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BOOM!!!!
A deafening explosion resounded, its blinding flash forcing onlookers to avert their eyes.
The massive detonation generated an equally massive shockwave. The small Land of Waves trembled as if struck by an earthquake, the ground shaking incessantly.
Centered on the blast point, for a radius of about one kilometer, all forests were flattened. Within this area, several small villages of the Land of Waves, their inhabitants immersed in the simple, everyday joys of life just moments before, were utterly annihilated.
On the distant sea, aboard a small boat, Kakashi and Might Guy stared in shock at the glaring explosion in the distance.
Guy swallowed hard. "What in the world? An explosion that big... What happened over there in the Land of Waves? Did Uchiha Kagaya do that?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Unknown. Regardless, we need to get there first."
After Kagaya's assault on Konoha with Orochimaru, the Leaf Village could not simply let it slide. Kakashi and Guy had been dispatched to pursue him.
This time, they were truly resolved. Unlike their last encounter, which ended after a brief skirmish to recover the Scroll of Seals, this time Kakashi and Guy were prepared to go all out!
However, they hadn't expected this. Following Anbu intelligence to the Land of Waves to find Kagaya, they were only halfway there by boat when they witnessed this colossal explosion.
*****
Deidara stood on his clay bird, peering down at the aftermath of the blast, his eyebrow arched.
"He didn't escape! Hmm! I saw it clearly. An explosion of this magnitude... he should be dead, right? Hmm! Definitely dead!"
In the distance, Zabuza, who had narrowly avoided being caught in the blast's periphery, paled. According to his senses, Kagaya hadn't made it out!
Sasori allowed a thin smile. "Too soft-hearted, that boy. With his speed, if he had abandoned those two girls, he might have had a chance to escape. That moment of hesitation cost him his own life."
The sheer scale of the explosion and its resulting shockwave communicated one thing to everyone present: its destructive power was terrifying. Survival was impossible.
Furthermore, in everyone's memory, Kagaya possessed no notable defensive abilities. Faced with such an explosion, his death was virtually assured.
Konan stood to the side. Her usually impassive face now held a trace of surprise.
"That was...unexpectedly simple."
She had anticipated a difficult battle against Kagaya, even with ample preparation. She never expected that for the sake of the two beside him, he would choose not to flee, meeting his end so abruptly.
Zetsu emerged from the ground, wearing an expression of feigned regret.
"My, my, is he really gone just like that? How dreadfully boring."
Though his tone suggested pity, the underlying mockery was clear to all.
Even in Zetsu's intelligence, Kagaya was categorized as lacking significant defensive capabilities. Against such an explosion, his survival probability was zero.
In a more distant stretch of forest, Itachi and Kisame stood atop a tall tree, gazing towards the site of the explosion.
Kisame spoke with a note of resignation. "Itachi-san, are you sure it's alright for us to come here secretly, without telling anyone?"
Itachi took a deep breath. "It's fine. If Sasori and the others fail to eliminate Kagaya, we will intervene."
As he spoke, Itachi's eyes remained locked on the distant blast. Unconsciously, his hands within his sleeves had clenched into tight fists.
His black pupils shifted, transforming into the three-tomoe pattern of the Sharingan. "Kisame, let's go."
Kisame looked puzzled. "Eh? Itachi-san, but... didn't Sasori and the others finish off Kagaya-san?"
Itachi's reply was vague. "Let's head over first."
With that, Itachi immediately moved, speeding towards the direction of the explosion at full pace!
The Akatsuki was hunting Kagaya. How could Itachi possibly stand by idly? He had come here secretly for precisely this reason—to rescue Kagaya if necessary.
But Itachi never imagined that Kagaya would be caught directly by Deidara's clay bomb!
In that moment, Itachi's breath hitched, and he nearly refused to accept the reality.
Thus, forcing himself to remain calm, Itachi immediately decided to head to the scene.
'Don't die! Please, please don't—!'
At this point, even if it meant betraying the Akatsuki, Itachi had to save Kagaya.
While their positions regarding Konoha placed them at odds, even in direct opposition, in all other matters, their bond was that of true brothers.
Gradually, the explosion subsided, the shockwave dissipated, leaving only a massive crater and smoke-shrouded ruins in its wake.
Deidara grinned triumphantly, shouting down at the devastation below. "So?! Uchiha Kagaya! You are now a dead man! Felled by my hand! Hahahahaha! My art... isn't it far superior to your Sharingan? Hahahahaha!"
Deidara proudly boasted of his art to a corpse.
Then, the "corpse" answered him.
"'Far superior'? Who gave you that idea?"
The voice ranks out. Deidara's laughter died instantly. His head turned stiffly as he searched for the speaker.
Simultaneously, Sasori and the others in the distance also sensed Kagaya's presence. Sasori's exclamation was almost reflexive.
"Impossible! How can this be?! That brat survived that explosion?"
Konan's eyes widened. She, too, had not anticipated Kagaya surviving a direct hit from Deidara's ultimate attack.
Zetsu's expression darkened. "My, my. Kagaya is still alive? What unfortunate news. It seems there are techniques I was unaware of."
Near the center of the blast zone.
Kagaya managed a strained smile. Two trails of blood ran from his eyes down his cheeks. Another streak of blood marked the corner of his mouth.
Bread. It was excruciating. A pain that seemed to bore into the marrow of his bones, threatening to plunge him into unconsciousness.
In the final moments before the explosion, Kagaya had believed himself doomed. However, at the very last second, his three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly, transforming into the Mangekyō pattern. Then, the near-unbearable agony had surged through him.
Sections of bone materialized rapidly. In the moment before the blast engulfed them, a yellow skeletal structure, roughly three meters tall, enveloped Kagaya, Karin, and Haku.
Kagaya knew what this was: one of the ultimate powers of the Mangekyō Sharingan—Susano'o.
But he hadn't known activating Susano'o would be this painful. It was a torment almost impossible to endure.
The explosion lasted only a few seconds. Yet, in those few seconds, the impulse to simply black out had assaulted him countless times.
The blood-red hue of his left Mangekyō was gradually fading, shifting towards a dull gray.
Kagaya bit his lip, drawing blood, forcing himself to stay conscious through sheer will.
Having activated Susano'o, he couldn't simply deactivate it now. In his current state, he was fighting purely on willpower. Maintaining this Susano'o was draining him immensely. If he released it now, not only would he be unable to reactivate it, he suspected he would lose consciousness immediately.
Therefore, he could not release Susano'o. He couldn't let his guard down.
The enemies were still here.
******
A/N: Regarding Kagaya's Susano'o color, the final setting is yellow. I actually considered many options for this, but later I discovered that red mixed with green yields yellow. Red is the color of Itachi's Susano'o, and green is the color of Shisui's Susano'o. Therefore, I chose yellow. Also, the point about Susano'o causing pain is based on the original work, as learned from Sasuke. When Sasuke activated his Mangekyō Susano'o, he explicitly stated it was painful. So, my setting here is that activating Susano'o with the Mangekyō causes extreme pain, but this aspect disappears upon achieving the Eternal Mangekyō.