Chapter 29: The Gaze from the Pinnacle
The battle on the bridge had devolved into a series of desperate, chaotic duels. Naruto's shimmering petals clashed against Raiga's crackling lightning in a mesmerizing, deadly dance. The sheer speed and precision of Senbonzakura had forced the Seven Swordsman onto the defensive, his manic grin replaced by a snarl of frustrated rage.
"Stand still, you little brat!" Raiga roared, unleashing a wave of electricity that Naruto effortlessly sidestepped with a flicker of Shunpo.
Naruto pressed his advantage, the swarm of blades converging on Raiga like a tidal wave of steel. He was seconds away from ending the fight, from overwhelming the swordsman completely.
And then, he froze.
It wasn't a sound or a sight that stopped him. It was a feeling. A pressure. A vile, sickening presence that washed over the entire bridge, so alien and oppressive that it felt like a violation of the natural order. It was not chakra. It was something else, something older and far more sinister. His soul, the soul of Byakuya Kuchiki, screamed a silent warning of a familiar, hated enemy.
His head snapped up, his blue eyes scanning the highest, unfinished arch of the bridge that loomed over them in the mist. There, a sickly pink glow began to coalesce, a pinprick of unnatural light that pulsed with malevolent energy.
Raiga paused his assault, his eyes widening at the new presence. "Who the hell is that?"
The pink light swelled, accompanied by a high-pitched, whining sound like tearing reality. It erupted into a massive, devastating beam of pure energy—a Cero—that shot downwards not at a single combatant, but at the very center of the bridge, where Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, the Naruto clone, and the cowering civilians were all clustered. It was an attack of indiscriminate annihilation.
There was no time to think. No time to warn them.
"Damn it all!" Naruto snarled, a rare flicker of raw fury breaking through his composed exterior.
He made his choice in an instant. With a sharp, commanding flick of his wrist, he sent a concentrated torrent of Senbonzakura's blades smashing into Raiga, a blow designed not to kill, but to send the swordsman flying off into the mist, momentarily neutralized.
In the same motion, Naruto vanished.
He didn't use a Body Flicker. It was a true Shunpo, a flash of movement so fast that he seemed to simply cease to exist in one place and reappear in another. He materialized directly in the path of the descending Cero, his back to his comrades, his arms outstretched as if to embrace the destruction.
"Nii-san!" Hinata screamed, her Byakugan showing her the terrifying density of the approaching attack.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun, unable to comprehend the nature of the energy but fully understanding its apocalyptic power.
Naruto did not falter. He stood as the ultimate shield.
"BANKAI!"
The word was a quiet, desperate command, not shouted but spoken with absolute authority. It was a gamble, an attempt to draw on a power he had not yet fully reclaimed.
"SENBONZAKURA KAGEYOSHI!"
The ground around him erupted. From the steel beams of the bridge, two rows of a thousand giant blades rose into the air before shattering into a billion individual petals. It was a storm of impossible scale, a literal ocean of shimmering steel. They surged upward, forming a massive, multi-layered, swirling dome directly above Naruto and everyone behind him.
The pink Cero slammed into the dome.
The impact was cataclysmic. A deafening, grinding, metallic shriek filled the air as the raw energy of the Cero fought against the vortex of a billion blades. The bridge shuddered violently, steel groaning under the strain. The clash of light was blinding, a chaotic explosion of pink and shimmering sakura that bleached the world of all other color.
Naruto gritted his teeth, his arms trembling from the sheer force of the impact. The soles of his sandals carved deep trenches into the bridge's surface as he was pushed back, single-handedly holding back an attack that could have vaporized them all.
Slowly, agonizingly, the Cero began to dissipate, its energy shredded and scattered by the relentless, grinding defense of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
When the light finally faded, a horrifying sight remained. A massive, gaping hole had been torn in the bridge where the Cero had almost hit, the steel beams melted and twisted like wax. But the section where the Konoha shinobi and the civilians stood was completely unharmed, protected by the now-dissipating storm of petals.
Breathing heavily, Naruto lowered his arms. The billion blades dissolved, leaving only him, standing alone amidst the devastation.
Every single person on the bridge—Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Zabuza, the OCs, and the civilians—stared in stunned, absolute silence.
And then, they all looked up.
Standing at the pinnacle of the bridge's highest arch was a new figure. A tall, lean man with dark skin and a shaved head. He was dressed in simple traveler's robes, and he looked down upon them not with anger or malice, but with the cold, detached curiosity of a god observing insects. His piercing golden eyes swept over the scene, finally settling on Naruto.
And in that gaze, Naruto's soul felt a chilling, visceral recognition. He didn't know the name, he didn't know the face, but he knew that power. He knew that hateful presence. It was the echo of a battle long past, a ghost from another life come to haunt him. The real threat had finally revealed itself.