At the main gate of Konoha, dust and smoke filled the air, the roar of ninjutsu and the咆哮of summoning beasts weaving together.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood in the center of the battlefield, his hands gripping a giant staff—the Adamantine Staff.
This staff was no ordinary weapon; it was transformed from his old comrade, the Monkey King: Enma. It possessed the hardness of diamond, could extend and retract freely, and could even transform into chains, a long staff, or a giant pillar depending on the needs of the battle.
"ROAR—!"
The Azure Dragon's giant tail swept towards him. The Third's eyes narrowed, and the staff in his hand suddenly extended, smashing down like a heavenly pillar!
BOOM—!
The air exploded. The Azure Dragon's scales and the Adamantine Staff collided, sending sparks flying. The immense impact cracked the ground under the Third's feet, but he didn't move an inch. Instead, he used the momentum to swing the staff, forcing the Azure Dragon back several meters.
However, before he could catch his breath, the White Tiger's claws were already attacking from the side!
"Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!"
C's support arrived just in time, the blinding lightning forcing the White Tiger back. Darui took the opportunity to swing his ninja sword, its blade wrapped in lightning chakra, and slash at another approaching Masked Beast.
The Third's gaze was calm, but his heart was heavy—these summoning beasts were too troublesome.
He had fought his entire life and had seen countless powerful summoning animals, but to have nine of them together, each with at least the strength of an elite Jonin... the last time he had felt this concerned about a summon was when he faced Hanzo of the Salamander.
The Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise excelled in close combat, their scales as hard as iron. The White Tiger was incredibly fast, its claws capable of tearing through chakra-enhanced ninja tools. The two staff-wielding humanoid summons could use sealing jutsu to restrict their movements, allowing the Grim Reaper to reap their chakra. And the giant bird circling high above continuously attacked from the air, suppressing the Konoha ANBU's formation.
They were not ordinary beasts but well-trained war machines. Each had its own fighting style, and they coordinated with each other flawlessly.
"Lord Hokage!" a Hyuga ANBU member shouted through gritted teeth. "Their chakra readings... are still increasing!"
The Third gripped his Adamantine Staff, a look of resolve on his old face—it seemed he could no longer hold back.
He took a deep breath, and the chakra within him began to boil. As the "Professor" who had mastered all five natures, he was rarely forced to go all out.
But today, facing this group of monstrous Nine Masked Beasts...
"Everyone, fall back!"
The Third shouted, his hands rapidly forming seals, chakra surging within him. Next, he would show these summoning beasts—what the true power of a Kage was.
The Third Hokage's Shadow Clones instantly completed their hand seals. Four figures stood at four corners, and the five chakra natures—wind, fire, lightning, earth, and water—gathered in their throats.
Five-Style: Great Combo Ball Technique. This was a devastating ninjutsu capable of completely tearing apart the Nine Masked Beasts' formation.
However, just as the chakra was about to be unleashed—
Swoosh!
The figures of the Nine Masked Beasts vanished without a trace.
It wasn't a Body Flicker, not a Substitution Jutsu, but as if they were erased phantoms, not even a trace of chakra fluctuation was left behind.
The Third's original body's fingers suddenly tightened, forcibly stopping the jutsu he was about to release.
This isn't right.
His battlefield intuition was screaming at him. The disappearance of those summoning beasts was too strange, as if... they were forcibly recalled by some higher power.
He snapped his head up, his clouded but sharp eyes piercing the sky.
A hundred meters above, a blurry human figure floated silently. His black robe billowed like ink dropped into clear water. In his hand, a mass of indescribable black energy was gathering, so dark it seemed to swallow the light itself.
"Sakumo! Use your Byakugan to investigate that direction!"
"Yes, sir!"
Sakumo Hyuga—an elite ANBU from the Hyuga branch family—formed the seals without hesitation. Under his mask, the veins by his eyes bulged, and the vision of his Byakugan instantly locked onto the black figure in the sky.
And then— "...!"
His breath caught.
In the vision of his Byakugan, the "inside" of that humanoid figure was not the chakra flow of a human being.
It was an abyss.
Dark, viscous, violent chakra squirmed like a living thing. At its core, a crimson vortex churned, and with each pulse, the surrounding natural energy groaned as if under an unbearable weight. Just looking at it felt like icy tentacles were crawling up his line of sight into his brain, tearing at his sanity.
This... what is this...
Sakumo's fingertips began to tremble. On the night the Fourth Hokage died, he had observed the Tailed Beasts with his Byakugan, even facing the chakra of the rampaging Nine-Tails directly. But the existence in the sky at this moment was far more... profane.
No... impossible... how could human meridians possibly handle this level of...
The density of the chakra had surpassed the concept of "quantity" and was now a negation of "existence" itself. It was like a person witnessing a tsunami; in the face of the giant wave, even fear seemed pale.
Cold sweat dripped from Sakumo's chin, soaking the inner lining of his ANBU uniform. His throat spasmed. He wanted to report to the Third, but found he couldn't make a sound—
"Sakumo!"
The Third Hokage's sharp cry was like a clap of thunder, piercing through the fear that had frozen Sakumo Hyuga's mind. Sakumo snapped out of the nightmare, and the blood in his body began to flow again. His throat was painfully dry, but he finally managed to squeeze out the words—
"Lord Hokage! We must stop that jutsu! If it lands on Konoha... the entire village will be leveled!"
The threat of death had never been so clear.
The Third Hokage's pupils suddenly contracted. Although his intuition had already sensed the danger, the moment Sakumo confirmed it, his worst fears became reality.
"Sealing Team! Deploy the barrier immediately!"
He commanded sharply. However, just as he was about to form the seals, trying to release a jutsu as quickly as possible to interfere with Menma in the sky...
The figure in the sky moved.
Menma slowly raised his hand, and that inky black sphere—the Great Spiraling Ring—began to fall silently.
Its speed was not fast, even appearing somewhat slow, as if mocking the struggles of mortals. But it was precisely this leisureliness that made it all the more despairing.
Where the black sphere passed, the air twisted and cracked. Space itself could not bear its weight.
Destruction was about to descend.
Menma Uzumaki floated above the clouds, his black robe whipping in the chaotic airflow. In his palm, that inky black sphere—the Great Spiraling Ring—was continuously collapsing and condensing in a terrifying display.
The already abyss-like chakra core was now even more solid, so dense that not even light could escape its gravity. The black energy was compressed to its limit, and ominous patterns appeared on its surface, twisting and squirming like blood vessels.
Around the Spiraling Ring, space began to crack.
Rings of pale energy appeared out of thin air, slowly rotating around the black sphere like planetary rings. These rings were not physical but were spatial rifts created by the intense friction between the chakra compressed to its limit and the natural energy. It looked like a miniature Saturn, suspended in the sky.
VMMMM—!
A low hum emanated from within the sphere. The ninja of Konoha looked up, their pupils reflecting the slowly descending black star.
With every inch the Spiraling Ring descended, the surrounding air groaned under the strain. The clouds were torn apart, the light was distorted, and even sound was swallowed whole.
A primal fear spread in everyone's heart.
Besides the fear of death, there was an instinctive terror of something beyond comprehension—like an ant looking up at a falling meteor.
"This is a farewell gift."
-------
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