As Akainu Uchiha thrust his right arm forward, molten lava surged from it, his fist transforming into a colossal, blazing lava punch. To the Shimura clan ninjas, the sheer size of the crimson fist was overwhelming—larger than all their bodies combined, like a massive, molten furnace bearing down on them.
The intense pressure and suffocating heat sent chills down their spines.
A terrifying thought struck them: one punch from Akainu could engulf the entire Shimura clan compound in lava, leaving no survivors!
Driven by survival instinct, they frantically formed hand signs, unleashing their signature techniques in unison.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave Barrage!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release…"
A barrage of Wind Release jutsu erupted, showcasing the Shimura clan's deep mastery of the element. Ferocious gales, razor-sharp wind blades, and piercing wind orbs collided with Akainu's lava fist.
For a moment, the clash was explosive!
The lava fist's surface was scarred with deep grooves and craters from the impact. When a massive wind orb struck, it was like a boulder hitting a pond, sending molten lava splashing outward.
But they had overestimated themselves and underestimated Akainu, who had spent this time purging countless evildoers from the ninja world.
With the force of a volcanic eruption, his fist obliterated the array of Wind Release jutsu in an instant, scattering them like leaves in a storm. The splattered lava from the collision became a deadly threat.
A young Shimura clansman was unlucky enough to be hit on the shoulder by a fist-sized glob of searing lava.
In that moment, he lost all sensation in his left arm.
Turning his head, his face twisted in horror.
His left arm lay on the ground, severed cleanly. The lava had "bitten" through his shoulder, erasing it entirely!
"AAAAHHH!" he screamed, the unbearable pain overwhelming him.
The splattered lava ignited everything it touched—buildings, trees, anything flammable. In the blink of an eye, half the Shimura compound was engulfed in flames.
Yet the lava fist didn't stop.
Several Shimura clansmen and a summoned beast couldn't dodge in time and were swallowed by the molten mass, vanishing without even a scream.
Shimura Masaya, the clan elder, dragged his aging body back, leading a few remaining elite ninjas in a desperate retreat.
The lava fist finally halted, stopping just a meter from Masaya's face.
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the surface of the fist glowed an even brighter red, as if something catastrophic was about to erupt.
And erupt it did—like a volcano! The massive lava fist shattered, exploding into countless lava projectiles that shot in every direction.
Each projectile was larger than an adult!
*BOOM!*
One crashed into an open area of the compound, blasting a crater several meters wide, the scalding lava still burning the ground.
*BOOM!*
Another hit a three-story building, collapsing it instantly and setting it ablaze.
*BOOM!*
An elite Shimura ninja was struck head-on, his body evaporating as if erased by a giant eraser.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
Each projectile wreaked unimaginable destruction, illuminating half the Leaf Village and drawing the attention of countless ninjas.
---
"It's too late…" Hiruzen Sarutobi, still in the Uchiha compound, gazed at the distant sky lit up by the erupting lava projectiles, his aged face heavy with helplessness and melancholy.
He had seen Akainu's Lava Release many times before.
This level of destruction meant the Shimura clan likely had no survivors.
Well… maybe.
If there were anyone in the Shimura clan Akainu deemed "good," they might have been spared.
But did such a person exist?
After years under Danzo's influence as the Leaf's "black glove," was there truly an innocent Shimura?
Hiruzen felt a pang of guilt, knowing he had allowed Danzo's actions to persist. The Shimura clan's corruption was, in part, his responsibility.
"Akainu's Lava Release is truly terrifying," Fugaku Uchiha remarked, his expression complicated. He suddenly recalled that Setsuna Uchiha was deeply involved in this.
Setsuna had claimed he hadn't intentionally targeted Akainu, only "accidentally" leaking some unverified information. Whether the Shimura clan acted on it was supposedly none of his concern.
But in Akainu's eyes, would such an excuse hold water?
By claiming it was an "accident," wasn't Setsuna just digging his own grave? It sounded like a flimsy attempt to cover his tracks.
Fugaku's gaze grew heavy.
As the Uchiha clan leader, he might be able to stop Setsuna, but stopping Akainu? Even the Hokage couldn't do that.
---
"A clan as grand as the Uchiha, a village as grand as the Leaf—nobody's willing to rein in that extremist kid?" Setsuna Uchiha muttered, staring at the distant spectacle.
The sky was ablaze with lava projectiles, like dazzling fireworks. Yet the sight sent shivers down his spine, his palms sweating.
His calm facade hid a turbulent heart.
Setsuna gritted his teeth, feeling the threat to his life. Akainu had a track record—his "precedents" proved he wouldn't spare anyone, Uchiha or not.
"Damn it!"
Setsuna's aged face finally cracked.
His instincts screamed that after the Shimura clan's downfall, he'd be next!
No… he was likely already on Akainu's radar. The only reason Akainu hadn't acted yet was probably because Setsuna was surrounded by radical Uchiha ninjas.
Akainu might be biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The thought made Setsuna's expression darken further.
"So… I've been nothing but a lamb awaiting slaughter in his eyes!"
He nearly ground his teeth to dust.
---
Meanwhile, in the Shimura compound, Masaya dodged a flying lava projectile, his body trembling.
Was it anger? Fear? Both?
His cloudy eyes fixed on Akainu, bathed in molten lava, like a demon from hell. To Masaya, he was no different from the Nine-Tails that had ravaged the Leaf years ago.
A human Tailed Beast!
Watching the Shimura compound reduced to ruins, seeing his clansmen perish in the lava, Masaya breathed heavily, the sulfurous air burning his lungs.
"Akainu Uchiha!" he roared, his wrinkled face twisted with rage. "I'll kill you for the Leaf, you fiend hiding behind your so-called justice!"
He tore open his shirt, revealing mysterious sealing tattoos etched across his skin.
"You'll be buried with the Shimura clan!"
Roaring, he dodged more lava projectiles, charging toward Akainu.
"Ninja Art…"
"Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique!"
The seal activated instantly. Tiny cuts opened across Masaya's skin, blood spraying out and forming a massive Inner Four Symbols seal on the ground.
In a flash, the seal expanded into a giant sphere, engulfing everything within it. The technique pulled all matter into the underworld, sealing it away forever!
When the eerie sphere vanished, the Shimura clan's sole elder was gone, leaving no trace.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
A young Shimura clansman, who'd lost an arm to a lava splash but miraculously survived, stared in horror at the area consumed by the seal.
Everything—buildings, lava, everything—was gone.
"Elder Masaya…" he choked, tears in his eyes. "He gave his life to kill that evil Uchiha! Akainu Uchiha is finally—"
His words cut off like a strangled duck.
Grief turned to terror and disbelief.
In his vision, Akainu emerged, a hellish figure wreathed in molten heat, the air around him warping.
Masaya's desperate sacrifice had failed!
Akainu hadn't been sealed!
How?! Was this Uchiha demon invincible?!
The young Shimura, clutching his shoulder in agony, panicked. His legs gave out, and he collapsed with a thud.
As Akainu drew closer, the intense heat curled the young man's hair, his skin feeling scalded.
"Harushima Shimura," Akainu intoned, his voice cold as a judge from the underworld. "Three years ago, you killed three civilians in the Land of Fire to test the lethality of a self-created C-rank jutsu."
Harushima's face paled, his last shred of hope vanishing.
"And today, you were deeply involved in a plot to assassinate me."
"Crime level… red."
Harushima's eyes widened in terror, but before he could speak, a tidal wave of crimson lava surged toward him.
It swallowed him instantly, then swept through the remaining Shimura buildings, reducing them to rubble.
In one night, the Shimura clan compound was flattened, transformed into a sea of lava.
The glow illuminated the night sky in a fiery red.
The Shimura clan…
Was no more.
---
When Hiruzen, Fugaku, and others arrived, they were greeted by a still-smoldering sea of lava, the acrid smell stinging their senses.
Even Koharu Utatane, Mitomon En, and others waiting at the Hokage's office for Hiruzen to confront Akainu joined the crowd outside the Shimura compound.
Clans uninvolved—Hyuga, Nara, Inuzuka—came to witness the aftermath.
Every Leaf ninja present fell into a heavy silence.
They stared at the "vanished" Shimura compound.
The lava's glow reflected on their varied expressions.
Shikaku Nara, hands in his pockets, a toothpick in his mouth, broke the silence, addressing Inoichi Yamanaka. "Tonight, we've seen Akainu Uchiha's 'absolute justice' up close. Everything this guy does leaves an impression. But are you sure he never kills an innocent?"
Inoichi replied slowly, "Akainu never kills the innocent. Every body I've examined that he's killed was a criminal. Their memories alone are enough to make your skin crawl."
He paused, then asked, "Do you really think a clan like the Shimura, shaped by Danzo, has any innocents?"
Shikaku sighed. "Fair point…"
---
"What's going on, Hiruzen?" Koharu suppressed her shock, her face stern as she confronted him. "From your reaction, you knew this was coming, didn't you?"
Hiruzen gazed silently at a Shimura ninja's body on the ground.
After a long pause, he said quietly, "They tried to assassinate Akainu. They set up explosives in the Uchiha compound, nearly killing innocent Uchiha civilians."
Koharu understood instantly.
The Shimura clan had brought this on themselves—and in a way that made it hard for anyone to defend them.
Still, she couldn't help but nitpick. "He could've just killed the ringleader to set an example! Wiping out an entire clan… the impact is too severe. How will the other clans view this?"
Hiruzen replied, "Non-kekkei genkai clans might feel uneasy. But the kekkei genkai clans…"
He trailed off, and Koharu caught his meaning. Danzo's secret experiments on kekkei genkai were no secret, and clans like the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Moonlight had long distanced themselves from the Shimura.
They'd likely be thrilled to see the Shimura clan gone.
Koharu fell silent, though her resentment toward Akainu lingered. Not only had the Shimura clan been obliterated, but two of her own clan's young ninjas had been killed by Akainu for no apparent reason!
Nearby, Mitomon En, his expression heavy, asked, "Hiruzen, those people Akainu killed before this—including my cousin—did they do something to provoke him?"
Hiruzen sighed. "Kakashi, you know more than I do. Explain."
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, his dead-fish eyes drooping. "The dozen or so people Akainu killed earlier today were involved in smuggling and selling illegal drugs in the Leaf. The Yamanaka clan has their bodies, and evidence will be confirmed soon."
By invoking the Yamanaka clan, Kakashi silenced Koharu's attempt to argue.
She instinctively doubted her clansmen would do such a thing.
But what if they had?
What if the Yamanaka found proof?
"He should've arrested them and let the Land of Fire's laws judge them," Koharu muttered stubbornly. "Not resort to his inhumane, extreme vigilante justice."
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