The stadium was a symphony of screams and steel, but the rooftop of the Hokage Tower was a cathedral of absolute stillness. Within the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Third Hokage stood face-to-face with Orochimaru. However, the true terror wasn't the Sannin; it was the man standing between them, his back turned to both as if they were nothing more than dust on a shelf.
Aizen Sosuke, his hair slicked back and his violet-silver eyes radiating a cold, celestial light, looked out over the burning village.
"Sosuke..." Hiruzen whispered, his heart breaking more than it did during the Nine-Tails' attack. "Why? I trusted you. I gave you the keys to our history."
Aizen turned his head slightly, the corner of his lip curled in a mockery of a smile. "That was your first mistake, Hiruzen-sama. You gave me the keys to a tomb. I simply decided to renovate it into a throne. The 'Will of Fire' is a beautiful lie—a torch used to keep children from seeing the monsters in the dark. I prefer to be the monster that consumes the torch."
Orochimaru hissed, his tongue flicking nervously. "Aizen... the plan was for me to kill him. Don't interfere!"
Aizen's gaze shifted to Orochimaru. The pressure in the air increased a thousandfold. The purple barrier itself began to crack under the weight of Aizen's presence. "Interfere? You are a guest in my play, Orochimaru. Do not mistake your role for that of the director."
With a flick of his wrist, Aizen whispered: "Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan (Hundred Stepping Rails)."
A rod of light formed in his hand and shattered into a hundred jagged spears. They didn't hit Hiruzen—they hit the Edo Tensei coffins Orochimaru was trying to summon. The First and Second Hokage were pinned to the roof before they could even fully manifest, their legendary souls suppressed by the Hogyoku's conceptual authority.
"Now," Aizen said, stepping toward Hiruzen. "Let us see if the 'Professor' has one final lesson... or if he is just another outdated scroll."
The Divine Retribution: Team 7 Unleashed
While Aizen toyed with the Kage, the invasion force was discovering that the "children" of Team 7 were no longer human.
In the center of the village, a battalion of Sound and Sand ninja surrounded Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. They expected easy prey. What they found was a slaughterhouse.
"They're just kids! Kill them!" a Sound Jonin shouted.
Naruto stepped forward, his body glowing with a blinding, white-gold aura. He didn't weave a single hand sign. "You are in the way of the Master's vision," Naruto said, his voice overlapping with the resonant roar of the Kyuubi.
"Hado #88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)."
A colossal beam of pure spiritual lightning erupted from Naruto's outstretched palm. It didn't just kill the battalion; it erased them from existence, leaving a charred trench that spanned three city blocks. The Shukaku, hovering in the distance, shivered as its very essence felt the shockwave.
Beside him, Sasuke moved like a blur of black ink. His Void-Sharingan saw every muscle twitch before it happened. He danced through a group of Sand assassins, his hands glowing with violet energy.
"Bakudo #75: Gojotekkan (Five-Pillared Iron Pillars)."
Five massive iron pillars slammed down from the sky, pinning a squad of Jonin to the earth. Sasuke didn't even look at them. He pointed his finger at a group of giant snakes. "Hado #90: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin)."
A torrent of black gravity surged, forming a massive box around the snakes and the remaining invaders. Thousands of spiritual spears pierced the box, turning everything inside into a fine red mist. Sasuke stood in the center of the carnage, his cloak untouched by a single drop of blood.
"Is this all the 'Old World' has to offer?" Sasuke mused, his eyes swirling with silver tomos.
Sakura stood at the rear, her emerald aura acting as a lighthouse. She wasn't just healing; she was a defensive fortress. Any kunai or jutsu that entered her "Spiritual Domain" was instantly disintegrated into flower petals.
"Naruto, Sasuke," Sakura called out, her voice calm and lethal. "The Master said to leave no survivors near the North Gate. Shall we?"
The three of them vanished in a flash of spiritual speed, leaving the Leaf's veteran ninjas standing in awe and terror. The "Will of Fire" hadn't protected them; the "Shadow of the God" had simply decided who lived and who died.