Chapter 490: A Fleeting Glimpse of Dust Release

Chapter 490: Chapter 490: A Fleeting Glimpse of Dust Release

The scene before them was simply too unbelievable for the two Uchiha to accept.

Konoha, the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had actually suffered such catastrophic destruction during a relatively peaceful era.

Not even during the bloody and brutal years of war had anything like this ever happened.

"To think that a village that survived three Great Shinobi Wars would be destroyed on such an ordinary night..."

Even now, Shisui was filled with doubts.

He even began to wonder whether he was still trapped inside some kind of genjutsu.

Itachi’s expression was even darker than Shisui’s.

With the village having suffered such a calamity, he didn’t dare imagine what situation his family might be in right now.

Because the moment he tried, countless horrifying images flooded into his mind.

Suddenly, from the ruins at the center of the village in the distance, a dazzling azure light erupted.

"ROAR—!"

Immediately afterward, the furious roar of a Susanoo reverberated through the night sky.

Staring at the enormous azure Susanoo in the distance, Shisui’s gaze sharpened.

"That’s... Susanoo!"

Itachi nodded lightly.

"Yeah. A Susanoo we’ve never seen before."

Shisui and Shinichi’s Susanoo were both green—one emerald green, the other dark green.

Itachi’s Susanoo was fiery red.

As for Uchiha En—the Fire Release clone of Hyuga Kagami—her Susanoo was golden.

But that azure Susanoo in the distance...

Neither Shisui nor Itachi had ever seen it before.

Nor had they ever heard of one like it.

Therefore, that Susanoo either belonged to Itachi’s father, Fugaku, or to the mysterious Uchiha from Akatsuki who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Between the two possibilities, however, they were far more inclined to believe that the Susanoo belonged to the enemy.

Because at this very moment, a pair of wings had spread from its back—

And it had actually taken to the sky!

As fellow wielders of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Shisui and Itachi knew very well that the Susanoo awakened by an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan was not a Complete Body Susanoo and did not possess the ability to fly.

Only those possessing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—or someone like the current Shisui, who had transplanted First Hokage cells—could manifest a Complete Body Susanoo, or something approaching one.

In an instant, the two Uchiha standing atop the outer wall simultaneously activated their Mangekyo Sharingan.

A cold, razor-sharp killing intent spread from the two of them!

BOOM—!

Suddenly, an enormous explosion erupted from the forest behind them.

Immediately afterward, a conspicuous pillar of light pierced through the darkness of the night sky.

Turning around, Shisui furrowed his brows.

"That’s... Dust Release!?"

During the Third Great Shinobi War, Shisui had fought on Konoha’s front line against Kirigakure, so he had never personally witnessed Dust Release, the renowned Kekkei Tota of the shinobi world.

But that didn’t stop him from recognizing it at a glance.

After all, Dust Release was simply far too distinctive—far too easy to identify.

Itachi said quietly,

"The Five Kage?"

As members of the Kamigami, both Itachi and Shisui were aware that the Third Hokage had secretly gathered the Five Kage in the village.

So the moment Itachi spotted Dust Release, he immediately understood what was happening over there.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The pillar of light vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Immediately afterward, a continuous series of explosions thundered from that direction!

The shockwaves from the blasts rapidly swept outward, while towering flames intertwined with billowing black smoke, illuminating everything around them in flickering light and darkness—

As though hell itself had descended upon the mortal world!

A battle of this magnitude was absolutely not something ordinary shinobi could produce.

Combined with the fleeting appearance of Dust Release just now, Shisui and Itachi immediately concluded that one side of the battle was most likely the Five Kage.

And as for someone capable of fighting the Five Kage—or rather, someone worthy of making all Five Kage attack together—

There was probably only one candidate.

The Rinnegan-wielding leader of Akatsuki.

One battlefield was inside the village.

Another was outside it.

And the battle raging in the forest outside the village was clearly far more intense than the one within.

Which battlefield should they reinforce first?

For a moment, that became a difficult choice for Shisui and Itachi.

Just then, Shisui patted Itachi on the shoulder.

"I’ll reinforce the battlefield in the forest. You handle the one inside the village!"

The battlefield in the forest was obviously the more dangerous of the two, so Shisui deliberately left the relatively safer battlefield to Itachi.

Besides, Shisui understood that Itachi had to be deeply worried about his family in the village right now.

Itachi knew that Shisui was looking out for him.

But he truly was worried about the safety of his parents and younger brother, so he didn’t argue. Instead, he gave a firm nod.

"Alright!"

......

At the battlefield in the center of the village.

Watching Obito activate Susanoo once again and soar into the sky, Kagami let out a long sigh.

"Damn it. He had other Sharingan transplanted into his body!"

The fact that Obito could activate Susanoo again could only mean one thing—

The eye consumed by Izanagi just now had not been either of his two Mangekyo Sharingan.

Instead, it had been another Sharingan implanted somewhere on his body.

After all, even if someone with only a single Mangekyo Sharingan could somehow activate Susanoo, there was no way they could manifest a Susanoo approaching its Complete Body form.

During his earlier surprise attack, Kagami had kept his Byakugan active the entire time.

However, to ensure that he could perceive Obito’s every movement, Kagami had kept his Byakugan’s vision completely focused on the flow of chakra inside Obito’s body, maintaining an intense state of deep penetration vision.

Furthermore, everything—from the instant Kagami launched his attack to the moment it ended—had happened in the blink of an eye.

He simply hadn’t had enough time to use his Byakugan to carefully examine Obito’s entire body.

As a result, he had failed to notice beforehand that Obito had actually transplanted additional Sharingan into his body.

"Tch. I didn’t expect this guy to be so cautious. Is it because I killed him once before?"

Kagami clicked his tongue.

If he were in Obito’s position, he probably would have made the exact same choice.

After all, Obito’s body had already fused with First Hokage cells. Transplanting a few additional three-tomoe Sharingan posed virtually no burden to him as an Uchiha.

Unlike Danzo, Obito had no need to carefully seal away the arm containing his transplanted Sharingan in order to maintain the balance of foreign chakra within his body.

And having inherited Uchiha Madara’s legacy, the one thing Obito probably lacked least of all was ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.

After all, when Uchiha Madara left the village, he had taken with him the entire collection of Sharingan that the Uchiha clan had accumulated since the founding of Konoha.

The number of ordinary Sharingan currently stored in Obito’s possession was probably no less than the number of three-tomoe Sharingan still sitting in the eye sockets of the living Uchiha clan members.

And every additional three-tomoe Sharingan capable of activating Izanagi was effectively another life.

As long as the conditions allowed it, no one could resist such a temptation.

Kagami’s gaze gradually sharpened as he thought to himself,

"So sealing him really is the only way..."

"Caw... Caw..."

Just then, the cry of a crow echoed across the battlefield.

None of the people locked in fierce combat paid any attention to such an inconspicuous sound.

But Kagami immediately turned his gaze toward it, looking at the black crow that was almost impossible to distinguish against the night sky.

And the instant his eyes fell upon the crow—

Its eyes revealed a scarlet glow.

A surge of chakra rushed toward him.

Kagami immediately understood what was happening.

The corner of his mouth curled upward.

Rather than resisting the invading chakra, he allowed it to wash over him—

And in an instant, he was dragged into a genjutsu...