Chapter 315: A-Rank Technique: [Susanoo]!

Chapter 315: A-Rank Technique: [Susanoo]!

[A-Rank Technique: Susanoo (Initial Form)]

[Description: The ultimate dōjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan! An awe-inspiring god of war, perfect for offense and defense!]

[Effect: Refine one's spiritual energy into a special Yin Release chakra called "Pupil Power." Using the eye's nervous system and chakra pathway system as a channel, release the Yin Release chakra and materialize it.]

[Evaluation: I... am Gundam!]

"Holy shit? [Susanoo]???"

Staring at the contents of the final A-Rank secret scroll that popped up on the panel, Nara Keisuke let out a rare curse, his eyes wide.

"Is this really something you can get from an A-Rank [Secret Ninja Scroll]?"

As a bona fide Gundam fan, how could Nara Keisuke not know the illustrious name of [Susanoo]?

In his opinion, the future proliferation of [Susanoo] (and all Gundam-like ninjutsu) was the main culprit that turned the shinobi world from conventional intelligence warfare into a disastrous, non-human slugfest!

"Someone gathered intel on me? Doesn't matter, I'm a Gundam."

"Someone rushed me? Doesn't matter, I'm a Gundam."

"I'm being dishonorably ganged up on?"

"Doesn't matter. I... am Gundam!"

Honestly, mortal-level shinobi struggled just to deal with a large summoning beast. To fight a humanoid Gundam controlled by a human, perfectly in sync with their will? They might as well discuss what death posture would be the most dignified...

He thought of the future, when Sasuke would go so far as to offer his body, his dignity, and his tamashii (soul) to entice an old, long-tongued pervert, all to gain the power for revenge.

Yet, during the battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke perfectly executed every ability he had learned from Orochimaru, painstakingly created the perfect battle environment, and even, in a moment of desperation, harnessed the power of natural lightning that no mortal could withstand. The result? His older brother pulled out an absurd trump card called [Susanoo].

Of course, Itachi's absurdity wasn't just his [Susanoo]...

But just talking about [Susanoo], Itachi's version was even more absurd than his ancestor, Uchiha Madara's!

That's right! In Nara Keisuke's view, Itachi's [Susanoo] was the most broken of all the "Susanoo Gundams." Even including Hatake Kakashi's Six Paths-limited "Kamui Susanoo," Uchiha Sasuke's Six-Tomoe Rinnegan "Ultimate Susanoo" (with all nine Tailed Beasts), and Uchiha Madara's "Majestic Attire: Susanoo," Itachi's was still the strongest!

The reason was simple. Itachi's [Susanoo] came with its own cheat items, and they were the kind of cheats that defied logic.

[Yata Mirror]—a spirit weapon, possessing all nature transformations, capable of nullifying all attacks.

[Totsuka Blade]—a spirit weapon, anyone struck by it is sealed away in the sword for eternity.

Invincible defense, absolute sealing.

Nara Keisuke never considered himself an "Itachi-wank," but in reality, his equipment and ability setup was just ridiculously strong.

And that wasn't even mentioning his other cheats...

If Naruto and Sasuke were the legendary "Children of Prophecy," then Itachi had to be at least the "World's Dad"!

Nara Keisuke pulled his thoughts back from his boundless ranting and immersed his mind in the A-Rank technique scroll for [Susanoo (Initial Form)].

He had thought an "ultimate dōjutsu" like [Susanoo] would be at least S-Rank. But since the panel blatantly gave it an A-Rank rating and included it in an A-Rank [Secret Ninja Scroll]...

...Nara Keisuke would graciously accept!

After a long while, Nara Keisuke slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

"It really is just the initial form of [Susanoo]... the skeleton? Ribcage? Susanoo."

Old Man Madara, who had just been destroyed, had demonstrated this ability multiple times in the fight. Not the "half-body Susanoo" he used at first, but the simple "skeletal Susanoo" he used later.

But this didn't matter to Nara Keisuke. Did he care if the [Susanoo] was complete?

Of course not!

In terms of size and height, the [Black Samurai] he created with the [Shadow Transformation Technique] was not much inferior to a true [Susanoo].

Of course, "Kamui Susanoo," "Majestic Attire: Susanoo," and "Ultimate Susanoo" were a different story. His [Black Samurai] could, at best, compare to a fourth-stage [Susanoo], not even the Perfect Susanoo...

The Perfect Susanoo that Uchiha Madara used in the Fourth Great Shinobi War was a hundred meters tall. Nara Keisuke was still far from that!

However, this A-Rank technique [Susanoo (Initial Form)] was an invaluable gain for Nara Keisuke.

There were three key points mentioned in this technique scroll.

First, the method of converting "Pupil Power."

Nara Keisuke's own Yin Release chakra, at its root, came from the Nara Clan's "Shadow Secret Techniques." Its primary expression was "shadow." This was clearly reflected in the many shadow techniques he had created.

But the "gifted" Uchiha Clan walked another path.

The Nara Clan had no innate special bloodline; they could only develop Yin Release shadow techniques through acquired study and research.

The fame of the Uchiha's Sharingan needed no introduction.

According to the research of the famous "Uchiha-logist" Tobirama Senju, the "Sharingan" was a special chakra released by an Uchiha's brain when they experienced extreme emotional trauma. This special chakra affected their optic nerves, causing their eyes to change. This was the so-called "eyes that reflect the heart"—the Sharingan!

And this "special chakra" was what Uchiha shinobi called "Pupil Power."

To be precise, both "shadow chakra" and "Pupil Power" were types of Yin Release chakra, just with subtle differences.

Just like how Keisuke, despite not having "Pupil Power," could still control many Yin Release techniques through his [Lacquer Eye]. If he wanted, he could name the Yin Release chakra he used... "Nara Pupil Power"?

In short, the method of refining Pupil Power was useful, but not as much as he'd thought.

But the next part recorded in the [Susanoo (Initial Form)] scroll was not so simple.

In the technique's effects, this part was simply described as "using the eye's nervous system and chakra pathway system as a channel," which seemed unremarkable.

But in reality, what kind of eyes could control [Susanoo]?

The Mangekyo Sharingan!

That's right! The scroll contained a massive amount of research on the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan!

This alone made the trip worthwhile.

In the earlier Hell Valley incident, Nara Keisuke had obtained the S-Rank miscellaneous item [Blood Research], which contained the Chinoike Clan's research on their "Ketsuryūgan."

But setting aside the history of the Chinoike being suppressed by the Uchiha, how could the "Ketsuryūgan" possibly compare to the "Mangekyo Sharingan"?

Nara Keisuke had originally planned to use the [Blood Research] to upgrade his self-created A-Rank technique [Lacquer Eye], to get it to a level comparable to the Uchiha's Sharingan.

But now, having obtained the [Susanoo (Initial Form)] technique scroll, could he upgrade his [Lacquer Eye] to be comparable to a Mangekyo Sharingan?

That would be... fantastic!

As everyone knows, in this Gundam-infested shinobi world, eyes are the royal road of ninjutsu!

Unless there's an old cheat-seller online, otherwise, a ninja without eyes, no matter how strong, is a fake.

(No need to name a certain "Konoha's Dream-Fulfiller" who got head-patted by Itachi...)

As for the other New Sannin who had no eyes or cheats but could still punch Kaguya Ōtsutsuki... well, she was just really confident!

Ahem.

As for the final part recorded in the [Susanoo (Initial Form)] scroll.

It was nothing much.

Just Uchiha Madara's special technique for shaping the [Susanoo].

Specifically, the technique structure for materializing the [Susanoo]'s chakra!

This was also extremely useful for Nara Keisuke.

Nara Keisuke's [Black Samurai] came from the [Shadow Transformation Technique]. But the [Shadow Transformation Technique] was never known for its chakra intensity. Its strengths were "transformation" and "versatility."

Nara Keisuke had always used the [Shadow Armor Technique] to support the [Black Samurai]'s physical form, and later used [Rashōmon] as an "external armor module."

The [Black Samurai] had defense, but that strength came from its "external armor," not itself.

But now, having obtained Uchiha Madara's [Susanoo] materialization technique, the [Black Samurai]'s base strength could also skyrocket!

As for it being a "skeletal Susanoo"... a Susanoo is a Susanoo.

The difference in defensive strength between a skeletal Susanoo and a Perfect Susanoo is just the amount of chakra.

As long as there's enough Yin Release chakra (Pupil Power), a skeletal Susanoo's defense isn't inferior to a Perfect Susanoo.

For Nara Keisuke, getting the [Susanoo]'s structure for materializing Yin Release chakra meant he could achieve stronger materialization with less Yin chakra.

This saved chakra could be used elsewhere or to further enhance the [Black Samurai], which was a direct boost to the [Black Samurai]'s comprehensive combat power.

"Truly worthy of Uchiha Madara!"

Nara Keisuke took a deep breath, reviewing the four rewards he'd just received.

"A-Rank Technique [Susanoo]: Refine 'Pupil Power,' enhance [Black Samurai], research S-Rank [Lacquer Eye]."

"A-Rank Technique [Yin Release: Thunder Dispatch]: Convert Yin Release to Lightning. I can test its fusion with Water Release to see if it can form [Storm Release], or... the fusion of Yin and Water!"

"A-Rank Technique [Mayfly Technique] is relatively less valuable, but it's a top-tier stealth and escape ninjutsu. Very useful for me now that I have [Wood Release]."

"As for the one A-Rank miscellaneous item, the [Black Receiver]..."

Nara Keisuke took the one-meter-long, thumb-thick [Black Receiver] from the lazy panel.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the 'chakra antenna' Nagato used to control the Six Paths of Pain, and the true form of the 'chakra weapon' I've been considering."

A long time ago, Nara Keisuke had wanted to create an exclusive "chakra weapon."

The chakra metal sword [Little Jizō] he commissioned from the Land of Iron via Neko-san was good.

But if it was just for transmitting his own chakra, what better tool than a dedicated chakra weapon?

And to forge a "chakra weapon," the most fundamental point was to materialize chakra and keep that state stable long-term!

If it was just a chakra weapon that lasted one or two minutes…

What's the difference between that and a normal ninjutsu?

Nara Keisuke wasn't completely clueless on "chakra weapon" forging.

The [Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere] was his main inspiration.

Derived from the [Tailed Beast Bomb], but reversing the Yin and Yang chakra ratio, the [Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere] held Yin and Yang in an extreme state of balance.

Nara Keisuke originally wanted to use the [Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere]'s jutsu structure to derive another "chakra weapon" that could be maintained in a stable state.

But unfortunately, the [Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere]'s own stable state was already at its limit.

Trying to derive a "chakra weapon" from it was even harder.

He wasn't going to make some "orb-weapon," was he?

The "chakra weapon" he wanted couldn't be limited to just one special shape.

This [Black Receiver] he got in the Mountain Graveyard today was an "exclusive chakra weapon" forged by Uchiha Madara through his Yin-Yang Release, a divine creation of Yin-Yang Release.

Conventional ninjutsu, even Yin Release, are hard to make permanent—or even long-lasting.

But Yin-Yang Release was different!

The clearest example was the nine Tailed Beasts.

The nine Tailed Beasts were creatures made by the Sage of Six Paths using Yin-Yang Release.

And the nine Tailed Beasts have existed in the shinobi world for at least nearly a thousand years!

This was the magical effect of Yin-Yang Release.

In Nara Keisuke's intelligence, Yin-Yang Release was a very high-end ability.

Like this [Black Receiver] in his hand, there weren't many in the whole shinobi world who could make it.

At most, only Uchiha Madara, Nagato, and Uchiha Obito.

Although the common point among these three was that they all possessed the Rinnegan (a pair of them, at that).

But in fact, the [Black Receiver] wasn't a chakra weapon that only Rinnegan users could forge.

Theoretically, any ninja with Yin and Yang chakra, after learning Yin-Yang Release, could use it to create this type of chakra weapon.

Nara Keisuke gently spun the [Black Receiver] in his hand, looking at the group of busy doppelgangers.

"I hope Old Man Madara's ninjutsu collection has a few more surprises for me..."