The moment the fog swallowed everything, the battle could already be declared over.
Vision was locked to less than a meter. Sound faded into nothing beyond five meters. Even when wind-style users poured everything they had into their ninjutsu, they only managed to scatter the fog for a breath—before it surged back in, swallowing the space again.
No one could fight under such absolute disadvantage against an enemy who possessed senjutsu.
Even if some of them bore the Uchiha name… even if they had awakened the mirror of the heart—Sharingan—it made no difference.
Kaguya Ren strolled through the silent fog he'd created as if taking a walk. One by one, he killed the Konoha shinobi who weren't Uchiha. The Uchiha jonin who tried to resist had their limbs snapped. Then, with Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, he pinned them in place.
Finally, Ren stopped before the last two standing.
"Uchiha Fugaku, clan head. And the one who's recently earned the title 'Shisui the Body Flicker'—Uchiha Shisui. Correct?"
Fugaku gripped his kunai, shielding the still-unfinished Shisui behind him. His Mangekyo Sharingan stared into the fog, locked on Ren's figure with the posture of a man prepared to gamble his life.
"…To think our luck would be this bad."
"Bad?" Ren sounded almost amused. His eyes slid to Shisui—who still looked like nothing more than a child.
"I think your luck is pretty good. I planned to give Konoha a lesson they wouldn't forget as a farewell gift, but I have no intention of becoming blood enemies with the Uchiha."
He smiled lightly.
"So you, and that little brat, can both return to Konoha in one piece. Happy?"
"Like hell I'd believe you!" Fugaku snarled.
His right eye's Mangekyo erupted with an intense glare as he unleashed the dojutsu housed within it—
—I Am Consciousness.
A Mangekyo genjutsu type technique—one that didn't match Fugaku's usual ninjutsu-oriented style.
It constructed a small genjutsu world using information Fugaku possessed, dragging the target inside. Within that world, time accelerated according to Fugaku's will—fast-forwarding into the "future" he envisioned.
Once the target had endured the set duration inside, everything within that genjutsu world would attack.
The terror of the technique lay in this:
The mental damage taken in the genjutsu world reflected onto the real body. And because the world itself was under Fugaku's control, he could even pour chakra into it to forcibly "create" adult versions of Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi—both wielding Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even if the incomplete simulation lacked their unique Mangekyo abilities, the presence of two extraordinary genjutsu talents was enough to crush any target that was already struggling within the illusion.
"…So this is the 'future world' your Mangekyo reflects?"
Ren looked around.
Far in the distance, on the Hokage Rock, the faces carved there were Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.
Around them, the other great clans of Konoha stood under the Uchiha's banner.
Ren exhaled, sounding almost disappointed.
"Not great. The 'capacity' of the Uchiha clan head… You actually think two imagined Mangekyo holders and half of Konoha—stiff, dull, without autonomy—could challenge me?"
Fugaku's ambition went further than this.
But his chakra reserves simply couldn't support a more detailed world.
"Go," Fugaku ordered through heavy breaths, standing behind the phantom Shisui and phantom Itachi. "Let that man see the power of the Uchiha!"
"OHHHHH!!!"
Hyuga. Senju. Sarutobi. Shimura. Aburame. Nara. Akimichi. Yamanaka. Yuhi. Uzumaki…
Konoha's named clans roared in unison. Under Uchiha jonin leadership, secret techniques and kekkei genkai surged toward Ren like endless waves.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song!"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The phantom Shisui and phantom Itachi charged first, weaving seals at dazzling speed. Together, they spewed a tidal inferno, then used the blaze's glare to Body Flicker behind Ren—launching a coordinated strike with Uchiha shurikenjutsu.
Ren's hands clapped together.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation."
The earth beneath his feet came alive. Stone spikes erupted in a frenzy, forcing the two "Hokage" phantoms back and stealing their momentum. Then Ren bit his thumb and slammed his palm to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The two fiercest serpents of Ryuchi Cave descended.
Manda—horned, venomous, lethal.
Sasuke's later mount wouldn't matter here; this was raw, ancient terror: a red-scaled, single-eyed serpent that spat petrifying poison.
The two massive snakes charged, scattering the rigid, unimaginative Konoha forces in chaos. Even the two Uchiha "Hokage" phantoms had to turn to defend.
"That's… Manda?!" Fugaku's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why—why is Orochimaru's summon under your control?! In the world of I Am Consciousness, you should only be able to use abilities you already possess in reality!"
Ren laughed easily and formed the seal to enter Sage Mode.
"Because I'm stronger than him."
Snake-fang markings appeared on his face. Horn-like protrusions formed on his forehead. Ren rolled his neck, then transformed his entire right arm into a massive bone blade.
He bared his teeth at Fugaku.
"Try to last a little longer, Uchiha clan head… If your Mangekyo dojutsu can't even let me finish warming up in this form, then those Uchiha jonin who could've survived with their bodies intact…"
His grin sharpened.
"…are going to say goodbye to this world~"
BOOM—!
A cloud of dust erupted larger than even the stampede of the two summoned serpents.
Ren's sprint was like a god's swordstroke. A deep scar tore across the earth as he moved, and as Fugaku vomited a mouthful of blood—
With a single slash, Ren turned nearly half of Konoha's illusory allied force into drifting bubbles that popped into nothing.
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