Chapter 229: Gods and Ants

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Gods and Ants

Rumble...

In an instant, a violent whirlwind swept outward in every direction.

Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, the originally incomparably sturdy stone walls of the cavern began crumbling inch by inch!

The collapse of the mountain walls immediately kicked up clouds of dust that filled the air.

Amid the deafening chaos, swirling dust, and flying shards of stone, Hyuga Kagami—having returned to his original Yin Release body—gradually narrowed his eyes.

Before him stood two Susanoo, their appearances and colors remarkably similar.

As he stared at them, an extremely complicated expression appeared on his face.

There was surprise.

There was delight.

And there was even a trace of emotion.

"I really didn’t expect this..."

What had just happened had indeed gone beyond Kagami’s expectations.

Uchiha Hideki—a man whose mind had been on the verge of complete collapse, someone Kagami had long since judged to be incapable of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan—had actually forcibly expelled Kagami’s soul from his body!

This was the first time Kagami had ever experienced being forcibly driven out of a host while using the Tenseigan’s "Soul Descent."

One had to understand that before this, Hideki’s mind had already been pushed to the brink of collapse. He had fallen into a deep coma, completely unresponsive to the outside world, practically reduced to a vegetative state.

That was precisely why Kagami had come up with the idea of using "Soul Descent" to control Hideki and carry out the final round of stimulation on Uchiha Ryota.

But unexpectedly, the moment Hideki truly saw the miserable figure of his younger brother, his consciousness—which had been buried deep in slumber—awakened without the slightest warning.

Not only that, under the suppression of Kagami’s will, Hideki had actually tried to forcibly activate his Sharingan!

That’s right.

When Kagami had been controlling Hideki to speak with Ryota earlier, the Sharingan that suddenly appeared in Hideki’s eyes had not been activated by Kagami.

At the time, Hideki’s will had constantly been struggling to activate the Sharingan, while Kagami’s will had been doing everything it could to suppress him.

However, after hearing Ryota question whether the man before him was truly Uchiha Hideki, Kagami thought for a moment before withdrawing his suppression of Hideki’s will, simply going along with the flow and allowing Hideki to activate his Sharingan.

That action had indeed proven Hideki’s identity to Ryota, dispelling his final doubts and plunging him completely into grief, rage, and despair.

But with the activation of the Sharingan, Hideki’s will gradually began gaining the upper hand in its clash against Kagami’s consciousness, allowing him to reclaim partial control over his own body.

That was also why Hideki’s behavior on the high-backed chair had become so strange afterward—his expression twisting, his left hand desperately restraining his right, as though he were fighting against himself.

Because that was exactly what had been happening.

At that moment, Kagami’s will and Hideki’s will had been locked in an unimaginably fierce battle inside Hideki’s body.

And in the end...

His love for his younger brother allowed Uchiha Hideki—a broken man whose mind was on the verge of collapse and whose body had been weakened to the extreme—to burn through every last ounce of his potential.

He forcibly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan...

and successfully expelled Kagami’s consciousness from his body!

ROAR...

ROAR...

At that moment, the two Susanoo—nearly identical in both color and appearance—simultaneously unleashed grief-stricken roars at each other!

With only one arm remaining, Uchiha Ryota held his forehead with his remaining hand. Panting heavily, he said, "Brother... So I’ve been living inside your lies all this time! Your talent was actually far beyond mine. Me, the so-called genius of the clan... I was nothing but a complete joke!"

Having only just regained control over his body, Uchiha Hideki struggled to open his mouth, desperately wanting to explain something.

Yet all that came out were incoherent, unintelligible sounds.

There was no doubt that he had yet to completely regain control over his body.

On top of that, he had just endured an intense battle of wills and then forcibly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. At this point, his mental strength had already reached its absolute limit.

Seeing Hideki half-kneeling beneath the opposing Susanoo, seemingly trying to adapt to the power of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Ryota said coldly, "So you were the real genius all along. You weren’t boasting after all. Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan really was as easy as you said it would be."

At that moment, Hideki forced himself to his feet.

Speaking in an extremely strange, halting voice, he stammered, "Ryo... Ryota... be... careful!"

"Careful!?"

Ryota snorted coldly.

"Careful of what? You gouging out my eyes?

"Come on! Whichever one of us brothers wins will obtain eternal light! And if I’m the one who loses... then you can have my Mangekyo Sharingan!"

Ryota knew perfectly well that, given the current state of his body, his chances of victory were practically nonexistent.

But even if he had absolutely no chance of winning, he would still fight.

This was the last shred of pride he had left!

With that, Ryota urged his Susanoo forward and threw a massive punch straight at Hideki’s Susanoo!

BOOM...

Another earth-shaking crash erupted as shattered rocks flew in every direction and clouds of dust billowed through the cavern.

With just a single punch, Uchiha Hideki’s Susanoo was violently knocked to the ground. Its enormous figure also became noticeably more translucent, as though it could barely maintain its form.

Seemingly noticing something, Ryota furrowed his brows and asked, "Something’s wrong. Why is your chakra so weak?"

Ryota himself was already physically weakened and severely injured, practically running on fumes.

Yet after that single exchange, he discovered that his brother Hideki’s chakra was actually even weaker than his own.

Naturally, that immediately aroused his suspicion.

By now, Hideki had finally regained complete control over his body. Panting heavily, he hurriedly explained, "Ryota, stop! We’ve both been played!"

Ryota was still skeptical, but because of the trust he had placed in his brother for so many years, he nevertheless stopped his attack.

Hideki vigilantly scanned their surroundings before continuing, "The enemy possesses an extremely powerful genjutsu that can control my body! It was only after I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan that I barely managed to regain control of myself! Be careful—he should still be somewhere nearby!"

Hearing this, Ryota immediately became vigilant as well.

With the ocular power of his Mangekyo Sharingan, he could naturally tell with ease that Hideki’s weakness wasn’t an act.

And in that instant, he understood.

Both he and his brother had been played from beginning to end.

Kagami’s original body was nearby, so after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, the two brothers quickly discovered his whereabouts.

Hyuga Kagami leisurely stepped out from among the ruins.

"I thought you two would fight for a while longer," he said slowly. "I didn’t expect that even after everything reached this point, you brothers would still maintain your trust in each other."

Uchiha Hideki and Uchiha Ryota simultaneously urged their Susanoo forward, closing in on Kagami!

Beneath the two incomparably massive, orange-yellow Susanoo, Hyuga Kagami’s figure appeared utterly insignificant.

It was as though he were nothing more than an ant standing before two gods...