Chapter 103: The Prototype of a Method

Uchiha Li stood there, his interlinked Mangekyō eyes gazing coldly at Hyakuzu. A skeleton shrouded in interwoven gold and black enveloped his body, but this was only the beginning. The skeletal form grew rapidly, muscles sprouting, then becoming encased in armor.

According to his own conventions, Uchiha Li referred to this form of Susanoo as the Second Stage. In this phase, Susanoo towered at dozens of meters in height. The Complete Form would reach even greater proportions—a true giant, akin to a Gundam. Yet, even now, it was more than impressive, for Li’s Susanoo was most unusual.

Behind Susanoo’s back, a disc composed of four gears appeared, spinning ceaselessly.

“What in the world is that…?” From afar, Kakashi, who was watching the battle with Sara, felt a heavy pressure as he looked at the Susanoo behind Uchiha Li. His Sharingan, concealed beneath his forehead protector, throbbed in agitation.

Sara, beside him, fared no better. Her eyes were fixed, unblinking, upon the Susanoo, her thoughts unreadable.

But the one who reacted most intensely was Hyakuzu, lurking atop the high tower’s ceiling. All of Susanoo’s oppressive aura was directed at him, and the sheer force of it filled him with dread. This was a power colder than the Ley Line, more alien, more sinister.

Hyakuzu quickly regained his composure. He was convinced that with the Ley Line’s power, he could not lose.

Fire beams, formed from the Ley Line and accompanied by spears, shot forth, striking Susanoo head-on. Instantly, thunderous explosions and roaring sounds erupted, clouds of dust swirling in the air.

“So arrogant—courting death!” Hyakuzu relaxed when he saw that Uchiha Li had not bothered to dodge with Susanoo.

“Is it over?” Kakashi and Sara grew tense—the force of Hyakuzu’s attack was overwhelming. Susanoo looked intimidating, but how strong was its defense? No one knew.

Soon, the smoke began to clear, revealing the aftermath. The black-and-gold Susanoo still enveloped Uchiha Li, its body unscathed. Only the sound of gears turning on Susanoo’s back could be heard.

The clattering of the gears was slow, but with the divine disc, it was altogether different. Not only had the divine disc blocked the Ley Line’s fire dragon, but its immense rotational force had coiled the fire dragon upon itself.

Incredibly, the fire dragon’s trajectory was forcibly altered, sent hurtling back toward Hyakuzu.

“No, that’s impossible!” Panic flooded Hyakuzu’s face. He barely had time to react, relying only on his modified body to shield himself.

The moment the fire dragon struck him, it shattered his most resilient abdomen and instantly spread across his entire body. In the blink of an eye, Hyakuzu’s massive body, dozens of meters long, was torn apart.

But this was not the end. Uchiha Li had no intention of wasting more time. With Watergate still searching fruitlessly, he would soon arrive—Li had to transfer the Ley Line power before then.

Pressing his hands together, Li caused the divine disc before Susanoo to spin at a blinding speed.

“Divine Wheel Dance!”

With a low cry, the divine disc soared into the air, flying straight at Hyakuzu’s already shattered body.

“No—don’t!” Hyakuzu’s voice trembled with urgency and despair as the divine disc closed in. The difference in their power was simply too vast.

In desperation, Hyakuzu launched his head from his giant body, a miniature centipede shooting out in an attempt to escape the disc’s range.

Li watched, a touch of mockery in his eyes. “Why bother? Such tricks are useless against me,” he said coolly.

Other shinobi might not understand the peculiarities of “human puppets,” but he knew them well. After all, in the original story, Sasori had transformed himself into a human puppet, achieving something akin to immortality. Even if the puppet body was destroyed—rendered completely useless—it didn’t matter. As long as the core, housing his consciousness, remained intact, he could replace the puppet body and resurrect at will.

From that perspective, as long as the true body was protected, it was indeed a form of immortality. Yet Uchiha Li did not approve of such immortality.

Shaking his head, Li dismissed the thought and commanded the divine disc, utterly crushing Hyakuzu’s monstrous, modified body.

Once finished, he set the divine disc spinning in reverse. As it whirled, it emitted a powerful gravitational pull.

The divine disc was, after all, a weapon of the gods. Though Li could not yet wield its full might, its divine status alone meant that even now, he could use it to perform the rudiments of godly techniques. This pull was not unlike the “Universal Pull” of the Rinnegan.

Last time, when he used it to kill Troy, it was only a small demonstration—he hadn’t dared employ it further. But now, with the addition of First Hokage cells, the duration and scale he could use were vastly improved.

The tremendous force began drawing in everything nearby—even the tower’s reinforced stone walls shook ceaselessly. Bricks were sucked into the disc and ground to dust.

“Stop! I surrender—I’m willing to give you the Ley Line’s power…!”

The miniature centipede cried out in Hyakuzu’s voice, trying to dig its sharp legs into the earth to resist the pull, but to little effect. His core body was still being dragged inexorably toward the disc, death looming ever closer. In despair, he tried to surrender, offering the Ley Line in exchange for survival.

But Li didn’t even bother to reply. After all, with Hyakuzu dead, the Ley Line would be his anyway.

At last, the miniature centipede was drawn into the divine disc and ground to dust.

All of Hyakuzu’s schemes ended there; the world would see him no more.

After a moment’s silence, the battlefield grew quiet. Uchiha Li dismissed Susanoo. With its disappearance, the divine disc on its back also faded away, leaving only devastation—everywhere bore the scars of battle.

Kakashi stood nearby, stunned by the abrupt end to the fight. Staring at Uchiha Li, his expression grew complicated.

He had always been recognized as a genius among his peers, and after acquiring the Sharingan, gained the moniker “Copy Ninja.” But the problem was, even among those with the Sharingan, the Three Tomoe and the Mangekyō were worlds apart. Not to mention, he was not the original owner and suffered many limitations.

With a sigh, Kakashi said, “Li, you must have been holding back during our last sparring match.”

After losing, he had blamed his defeat on not having fully developed Chidori. But thinking back, had Li used the Mangekyō back then, he might have fared no better than Hyakuzu.

Li looked at Kakashi and replied, “My eyes are not meant to be used on my comrades, so don’t worry so much.”

“Comrades, huh?” Kakashi’s gaze flickered, lost in memory.

Seeing this, Li continued, “Actually, your Sharingan holds tremendous potential—you just haven’t unlocked it yet. If you manage to do so, then if tragedy strikes again in the future, you’ll have the strength to stop it.”

“Think about it carefully. The world is filled with danger—anything could happen. If the village faces something unavoidable, will you stand by and watch, like before?”

At these words, Kakashi unconsciously clenched his fists, memories flooding back—the death of his father, of Obito and Rin…