Hiruzen's lungs burned. He felt the air itself rupture as Kaito's fist, wrapped in a spiraling cyclone of wind, crushed into his chest. The sound of bones splintering echoed like breaking branches in a storm. His eyes widened, blood flying from his mouth as his body was hurled backward, weightless for a moment, before reality slammed him through the air.
The world blurred—trees, earth, firelight—until the old Hokage crashed with a deafening BOOM into the side of the Hokage Tower. The ancient stone cracked and crumbled, sending dust and debris cascading down onto the village streets. Gasps erupted from every direction.
Shinobi who had been racing toward the battlefield skidded to a halt, staring in disbelief. Their leader—the God of Shinobi, the pillar of the village—lay buried in rubble, his staff clattering uselessly beside him.
"Hokage-sama!" voices cried, half panic, half rage. The sight alone was enough to send a shiver of dread through every soldier's spine. For if the Hokage could be struck down so brutally, what chance did they, the lesser, truly have?
Kaito stood at the edge of the broken battlefield, his chest heaving, blood trickling from his lips. His scarlet chains writhed violently behind him, scarred and chipped from the punishment they had endured. Each movement tore open more of the wounds across his arms and torso, but his eyes—the eyes of the Ojo de la Realidad—burned with unwavering defiance.
Beside him, Soka swayed, her body streaked with crimson. Some of the blood belonged to her enemies, but much of it was her own. Her golden chains dangled like bloodied serpents, dripping as if feeding on death itself. She exhaled raggedly, but her mouth curved upward in a twisted grin, as though the violence gave her strength even as it drained her life.
Her face was pale, lips cracked, but her gaze burned with madness and exhilaration. She tilted her head toward Kaito, and for a heartbeat they shared a silent acknowledgment—this fight had pushed them further than even they expected.
The shinobi of Konoha, those who had not yet died, tightened their grips on kunai and swords. Faces pale, eyes wide with terror, yet they pushed forward out of loyalty and fear. Murmurs spread like wildfire:
"They… they knocked Hokage-sama into the tower.""Monsters—those two are demons.""Don't falter! Protect the village!"
But the survivors were few. Corpses already choked the battlefield—dozens charred beyond recognition, others drowned, some cut down with grotesque precision. Broken limbs jutted from the mud. Pools of water glistened red under the pale moonlight, reflecting the madness of the battle.
Some shinobi gagged at the sight of their comrades' remains—eyes staring glassy into nothing, jaws split open, torsos severed. The air was thick with the coppery stench of blood and the suffocating reek of burned flesh.
Even the bravest warriors felt their knees weaken.
Kaito's body shook, every breath shallow. His chakra reserves were dangerously low, his body battered. He could feel the sting of internal bleeding, ribs aching with each inhale. The crimson chains behind him trembled as if losing cohesion. The Ojo de la Realidad flickered, its glow dimming, straining to remain active.
Soka was no better. She clutched her side, blood leaking between her fingers from a deep gash that nearly split her ribs. Her legs bore burns from combined fire and lightning jutsu earlier, her skin blistered and raw. Bruises marred her neck from shadow-binding attempts, and her knuckles were split wide open from bone-crunching strikes. She looked like a specter risen from hell itself—broken but unyielding.
For a moment, silence fell. The chaos of battle quieted into a heavy stillness broken only by the crackle of fire, the drip of blood, and the distant groans of the dying.
Then Kaito spoke, his voice hoarse but sharp as steel."Numbers matter," he muttered, glaring at the approaching reinforcements. "Unless you're Madara, the King of the Dance… or Hashirama, the God of Shinobi… staying here any longer isn't courage." His lips curled into a bitter smile. "It's suicide."
Soka exhaled a laugh, low and humorless. She spat blood onto the mud, golden chains retracting slowly into her back with an audible clink. "You're finally talking sense."
The pair turned, bodies leaning against one another slightly, not out of weakness but from grim understanding. The fight had already carved too much from them. They could no longer afford to stay.
Behind them, shinobi scrambled to pull their Hokage from the rubble. Hiruzen's breathing was ragged, blood pouring down his chin, his robes shredded. Each cough wracked his battered chest, his ribs screaming with pain, but his eyes burned with fire still. Even broken, he would not yield.
But for now, he was out of reach. The enemy had escaped his grip.
Kaito looked once more at the smoldering wreckage, the corpses of Konoha shinobi scattered like discarded dolls, and the Hokage buried in stone. His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms until more blood spilled.
"Remember this," he whispered, voice low, vibrating with rage and sorrow. His gaze lingered on the Hokage Tower, on the figure of Sarutobi half-buried in rubble. "I will have vengeance… for the Uzumaki… for my people you abandoned when they needed you most."
The words tasted like iron in his mouth, a vow forged in pain and fire.
The night swallowed them as Kaito and Soka vanished into the trees, leaving only corpses, ruin, and silence in their wake.
Neither of them were killers of children, nor butchers of innocents. They carried no desire to slaughter the helpless. But for those who wore the will of fire and turned blind eyes to the suffering of their clan—especially the Hokage—mercy was long dead.
And so the battlefield of Konoha was left drenched in blood, with the weight of loss hanging heavy. Survivors whispered of demons. Children would later hear stories of the crimson chains and the golden dance of gore. And Hiruzen Sarutobi, scarred and bloodied, felt the crushing truth—Konoha had not won this night.
The monsters had walked away, leaving only the promise of their return.
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If you want more chapters today, give a power stone or a review
I saw that most of the votes were for Kaito to be a villain and to explore the world or form his organization, so I'll do that. I'll see if he will form his organization or not depending on your votes.
If you review or give a Power Stone, I'll give you an extra chapter.
A Power Stone: an extra chapter.
A positive review: an extra chapter.
This would help me a lot and would also attract more people, so I'd make more chapters per day.