UTBW: Ch. 41

Targeted by a demon's gaze, Itachi felt as if a thorn had pierced his back. That blade gave him an overwhelming sense of danger.

"Why?" He looked at Junichi with confusion and asked, "With such immense power, why have you been hiding it all this time?"

He mistakenly believed Junichi had been concealing his true strength.

"What are you planning in the shadows? Are you trying to rebel?" He stared deeply at Junichi, speaking in a low, serious voice: "If so, I'm sorry… but I'll have to stop you right here."

"Huh?" Junichi couldn't help but shook his head. "Where's this confidence coming from? You think you can stop me? What you should be thinking about… is whether you'll even get the chance to leave your last words."

Whoosh!

As soon as the words left his mouth, his figure vanished like a phantom, instantly closing in on Itachi.

The floor beneath cracked with a series of rapid impacts. It was as if dozens of steps had landed in a single moment.

"What?!" Itachi was surprised, his Mangekyō Sharingan nearly failed to catch the movement.

It was too fast. The twenty-plus meters between them were closed in a blink.

Itachi barely had time to unleash his ocular power. A massive surge of chakra exploded outward, rapidly mixing with his eye power to form a dense, humanoid shape.

Muscles grew, armor formed... Susanoo entered its third stage in an instant, donning the black tengu armor and wielding the Yata Mirror and Totsuka Sword.

Whoosh!

An invisible pressure burst outward, stirring up a cloud of dust. But in the next instant, Junichi swung his blade.

Haki wrapped tightly around Oni-me.

Steel Cutting!

Cursed sword!

Armament Haki!

With the triple boost, the slash reached an overwhelmingly terrifying power.

Shhraa!

A clean, straight cut appeared. It ran from Susanoo's left shoulder all the way down to its right abdomen.

Neither the Yata Mirror, nor the black tengu armor, nor even the flesh beneath it could withstand the strike. Everything was sliced apart as easily as paper.

The massive Susanoo was torn open instantly. The pressure it had just released—gone without a trace.

Inside the Susanoo, Itachi's eyes widened in horror, his face filled with disbelief. A thin red line traced from the corner of his forehead downward across his body.

The slash had pierced even the third-stage Susanoo, its force reaching him inside.

What… kind of technique is this?

He looked at Junichi in disbelief, this was the first time he had ever felt fear. Fear of failure.

Junichi's strength shattered all of Itachi's understanding, crushing everything in its path with sheer force, without any need for logic.

Junichi calmly sheathed his blade, returning Oni-me to its scabbard. Through his Observation Haki, he could sense Itachi's life fading rapidly, like a candle in the wind.

Itachi also felt death approaching. Eyes wide with unwillingness, he stared hard at Junichi.

His Mangekyō power surged once more. A stream of bloody tears ran from his eyes, but he no longer cared. Desperately, he activated the technique in his left eye.

"Tsukuyomi…"

But his voice cut off abruptly. He realized, Junichi's eyes had been closed the entire time. Junichi had never even looked at him. Let alone made eye contact.

He thought for a moment, then immediately changed tactics, switching to the ability in his right eye.

He had originally intended to use the Tsukuyomi to trap Junichi in a time-dilated illusion and extract information. But he didn't even get the chance to activate it.

Now, he had no choice but to go with—Amaterasu!

The sclera of his right eye instantly became bloodshot, as if cracks had formed across a piece of glass. Blood streamed from the corner of his eye. But the technique activated successfully.

Fwoosh!

A jet-black flame ignited out of nowhere on Junichi's body.

Crackle! Crackle!

The flame radiated intense heat and clung with tenacious persistence. Ordinary methods couldn't extinguish it.

Forgive me, Hokage-sama. And Sasuke… This is as far as I can go.

He closed his eyes, resigned to death.

"Is that it?" Suddenly, Junichi's voice rang out.

Itachi's eyes snapped open in shock.

Junichi stood there, unfazed, even though his entire body was engulfed in black flames. He looked completely unaffected.

"So this is what you had? Just setting me on fire?" Junichi casually lifted a hand and brushed his body.

Under Itachi's gaze, the black flames on Junichi's body were flicked off and fell to the ground, gradually extinguishing. Junichi himself was completely unharmed.

Not a strand of hair, not a thread of clothing was burned. It was as if Amaterasu had never touched him at all.

A strange… kind of power… Something like an invisible armor? I need to—

Shhk!

In the next moment, the red line that had appeared on his forehead split open, his body was sliced clean in two. The two halves collapsed to the ground, blood gushing.

And in the air, Susanoo faded and slowly vanished.

---

Back at the Uchiha clan grounds, all Root and Uchiha combatants stopped moving. Both sides stared in shock as the red giant dissipated.

"Susanoo… disappeared?"

"Looks like the other side won."

"Yeah... Susanoo got sliced in half with one swing."

"No need to say it. We all saw that."

On the Uchiha side, many looked relieved. The traitor was dead. This marked a turning point in what had seemed like a doomed situation.

But on the other side, the Root members were grim-faced, expressions heavy. This was a development far beyond what their plans accounted for.

Should they keep fighting?

---

Fugaku watched as Susanoo vanished. His face was filled with grief and joy, simultaneously crying and laughing.

A really bizarre, conflicted expression.

"tachi, he…" Mikoto trembled with sorrow, covering her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Looks like he lost. He's probably dead." Fugaku took a deep breath, then turned around calmly and walked into the house.

"Fugaku?" Mikoto looked at him in surprise.

"Forgive me," Fugaku said without looking back, entering a room and changing into battle gear.

"I'm not just Itachi's father… I'm the head of the Uchiha clan. He is dead. This is our chance. I must step forward!"

He swiftly finished equipping himself and headed out the door without a glance back. Mikoto collapsed weakly to the floor, tears streaming down her face in anguish.