The moment Ryuji gave the order, the battlefield shifted.
ANBU operatives disengaged immediately. Those locked in combat vanished in flickers of movement; those standing guard melted away like shadows at dusk. In seconds, the Sarutobi and Shimura clan territories were nearly empty of outside forces.
The terrified clan members blinked in disbelief.
"They… retreated?"
"We survived!"
Cries of relief erupted. Some collapsed to their knees. Others embraced, convinced they had narrowly escaped annihilation.
But at the center of the crimson barrier, the real battle had only just begun.
Danzō's Desperation
Shimura Danzō staggered backward under Minato and Sakumo's relentless pressure.
"Hiruzen! What are you waiting for?!" he snarled. "Finish him! I can't hold them off much longer!"
Minato's Flying Thunder God mark pulsed faintly where it had been planted earlier. Every movement Danzō made felt subtly restricted, subtly delayed.
His robe had been torn to shreds.
The bandages around his right arm were gone.
The grotesque arm beneath—embedded with transplanted Sharingan and grafted with Hashirama's cells—was fully exposed. The embedded eyes were fewer than what history would later record, but even so, the sight was monstrous.
Minato and Sakumo no longer held back.
Steel flashed.
Lightning crackled.
Wind tore across Danzō's flank.
The Sharingan embedded in his arm flickered uselessly—unable to keep up, unable to stabilize the situation. He stumbled like a wounded animal.
Humiliated.
Cornered.
Hiruzen's Decision
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw it clearly now.
Delay meant collapse.
There was no saving the clans through negotiation.
There was only one path left.
Kill Ryuji.
No matter the cost.
"Massacring clans will only hasten your fall!" Hiruzen shouted hoarsely. "You child—!"
His hands flew into sealing forms.
But—
A flash of white.
Ryuji vanished.
And reappeared beside him instantly.
"So fast—!" Hiruzen's eyes widened.
"You didn't throw a marked kunai. How did you—?"
His gaze dropped to the ground.
A familiar marking glowed faintly beneath his feet.
The Flying Thunder God formula.
"When…?" Hiruzen's breath caught.
Ryuji smiled faintly.
"You think I only prepare during battle?"
"I've placed marks across Konoha for years. Your clans were always priority."
Before Hiruzen could react—
Ryuji thrust forward.
Rasengan.
A spiraling sphere of compressed chakra formed in his palm and slammed directly into Hiruzen's torso.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the earth.
Smoke swallowed the impact point.
Ryuji frowned slightly.
That wasn't flesh.
As the dust cleared, a battered figure stood in front of him.
A massive monkey with a staff.
Enma—the Monkey King.
"Hiruzen… what have you done?" Enma coughed weakly.
"I'm sorry, old friend," Hiruzen muttered.
Forced to summon Enma in desperation, he had used the contract to intercept the Rasengan.
The summon trembled, barely standing.
With a puff of smoke, Enma vanished—retreating before the next strike could come.
Ryuji exhaled softly.
"You responded well."
"But how long can you keep reacting?"
He lifted his gaze to the sky.
The battlefield had changed.
The earlier clash of fire, water, and lightning had filled the heavens with dense storm clouds. Vapor churned violently above the barrier.
Everything was in place.
Ryuji raised his hand.
A thin bolt of lightning leapt from his fingertips and disappeared into the storm.
The sky answered.
Rumble—!
Thunder roared.
Clouds spiraled.
Lightning flashed within the darkness like a caged beast awakening.
Across Konoha, shinobi stared upward in shock.
"What kind of jutsu is that?"
"This is just the prelude…?"
"Unbelievable…"
Even veteran clan heads felt their scalps tighten.
This was no ordinary Lightning Release.
The Beast Descends
Ryuji extended his arm fully.
"Watch closely."
"I'll send you to meet the Shinigami yourself."
"Lightning Release: Kirin."
The clouds split.
From within the storm, a colossal dragon-shaped beast of pure lightning formed—its body crackling, its crimson eyes blazing.
It was no longer chakra alone.
It was natural lightning—guided, shaped, commanded.
The Kirin roared.
Its gaze locked onto Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Hiruzen's blood ran cold.
He understood instantly.
This wasn't a technique meant to be blocked.
It was meant to end.
"I have to move—!" he thought frantically.
But the moment the Kirin locked onto him—
The storm answered.
The lightning descended.
Instantaneous.
No delay.
No warning.
The beast crashed from the heavens with a deafening roar.
The crimson barrier lit up as if struck by a falling star.
White consumed the battlefield.
Thunder swallowed every other sound.
And in that blinding instant—
The fate of the Third Hokage was sealed.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.