BOOM!
A thunderclap exploded in the sky, clashing with the furious roar of the Shinigami.
Lightning tore through the dark heavens like a silver blade.
For a moment, the pitch-black sky above Konoha was ripped apart by that brilliant flash.
Then the cold came.
A bone-chilling cold that seemed to rise from the depths of the underworld itself.
It poured down together with the rain.
Only now did the shinobi of Konoha truly understand the majesty of the Shinigami.
A god above all things.
Untouchable.
Unquestionable.
A higher existence that crushed everything beneath it.
And right now—
Uchiha Kai was provoking it.
The Shinigami, already impatient, finally revealed its true fury before everyone.
Dark spiritual energy rippled outward from its body and merged with the storm clouds above.
That was why the rain felt so terrifyingly cold.
"Damn… this doesn't feel like rain at all."
"It feels like knives falling from the sky!"
"My bones feel like they're freezing!"
The ANBU shinobi responsible for guarding the battlefield retreated again and again.
Soon they had nearly withdrawn all the way to the residential district.
Even then—
They still wanted to retreat farther.
The rain was simply too cold.
Cold enough to freeze a person's bones.
"Fire Release — Great Fireball Technique!"
Finally, one ninja could no longer endure the freezing rain and used a fire technique to warm the area.
WHOOSH!
A massive fireball more than ten meters wide burst forward.
Scarlet flames surged violently, heating the surrounding air.
Then—
A raindrop fell.
Like acid.
The rain did not evaporate in the flames.
Instead it flowed straight through them.
Every flame it touched was extinguished.
From afar it looked like the fireball had been riddled with holes by countless bullets.
SPLASH!
Three breaths later—
The entire fireball vanished.
Without leaving the slightest trace.
"…What?"
The ANBU jōnin blinked at his own hands in disbelief.
"I'm still an elite jōnin…"
"And the Great Fireball is my specialty…"
"How did it disappear so easily?"
He couldn't understand it.
His chakra was still there.
But the flames had simply been erased.
Refusing to believe it, he quickly formed hand seals again.
Another fire technique shot out—
But this time not even a spark appeared.
It fizzled out instantly.
"If even a trace of that aura is impossible for me to resist…"
"Then how much pressure must Lord Kai be enduring while facing the Shinigami directly?"
He stared at his hands before raising his head toward the battlefield.
His eyes filled with admiration.
This was Uchiha Kai.
No wonder he could fight the First and Second Hokage alone and even gain the upper hand.
Similar scenes were happening throughout Konoha.
Kakashi formed six hand seals in a second and released a fireball.
But the flames brought no warmth at all.
They were quickly extinguished by the rain and absorbed into the icy storm.
The rain grew even colder.
"Ah-choo!"
On the main street, Sasuke sneezed.
His arms trembled violently from the cold as he wrapped them around himself.
"Ah-choo! Sasuke, do you want to come over here?"
Seeing Sasuke shivering, Naruto opened his arms generously.
"I have the fox's power. It'll be warmer."
Sasuke looked over.
Naruto's entire body was wrapped in dense crimson Nine-Tails chakra.
Even though the cold rain still affected him slightly, the chakra cloak diverted most of it.
And every time the rain extinguished part of the chakra—
New chakra immediately regenerated from Naruto's body.
Loss and replenishment.
Except…
There was no real loss.
The Nine-Tails had so much chakra that this was nothing.
"Heh. What's so impressive about the Nine-Tails' power?"
A cold voice suddenly sounded nearby.
Gaara approached slowly, carrying the massive gourd on his back.
Above his head, sand formed a small umbrella.
Unlike chakra-based defenses like flames or chakra cloaks, solid sand easily blocked the rain entirely.
Compared to Naruto, Gaara looked far more relaxed.
Sasuke lowered his head and clenched his fists.
One had the Nine-Tails.
Another had automatic sand defense.
Everyone had cheats.
And now they were mocking him too.
He couldn't tolerate it.
So he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky.
An aura of righteous determination rose from his body.
He, Uchiha Sasuke, would endure it with sheer willpower.
However…
After standing there for a while—
He suddenly realized something strange.
His body didn't feel as cold anymore.
It was like some internal pathway had opened.
Though his head hurt slightly, as if something inside was growing.
"Is this… purification of the soul?"
Above the battlefield, Uchiha Kai clicked his tongue thoughtfully.
Even his teasing of the Shinigami paused for a moment.
Because his own sealing techniques already involved the soul, he could sense that the icy rain wasn't simply cold.
It was spiritual energy.
A chill that directly affected the soul itself.
The older someone was, the stronger the cleansing effect.
Because older souls accumulated more impurities.
Younger souls were purer.
Naturally they felt less pain when the rain washed away fragments of their spirit.
After realizing this, Kai stared at the Shinigami's skull thoughtfully.
"Didn't expect the Shinigami to actually be a good guy…"
Expending divine power to cleanse the masses.
This kind of self-sacrificing behavior reminded Kai of only one person he had ever seen before.
Most people couldn't perceive it.
But Kai saw it clearly.
The drifting ghostly energy was actually fragments of the Shinigami's own divine law.
In other words—
Kai had angered the Shinigami so much that its core power was leaking out.
"But…"
Kai suddenly realized something.
He shot upward and stood directly before the Shinigami's eye socket.
Staring into it.
"If you can get angry…"
"…that means there's someone behind you watching us, right?"
The Shinigami did not answer.
It only continued radiating cold, ghostly energy.
All it wanted now—
Was to destroy the tiny human in front of it.
Unfortunately, the contract of the Reaper Death Seal had already been completed.
The ritual was finished.
Its power was fading rapidly as its divine energy dissipated into the rain.
The Shinigami could only glare at Kai with gray, resentful eyes.
It—
A god from the Pure Land.
The contract had been fulfilled.
The ritual completed.
The price paid—
Half of Senju Tobirama's soul.
The result—
Nothing.
Not only had it failed to capture a soul…
It had been treated like a circus animal.
Just as its figure began to fade—
A metallic sound suddenly echoed.
The clinking of chains.
And Kai's voice followed with a light laugh.
"Since you're already here…"
"…why not stay for a meal before you leave?"
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