Deafening explosions echoed continuously across the battlefield as countless shinobi from Amegakure stood in silence amidst their steel-laden village, watching the conflict unfold beyond their borders.
In their line of sight, their leaders, the members of the Akatsuki organization, were fighting against the self-proclaimed righteous Allied Forces of three nations.
According to the three Kage, their leaders in the Akatsuki organization were a decadent and evil group, and their Amegakure was a gathering place of chaos and filth. They had come here now to cleanse it all.
Evil?
Justice?
Don't be ridiculous!
The true justice was whoever could ensure their survival—who could provide them food in this era, shelter, and a safe haven.
"Damn those Three Kage! Go, my lords!"
"Evil? Corrupt? Under Kami-sama's leadership, we've been able to live like this — you bastards just want to destroy everything we've built!"
"Damn it, I wish I could fight alongside the lords right now!"
Countless Ame-nin's hearts trembled, yet they could only watch from afar.
The Angel and God had already given the order — they were not allowed to join this battle. All they could do was obey.
Even so, from the sheer intensity of the fight, the Ame-nin could clearly feel the gulf between their power and that of the combatants.
At that level… if they joined in, they'd be nothing more than cannon fodder.
"No… we can't just sit here doing nothing!"
A senior jōnin from Ame, part of Akatsuki's outer circle, clenched his fists, eyes fixed on the raging battlefield. "The lords are fighting to protect the village — how can we stand by and do nothing?!"
"Yeah! We'll fight too! We'll protect our home!"
"If I were you… I wouldn't rush off to die."
A flat, cold voice drifted down from the sky.
An oppressive, crushing spiritual pressure bore down on the Ame-nin below, making their hearts lurch violently — like a mountain pressing down on their chests.
At that moment, moving, standing, even speaking became incredibly difficult.
"Y-you…"
A jōnin wearing a straw hat, with two umbrellas strapped to his back, forced his head upward. When he saw the man's face, his pupils shrank sharply.
"A Shinigami… from Soul Soceity?"
Uchiha Shisui, clad in the white haori of the Second Division Captain, stepped lightly through the air, his gaze calm as it swept over the Ame-nin before settling on the man who had spoken.
"I have a few questions. I hope you'll answer them honestly."
"Don't be ridiculous! The great nations and their Kage used their power to force us to kneel, stealing and devouring the resources of small countries like ours. It was Kami-sama who made us stand up again!"
"Now Kami-sama is fighting on the front lines, for the village, for our future! And you think you—"
The fervent words died mid-sentence.
Beneath those blood-red eyes, Shisui had already plucked the information he wanted directly from the Ame-nin's mind.
He slowly withdrew his dōjutsu, his three-tomoe Sharingan gazing into the distance — as if piercing through space — to where a red-haired youth was clashing with Yuki Yoru.
"…Uzumaki Nagato. You… are just like me."
"As expected of the head of the Stealth Force — you know to cut the weed at the root."
Another white haori appeared beside him, the number 12 engraved on the back. Orochimaru smiled thinly.
"These Ame-nin have been completely brainwashed by Akatsuki. Eliminating them entirely would indeed be the best choice."
"If we're really cleaning house, then you — a traitor to Akatsuki — should be 'removed' as well."
Shisui's face didn't change as he looked at him.
"Go watch your Garganta portal, Orochimaru."
"Oh? Does Captain Shisui want to 'remove' me instead?"
Orochimaru's voice was hoarse and magnetic. His long, thin tongue licked the corner of his mouth, and his figure suddenly twisted like a snake. With a flash, he let out a terrifying hiss and actually took the initiative to attack Shisui.
Uchiha Shisui narrowed his eyes and instantly created distance between them.
Shhk!
Orochimaru's strike missed. His elongated, snake-like neck whipped around, and from his gaping mouth emerged a venomous green serpent.
From that maw, half of Orochimaru's body emerged, clenching a gleaming Kusanagi blade between his fangs as he slashed at Shisui's neck.
The Kusanagi — one of Orochimaru's most treasured weapon. Even after becoming a Shinigami and gaining a Zanpakutō, he had never discarded such treasures.
"Pointless."
Shisui's voice was utterly calm. Without any change in expression, the Second Division Captain vanished from the spot, reappearing behind Orochimaru the moment his attack missed.
"So fast!"
Orochimaru's vertical pupils contracted sharply. His speed was already extraordinary, and after mastering the Shinigami's Shunpo, he prided himself on surpassing even Hiruzen and the Fourth Raikage.
But Shisui's speed… was on a different level altogether.
"Interesting… the power of a Hollow, is it?" Orochimaru twisted his head to look back. "It seems you've completely fused the two powers under your control, Captain Shisui."
Shisui's gaze remained unreadable, his blood-red eyes reflecting Orochimaru's form.
For a brief moment, Orochimaru faltered, his hand instinctively gripping the hilt of his Zanpakutō.
A shudder ran through him before clarity returned to his gaze, though beads of cold sweat had already formed on his forehead.
"Truly terrifying, Captain Shisui. Such ocular power… no wonder you're his right hand."
"You've broken the rules, Orochimaru." Shisui turned away, his white haori billowing. His figure vanished. "Do it again, and I won't hold back."
"…Hold back?"
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, tightening his grip on his Zanpakutō.
What an irresistible specimen... a fusion of Hollow and Shinigami. If I were to 'devour' you, that power could be mine...
...
BOOM!!
The battlefield trembled under the force of Hiruko's clash with the Kage. The colossal Susanoo titans collided, leaving countless onlookers awestruck.
Was this the level of battle between true powerhouses?
"Hiruko's strength should be second only to their leader, Nagato. Take the chance — while the Hokage is keeping him busy, crush the other Akatsuki members first!"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, commanded in a low voice while controlling his gold dust to fight against the Third Kazekage controlled by Sasori.
"Yes!"
The allied shinobi, who had been frozen in shock, jolted back to their senses.
If they didn't whittle down Akatsuki's numbers quickly, both the momentum of the battle and the Alliance's reputation would take a massive blow.
Hiruko, who was in his Susanoo, sneered: "Overestimating yourselves!"
"Magnet Release — Iron Sand Drizzle!"
While simultaneously controlling his Susanoo to clash with Fugaku's, Hiruko swiftly formed the Snake hand seal. In the next instant, waves of iron sand surged around him like a tidal wave.
The iron sand condensed into countless fine needles, raining down upon the shinobi like a storm of deadly petals.
"Iron sand?!"
"How is this possible?!"
On the other side of the battlefield, where gold dust and iron sand collided, another wave of iron sand suddenly appeared, wreaking havoc.
In large-scale battles like this, the power of kekkei genkai was amplified exponentially—especially Magnet Release, a bloodline ability capable of devastating, wide-area attacks.
Hiruko didn't even need precise control; his iron sand alone delivered devastating results.
Only when Rasa split his attention to barely block with his gold dust, fighting one against two, was he able to stop a few of Hiruko's attacks.
"How is this possible?! You absorbed my Magnet Release chakra earlier with your Dark Release — how can you control iron sand?!"
"It's not Dark Release." Fugaku's Mangekyō spun as his eyes locked on Hiruko. "That chakra was already inside him. He wields Magnet Release himself!"
"That guy's Chimera technique devoured a person who possessed the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai!"
"Magnet Release..." Rasa's face froze: "It's Shingan! You bastard! You're the one who took Shingan!"
Shingan — a rising prodigy of Sunagakure's next generation. Aside from Gaara, he was one of the few who possessed Magnet Release. Because of the "Blood Sand" policy, he'd been manipulated by Obito and brought into ANBU for training.
After Rasa regained his senses, Shingan had vanished without a trace. He had assumed the boy had died in the Gold Sand Fortress battle… but now…
"You bastard! Magnet Release — Gold Dust Wave!"
Realizing the source of Hiruko's power, Rasa roared in fury, summoning an overwhelming tide of gold dust to crush him.
Hiruko merely smirked. Instead of clashing with Rasa's gold dust, he allowed the golden tsunami to engulf both himself and Fugaku.
But the moment the gold dust crashed down, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air—Hiruko, still within his Susanoo, suddenly appeared behind Rasa!
Before Rasa could react, Hiruko swung his Susanoo's chakra blade, slicing him clean in half!
Yet no blood spilled—only sand scattered in the wind. A sand clone!
The gold sand rolled. The scattered sand clone, under the stimulation of chakra, was like a swamp, completely restraining Hiruko's figure. At the same time, a bolt of electric light flashed by. The Fourth Raikage, A, who had been watching covetously, seized this moment to act!
"Die! Lightning Release — Liger Bomb!"
The high-intensity electricity from his Lightning Release chakra was concentrated on the Fourth Raikage's hand at this moment, and he swooped down with his super-high speed.
Crack!
The surface of the skeletal Susanoo was shattered by the attack, but the scene where Hiruko was cut in half by the attack did not appear. The hand blade, which was powerful enough to shatter the Susanoo's skeletal armor, was actually grabbed directly by Hiruko's hand.
Steel Release.
The Mangekyō in his eyes spun. Hiruko, who was holding the Raikage's hand, sneered: "Your teamwork is laughable in front of me!"
With that, Hiruko kicked the Fourth Raikage in the stomach, sending him flying. At the same time, he absorbed the chakra from his body.
Electricity crackled across Hiruko's body as he grinned savagely. His already terrifying, wind-like speed—impossible to track—was now further enhanced. His colossal Susanoo flickered like a phantom, instantly appearing before Fugaku.
Even with his Mangekyō active, Fugaku barely had time to react. Only when his Susanoo relayed the damage signal did he notice Hiruko's presence. But by then, it was too late to activate his ocular power.
"Try this one, Fugaku!"
Hiruko's Mangekyō spun as the obsidian blade of his Susanoo, now crackling with the Raikage's stolen lightning chakra, became wreathed in black flames.
The blade slashed downward. Fugaku's eyes widened in horror as the force sent him hurtling backward, blood spewing from his mouth.
BOOM!
A series of deafening crashes followed as Fugaku smashed through multiple towering trees before finally stabilizing. Ignoring his injuries, he immediately channeled chakra into his Susanoo, shedding the clinging black flames.
Cough… cough…
Watching the flames dissipate after burning away the residual chakra, Fugaku staggered to his feet, blood staining his lips.
"Not bad. You actually know how to counter my Amaterasu."
"The Mangekyō ability in your eyes is actually Amaterasu..." Fugaku endured the severe pain in his body. The cells of Hashirama Senju were continuously healing his body.
But more than that, he was more concerned about what the ability of Hiruko's other Mangekyō would be.
The powers of the Mangekyō were unpredictable. If Hiruko's second ability was as bizarre—or worse, similar to that masked man's—then they were in serious trouble.
"How can guys like you even call yourselves Kage?"
Looking at the injured and fallen Fugaku Uchiha, and then at the panting Rasa and Fourth Raikage, A, Hiruko laughed heartily, his face full of glee: "If that old geezer, the Third, were here, I'd really want to see what kind of expression he would have!"
"He forced me to become a missing-nin because I was researching the Chimera technique, but look at me now!"
"I was the one who was right all along! The Chimera technique is the jutsu that leads to the truth of this world! And you, you ignorant fools who only care about power..."
Boom!!
Hiruko's words had yet to fall when a pale figure descended from the sky and smashed heavily into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of smoke and dust.
Hiruko dodged with his Swift Release, frowned as he looked at the thick smoke, but the moment he saw the figure within, his expression immediately turned grim, and he sneered.
Her light yellow hair was tied up in a large ponytail. Her fair skin and large chest were extremely eye-catching. Her pure white haori fluttered in the wind, and the number four on her back was particularly conspicuous.
"You're making so much noise and talking about something, Hiruko!"
"Tsu– Tsunade-hime?!"