My Techniques are a bit off

Boom!

A fully realized Susanoo rose up from the ground. With one slash of its sword, it blocked the four Kage, preventing them from reaching the Earth Dragon. Immediately afterward, it unleashed a nonstop flurry of attacks.

The four Kage might not be counted among the highest echelons of strength in the current Allied Shinobi Forces, but as a rule, ninjas rely on offense over defense. Ninjutsu can easily break past a "level gap" and cause real damage.

Unless someone's at the Six Paths tier—able to ignore most ninjutsu—having high basic stats doesn't guarantee you won't get toppled.

Once the battle reached the stage where a Perfect Susanoo was on the field, it basically became giant robots slugging it out—raw power smashing raw power, with little finesse.

You'd have to withstand a Perfect Susanoo's regular attacks just to say you were truly in the fight. Right now, the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was throwing out ninjutsu nonstop, but only because Gaara's sand release and Ōnoki's Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique had formed a massive rock giant that could briefly endure Susanoo's strikes.

And since their opponent didn't have the Rinnegan to absorb ninjutsu, nor was he a Six Paths–level monster that could ignore them entirely, they could put up a decent fight.

After all, the lines between Kage and "Super Kage" weren't so rigid.

Sasuke wasn't the kind of cocky Saiyan who foolishly lets his guard down. Given that he had intel on the enemy while keeping his own secrets, he was performing his role as the "invincible elite minion" right before the ultimate boss. Facing four Kage at once, he didn't seem to be at a disadvantage.

But in reality, as soon as the fight reached a stalemate, he'd lost most of his edge. When all was said and done, Sasuke's Mangekyō eye powers worked best in "internal battles." Against an opponent at the Kage level, ordinary tricks like blocking their field of vision didn't matter much.

Should I give him a hand?

Link wondered. He couldn't let Sasuke actually lose, could he?

Wait, doesn't Sasuke still have a second Mangekyō ability he hasn't used?

Link suddenly recalled that, then started daydreaming, completely unaware that Utakata behind him, as well as Gaara (who was currently fighting Sasuke), were exchanging messages on Rownet—and that Utakata was siphoning off chakra to use elsewhere.

Normally, the chakra fluctuations from Rownet usage weren't that intense. And this was a battlefield, so Link's sensor skills weren't fine-tuned enough to detect exactly how his "portable battery pack" was distributing its power. Besides, he'd been tired lately, staying up nights during his growth phase, leaving him somewhat absent-minded. He half-consciously overlooked why Sasuke's fight with the Kage was pushing ever closer to the Earth Dragon.

Or perhaps, even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have cared. In his view, just because the four Kage could hold out against Sasuke for a while didn't mean they could actually hurt him.

Meanwhile, the Shinobi Alliance's main forces were nearly finished. The Black Shadow Army had effectively swept over them without real resistance. They even had the leisure to knock everyone out without killing a single person. It all seemed to be unfolding along the grand scenario of "the Sixth Hokage ascending to his heavenly throne."

Pop!

The sound of a bubble bursting reached Link's ears. He snapped out of his daze to realize Utakata behind him was—at some point—attacking the four Kage who had been tangled up with Sasuke.

No—three Kage, actually.

Woosh!

Under the effect of Light-Weight and Added-Weight Rock Techniques, Gaara shifted into Tailed Beast Mode. Using a wave of sand, he flung himself at high speed—so fast that he appeared on top of the Earth Dragon in the blink of an eye.

He's fast, but not that fast…

Link was still puzzling over why Utakata would launch an attack when the shadow beneath him rose, arms spread wide. With defense strong enough to tank a Tailed Beast Bomb, it should nullify any close-range hit. Yet something strange happened: at incredible speed, Gaara dodged mid-flight, weaving past multiple shadows attempting to grab him. In the blink of an eye, he was right in Link's face.

That kind of reaction time?

Link was startled. Speed itself wasn't the hard part; controlling yourself at that speed was. The shadows reacted only as fast as he could command them. Not even Minato or Tobirama could just toy with him so easily if he opened the Eight Gates, right?

Was Gaara really that strong?

He wondered this, but he didn't panic. If the shadows couldn't hold Gaara, Link could just run. Besides, Utakata was there—worst case, they could talk—

But as he tried to step back, he found himself trapped inside one of Utakata's bubbles, leaving him with no escape. The last few shadows sprang forward but were miraculously evaded by Gaara once again. Link could have killed Gaara easily with a single strike, but he hesitated.

In under five seconds, the two of them were practically nose-to-nose.

Utakata stopped supplying Link with chakra, causing his Transformation Jutsu to fail.

Under Link's shocked gaze, Gaara reached out and tore off his mask.

?!

Tengen-tō Mikoto… or, to give it another name, Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto.

That was Sasuke's second Mangekyō Sharingan ability.

According to myth, when Amaterasu hid away in the Heavenly Rock Cave, plunging the world into darkness, the gods Ame-no-Koyane and Futodama burned the shoulder and leg bones of a buck from Mt. Amanokagu to divine the will of the gods.

Sasuke's newly awakened power was related to that story—likely linked to all the times Link had told him tales of time-manipulation abilities.

Once awakened, it let him faintly see a person's future actions by about one second. Through persistent development—by the time he went to the Fourth World—he could actively glimpse about five seconds into someone's future. It wasn't super powerful: it didn't show his own future actions, it consumed a lot of ocular power, and if he tried to use it actively, it caused bleeding eyes and crippling headaches. Like his first Mangekyō ability, Ama-no-Iwato (Heavenly Rock Cave), it was more of a support skill than a direct threat in combat.

But when targeting a single individual, it could be devastating—especially when used in conjunction with Rownet's instant information transmission. Combined, it was borderline ridiculous.

That's how Sasuke had enabled Gaara to slip past even the attacks of Link's Six Paths–tier shadow defenses.

Did it work?

Ignoring the blood tears running from his eyes, Sasuke kept using Tengen-tō Mikoto to peer into Link's immediate future. He watched the mask getting yanked away in that vision. Then his pupils dilated.

Huh?

Gap… teeth…?

Within Sasuke's eye, he saw an image of Link looking utterly shocked, mouth half-open, revealing a gap where his teeth should be. Beneath his hood was a fuzz of pale-yellow hair.

For a second, Sasuke didn't know how to react. But he realized he couldn't let anyone else see.

Normally, right after using Tengen-tō Mikoto, he needed Utakata's help to stay safe, let alone stop the other three Kage—especially the Fourth Raikage—from charging forward.

?

In the final second of his future sight, Sasuke clearly saw the gap-toothed, fuzzy-headed Link's body abruptly transform into a brawny yellow-armored giant.

What was that?