Chapter 150: The Rebellion of the Eight-Tails
When you summed it all up, everything came down to one truth—
the Third Hokage had sat in the Hokage's chair and done nothing.
He was unworthy of the title.
A Hokage in name only.
But now that the Fifth Hokage had taken that seat, Konoha's decline had been reversed. The village was stronger, bolder—its people no longer bowed their heads.
And the proof of that was right before their eyes: the Fifth Hokage had led the army personally into the Land of Lightning, striking at the heart of the Hidden Cloud Village itself.
If Cloud fell today, the wealth and resources they gained would be unimaginable.
The once-weakened Konoha would become rich, powerful—unstoppable.
All of it… because of the Fifth Hokage.
The shinobi standing on Susanoo's palm were flushed with excitement, their blood boiling. Many of them clenched their fists, eager to jump down, to finish the Cloud shinobi off themselves and plunder every ryo and resource from the village below.
The Hidden Cloud had humiliated them once.
Now, that same Cloud Village faced annihilation.
Karma.
The bitter fruit they had forced Konoha to swallow back then—now, it was their turn to taste it.
Who would have thought their Hokage would be so terrifyingly powerful?
To single-handedly destroy an entire Hidden Village…
At that moment, every Konoha shinobi watching believed the same thing—
with this Hokage, Konoha's future was certain.
Once Cloud's treasures were taken and their Tailed Beasts subdued, the Leaf would rise again—perhaps even reclaiming its throne as the strongest village in the ninja world.
Down below, the Eight-Tails was struggling.
Its massive body was pinned under the weight of Susanoo's great blade, its muscles trembling, its palms shaking violently as it tried to resist the crushing force.
"Hey, how long do you think the Eight-Tails can last?" one shinobi called out.
"Hmph, I bet Hokage-sama will split him in half with a single strike," another replied.
"Hah! That sword—'Jax,' wasn't it? It's even more powerful than the legendary Kusanagi!"
"Didn't Lord Setsuna say it himself? Hokage-sama wields the power of a god! A divine blade held by a war god—it's no wonder it's unstoppable!"
They all nodded eagerly, unable to take their eyes off the battle below.
"Look! The Eight-Tails can't hold on any longer!"
The shout drew every gaze downward. Even the few Konoha ninja who had been standing guard over the unconscious Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki, left their post to watch.
The Eight-Tails' arms were trembling violently.
Its claws, still clinging to the greatsword's blade, were beginning to slip.
Any second now, it would be cut apart.
Standing atop Susanoo's shoulder, Uchiha Fugaku narrowed his eyes.
His gaze shifted beyond the beast—to the Hidden Cloud villagers standing in the distance, watching helplessly from behind the monster's back.
Then, he made his move.
Fugaku leapt down lightly, landing atop the Eight-Tails' head. Without a word, he delivered a brutal kick straight to the beast's skull.
Caught off guard, Gyūki staggered.
The pain broke his concentration, and his massive claws loosened their grip on the sword.
His instincts screamed danger!
He looked up—only to see the enormous blade stop mid-swing.
For a moment, confusion flickered in his enormous eyes.
Then, suddenly, a crimson light filled his vision.
A vast, spinning pinwheel pattern—complex and terrible—appeared before him.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
Gyūki's mind went blank.
He tried to avert his gaze, but it was too late.
In the next instant, his own eyes reflected the same red pattern.
> Oh no…!
That was his final thought before darkness claimed him.
The great Susanoo lifted its sword, performed a flawless flourish, and sheathed the blade at its waist.
The Eight-Tails froze in place, motionless—its consciousness erased.
The shinobi of Hidden Cloud who witnessed this scene from afar felt a chill run through their veins.
A deep, primal dread.
"Go," Fugaku commanded coldly. "Kill every human you see."
The Eight-Tails roared.
Then it turned—and charged straight toward the Hidden Cloud Village.
Its eight massive tentacles tore through the air like scythes of death, sweeping through the streets. Each strike impaled shinobi and civilians alike, stringing bodies together like beads. Blood sprayed through the air like rain.
Then, the beast tilted its head back—
A Tailed Beast Bomb formed in its mouth—
and in the next second, it detonated.
The explosion flattened everything in its path.
Houses shattered, towers collapsed, and the screams of the helpless filled the night.
The Hidden Cloud Village had become a living hell.
Fugaku stood unmoved, his expression cold and distant.
There was no pity in his eyes.
He had given them time to flee.
Those who stayed behind—had chosen their fate.
> "Reincarnate in a better world," he murmured quietly.
When it came to his enemies, Fugaku never hesitated.
Mercy was not in his nature.
The situation was already decided—both Jinchūriki of the Hidden Cloud were defeated.
Yugito Nii was unconscious and captured.
Killer Bee… his time was already over.
When the Eight-Tails' seal was broken, Killer Bee's death had been sealed along with it.
Even if the beast were re-sealed now, it would be too late. The man's life force was gone.
Besides—Fugaku had no interest in saving him.
Killer Bee was no beauty like Yugito.
A dark-skinned, loud brute like him could die for all he cared.
And since he didn't know sealing techniques, it didn't matter anyway.
He could simply control the Eight-Tails through his Sharingan and bring it back to Konoha alive.
Then, he'd find someone else to become its new Jinchūriki.
Below, the controlled Eight-Tails continued its rampage through the Hidden Cloud.
Without the Third or Fourth Raikage to stop it, the Cloud jonin were helpless before its fury. They were cut down one after another, slaughtered without mercy.
From Susanoo's palm, the Konoha shinobi watched like spectators at a play—
relaxed, even amused, as if they were watching history finally balance the scales.
But among them, a few wore uneasy expressions.
The blood-red Sharingan spinning in the Eight-Tails' eyes—
it looked too familiar.
They remembered the same eyes…
the same control…
the same rampaging Tailed Beast that had attacked Konoha years ago.
> The Nine-Tails… was it controlled like this too?
A single, unsettling thought spread among them like wildfire.
> Could the one who controlled the Nine-Tails back then… have been the Fifth Hokage?
Whispers spread, unease flickering in their eyes.
From the shadows, Uchiha Setsuna—the old strategist—noticed their shifting expressions immediately.
His brows furrowed. He understood what they were thinking.
> "Tch… this isn't good," he muttered under his breath.
Fugaku had worked so hard to earn the trust of the Konoha shinobi. If they started associating him with the Nine-Tails' attack, all that loyalty could collapse overnight.
But there was nothing Setsuna could do now.
Fugaku was inside Susanoo's pentaprism, completely unreachable.
All he could do was watch, heart pounding, as the Eight-Tails continued its bloody rampage below.
And yet—
even Setsuna himself felt an uneasy stirring in his gut.
> That… Sharingan control… the way it's done… it's almost identical to that night…
He narrowed his eyes, staring into the crimson light that glowed across the battlefield.
> Could it really be the same?
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