Hearing that faint voice, Ōnoki's brow twitched hard.
For the first time tonight—
He felt regret.
Why had he listened to Raikage A's honeyed poison in the first place?
Konoha's weakened.
Their power structure is in chaos.
I've contacted a Byakugan user.
We can strike from within and without—snatch the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and a Hyūga heir.
The more Ōnoki thought about it, the heavier his heart became.
Finally, he let out a long, weary sigh.
"I'm such an idiot…"
"I should've known the Raikage never had a brain."
"And I still believed him…"
The most calculating Kage—
Fooled by the least calculating Kage.
If this got out, he'd be ashamed enough to jump off this mountain himself.
But more than shame—
It was disbelief.
As he stared at Kai's slowly solidifying figure, a terrifying conclusion formed in his mind.
That wasn't dodging.
It wasn't evasion at all.
It was… space–time ninjutsu.
A method that made their attacks meaningless—passing through him, immune.
That explained everything.
Why the two attacks had collided.
Humm.
The shimmer fully receded.
Kai's body solidified again, standing plainly before them.
He lifted a finger and casually flicked at imaginary dust on his sleeve—
Then, with genuine appreciation, glanced at Raikage A, still embedded in the cliff face.
That man hadn't even needed provocation.
He'd charged straight into the trap on his own.
So obedient.
Only then did Kai turn his gaze to Ōnoki.
To that small, stubborn old man—
The strongest in the Five Kage Summit of the original story.
A tiny frame. A hardened face.
And that oversized nose—honestly, it was almost celebrity-grade.
Kai shook his head.
A pity.
He'd be dead soon.
Thump.
The moment Ōnoki met Kai's eyes, he knew something was wrong.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, he shot upward.
"Hah… hhh…"
His breathing grew heavy—quiet, but strained.
Even for Ōnoki, that last full-power strike had drained a massive amount of chakra and stamina.
But now that he sensed danger, he had only one thought:
Run.
Run as far as he could.
As long as he returned to Iwagakure, he could regroup and strike again.
But then—
What about Iwa's elite forces here?
"Trying to run?"
Kai laughed softly, the mockery sharp enough to pierce straight into Ōnoki's ears.
"Where do you think you can run to?"
Clatter—
The familiar sound of chains answered.
"That black chain…!"
The sound alone made Ōnoki's entire body jolt.
Even his cracked lips trembled.
He didn't need to be touched.
Just seeing it from afar made his soul shiver.
Even the flow of chakra in his body slowed.
So—
He couldn't let it touch him.
And he couldn't hesitate.
He checked his height quickly—high enough that ordinary shinobi couldn't reach him—
Then spun his body around.
White light began to gather between his hands again.
The Dust Release cube flickered unstable for a moment—
But he forced it to stabilize.
Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Technique!
High ground.
Long distance.
Safe—yet still wide enough to tear through everything.
Even if Kai could dodge, he'd be grazed. Hurt. Weakened.
"Again?"
Kai's expression turned impatient.
"If you don't have anything new…"
"Then come down."
He raised his left hand.
Five fingers spread—
And toward that annihilating Dust Release beam overhead, he casually—
grabbed.
Puh.
A soft sound, almost gentle.
In the next instant, the deadly white light—capable of crushing the Raikage and reducing all matter to fundamental particles—
Was swallowed by a small, black hand.
A hand that shouldn't exist.
It closed.
Lightly.
Snap.
The cube began to twist violently—struggling, compressing, warping.
Space itself deformed.
The pure Dust Release chakra—once unstoppable—
Had met its natural predator.
The technique that decomposed all things—
Was decomposed.
The blinding radiance visibly faded, thinning rapidly—
Until it was crushed into nothing.
Gone.
Touch it—
And it vanished.
That black hand…
Was formed from Senra Heart Chains.
"PUH—!"
High above, the moment the Dust Release was crushed, Ōnoki felt a colossal hammer smash into his body.
His face drained of blood instantly.
And it wasn't over.
The black hand opened again—
Unraveling into black chains.
They extended as if from empty air—
And stabbed straight into Ōnoki's back.
"PUH—!"
A mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments sprayed out.
His floating body went limp—
Like every bone had been removed.
He plunged straight down.
THUD.
He fell into the ravine, splashing filth and sludge.
Crack—
The stone colossus he had summoned collapsed into muddy ruin and disappeared.
And below—
Hinata was unharmed.
But Ōnoki couldn't even think about that anymore.
His mind was roaring.
"Cr-crushed…?"
"Just like that… crushed?"
Dust Release—
The kekkei tōta he'd relied on for decades.
The technique that made him feared across the shinobi world.
Crushed in someone's hand.
Barehanded.
The wind stopped.
The clouds thinned.
Even the insects fell silent.
Leaves seemed frozen midair.
The Forest of Death lost all sound and color—
Leaving only one presence.
Uchiha Kai.
Konoha's shinobi couldn't make a sound either.
Whether veteran jōnin clan heads—
Or fresh, green genin—
All of them were frozen, as if a paralysis jutsu had been cast.
Only their mouths slowly opened wider and wider.
Breathing grew rough.
If instantly erasing two hundred elites was shock—
And casually binding the Two-Tails' jinchūriki was terror—
Then this…
Crushing Dust Release with one hand.
Holding a Raikage like a toy.
This wasn't human.
"It's… it's a god…"
Clang.
A kunai slipped from an ANBU's hand and hit the ground.
His legs gave out as he collapsed—
Face-down, prostrating like a devout believer.
His voice was small, but it carried.
Another ANBU dropped to his knees.
Then, with everything in his lungs, he roared out the emotion bursting in his chest:
"Lord Kai is a god!"
"He's Konoha's god!"
"Eternal! Lord Kai and Konoha—eternal!"
Soon the Forest of Death filled with a roar that pierced the sky.
It carried far—
So far that even clans inside the village heard it clearly.
At this moment, that slightly youthful boy was carved into every Konoha shinobi's heart.
"…Is this really my brother?"
Sasuke's small body shook violently.
He glanced at the Fourth Raikage, pinned in the cliff like a dead dog—
Then at the Third Tsuchikage, his life and death unknown in the ravine.
Every trace of pride, arrogance, and dismissal shattered completely.
Replaced by rolling waves of admiration and worship.
This—
Was his brother.
Uchiha Kai.
"Waaah! Big brother—big brother!"
At the same time, Naruto bounced in place, face blazing red.
Staring at Kai's figure, only one thought grew inside him—
"You're… my god!"
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