The clouds were especially thick tonight. If not for the streetlights, the entire village would have been plunged into darkness. The figure sitting on the village wall could barely make out the shapes of the buildings below.
He had been sitting there for a long time, ever since he had captured the Nine-Tails, simply staring at his former home. He needed to immerse himself in the memories, to steel his resolve.
But the more he remembered, the more the pain in his heart grew, until the fragile calm he had managed to achieve was once again consumed by a burning hatred.
They're all laughing...
What right do you have to laugh?
You are all guilty... an unforgivable sin...
He stood, took a deep breath, and leaped from the wall.
"Today, you will atone for your sins. And I will be your judgment."
"Go, Nine-Tails!!!"
"BOOM!"
The mountain-sized Susanoo shook the very earth with every step. The sheer, overwhelming pressure of it was enough to break the will of an ordinary shinobi before the battle had even begun. The five Kage's reaction to it in the original story was a testament to this.
But Dark Owl was not an ordinary shinobi. She was a being consumed by hatred. No matter how powerful Kyosuke was, it would not shake her resolve.
"Tobi, I'm transferring all of my chakra to you. It's up to you to maintain the jutsu," she said, her voice a low growl.
"Right," Tobi replied, his usual cheerful demeanor gone.
"Good. Then let him feel it... feel my hatred!!!"
She clapped her hands together, and with the combined, massive power of their chakra, a colossal wooden golem, only slightly smaller than the Susanoo, erupted from the ground.
"Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
It was one of Hashirama Senju's most powerful techniques. The golem's strength and size were comparable to that of a Perfect Susanoo. In the original story, it had been able to catch a Tailed Beast Bomb with one hand and even use it like a Rasengan. It was a terrifyingly powerful jutsu, one that only a shinobi with a Sage Body and an immense amount of chakra could use.
From within the diamond-shaped crystal on the Susanoo's forehead, Kyosuke watched as the golem took its final form and let out a hearty laugh. "Yes! This is how it should be! This is a battle to the death!"
"Come on! Show me what you've got!"
His Susanoo moved, its massive, thirty-meter-long blade unsheathed in a flash of light.
"Susanoo: Chains of Hell!"
The sheer force of the swing sent a shockwave tearing through the forest, felling trees and sending a shower of debris flying. The blade itself struck the golem in an instant.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The golem staggered back, a ten-meter-deep gash in its side. But the wound quickly healed as Dark Owl poured more chakra into it.
"Good," Kyosuke praised. The Susanoo's wings unfurled, and with a powerful beat, it shot into the sky.
"Take this!!!"
It appeared above the golem in an instant, its massive blade swinging down.
The golem raised its hands to block, and for a moment, the two colossal figures were locked in a stalemate. The resulting shockwave was even greater than before, its force reaching the very walls of Konoha.
Crack.
The golem's arms began to splinter under the immense pressure. Just as they were about to give way, the wooden dragon that was coiled around the golem's body shot out and wrapped itself around the Susanoo, its powerful coils tightening, draining its chakra.
But Kyosuke was unfazed. With a wave of his hand, a storm of exploding tags appeared, covering the wood dragon.
"Secret Technique: Multi-Shadow Clone Exploding Tags!"
"Burn!!!"
The resulting explosion tore the wood dragon in half. The golem used the opportunity to retreat, narrowly avoiding the Susanoo's blade.
"I can't maintain the golem for much longer," Tobi's voice came, and Dark Owl bit her lip in frustration. Her own chakra was also running low. She was not Hashirama Senju.
The truth was, even with the two of them working together, they were no match for Uchiha Kyosuke.
"...I'm not done yet," she hissed, her mind racing, searching for another way.
And then, an idea came to her.
"Tobi, hold him off for a little longer. I need to prepare," she said, and closed her eyes, focusing her mind.
"Sigh. Alright, alright. But hurry up. I can't hold on for much longer," he replied, his voice filled with a weary resignation.
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