Click.
A soft, sharp sound echoed. To the collective horror of everyone present, a finger as white as jade stretched out and effortlessly halted Shisui's blade.
Shock and pure astonishment followed. Shisui's eyes widened, his face a mask of disbelief. "How is this possible!"
He knew he hadn't held back in the slightest. He had struck with the clear intent to kill, yet the result defied all logic. A single blow from his sword—one that had easily cleaved through the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust Shield—had been stopped by a finger. A mere human finger.
The sheer weight of the contrast left Shisui completely at a loss.
"Even after all this time, Shisui-kun, your swordsmanship hasn't improved at all." Aizen's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. His right hand, still gripping his own blade, flicked outward in a casual arc.
Splurt.
Bright red blood sprayed from a deep gash across Shisui's midsection.
How...
Kakashi, standing nearby, was momentarily paralyzed. He and Shisui were the twin stars of Konoha's prodigies, but the gulf between them and this man was an abyss.
Swish.
In that heartbeat, Aizen vanished from Kakashi's sight.
Internal alarm bells shrieked. Before the thought could even form, Kakashi felt a sharp, crushing pain in his left shoulder. His consciousness shattered into darkness.
Thud. Thud.
The sounds of Shisui and Kakashi hitting the dirt followed in quick succession, their blood staining the earth a dark, blooming crimson.
"That's enough, Itachi," Aizen said, swinging his blade to clear the blood before sheathing it with a crisp clack. "Let us retrieve the Nine-Tails."
"Yes, I understand." Uchiha Itachi nodded solemnly. He reached into his sleeve and produced a black, metallic cube inscribed with the kanji for "Nine."
"Aizen!" Shisui, collapsed on the ground, forced his head up with agonizing effort. His voice was a raspy growl. "What is your true purpose... for seizing the Nine-Tails?"
"I told you before: it is simply to restore the Tailed Beast to its original form." Aizen turned his gaze slightly, showing no surprise that Shisui had managed to remain conscious.
"Original form?" Shisui's brow furrowed in confusion.
"The nine Tailed Beasts were originally one entity. Their true form was the being known as the Ten-Tails." Aizen looked at Shisui, his voice melodic and instructional. "A thousand years ago, the Sage of Six Paths split that power into nine, giving birth to the beasts we know today. My goal is to reunite them and create..."
"Aizen Sosuke!"
A gruff, thunderous roar cut him off. The Fourth Raikage, wreathed in his azure Lightning Release Armor, erupted onto the scene. "Give me back the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails!"
With a crackle of static, Ai lunged forward like a bolt of lightning, his hand thrusting toward Aizen's heart. However, mid-thrust, he realized with a jolt of terror that his target was no longer there—Aizen was now standing to his right.
"How? He was clearly in front of Shisui..." Ai's eyes bulged as the "Aizen" he had been attacking dissolved like a wisp of smoke.
"Ninja Kidō #4: Crimson Lotus."
Slowly raising his right arm, Aizen tapped the air in the Raikage's direction with his index finger.
Hum.
A stream of dark-red light instantly engulfed Ai's body. A split second later, a massive pillar of flame erupted, piercing the sky. A small mushroom cloud billowed over the Konoha skyline.
Fwoosh.
A violent gust of wind whipped through the area. Konan, her cloak fluttering in the downdraft, couldn't help but ask, "Ninja Kidō?"
"Ah, it is a synthesis of ninjutsu chakra and the principles of Kidō. Hence the name," Aizen replied smoothly. He paused, looking at the devastation. "Though it appears the technique is not yet mature. Its output is only about a tenth of what I anticipated."
Immature? One-tenth?
Konan stared at the scorched crater, which looked as though it had been struck by a meteor, and the blackened, unmoving form of the Fourth Raikage lying within it. Only a tenth? Isn't this "Versailles" attitude of yours a bit much?
Remaining expressionless, Konan took a photo of the Raikage's miserable state and sent it to the chat group.
"Forgive the interruption," Aizen said, ignoring her silent gesture. He turned back to the stunned Shisui. "As I was saying: to fuse the beasts and recreate the Ten-Tails, I first secured the Six-Tails from the Mist, followed by the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails from the Cloud."
"By doing so, I not only obtained the beasts but utilized my identity as a Konoha ninja to ensure the Mist and Cloud would direct their vengeance toward this village. Then, under the guise of the Akatsuki, I invited the Sand and the Rock to join the invasion..."
"Hmph! You arrogant brat!"
An aged, sharp voice rang out from above. Aizen looked up to see the diminutive figure of Ohnoki floating in the air. "Are you suggesting you've been pulling all our strings? I don't know about the others, but I came to Konoha of my own free will and after my own deliberation!"
"By your own will?" Aizen chuckled, the sound dripping with sarcasm. "Tsuchikage-dono, have you ever stopped to wonder how a mere Chūnin like Iwakawa, the spy you sent to Konoha, managed to infiltrate the Anbu so easily? Or how the intelligence he provided allowed your troops to bypass every single frontline engagement without a scratch?"
The realization hit Ohnoki like a physical blow. He fell silent, his face turning a sickly shade of grey. "So... this was all you?"
"It seems you finally understand." Aizen lowered his gaze, his voice turning cold. "Furthermore, I am not fond of looking up when I speak to people. Would you be so kind as to come down?"
Come down? Is he joking? Ohnoki bristled. He had no intention of obeying. Against an opponent this unpredictable, maintaining his aerial advantage was his highest priority. He wasn't about to rush in like a fool and end up like the Raikage.
Ohnoki opened his mouth to deliver a scathing retort, but the words died in his throat. A sudden, crushing weight descended upon him. It wasn't a physical force—it was a pressure that struck directly at his heart and soul. It was irresistible, an absolute command that his body could not defy.
In an instant, the Tsuchikage plummeted from the sky like a kite with a severed string. Even after hitting the ground, his body remained hunched over, pinned by an invisible gravity, unable to even stand straight.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Tsuchikage-dono."
Despite the polite tone, Ohnoki's face contorted through a series of emotions: humiliation, fury, and a profound, chilling sense of powerlessness. Looking at the youth before him, he was reminded of the time he had faced Uchiha Madara.
No. This was worse. Madara's strength had been visible, a mountain one could at least see. Aizen was an abyss, a void with no detectable bottom.