"Huh? This feeling… I can't be wrong. The Reaper is being summoned."
Just as Ash was about to press his attack on Jiraiya, he suddenly sensed an extremely familiar—yet terrifying—chakra.
"Tch. Lucky bastard."
Ash cast Jiraiya a final glance, then his figure twisted and vanished into a vortex of space-time. Although Ash couldn't directly see the Shinigami, he could clearly perceive its chakra.
Aura was the key to understanding the energy of all things. It could communicate with any form of energy or life, interpret intent, and even comprehend meaning. Naturally, this didn't mean it could understand mindless phenomena—but the Shinigami of this world was fundamentally a chakra entity.
"Damn it… he escaped."
Jiraiya cursed under his breath. Between his injuries and Gengar's devastating suppression of the battlefield, there was no way for him to pursue.
"My body… won't move. Is this it? The sealing technique meant to bind the Nine-Tails?"
As his soul was dragged halfway out, Orochimaru suddenly realized the truth, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"That thing… is the Shinigami?! Disgusting… what overwhelming pressure."
Hovering above Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Shinigami loomed in the air. Because Orochimaru's soul had already been seized, he alone could see it clearly—and the sight filled him with terror.
Gritting his teeth, Orochimaru forcibly controlled the Kusanagi Sword with what little chakra he had left, launching it from behind Hiruzen.
Pfft!
Orochimaru expected Hiruzen to dodge.
He didn't.
The blade pierced straight through Hiruzen's chest.
By this point, the First Hokage and Second Hokage had already been fully sealed by Hiruzen through the Reaper Death Seal.
"Why… why didn't you dodge?!"
Orochimaru stared in disbelief. This was no minor wound—his soul was already halfway torn away.
"Damn it!"
Hiruzen's summoned monkey king desperately grabbed the hilt of the Kusanagi Sword, trying to stop it from driving deeper. But the snakes Orochimaru had summoned wrapped around him, preventing him from exerting his full strength.
"The Reaper Death Seal… trades the caster's soul for the enemy's," Hiruzen replied calmly, coughing up blood. "I'm already dead the moment I use it. There's no reason to dodge."
With those words, he exerted all his remaining strength, determined to rip Orochimaru's soul out completely.
Although the Shinigami itself grasped Orochimaru's soul, Hiruzen was the medium anchoring it. Otherwise, the Shinigami might have fully manifested in the world—bringing catastrophe with it.
"Ahhh!! I can't use ninjutsu—my chakra won't obey me!"
Orochimaru tried to form seals in desperation, only to find that his chakra barely responded.
"It's useless," Hiruzen said weakly. "With your soul already torn apart, ninjutsu is impossible."
"This is a joke… You old fossil! I'll never let you succeed! Konoha will still be destroyed by my hands one day!"
As his control slipped further and further away, Orochimaru roared in fury.
"I suppose it's almost my turn to act. Looks like Orochimaru is finished."
Far outside Konoha, Ash halted and looked back, sensing the eerie chakra in the distance. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"What kind of existence is that Shinigami… Right now, I can't oppose it at all. Fortunately, it can't fully enter reality—otherwise, this world would be in serious trouble."
For the first time, Ash felt an absolute gap in power.
Even the presence of Hashirama Senju had never made him feel this way. Although Hashirama's strength was suppressed through reanimation, his presence hadn't been.
According to Ash's judgment—
Even if Hashirama were alive, Ash would still have the confidence to fight him head-on.
"Forget everything else. Completing the mission comes first—no matter the cost. It must be carried out perfectly."
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spun violently. In the next instant, blazing red chakra condensed at extreme speed.
Less than a few breaths later, a towering Susanoo materialized outside Konoha—a fully armored warrior clad in crimson chakra, its face hidden behind a mist-hound-style mask.
Ash floated calmly among the crimson magatama embedded in Susanoo's forehead. His arms were crossed as the fierce wind stirred the hair before his brow, revealing those terrifying scarlet, curse-mark-infused eyes.
"What… what is that?"
Across the battlefield, shinobi locked in combat froze simultaneously, staring in shock at the gigantic figure standing like a divine calamity beyond the village walls.
"That's bad… He's actually using that."
While holding off Gengar's advance, a group of ANBU operatives reacted instantly.
"Evacuate the civilians—now! This area has become a high-risk zone!"
Susanoo's overwhelming chakra pressure made its danger unmistakably clear.
"Damn it… That bastard Orochimaru actually cooperated with someone this dangerous."
Hidden in the shadows, Danzo watched coldly, his expression dark.
"If Konoha is damaged beyond recovery, then even if I become Hokage after the Third's death, it'll be nothing more than an empty title."
This invasion plan had gone so smoothly precisely because of Danzo's secret assistance. His goal had always been to weaken the Hokage's authority—and if possible, erase the Third Hokage entirely.
But now…
Even if he succeeded, he'd be inheriting nothing but ruins.
"No… that kid Ash is about to unleash something big."
The colossal chakra radiating from Susanoo was impossible to miss. Every shinobi in Konoha felt it—especially Orochimaru.
"If this drags on, I'll be caught in it as well."
Within Susanoo, Ash slowly moved.
His right hand rested on the hilt of the Totsuka Blade held in Susanoo's left. His body lowered slightly, taking on the stance of drawing a sword.
In that instant, the battlefield itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Flying Sword Style—Iaijutsu: Heaven-Piercing Dragon Flash."
(End of Chapter)
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