Darkness fell like a curtain over the battlefield.
The moment Kakashi uttered the final word of the incantation, the world seemed to distort. Shadows slithered unnaturally across the ground, converging at his feet, pulsing like a living entity. The very air grew thick with an oppressive weight, suffocating and unnatural, pressing down on everything in its reach. The distant sounds of battle dulled as an eerie silence descended, as though the world itself recoiled from what was about to manifest.
A low, guttural whisper seeped through the void—indecipherable yet chilling, layered voices murmuring in a language that did not belong to mortals. The shadows twisted and contorted, forming an expanding sphere of ink-black darkness around Kakashi. A deep, otherworldly chime resonated, sending vibrations through the ground, and then—
The sphere cracked open like a shattered mirror, revealing the entity within.
From the abyss stepped Deafane.
A towering figure of midnight and malice, its form was an amalgamation of writhing shadows and unearthly metal, jagged plates shifting as if alive. Its elongated limbs twitched with an unnatural fluidity, its head adorned with a chitinous helm that bore no eyes, only a gaping maw where darkness festered. Deafane exuded an aura so suffocating that even Han faltered, his instincts screaming at him to retreat.
Then, the entity moved.
Tendrils of shadow lashed outward, intertwining with Kakashi's body. The Sage Chakra that had once enveloped him was consumed, devoured by the abyssal force. His silver hair darkened, strands twisting like ink in water. His left eye, once red with the Sharingan, became an abyssal void, its edges flickering like a dying flame. His form elongated, armor-like segments of blackened carapace forming over his limbs as his fingers curved into clawed talons.
He was no longer just Kakashi Hatake.
He was something else entirely.
Han took a step back, for the first time in the battle showing true hesitation. The beast within him stirred, whispering warnings, its primal instincts urging him to flee. But he gritted his teeth and forced the fear down. He was a Jinchūriki, a living weapon of Iwagakure. He would not retreat.
"Kakashi... what the hell have you done?" Han growled, his fists clenching.
The transformed Kakashi tilted his head slightly, his voice emerging in a layered timbre, both his own and another's.
"Surviving this... is no longer an option for you."
Then, he moved.
The world blurred.
One moment, Han was standing his ground. The next, a searing pain erupted across his chest as razor-sharp talons carved through his steam-armored plating like paper. Han's eyes widened as he stumbled back, blood spraying from the deep gashes carved into his torso. He barely had time to react before Kakashi materialized behind him, a blackened blade of shadow forming in his grasp. Han spun, raising an arm in defense, but the blade cut clean through, severing the steel plating like brittle glass.
Han howled, steam bursting from his wounds as he staggered, his chakra surging wildly in an attempt to heal. But something was wrong.
The wounds weren't closing.
The darkness clung to them, festering like a living curse, preventing the regeneration that his chakra should have granted him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he realized the horrifying truth—whatever power Kakashi had called upon, it was not something natural. It was not something meant to exist in this world.
"Shisui!" One of the remaining Iwa Jōnin screamed, terror in his voice. "We have to get out of here!"
But Shisui was already moving.
His Sharingan burned as he flickered through the battlefield, cutting down any Iwa shinobi that dared to flee. He wasn't about to let them escape just because things got out of hand. His blade found purchase in a fleeing Chūnin's back, severing his spine before he could even scream. Another Jōnin turned to flee, but Shisui was already there, driving a kunai into his throat before vanishing in a blur of motion.
The battlefield was descending into absolute carnage.
Han, gritting his teeth against the pain, poured all of his remaining chakra into a final gambit. His body pulsed with power as the ethereal form of the Five-Tails loomed behind him, its eyes glowing with a blinding intensity. His hands came together, steam bursting from his armor in torrents. "Boil Release: Eruption Cataclysm!"
The ground beneath them rumbled before exploding outward in a geyser of superheated vapor and molten rock. The battlefield was engulfed in a blinding inferno, an attempt to erase everything in its wake.
But from within the flames, two glowing white eyes stared back at him.
A chilling chuckle echoed through the battlefield as Kakashi stepped forward, completely unharmed. The darkness surrounding him writhed, absorbing the heat, feeding off the destruction.
Han's breath hitched. Impossible.
Then, Kakashi was upon him.
A single clawed hand drove into Han's chest, bypassing his armor and sinking deep into flesh. Han gasped, his chakra sputtering as the overwhelming darkness seeped into his body. His limbs trembled, his strength fading. His beast screamed within him, writhing against the unnatural force suppressing it.
His vision darkened.
And for the first time in his life, Han knew he was going to die.
Then, a desperate voice echoed from the distance.
"Retreat!" The last surviving Jōnin yelled, grabbing onto one of the Chūnin and vanishing in a flicker of speed. "Get out of here now!"
Han barely registered the movement as the remaining Iwa shinobi fled, their fear overriding all sense of duty.
Kakashi tilted his head as he watched them vanish into the trees, his fingers twitching as if considering whether to pursue. But then his gaze returned to Han, whose body was beginning to slacken in his grasp. The darkness around him coiled tighter, as if savoring the moment.
But then—
A voice whispered.
Not from the battlefield. Not from Deafane. But from within himself.
Enough.
Kakashi's form shuddered. The shadows recoiled slightly, hesitation flickering through his void-lit eyes. The inhuman force gripping Han wavered just enough.
And in that moment, Han's instincts took over.
With the last of his chakra, he detonated an explosive burst of steam, sending himself hurtling backward. His body crashed into the ground, barely conscious, but alive. His gaze flickered up, locking onto Kakashi's form one last time before his body was swallowed by the retreating Iwa forces.
The battle was over.
And as the shadows slowly unwound themselves from Kakashi, as his form reverted, as the abyss retreated—he collapsed.
Shisui caught him before he hit the ground, heart pounding in his chest as he stared at his unconscious friend.
He had no words.
Just one thought that lingered in his mind, chilling him to his core.
That wasn't Kakashi.