A gigantic wooden human appeared, resembling a colossal Vajra Arhat, towering between the heavens and the earth.
In terms of size, it was no smaller than the Gedo Statue.
Wrapped around its body was a massive wood dragon, and just the sight of this huge figure exuded an indescribable sense of pressure!
Itachi and Kisame, who had been rushing toward Uchiha Akira, stopped in their tracks when they saw the enormous Wood Human. They exchanged glances, both with bitter smiles on their faces.
Charging at that Wood Human was like a mouse wielding a huge knife, running headlong at a car.
The massive difference in size left them feeling powerless.
"No wonder Uchiha Akira didn't even glance at us earlier!" Itachi said, his face grim.
"Even Samehada, if it were to slash at that Wood Human, it would be like a nail clipper trying to trim someone's toenail!" Kisame shook his head with a wry smile.
Yes, swinging Samehada at that enormous Wood Human would be as pointless as using a nail clipper on a giant. The sheer size difference alone made them feel helpless!
"I never expected this. After disappearing for years, Akira's strength has grown to this level!" Itachi thought to himself as he gazed at the colossal Wood Human.
As a spy, he had to at least show some degree of strength; otherwise, people would become suspicious, right?
Though Itachi didn't really want to fight Akira, seeing this giant Wood Human made him marvel. Even if he unleashed his Susanoo, it would be nothing compared to this Wood Human!
Unless his Susanoo could reach its perfect form, there would be no chance of a fair fight!
Itachi's admission that he wasn't a match for Akira was no exaggeration.
"Itachi!" Despite being shocked by the power of the Wood Human Technique, Sasuke's eyes locked onto Itachi!
Back when Itachi attacked their clan, it was Uchiha Akira who had spared his life and allowed him to escape.
Yet today, Itachi was attacking Konoha alongside others and even fighting against Akira.
This act of betrayal angered Sasuke!
With a fierce glare, Sasuke, his Mangekyō Sharingan active, charged toward Itachi!
As Sasuke and Itachi began their fight, Kisame shifted his attention to Hinata!
Despite Kisame's assault, Hinata didn't back down. She gritted her teeth, assuming a Gentle Fist stance, and faced Kisame head-on!
"Hinata isn't a match for Kisame yet, is she?" Uchiha Akira glanced at Hinata and felt a sense of worry.
Sasuke fighting Itachi? That wasn't something to worry about.
In the original story, even with just the three-tomoe Sharingan, Itachi held back enough to let Sasuke defeat him.
Now that Sasuke had awakened his Mangekyō, Itachi would have an even easier time holding back!
But Hinata, despite having evolved her Byakugan closer to the Tenseigan, still only had the strength of a high-level Jonin. She wasn't a match for Kisame!
"Are you really in the mood to look elsewhere?" Although Uchiha Akira only glanced at Hinata, Pain's Rinnegan didn't miss a thing.
Under his control, the Gedo Statue roared and threw a punch at Uchiha Akira!
Controlling the Wood Human to block, Uchiha Akira's defense was rushed, and the Wood Human was forced back several steps!
The Gedo Statue, seizing the advantage, continued its assault!
Uchiha Akira refocused and sent the Wood Human back into battle!
The fight between these two enormous wooden creatures was like a battle between Ultraman and a kaiju.
Even from outside the exam arena, people could see the two giant creatures clashing without needing the big screen!
The sheer size of the two fighters meant that even a simple punch packed the destructive power of an S-rank jutsu!
As the battle raged, the entire exam arena trembled violently. This level of combat was like a clash from another dimension.
Even typical Kage-level ninjas had no chance of interfering. This display of power left everyone in awe!
Could such strength truly belong to a human?
Many couldn't help but recall the words spoken seven years ago: "Give Uchiha Akira another ten years, and he might reach the level of the legendary Uchiha Madara."
Now, seven years had passed, and it seemed more appropriate to say he had reached the level of the First Hokage!
And what was even more shocking was that, despite Akira's immense power, someone was able to fight him on equal footing!
This was the first time Pain had shown his true strength to the ninja world.
And his power deeply shocked everyone!
Especially the Gedo Statue, which looked incredibly terrifying!
No one knew exactly what it was, but it was unbelievably tough. Even when Uchiha Akira's Wood Human punched it with full force, it didn't cause much damage!
The battle between the Wood Human and the Gedo Statue was intense.
Meanwhile, the fight between Sasuke and Itachi was equally fierce!
The clash between their Mangekyō Sharingan made it seem as if they were evenly matched.
But Sasuke wasn't actually trying to kill Itachi. He was simply enraged by Itachi's betrayal.
Similarly, Itachi had no intention of killing Sasuke. In fact, this battle was more of an opportunity for Itachi to gauge Sasuke's Mangekyō strength.
At the same time, Itachi was subtly teaching Sasuke how to fight with the Mangekyō Sharingan through actual combat!
Outside, Fugaku watched the fight between his two sons on the screen. He could immediately tell that neither of them had any killing intent, which put his mind at ease.
Thinking it over, he realized that they had Akira to thank for this fight.
Who would've thought that in the midst of an attack by the Akatsuki, Akira would still find the time to put on a show, helping Sasuke awaken his Mangekyō!
Fugaku also hadn't expected Sasuke to be this gifted, successfully unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Now, his entire family—all three of them—had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
This was sure to become a famous tale in Uchiha history!
While the Uchiha brothers fought intensely but without bloodlust, the situation between Hinata and Kisame was much less favorable!
Hinata's Gentle Fist was excellent, and her Byakugan had evolved considerably. But in terms of combat, the Byakugan was more useful for reconnaissance and gathering intelligence than actual fighting!
As a result, Hinata was being thoroughly suppressed by Kisame. At one point, he even slashed her shoulder, leaving a bloody, gaping wound!
Despite this, Hinata, who normally seemed gentle and frail, continued to grit her teeth and fight. Even though she was being overpowered, she refused to give up.
Her shoulder was bleeding badly, but she didn't cry out in pain once!
Seeing Hinata's situation, Uchiha Akira became anxious. He bit his finger, preparing to summon Tanshin Hime to help her!
However, Pain seemed to sense Akira's intention and gave him no chance to act.
Realizing that Akira was worried about Hinata, Pain manipulated the Gedo Statue to unleash a series of stronger, faster attacks!
Pain knew the longer he kept Uchiha Akira occupied, preventing him from helping Hinata, the greater his chances of winning.
Akira, now truly desperate, found himself completely suppressed by Pain. He couldn't even perform a simple summoning jutsu!
Meanwhile, Hinata's situation was getting worse by the second!
Kisame, often referred to as the "Tailed Beast without a Tail," combined with Samehada, possessed unquestionable Kage-level strength!
Aside from his mastery of taijutsu, Kisame's Water Release techniques were also top-tier!
From the looks of it, Hinata wouldn't be able to hold out much longer!
Growing more frantic, Uchiha Akira controlled the Wood Human to raise its arms, blocking another of the Gedo Statue's attacks. He quickly formed hand seals and slapped the Wood Human on the head!
The Gedo Statue, being the shell of the Ten Tails, had ten tail-like appendages, two of which lashed out toward Uchiha Akira!
This time, Uchiha Akira didn't dodge or block. He gritted his teeth and pressed his hand against the Wood Human's head!
Summoning Jutsu!
With a loud bang, a cloud of white smoke appeared.
But at that same moment, Uchiha Akira was struck by one of the Gedo Statue's tails, sending him flying from the Wood Human's head like a ragdoll!
Although Uchiha Akira's dragonized body was incredibly tough, impervious even to kunai, that didn't mean he could withstand a direct hit from the Gedo Statue!
As he was sent flying, Uchiha Akira felt like he had been hit by a speeding train. His internal organs shook violently, two of his ribs cracked, and blood spurted from his mouth!
If it weren't for Akira's extraordinarily strong body, any ordinary person, even a Kage-level shinobi, would have been blown apart by such an attack from the Gedo Statue.
"Tanshin Hime!" The being Uchiha Akira had just summoned gasped in horror upon seeing Akira's condition.
"Don't... cough, cough... don't worry about me. Go help her..." Uchiha Akira wheezed, pointing toward Hinata's direction as blood dripped from his mouth.
Despite seeing Akira in such a dire state, Tanshin Hime hesitated for a moment.
"Go!" Uchiha Akira shouted, urgency clear in his voice.
At his command, Tanshin Hime finally turned and flew toward Hinata to offer aid.
But just as Tanshin Hime moved, the space in front of her suddenly began to warp like a vortex.
Out of the swirling space stepped a figure wearing an orange spiral mask, adorned with the same black cloak with red clouds as the other Akatsuki members.
"I'm sorry, but you won't be going any further," Obito's deep voice echoed as he blocked Tanshin Hime's path.
*********Announcement**************
By the end of the week, the bonus chapters will be as follows: 10 chapters if we are first in Power Stone rankings, 5 chapters if we are in the top 5, and 2 chapters if we are in the top 10. Good luck!
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 245 at patreon.com/Emik01.