Manda's pupils lost their luster. Its fate uncertain, the giant snake crashed heavily to the ground, gouging a massive crater as dirt splattered in all directions.
Its chakra had been completely drained.
At that moment, the terror imposed by the Mangekyō Sharingan seared itself into the hearts of every ninja present.
Hiashi collapsed to the ground.
He recalled legends passed down from the Warring States era—those that spoke of the Uchiha's Susanoo.
He looked up, his Byakugan now filled with a dark red light.
The clouds within a hundred miles turned blood-red, stained by the flames of hell. The world looked as if it had plunged into the abyss.
The rain transformed into drops of blood-red, dyeing the downpour a dark crimson veil that flooded the earth.
Uchiha Yu's Susanoo stood tall between heaven and earth;
Beneath the helm, within the eye sockets, burned hellfire. It looked down on all living things with contempt and scorn.
Blood-jade light shimmered across its chestplate.
Its proportions were perfect.
Its twin wings shimmered with layered dark-red glows, like demonic wings from the underworld.
It stood like an unshakable peak upon the land.
Its very presence eclipsed every other god-like creature on the battlefield.
Its height far surpassed the cliffs of the Valley of Judgment, dwarfing Manda, Gamabunta, the Eight-Headed Serpent, and even Itachi's Susanoo.
Uchiha Yu's dark-blood Susanoo was the supreme ruler. It was the most domineering force, a divine law of annihilation incarnate.
Bathed in red light, the crowd looked up at the towering "demon god." Their breaths became heavy, and reverence consumed their faces as if beholding a true deity.
The Uchiha knelt on one knee.
Kimimaro could barely breathe.
Only Tamao trembled with excitement—after all, the one towering in the sky… was his big brother!
Under this oppressive might, awe surged in their hearts, making them feel like nothing more than ants.
Outside the Valley of Judgment—
Another snake head covered in white scales slammed into the ground.
The Eight-Headed Serpent, having lost four heads to Itachi, let out a furious screech. Both it and Itachi paused, lifting their heads toward the distant, descending god.
"This is what a real god looks like!"
In the surviving snake eyes of the Eight-Headed Serpent, a dark red glow reflected. Inside, Orochimaru roared with manic ecstasy.
Uchiha Yu had given him too many shocks.
His greatest discovery!
Orochimaru was overwhelmed. He was thrilled, stunned, and electrified. All sorts of emotions churned as he fixated on the god-like form through the heads of the Eight-Headed Serpent.
Compared to that, both himself and Itachi's Susanoo were as insignificant as dust.
For someone like Orochimaru, who lived to seek and savor the ultimate beauty of the world, the power Yu-kun now wielded was the purest beauty he had ever witnessed.
The pinnacle of chakra artistry!
Near the Eight-Headed Serpent and Itachi's Susanoo—
At the moment that red light erupted, Obito tightly shut his eyes and hid inside the Kamui dimension, shivering down his spine.
And after a long pause—
Obito removed his mask and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His eyes trembled as he gazed around the shadowy Kamui dimension, watching those massive stones drift about like tombstones. He fell into deep thought.
Two giant snake heads, soaked in blood, slowly floated by. Their lifeless pupils stared into the void, mouths agape, tongues limp on the ground.
Obito had just used Kamui to easily eliminate two of Orochimaru's summoned snakes. Before he could join forces with Itachi against Orochimaru, he sensed a terrifying power manifesting in the world.
There wasn't enough time to take Itachi with him.
So he fled into the dimension alone.
For the first time, Obito felt the kind of pressure from another Uchiha that he had only ever experienced from Madara.
He was disoriented. Faced with such a presence, he had no idea how to deal with it.
"…Maybe I should wait a little longer before going back out."
Obito put his mask back on, trying to calm his chaotic emotions as he muttered in a daze.
Standing there, he began to reflect—maybe, from the start, recruiting Yu the way Orochimaru had… might've been the better move.
"I've already shown him hostility. But this guy probably doesn't know about the Akatsuki yet. Let Konan approach him later and try to recruit him."
Obito made his decision in silence.
The anxiety and unease in his heart finally dissipated.
Tsunade and Shizune stood frozen in place, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, staring directly at the towering Susanoo radiating dark blood-red light.
They didn't notice at all—
Bathed in the crimson glow, their minds had already been subtly marked by some unknown force.
Tsunade's beautiful eyes twitched, fear written across her face.
One thought echoed through her head:
"Jiraiya—he's in danger."
But what could she do now?
Nothing. She couldn't do anything.
On the other side, Orochimaru was also no match for Itachi's Susanoo and was on the verge of defeat.
At the base of the cliff—
Silence fell over the scene. The previously cheering Hyūga clan members beside Hiashi now all closed their eyes, silently shedding tears as their clan head collapsed to the ground.
Through the Byakugan's vision—
Ahead of Gamabunta stood a massive burning mountain of chakra. The chakra within it was pure and ferocious beyond imagination.
In that moment, their understanding of the world was shattered by the sight of this Susanoo.
So the difference between one dōjutsu bloodline and another… could be this vast.
They had once proudly called themselves the greatest clan of Konoha. In hindsight, that felt laughable.
Staring into the dark crimson Susanoo—
The Hyūga clan's Byakugan began to burn, causing searing pain as if their eyes were being scorched by fire.
Despair consumed their hearts.
It was not just the Hyūga—
This was what Gamabunta and Jiraiya felt too.
"Sorry, Bunta… I dragged you into this mess," Jiraiya muttered, his eyes reflecting a corner of the towering dark blood-red Susanoo.
All he had left to say—
He would have to say it to Gamabunta in the next life.
Gamabunta fell into silence. Though he wanted to struggle, this kind of presence left him feeling powerless.
"No, Jiraiya. Your mission isn't over yet. You can't die here. I won't die here either!"
Bunta's huge toad eyes narrowed. With a roar, he forced down his despair using sheer rage. He would try to escape.
Jiraiya had long sensed it. After they were enveloped in that crimson light, some kind of power had silently entered their bodies and seized control of their minds.
Jiraiya's expression changed drastically. He found himself unable to move. His spirit and stamina were combining on their own to generate chakra, which shot into the sky as a concentrated pillar of deep blue light.
And he wasn't the only one.
Beneath his feet, Gamabunta—
Nearby Hyūga clan members—
Their bodies ignited with the same intense blue glow, forming light pillars that soared upward.
Those pillars merged and channeled directly into the chestplate of Uchiha Yu's Susanoo, making the red glow on its armor shine even brighter.
None of them could move.
Near the dark red Susanoo, Nonō, who had always stayed by Yu's side, suddenly saw the Yasaka Magatama seal in her pupils flash.
She and the unconscious Mikoto were the closest to the Hyūga clan members.
Nonō's eyes widened. She still hadn't recovered from the shock of Yu's Susanoo being released when her body began to move on its own, leaping behind Gamabunta.
The ground below was bathed in a layer of red light.
Panicked and confused, Nonō passed through the Hyūga ninja and the Uchiha clan—her movements visible to all.
She stopped before Hyūga Hiashi.
Collapsed and immobile, Hiashi stared straight at the squinting Nonō, trying to see her clearly.
In a low voice, he asked: "You… are the orphanage head?"
"You've heard of me?"
Nonō rubbed her eyes as she approached within three meters of Hiashi. Despite the red glow and rain, she still couldn't see his face clearly.
"I've heard of you. You took in many war orphans. You're a good person. I never thought… these eyes would be taken by you."
He had once intended to destroy his eyes himself.
But now, he couldn't.
This was the only way to leave behind a final wish.
Staring at the woman in the black-and-white nun's robes, Hiashi continued murmuring:
"If you ever return to Konoha, please take these eyes to see Hinata and Hanabi… and the clan matriarch. I mean no harm.
Just… look at them from afar.
Hearing this, Nonō's expression turned to shock. Suddenly, it all made sense—
She turned her gaze toward the towering dark-red Susanoo in the distance.
So the captain wanted her to take the Hyūga clan head's Byakugan!
As for Hiashi's request—
She couldn't accept it.
They locked eyes in silence.
Nonō stepped to within one meter of Hiashi. Only then did she clearly see the face of the Hyūga clan head she once had to look up to in Konoha.
Now, she was a missing-nin too.
If Yu lost today, her fate—and the Uchiha's—wouldn't be any better than Hiashi's.
Nonō had a kind and forgiving heart toward children. But she was also a ninja—
A spy raised by Root.
She never brought kindness into her missions.
Nonō reached out her right hand. With practiced technique, she removed Hiashi's pair of Byakugan.
Blood stained her pale fingers red.
She took out a sealing scroll and sealed the eyes within.
To take the eyes of the Hyūga clan head…
That feeling… was quite good.