Location – Hidden Cloud
As we switch POV once more, away from Seijuro buffing his girlfriend (and maybe tossing out one or two dirty jokes in the process), we return to a much more... theatrical situation.
Aizen Sōsuke was currently in the Hidden Cloud.
Sipping tea.
Yep. That's how villains start their arcs, right?
He was sitting casually at a modest tea stand nestled near one of the mid-tier market cliffs. Sipping some of that good shit—roasted barley and lightning lotus. Expensive blend. Bold aftertaste.
His legs were crossed, his posture regal. Dressed in simple but pristine robes with no clan crest, no shinobi insignia—just the faint crimson swirl elegantly stitched into the sleeve like a silent signature. His eyes were shut as he brought the porcelain cup to his lips, savoring the warmth.
"Not bad," he murmured, licking a stray drop from his lip with a sigh of genuine satisfaction.
His other hand flicked lazily—and behind the relaxed, noble posture, a shadow clone shimmered briefly before darting out of sight, threading one final chakra line.
The 299th seal had been placed.
Only one remained.
Each seal, placed strategically across the village over the past few weeks—under bridges, tucked behind water towers, hidden in the shadow of the Raikage Monument itself—was laced with Bijū chakra and Shinigami-forged sealcraft. Each one an echo of death, a mimicry of catastrophe.
And together?
They were an extinction-level event.
Aizen opened his eyes slowly, gazing out over the village's layered skyline. Towering buildings carved into the cliffs, bridges strung like silk between mountains, the faint pulse of their chakra barrier humming overhead like a heartbeat.
This was Kumogakure.
The Village Hidden in the Clouds.
Proud. Militaristic. Hardened by war and thunder.
And utterly unaware that their apocalypse had already been hand-delivered. Neatly packaged. Waiting to bloom.
A shimmer. His clone returned. Kneeling quietly.
"The final seal is in place."
Aizen nodded once.
The clone vanished in smoke.
From within his sleeve, he drew a black scroll, smooth as obsidian, etched with silver kanji:
Destruction Array – Level: Void Lotus
He placed it beside his teacup.
"I suppose you'll have to forgive me," he said, voice soft and poised, "but I require... spectacle."
He turned his gaze slightly toward the Raikage Tower, where the Third Raikage—Ay, the thunder god himself—was no doubt seated, exuding power like a dormant volcano. The Eighth-Tails Jinchūriki was sleeping near the training dome, and the Two-Tails... well, still sealed, last he checked.
The village was quiet.
Peaceful.
Vulnerable.
Aizen took another sip of tea.
Then smiled.
Not the warm kind—the cold, calculating kind you give before flipping the chessboard. The smile of a man who knew checkmate was already inevitable.
"I'll finish my tea," he said gently.
"And then... I'll finish this village."
So he did.
He took his sweet ass time, sipping with grace, letting the flavor coat his tongue. This was damn good tea, after all. Might as well enjoy it.
Once finished, he stood, paid the vendor kindly (you know, manners still exist), and walked toward the central plaza.
He stopped, looked up at the sky, and sighed.
Welp.
Time to get to work.
Rinnegan flaring beneath the illusionary mask, he reached out with invisible chakra threads—and began unraveling the village's sealing lattice. The barrier detection matrix—designed to alert them of foreign chakra signatures—was subtly dismantled, piece by piece, untraceably.
And in the Kage Tower?
The monitors noticed. He wanted them to.
Because that meant Ay would move.
Good.
He rose upward. Slowly. Casually. Ascending 100 feet into the air, as civilians began to look up—confused. Worried.
"Who the hell is that?"
"What's he doing?"
"...Is he floating?"
Aizen looked down at the village.
Hundreds of homes.
Dozens of platoons.
Thousands of lives.
He raised a hand.
"Allmighty Push."
And then...
The world cracked.
The plaza below folded inward, crushed as if an invisible hand had grabbed the ground and slammed it against itself. Buildings twisted, their foundations imploding like paper boxes. Stone, metal, and chakra-reinforced barriers were torn apart like tissue, bodies catapulted into walls, smashed into rubble, ground into pavement.
The shockwave—invisible but absolute—rippled through the entire village, peeling roofs off homes, ripping entire watchtowers off their hinges, and shattering chakra-infused glass with deafening detonations.
And then...
The bombs began.
One by one—no, dozens at once—they detonated.
Bijū Bomb mimics.
Each with the destructive force of six-tailed beasts' chakra laced into them. Each one vaporizing entire blocks, carving molten craters into the mountaintop.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The earth screamed as 100 simultaneous explosions rocked the foundation of Kumogakure. Peaks shattered, cliffsides collapsed, and electrical towers were flung like spears across districts. The chakra barrier tried to hold—it cracked, flickered—then burst apart, showering the sky with blue fire.
Aizen watched from above, cloak billowing in the inferno wind.
He raised a finger.
Magnet Release: Iron Judgment.
Kunai.
Shuriken.
Metal rods.
Weapon stockpiles from ANBU bunkers ripped themselves free, turning into storms of death that rained down like needles, guided by Aizen's chakra, impaling, eviscerating, and tearing through the survivors.
Smoke and ash blanketed the sky.
A crater replaced where the academy used to be.
A meteor descended.
A fcking meteor**.
It smashed into the Raikage Tower, crushing it and half the mountain beneath it into a burning canyon of glass and twisted steel. The shockwave from that alone sent clouds parting for miles, thunder rolling in from the sheer force.
Aizen hovered.
Cold. Empty.
His eyes—brilliant rings of purple power—scanned the devastation with scientific detachment.
Thousands were dead.
Kumo was a smoldering corpse, barely recognizable.
Even if he died now, even if this body was destroyed—the damage was permanent.
A whisper of wind.
A blur of motion.
A massive fist soared toward his face.
Aizen tilted back just slightly as it missed, the wind pressure alone ripping through the clouds behind him.
The Third Raikage had arrived.
His eyes blazed with rage.
Aizen's reply?
"Almighty Push."
Ay was blasted back, slammed into what remained of a cliffside with a thunderous impact, causing yet another secondary quake.
Aizen exhaled softly.
"And that, my friends... is how you start a war."