I Am Uzumaki Menma

A dark red runic circle bloomed behind Shura, its nine-layered patterns spreading like ripples, with ancient characters floating at the center of each array node.

"Azure, White, Vermilion, Black, Sky, South, North, Three, Jewel!"

"Nine-Masked Beast!"

As Shura whispered, nine summoned creatures wearing eerie masks emerged from the array.

Seiryu and Byakko, who were the first to appear, charged straight toward the Anbu's Ninjas surrounding Shura.

Their massive bodies and tiger paws struck with overwhelming force, making ordinary Ninjas hesitate to engage head-on. Even Kakashi, blocking Byakko's giant paw with his kunai, was sent flying several meters by the sheer impact.

Genbu, its body like a hundred-ton truck, crashed toward Hiruzen and the others nearby.

"Multi-Size Technique!" Choza roared, instantly expanding his body into a giant using the Chakra stored within him!

This advanced form of the Multi-Size Technique could even contend with a Tailed Beast in size.

The enlarged Choza rushed straight at Genbu, pressing his massive palms against the tortoise's head in an attempt to halt its charge!

But the moment he made contact, Choza only felt an overwhelming force slam into him, pushing him relentlessly backward!

Boom!

Genbu sent the giant-sized Chōza crashing through the meeting hall's wall, leaving behind a gaping hole amid shattered debris and swirling dust.

Only the shocked Shikaku and others were left in the rubble and dust.

"Choza!" Shikaku and the others, who are about to rush to his aid, suddenly caught a flash of red streaking toward them from the corner of their eyes.

They barely dodged in time!

Whoosh!

Suzaku's crimson shadow grazed Shikaku's sleeve as it passed, but one Anbu's ninja wasn't so lucky… its talons pierced his shoulder, dragging him screaming out of the hole and into the sky.

"Shadow Imitation Technique!" Shikaku immediately tried to ensnare the beast with his stretching shadow.

The black threads barely brushed against its feathers but were just a fraction too slow.

"Damn it!" Hiruzen Sarutobi swung his Adamantine Staff, clashing with a floating, scythe-wielding summon.

When the staff met the scythe, a metallic clang rang out, and the voice of Enma echoed from within the staff.

"Huruzen! There's something wrong with this guy! My Chakra has been sucked away!" Enma warned in alarm.

He didn't dare maintain the staff form any longer, reverting to his monkey form.

"What?" Hiruzen hadn't expected the enemy to possess such bizarre and unheard-of summoned creatures.

Five beast-like summons and four humanoid ones had completely stalled Hiruzen's reinforcements, and even Choza had been sent flying!

Within the Hyuga Clan's compound, which is already shrouded in mist, chaos reigned.

After being knocked out, Choza activated an even greater Multi-Size Technique, expanding his body tenfold until he stood like a colossus amidst the Hyuga Clan's compound!

But he wasn't just wrestling with Genbu… Suzaku swooped down from the sky, forcing him into a defensive struggle.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen, Shikaku, Shikaku, and Kakashi were also locked in fierce combat.

A purple barrier descended like a curtain, dividing the battlefield in two under the technique of Nanto Sennin and Hokuto Sennin.

Shinigami swung its scythe, while Tennyo's ribbons fluttered through the air, dominating the skies and suppressing Hiruzen's forces below.

"Damn it!" Hiashi gritted his teeth as he watched the battlefield being split apart.

Hiruzen's aged face was etched with tension, sweat beading on his forehead as he and Enma launched alternating attacks against Shinigami.

Inside the council hall, many Hyuga Clan's members remained… including the elderly, women, and children of the main family. Using large-scale Ninjutsu here would only endanger them, forcing Hiruzen and his men to rely on Taijutsu and secret techniques, further limiting their options.

Menma glanced at the purple barrier erected by Nanto Sennin and Hokuto Sennin, beyond which Hiruzen and the others were being suppressed by the Nine Masked Beasts.

With a cold snort, he turned his attention to the Hyuga Clan's elders trapped inside the barrier.

Hizashi stepped forward, shielding the main family's elders in a firm Gentle Fist stance, his resolve unshakable.

Menma's right foot slammed against the ground, propelling him like a cannonball straight at Hizashi.

The two clashed in Taijutsu. Hizashi blocked the incoming fist with Gentle Fist, but Shura seized his wrists, twisted his body, and delivered a devastating kick straight to his ribs.

Boom!

Hizashi was sent flying meters back, slamming into the wall before collapsing unconscious.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" The four Hyuga Clan's elders attacked simultaneously, channeling Chakra into their palms for a Gentle Fist attack!

Shura tilted his mask slightly, a dark red Chakra swirling in his left eye beneath the white three-eyed fox mask.

In an instant, the four Hyuga Clan's elders lost sight of Shura's figure, their Chakra-charged palms left flailing in confusion.

Boom!

The next moment, Shura suddenly appeared beside one of the Hyuga Clan's elders, slamming the old man's face into the floor with a sickening crunch of bone against wood.

Before the other elders could react, Shura seized two more by their collars and yanked them together… their skulls collided with a brutal crack, teeth and blood spraying through the air.

The last Hyuga Clan's elder closed his eyes, relying purely on his sense to strike at Shura's location.

Menma leapt up, driving his foot down onto the elder's skull like a pile driver, smashing him face-first into the ground with crushing force.

In just a few dozen seconds, the battle within the barrier was over. Hizashi was unconscious, while the four main family's elders were grievously wounded.

No one inside the barrier could oppose Shura now.

From outside the barrier, Hiashi watched in helpless fury as he fought alongside Hiruzen against Shinigami and Tennyo.

"I will accept Hamura's gift." Menma stepped off the elder's back and took out a glass tube, then mercilessly plucked out the elder's Byakugan with his bare hands.

"Aaaaarrggghhh-!!!"

The elder's agonized screams echoed through the hall as his hollowed eye sockets gushed blood.

Shura dropped the pure white eyeballs into the tube, where they floated eerily in pale green preservation fluid.

After putting it away, Menma took out another glass tube and moved to the next elder.

"Shura!!!" Hiashi hurled a kunai, but it clattered uselessly against the purple barrier.

Two fox-masked summoned creatures wielding ornate staves maintained the barrier, leaving Hiashi and the other Konoha's Ninjas powerless to stop the gruesome harvest.

One by one, the four elders' Byakugan were ripped out, their empty sockets weeping rivers of crimson as their screams filled the chamber.

Hiruzen hadn't expected the enemy to dismantle four Hyuga Clan's elders and Hizashi, an Elite Jonin, so effortlessly!

'Even the weakest among them were Special Jonin, yet Shura had crushed them in mere seconds!'

"No choice now! Shadow Clone Technique!" Hiruzen formed the hand seals, and four shadow clones appeared beside him.

The four shadow clones plus Hiruzen's main body quickly formed hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Thunderclap!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Cyclone!"

Five elemental Ninjutsu erupted from multiple angles, bombarding Shinigami and Tennyo in a desperate bid to break through their defenses!