunger. Other ninjas tried to douse the flames with water jutsu, but the water itself seemed to catch fire, only intensifying the blaze.
"The flames cannot be extinguished! Use sealing techniques! Now!" Hiruzen commanded, his voice raw.
Watching another valuable shinobi die such a horrific death hardened his resolve further. His eyes turned to ice.
"HAHAHA... THE UCHIHA CLAN IS ETERNAL!" Uchiha Ryo screamed.
With his final breath, he poured chakra into his own eyes, rupturing them completely, and then triggered the explosive tags strapped to his body.
BOOM!
The concussive blast tore what remained of his body to pieces, scattering them across the cratered battlefield.
A heavy, sickened silence fell over the survivors. The immediate threat was gone, but the victory felt hollow, the implications dark and troubling.
Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly turned, his gaze like frozen steel as it settled on Uchiha Tajima. "Patriarch Uchiha," he said, his voice dangerously quiet. "You will provide me with an explanation."
"An explanation?" Tajima shot back, his own anger rising to meet the Hokage's. "I know nothing about this! How can I explain it? And have you forgotten that men from my clan also died in this fight!"
"Sakumo," Hiruzen commanded, ignoring the Uchiha's retort. "Take the Anbu and investigate this from top to bottom. I don't believe this Uchiha appeared out of thin air. Turn over every stone in Konoha until you find answers."
This time, Sarutobi Hiruzen was truly enraged. A direct attack on the Hokage Tower, significant casualties among his forces—this matter required a scapegoat, a public resolution. His authority demanded it.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Hatake Sakumo replied with a sharp nod.
"I expect the full cooperation of every clan," Hiruzen announced, his eyes sweeping over every patriarch present, but lingering longest on Uchiha Tajima. "I trust you are all just as curious as I am to find the mastermind behind this attack on our village."