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"What the hell is that thing? It blocked my C3?!"
A profoundly ominous feeling washed over Deidara. Looking down from the sky at the golden skeletal figure below, he sensed instinctively that it was no ordinary construct.
Kagaya took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing himself to adapt to the unreasonable, overwhelming pain. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to move. The agony was truly unbearable. He needed to acclimate gradually, to learn to move while enduring it.
Several seconds later, after a few more deep breaths, Kagaya managed to move, gritting his teeth against the torment.
His first action was not to attack Deidara or the others, but to advance the evolution of his Susano'o.
His current Susano'o was far too rudimentary—it lacked even the layer of muscular tissue. Deidara's C3 had already cracked this skeletal frame. He couldn't face the enemy in this initial stage. He didn't need to progress it all the way to the armored form, but at the very least, he had to develop the muscular layer, significantly boosting its defensive capability. Furthermore, with the muscular layer formed, he could then manifest his Susano'o's unique spiritual weapon.
"Ughh!" Kagaya suddenly retched, vomiting a large amount of blood.
Advancing his Susano'o to such a stage on his very first activation was brutally taxing on his body!
But he had no other choice!
Kagaya's eyes widened as he intensified the output of his ocular power. Strands of energy lines began to weave across the surface of the golden Susano'o, slowly enveloping it. As more and more lines gathered and intertwined, they formed the muscular tissue of the Susano'o.
"Pfft!" This time, it wasn't vomiting—he outright sprayed a mouthful of blood. Kagaya dropped to one knee on the ground.
Fortunately, he held on. Quickly, the skeletal figure transformed, growing flesh to become a resplendent, warrior-god-like form.
"Huff... huff... huff..." Kagaya knelt on one knee, his breathing ragged and trembling.
Beside him, Karin immediately crouched down, rolling up her sleeve and presenting her pale arm to Kagaya.
Kagaya was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Karin, managing a weak smile.
"Karin..."
However, Karin forcefully cut him off, her face filled with desperate urgency, on the verge of tears.
"Don't say anything! Just bite me! Look at the state you're in... you've lost so much blood. Let's go, Kagaya. Let's not fight them anymore. You can't keep going like this."
Though no tears fell, her voice was thick with unshed sobs.
Kagaya gave a faint smile, saying nothing more, and bit down on the arm Karin offered.
Karin's healing ability, while largely ineffective against the side effects of the Mangekyō (vision loss), was exceptionally potent in other areas. After biting down for just a short while, the bone-deep pain tormenting Kagaya began to gradually fade, and his physical condition rapidly improved.
Elsewhere, Itachi and Kisame were nearly at the blast site when they saw a small golden figure in the distance.
Itachi's eyes widened. "That's..."
Kisame asked, puzzled, "What is that, Itachi-san?"
Itachi remained silent for a moment, then shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's hold back here for now and observe."
Though the color was different, Itachi recognized it—Susano'o.
He had previously thought that only a Mangekyō possessing both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu could unlock Susano'o. It seemed he was mistaken.
Now that Kagaya had activated Susano'o, Itachi decided against intervening. As a user of Susano'o himself, he knew all too well its terrifying power.
However...
'I wonder if Kagaya can endure it.'
Activating Susano'o brought immense pain, placed a tremendous burden on the body, and caused significant damage.
Before evolving into the Eternal Mangekyō, Susano'o was both the user's "guardian deity" and their "angel of death."
Back with Kagaya, after biting Karin for a while, his condition had noticeably improved.
Immediately, the golden Susano'o's massive hand clenched. Kagaya was summoning his unique spiritual weapon!
In the original narrative, Itachi's Susano'o wielded the Totsuka Blade (sealing all it pierced) and the Yata Mirror (nullifying all attacks). Madara's had four curved blades, capable of releasing massive shockwaves, making his Susano'o devastatingly destructive. Shisui's was a spiraling drill sword, which could spin at high speeds and be combined with ninjutsu for increased lethality. Sasuke's weapon was a bow, offering long-range attacks with incredible speed; the bow itself could also function as a shield, making it versatile for both offense and defense. Kakashi's was a giant shuriken imbued with Kamui, possessing absolute destructive power and also long range.
And his? What would his be?
The answer soon revealed itself.
As the golden Susano'o's hand clenched, golden chakra coalesced within its grasp. Soon, a magnificent golden longsword materialized in the Susano'o's hand.
Simultaneously, information about this sword flowed into Kagaya's mind.
High above, Deidara observed the sword-wielding warrior-god below and frowned slightly. Playing it safe, he directed his clay bird to ascend even higher.
Looking down at the now tiny golden speck, Deidara allowed himself a relieved smile.
At this distance, there was simply no way a sword of that length could reach him. Even if that golden warrior tried to throw the sword, not only was it questionable whether it could be thrown this high, but even if it could, Deidara could easily dodge it. A thrown projectile had a fixed trajectory; it couldn't change course. Dodging would be trivial.
In the distance, even Itachi couldn't help but frown upon seeing this. The strengths of Susano'o lay in its immense defense and attack power, but not necessarily in extreme attack range—at least not in its earlier stages. To attack distant targets in the initial phases, one had to rely on the spiritual weapon.
If Kagaya's weapon were a bow, Itachi believed he could strike Deidara. But it was a sword. That was problematic.
At this range, even Itachi's own Totsuka Blade would struggle to extend far enough.
Troublesome.
Itachi knew all too well that Kagaya, while maintaining Susano'o, absolutely could not afford a battle of attrition. If Deidara simply stalled, the first to fall would undoubtedly be Kagaya.
Itachi didn't want Deidara to stall, but unfortunately, that was precisely Deidara's intention.
While Kagaya was evolving his Susano'o, Deidara had witnessed him kneel and vomit blood. He instantly realized that this strange technique, despite its terrifying defensive power capable of withstanding his C3, undoubtedly placed a massive strain on the user. Kagaya absolutely could not afford a prolonged engagement.
Therefore, without hesitation, Deidara increased the distance, preparing to stall. Kagaya couldn't last, but he, Deidara, could stall indefinitely.
As long as Kagaya maintained that golden warrior-god, Deidara would wait him out. If Kagaya deactivated it, Deidara would immediately rain down clay bombs. In short, he would stall.