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Sasuke's clone slowly lowered his arms, the white magnetism surrounding them dissipating. He watched Kazekage Rasa, who even now refused to properly look at his own son.
"Listen," the clone's voice cut through the settling dust. "That 'worthless failure' in your eyes? He became the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure."
Rasa's eyes went wide. "…Kazekage? What are you saying? Gaara? Become Kazekage? Impossible! He couldn't even control Shukaku's power! The village elders would never let such an unstable variable take that title!"
"Gaara did," Sasuke stated flatly. "The Akatsuki tried to kill him. He used his own will to suppress Shukaku's rampage and saved Sunagakure."
Rasa stared, disbelief warring with shock. "…Gaara. He could do that?"
"More than that," Sasuke continued, each word a hammer blow. "After the Akatsuki extracted the tailed beast from him, Suna's Elder Chiyo sacrificed her own life. She used a forbidden jutsu to bring him back."
"Chiyo… sacrificed herself… for Gaara?!" Rasa's voice was barely a whisper. The absurdity of it was staggering—that stubborn old woman giving her life for the monster he'd created.
"And then," Sasuke drove the final nail home, "as Kazekage, he attended the recent Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron. He used his strength and his sincerity to sway the other Kage. He helped forge the Shinobi Alliance."
Rasa was speechless, his worldview cracking apart.
"—'He is the young and outstanding Kage who injected hopeful blood into this rigid, closed-off shinobi world.' That's not my assessment. Those were the words of the most senior Kage, Ōnoki of Iwagakure, about Gaara at the end of the Summit."
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The psychological blows landed, each one a hundred times more devastating than any physical attack. Under their relentless assault, Rasa—the man blinded by cold utilitarianism—finally began to crumble.
Could it be… I was the one who failed to see his value?
Of course. As his father… I never once looked at him. Not truly. Instead, I tried, again and again, to erase my own 'failed product.'
And he… he never defied me. Never cursed me. He just… surpassed me. In ways I could never fathom. In ways that shame me.
If I could see him… I'd want to apologize. Just once.
…But I've lost that right, haven't I?
Rasa lifted his head, his gaze meeting Sasuke's. "…Sasuke. Could I ask you a favor?"
"Speak."
"Please… tell Gaara this." Rasa's voice was thick with a regret decades in the making. "The sand… it didn't protect him because of Shukaku's hatred. It was his mother's love. Karura's love. His mother… she always loved him!"
This was a truth he hadn't heard in his previous life. A flicker of pity stirred in Sasuke's chest. "…Why don't you tell him yourself?"
Crack.
Rasa gave a bitter, broken smile as his body began to fissure. "I'm too ashamed. Too ashamed to remain in this world any longer. As a Kage, as a father… I'm a complete failure. Let a failure exit the stage quietly. There's no need to force a moment of grace upon me now. You… his friend, who's stood by him from the start… you have far more right to say those words to him than I ever did."
Sasuke watched as the man, shattered from the inside out, began to disintegrate.
"I'll tell him."
"Thank you. Please… look after Gaara."
Fwoosh!
With that final plea, Rasa's soul broke free from the sacrificial vessel. It became a streak of golden light, arcing across the sky toward the horizon.
Sasuke watched it go. He did not bow.
Thus, the clone's mission concluded perfectly.
The clone dispersed. Chakra flooded back to the main body.
On the main battlefield, the situation was dire.
Izuna Uchiha, commanding his overwhelmingly powerful Crow Tengu Susanoo, was on the offensive. With his great sword, he cleaved through the advancing Wood Dragons, forcing Sasuke in his skeletal Susanoo into a desperate, scrambling retreat.
Sasuke was being pushed back, step by shuddering step.
At that moment, the chakra returned. A torrent of power from his four clones surged into his main body.
"Finally," Sasuke breathed, a fierce grin touching his lips. "Now we can fight properly."
Izuna's Susanoo reared back for another earth-splitting slash. This time, Sasuke didn't dodge.
His hands came together in a sharp clap before his chest.
Wood Style: All-Encompassing Wood Hands!
THUD! THUD!
Two colossal wooden palms erupted from the ground in front of Sasuke, fingers splaying wide. They caught the descending blade mid-air. The impact shook the very island.
Roooar!
Three more Wood Dragons surged from the shattered earth, coiling toward the Crow Tengu.
Izuna's eyes widened inside his armored shell. "His power… it just skyrocketed?!"
He registered the sudden, profound silence from the rest of the island. The distant clashes, the explosions… all gone.
"Tch! His clones finished off all the others? How? With Edo Tensei bodies… Did he use sealing techniques?"
No time to ponder. As the wooden serpents converged, the power in Izuna's right eye flared.
Crack-crack-crack-crack—!
Space itself seemed to crystallize around the dragons, freezing them in their tracks.
Izuna wrenched his blade free from the wooden hands and leaped back. His Susanoo's free hand swept out, a string of glowing magatama beads materializing and streaking toward Sasuke.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
The explosions threw up a mountain of dust and debris. When it cleared, Sasuke's skeletal Susanoo stood unharmed.
"Hah…"
Sasuke took a deep, centering breath. His hands moved again, forming a different seal, pulling power from deep within.
Wood Human Technique!
RUMBLE—!
The earth heaved. Not just trees, but entire forests of wood erupted, twisting, merging, compressing into a shape of monumental scale. It was as if some divine craftsman was sculpting a titan from the living earth itself.
A warrior's head. Eyes of diamond-hard intent. Arms thick as ancient oaks, a torso like a fortified citadel.
A true, awe-inspiring Wooden Colossus.
Izuna's confidence evaporated. His face paled.
"The Wood Human! That damned jutsu that gave my brother so much trouble! Damn it all! That was Hashirama Senju's ultimate move! He can actually use it?!"
A beat of panic, then cold logic reasserted itself.
I'm in an Edo Tensei body. No physical attack can truly harm me. I just need to avoid being restrained by the wood and sealed. That's all.
The thought steadied him. A sneer returned to his lips.
"You recalled your clones just to pull this out. That means it puts a heavy strain on you, doesn't it? And those four clones must have burned through a ton of chakra. How long can you keep this up? I have my doubts!"
"Long enough," Sasuke's voice echoed from the Colossus's crown, "to strip that armor off you."
WHUMP!
The Wood Human moved. Not with the ponderous slowness of a giant, but with terrifying, earth-shaking agility. It stepped forward, its movement a localized earthquake.
CLANG—!
Izuna swung his great sword in a desperate horizontal slash. The blade bit deep into the Wood Human's shoulder, splintering ancient timber.
The Colossus didn't even flinch.
It took another step, its massive wooden hand shooting out with deceptive speed. It closed around the neck of Izuna's Crow Tengu Susanoo.
Then it leaped.
And slammed the armored titan into the ground.
KABOOOOOOOM—!
The island didn't just shake—it broke. The point of impact spider-webbed with canyons, splitting the landmass into several shuddering fragments.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The Wood Human planted its feet, yanked the embedded sword from its own shoulder, and began to pummel the prone Susanoo with fists like falling meteors.
CRACK! CRACK-CRACK!
Fissures raced across the Crow Tengu's purple armor. It held, but barely—a web of glowing cracks, stubbornly clinging together.
Sasuke, standing within his own skeletal Susanoo atop the Colossus's head, watched coolly.
"Impressive durability…"
His hands formed another quick sequence of seals.
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
From the shoulders of his skeletal Susanoo, dozens of writhing, purple-black tendrils—Jiongu threads—shot forth. They didn't attack; they sewed. They pierced the cracks in Izuna's Susanoo and began weaving themselves into the very structure of the armor.
Izuna stared in horror from within. "These threads… they're fusing with my Susanoo?! What is this?!"
Sasuke's eyes gleamed with dark intent from the high vantage point. "That sword and armor… I'll be taking them."
Jiongu: Divine Weapon Seizure!
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