A border village in the Land of Earth.
Wow—
Rain poured down in sheets.
Two men in wide-brimmed straw hats and black cloaks embroidered with red clouds stepped into a small post station by the pass.
But the shop was deserted. Shelves still carried unsold goods, hastily abandoned. The owner had clearly fled in a hurry.
"I didn't expect such heavy rain right after we set out."
The taller man removed his hat, revealing his shark-like features—Hoshigaki Kisame. He set the hat on a low table meant for travelers and grinned.
"Let's wait here, Mr. Rong. No way that guy will be wandering around in this storm. We'll move once it eases."
The two were Kisame and Itachi.
While Obito schemed from the shadows, the Akatsuki's current targets were the Jinchūriki without village protection—the Four Tails, Five Tails, and Six Tails.
According to Zetsu's intelligence, the Four Tails' Jinchūriki, Rōshi, was drifting near the borderlands of the Land of Earth. The mission to capture him had fallen to Itachi and Kisame.
Just as Itachi removed his own hat and prepared to sit, his expression shifted. His dark eyes turned toward the downpour outside.
After a moment of silent thought, he rose and walked out.
"Mr. Itachi?" Kisame frowned, but followed.
Through the curtain of rain, they ran two miles before reaching a hillside. From there, they looked down.
Below, an army of shinobi clashed in chaos.
"…I almost forgot. We're in the middle of a war," Kisame muttered.
He noticed the strange sight—the forehead protectors. Shinobi from Sand wore red armor, Konoha wore green vests, but all shared the same engraved symbol: "Nin."
Kisame chuckled.
"Your comrade really thought this through. From now on, only those wearing that forehead protector will be acknowledged as true shinobi after the war, eh?"
Itachi gave no reply. His eyes stayed fixed on the battlefield.
How long had it been since he last saw a sight like this? He couldn't recall clearly—only a hazy memory. The end of the Third Great Ninja War. He hadn't even entered the Academy yet when he first stepped onto a battlefield with his father.
He wasn't there to fight. Only to clean corpses.
But that was enough. Enough to carve a scar into a child's heart.
Five years…
He had slaughtered his clan to protect peace, only for that fragile peace to last a mere five years—destroyed by Uchiha Kenya.
"…'I don't need to be judged by someone who murdered his own parents.'"
The words Kenya had spoken in Konoha echoed bitterly in Itachi's mind. His gaze sharpened. He turned and walked away in silence.
Meanwhile, on the Cloud Shinobi battlefield—
Kenya's voice was low, almost casual, as he drew Kyōka Suigetsu. A silvery-blue flash ran down the blade. Instantly, the Cloud Shinobi army braced themselves.
Aizen… No—Uchiha Kenya. The man who could bring down a tailed beast.
Already in full Tailed Beast Mode, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, glared down at him with burning azure flames.
But then—Kenya vanished.
Her feline eyes widened.
"What—!?"
A voice drifted behind her, cold yet amused:
"The sky itself is colorless. It never deceives you. It is only your own eyes that betray you."
Yugito whipped her head around—
Shhhhhhkk!
Light spun like a whirling windmill. At speeds too fast to register, Kenya's blade cut through rows of Cloud Shinobi as he passed.
Blood erupted in crimson arcs, painting the battlefield.
Kenya stood at the center, twirling Kyōka Suigetsu once around his thumb before sliding it into its scabbard.
Click.
The sound of the blade settling into place thundered louder than the storm.
Then—
PED!!!
The tearing of cloth. The gushing of blood. Flesh ripped apart.
Within a two-hundred-meter radius, bodies burst into pieces—limbs and fragments hurled skyward.
Shinobi beyond that circle froze, eyes wide.
"Wh-what… what just happened!?"
Yugito's transformed voice was thick with disbelief.
"Where did he move? Why didn't I see it!?"
A nearby Cloud ninja shouted back, horrified:
"Lord Yugito! He didn't vanish! He walked right past you! We kept shouting, but you didn't respond! It was so strange!"
Her flames flickered in shock.
Genjutsu…!?
The word clawed into her mind.
Uchiha's Sharingan—natural nemesis of the Tailed Beasts.
Matatabi had warned her, but… she hadn't even looked into his eyes!
Temari, watching from the rear, gasped.
"So strong… even stronger than before, sensei…"
Another coalition ninja shouted, exhilarated:
"Follow Lord Aizen!"
Fearsome as an enemy, but as an ally—unshakably reassuring.
Morale surged like wildfire.
And then—
Within the circle of carnage, hundreds of half-shattered souls began to rise. Faint, human-shaped phantoms glowing with strange light drifted upward, converging into Kenya.
Gasps rang out.
Soul techniques were known in legend, but none had ever witnessed something of this scale.
Hundreds of souls, devoured at once.
The sight was terrifying—divine, even.
Like the god of death itself.
[Shinigami] Uchiha Kenya.