"Shiki Fūjin!?…"
Byakuya's eyes narrowed slightly, a rare flicker of surprise crossing his usually indifferent face as he sensed the ominous chakra surge.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had begun the hand seals for one of the most forbidden techniques in the entire shinobi world.
This was no ordinary jutsu—it was the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, a forbidden fūinjutsu that summoned the Shinigami itself to rip out a soul. It was a jutsu that claimed the caster's life as payment.
It had sealed half the Nine-Tails. If it caught him, even Byakuya, with all his power, would be in mortal danger.
But even so, there was no fear on Byakuya's face—only disdain.
"Hmph. You think you can drag me to death with you? You're too weak to take me with you, old man."
Hiruzen's eyes flashed with anger.
"You arrogant brat… You'll regret underestimating the Hokage!"
With a final surge of chakra, Hiruzen completed the hand seals, and behind him, the terrifying visage of the Shinigami appeared.
Its skeletal arm pierced through Hiruzen's abdomen, causing him to grimace in agony—but he clenched his teeth and directed the arm forward, commanding it toward Byakuya.
Byakuya stood still, arms crossed, unmoved.
The ghostly arm phased through his chest, and Hiruzen's heart surged with hope.
"Got him…"
If he could just pull out Byakuya's soul—this battle would end.
"Byakuya… You're finished…"
But Hiruzen's eyes widened.
"W-What!? Where… Where is your soul…!?"
He couldn't feel it. The arm of the Shinigami, capable of grasping and sealing a soul, couldn't find anything inside Byakuya.
"Impossible… Every living being has a soul…!"
At that moment, sharp pain bloomed in his chest. A kunai pierced through, and he staggered.
"Wha—!?"
Byakuya stood behind him, cold and silent.
The "Byakuya" that had just been struck by the Shinigami turned to wood, cracking and crumbling.
"A… Wood Clone!?"
Hiruzen gasped in realization.
He had struck nothing but a Mokuton bunshin—a Wood Release clone so lifelike that even the Death God had been fooled.
Byakuya smirked.
"Yes… Even Uchiha Madara couldn't see through this level of clone. You think you can outwit me?"
By the time Hiruzen realized it, his body was already deteriorating.
He had used Shiki Fūjin twice. The first time failed. The second time cost him too much.
He coughed up blood violently, his legs buckling.
"Y-You…"
"What's the matter, old man?" Byakuya said coldly, approaching him. "You're the one who said you'd take me with you."
He raised his kunai again and stabbed into Hiruzen's side.
But Hiruzen, mustering the last of his strength, grabbed the kunai with a bloodied hand.
"I… I'll still… seal you…!"
He seized Byakuya's shoulder with the other hand.
"Shiki Fūjin…!"
Again, the Shinigami's arm surged forth—Hiruzen pouring all his remaining chakra and life force into the jutsu.
The arm struck Byakuya's body again.
"Finally…!"
Yet the moment that hopeful smile returned to Hiruzen's dying face, it froze.
The "Byakuya" before him turned into another wooden replica, dissolving into splinters.
"No… No, not again…!"
From a short distance away, the real Byakuya emerged from the shadows, completely untouched.
"I told you…" his voice echoed, chilling and calm. "You don't even have the right to die with me."
Hiruzen collapsed to the ground. The Death God loomed over him one last time, before vanishing into the void—its payment taken, its seal ineffective.
"This village…" Hiruzen rasped weakly, "will not… forgive you…"
"They won't live long enough to decide."
Byakuya turned and walked away, leaving the lifeless body of the Third Hokage in the ruins of their battlefield.
Since he had released a Wood Clone earlier, how could Byakuya possibly have only one clone?
"You… Puff—!"
Realizing too late that he had once again been deceived by Byakuya's Wood Clone Technique, Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed up a mouthful of blood in frustration.
Even now, Hiruzen still tried to force the Shinigami's arm to strike again, willing his chakra to drive the Shiki Fūjin to completion. But his body, battered and drained from the continuous strain and damage, was reaching its absolute limit.
"What's wrong, Sarutobi Hiruzen? Still trying to fight?"
"Go on, guess—am I a clone again?"
Byakuya's voice was light, mocking, filled with cold amusement. His expression was unreadable, but his provocation was deliberate.
"You… Puff!"
Byakuya's taunting words stabbed deeper than any blade. Hiruzen's anger surged again, and more blood spilled from his mouth. His chakra faltered—there was nothing left to give.
He staggered, body trembling, knees buckling under him. Then he collapsed. His cane clattered to the ground beside him. His eyes, still open, glinted with bitter unwillingness… but that light quickly faded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen—The Third Hokage—was dead.
Killed not by a kunai, nor a jutsu… but by his own rage, shame, and exhaustion. Provoked into ruin by the man he failed to understand.
As the death god's spectral visage faded, the technique unraveled. But it still fulfilled its condition—Hiruzen's soul was taken, vanishing into the void with the Shinigami.
There would be no afterlife for him. No reincarnation. No Edo Tensei. Sarutobi Hiruzen was gone.
"...He really died like that?" Byakuya muttered, a hint of disbelief in his voice as he looked down at the corpse. "Tch. I had so many ways to finish him… I didn't expect this old man would let himself die just out of anger."
It felt anticlimactic, even to him.
A few moments later, Tsunade arrived at the scene. She said nothing at first. Her gaze fell to Hiruzen's body, and she stood in silent contemplation.
"I thought I wanted him dead," Tsunade said softly. "But… this isn't what I expected."
Her fists clenched. Despite everything—the betrayal, the politics, the losses—seeing her old master and surrogate grandfather die like this left a strange hollowness inside her.
She turned her gaze to Byakuya. "It's done then. Hiruzen is dead."
Byakuya gave a slight nod. "Yes. The old era is over."
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