For a long moment, nobody moved. The only sound was the wind whistling across the stone faces of the Hokage Monument. Shock. Awe. disbelief. Everyone just stared, their brains struggling to process what their eyes had just seen. It felt like a bad dream.
"He… he took out the Raikage? Just like that?" Sasuke stammered, his voice barely a whisper.
Hyūga Neji, usually so composed, let out a low, impressed whistle. "That power… is that the kekkei tōta you created?"
Yuto just shrugged, looking almost bored. "A simple fusion of Fire and Ice release (fire +wind+water). Honestly, it's a bit of a failure. The effect was less than a quarter of what I was aiming for."
Less than a quarter?
A collective, sharp intake of breath cut through the air. You could have heard a pin drop. A quarter of its power was enough to one-shot the man famous as the world's strongest shield? If that was the incomplete version, what in the world would the full thing even look like?
Ōnoki's voice was a low, gravelly rumble, heavy with suspicion. "What was that just now? Some kind of clone technique?"
"No. That was the power of this zanpakutō," Yuto said casually, reversing his grip on the elegant sword. "Kyōka Suigetsu."
The Konoha ninja blinked in unison, their faces a mess of confusion.
"Kyōka Suigetsu is a sword?"
"How is that possible?"
"But… we thought it was your illusion jutsu!"
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Yuto's lips. "Did I ever say it was an illusion? You all just assumed. That's all."
"You never told a single truth the whole time you were in Konoha, did you?" Ōnoki gritted his teeth. "You're quite the manipulator, kid."
"Manipulator?" Yuto's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'd say the shinobi of Konoha simply failed to see what was right in front of them."
"You can say that again! I had no idea you were this much of a monster!" Anko Mitarashi snarled, taking a half-step forward, her body coiled like a spring.
"And so?" Yuto spread his hands, utterly at ease. "What will you do? Try to slay the monster yourself?"
"You—!"
Anko lunged, but the Third Hokage's arm shot out, holding her back. His face was grim, etched with deep lines of weariness and resolve. "Enough, Hayashi Yuto. We have nothing more to say to you. You may be powerful, but if you want to take Naruto… you'll have to go through every last one of us."
His words were strong, but there was a plea hidden in them. A hope to avoid a fight that would leave everyone in ruins. If the Raikage could be dropped in a heartbeat, who knew what else this kid had in his arsenal?
Yuto just let out a light, dismissive laugh. "Don't be so dramatic, Hokage-sama. You see, you're operating on faulty intel. You still don't understand the true power of Kyōka Suigetsu. It's Complete Hypnosis."
"Complete Hypnosis?" Hiruzen's frown deepened.
"Anyone who sees its release falls completely under my control," Yuto stated flatly, tapping the blade against his shoulder. "Their senses—everything they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch—it all becomes whatever I want it to be."
"You mean… you've been controlling our senses this whole time?" Hiruzen's eyes widened as the horrifying implication dawned on him.
"Exactly. Like this." Yuto's face was an emotionless mask as he whispered, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
Cling.
A sound like delicate glass shattering echoed in everyone's ears.
The illusion melted away. And the scene that replaced it was… bizarre.
Standing there was Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in nothing but a pair of faded red boxer shorts and a slightly-too-tight leather aviator helmet Next to him, the Tsuchikage Ōnoki was an even more startling sight, his short, aged frame squeezed into a frilly black lace bikini.
…What in the actual hell?
A dead silence fell over the mountain. Dozens of eyes blinked, stared, and then blinked again, brains short-circuiting at the surreal spectacle.
"You've both been negotiating with me in these outfits the entire time," Yuto remarked, a hint of genuine amusement in his voice. "It was quite entertaining."
"You… you insolent brat…!" Ōnoki sputtered, crossing his arms over his chest in a futile attempt at dignity. "Do you think such childish tricks can humiliate me?"
"It's mere visual trickery!" Hiruzen planted his staff firmly, his face a thunderous shade of red beneath the helmet. He was gritting his teeth so hard you could almost hear them grind. "A shinobi worth his salt would not be shaken by such a cheap parlor trick!"
"Um, Lord Hokage, sir?" a young, overly earnest Chunin piped up from the back. "The, uh… the stain on the back of your shorts… it looks like it didn't quite come out in the wash." (hehehehe)
"I saw it too, but you shouldn't say it out loud, man!" another shinobi hissed.
"Well, you just said it too, idiot!"
Listening to the muffled chatter behind him, Hiruzen's composure finally cracked. "I, who bear the Will of Fire, will not yield over such… such trivialities!" he declared, his voice strained.
"Well said, Hiruzen!" a familiar, grating voice suddenly rang out.
Swish. Swish.
Two more figures materialized on the monument: Obito, masked and cloaked, and beside him, Shimura Danzō, still wearing his standard-issue prison clothes.
"Danzō!" Hiruzen exclaimed, a mix of relief and anxiety in his voice.
"Hiruzen!" Danzō shot back, his single visible eye blazing with triumph. "Hmph! You didn't think a mere prison cell could hold me, did you?"
He then turned his furious gaze on Yuto, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Hayashi Yuto, you vile traitor! Your reign of terror ends today!"
'Where does this guy get his confidence?' Obito thought, standing beside Danzō and fighting the urge to facepalm. His eye twitched behind his mask as he took in the sight of the Hokage in his underwear. 'That bastard… he still knows exactly how to get under people's skin.'
"So, you two managed to escape," Yuto said, slightly frowning. His tone was cool, almost administrative. "It seems I'll need to have a word with the guards in the Land of Waves. They're clearly not up to standard."
"You won't get the chance! Prepare to die!" Danzō roared, and his body became intangible as he launched himself violently toward Yuto.
BOOM!
A brilliant pillar of light suddenly erupted from the heavens, slamming down and enveloping Yuto completely.
THUD.
Danzō's intangible form smacked into the solid light and was thrown backward, landing in an undignified heap.
"W-what is this now?!" someone yelled as the shinobi recoiled from the new phenomenon.
"Look! Up in the sky!"
A massive, jagged black rift had torn open in the fabric of the sky. Inside, countless dark shadows squirmed and writhed. And standing at the edge of the fissure were several distinct figures, looking down upon them all like dispassionate judges.
"That's Pakura! The Scorch Style user from Suna!"
"And that's Hōzuki Mangetsu!"
"Fuguki Suikazan?! But he's dead!"
These were all famous shinobi, legends from past wars, all supposed to be long dead. And now they were here.
"Hayashi Yuto!" Hiruzen roared, tilting his head back to the sky, his voice raw with fury. "What is the meaning of this?! What is your true goal?!"
"I've told you already," Yuto replied, his voice flat and unwavering. "To purify this shinobi world."
"Stop your insane prattling! You are the impurity! You are the root of all evil!" Danzō snarled, pushing himself back to his feet.
Yuto looked at him with contempt. "How pathetically childish, Danzō. 'Evil.' 'Justice.' They're just pretty words. Only a fool like you, who never understood true power, would cling to them so desperately."
"You speak of purification," Ōnoki interjected, his voice cold and hard. "What kind of purification do you mean?"
"The eradication of all shinobi," Yuto answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Have you lost your mind?!" Hiruzen bellowed. "Shinobi have existed since the dawn of history!"
"Nothing has existed since the beginning," Yuto declared, a platform of earth rising beneath his feet, lifting him above them all. His gaze was distant, looking down on them not with malice, but with the cold certainty of a surgeon assessing a diseased patient. "Not shinobi, not nations, not even gods. And when the existence of shinobi becomes an obstacle to the world's progress… a sacred purification is inevitable."
"You arrogant bastard!" Danzō screamed, spit flying from his lips. "Do you actually think you're a god?!"
"From this day forth," Yuto said, his voice dropping to a calm, final tone. He reached up, removed his simple black-framed glasses, and swept his hair back from his face.
The last vestige of his humble disguise fell away. And there, standing bathed in the unearthly light, was a youth with the chilling, absolute beauty of a god. "I shall stand atop the heavens."
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