Boom.
A sound like thunder split the air, and a column of crimson chakra tore open the sky.
It twisted, roared, and formed the shape of a colossal warrior—its armor pulsing with energy, its eyes burning like molten suns. In its hand, a blade of black fire ignited the horizon.
"The Tōjū Clan defies Konoha's will,"
Amamiya Raizen's voice came cold and measured.
"Sentence: death."
The giant raised its weapon high, then swung down in a blaze of black flame.
The ground erupted.
Dozens of Tōjū shinobi were hurled aside like paper in a storm, their screams echoing as the unholy fire consumed them one by one.
"All Tōjū shinobi, listen!"
Patriarch Tōjū Masaki's voice bellowed across the compound, carried by chakra.
"Amamiya Raizen seeks to devour our clan! For our kin, for our ancestors—fight! Even if we die, we take him with us!"
A chorus of voices answered, raw and desperate.
"Never surrender!"
"To the end!"
Raizen watched them rush forward, lips curling faintly.
"Brave. Stupid, but brave."
Susanoo moved. The giant's step alone crushed the earth beneath it.
Every shinobi who came within reach was flung back—bones shattered, bodies breaking against stone.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"Katon: Daiendan!"
Fireballs filled the air, dozens of blazing orbs screaming toward him. The flames merged into a wall of heat that warped the sky.
Raizen snorted. "You call that fire? You're embarrassing yourselves."
Susanoo's sword shifted, melting into a vast obsidian shield as black flames wrapped around it.
"Flame Control—Amaterasu Shield."
The fiery barrage crashed against the black surface and vanished, swallowed whole. Not a spark reached Raizen.
Then, he lifted a hand.
"Now my turn."
The black shield twisted, reforming into a long spear that pulsed with burning darkness.
"Amaterasu Spear."
He hurled it. The spear exploded midair—dozens of Tōjū shinobi caught in the blast, their bodies swallowed by inextinguishable fire. The air stank of ash and despair.
Masaki roared, fury and grief blending into madness.
"He's one man! This is our land! Even if he's stronger than the gods, he bleeds like one of us! Kill him!"
He charged. The remaining Tōjū followed, screaming their battle cries.
Raizen stood still inside his ethereal armor, eyes calm and merciless.
"A Kage-level opponent, huh?" He smirked. "Cute. But right now, even Kage are insects."
Masaki's chakra flared—a blazing inferno that engulfed the sky.
"Katon: Ryūen Hōka no Jutsu!"
Flames like dragons swallowed Susanoo whole. For a heartbeat, the giant vanished behind roaring fire.
Raizen exhaled slowly, unimpressed.
"Now that's more like it."
Susanoo's wings unfolded, beating once. The air howled, and the giant rose above the firestorm. In Raizen's hands, chakra condensed again, reshaping into a bow of black light.
He pulled back the string.
"Flame Control—Amaterasu Arrow."
A single arrow fell from the heavens like judgment. When it struck, the explosion tore through the Tōjū compound. Black fire spread across roofs, walls, and streets.
The clan's cries drowned under the sound of collapsing stone.
Ordinary villagers ran blindly, tripping, screaming, burning.
"The patriarch! We can't keep fighting!"
"Even if we win, there'll be no one left alive! Please, Masaki-sama, we must surrender!"
Masaki's jaw trembled—just for a moment. Then something flickered in his eyes: a tiny black glint that wasn't human. His expression went cold.
"Surrender?" he muttered.
The kunai flashed.
Shunk!
The man who spoke collapsed, clutching his chest as blood spread beneath him.
Masaki turned, face carved from stone.
"The Tōjū Clan would rather die than kneel. Anyone who speaks of surrender will be executed."
Even the bravest ninja flinched. The battlefield fell silent but for the crackle of black fire devouring what was left of the Tōjū.
Raizen stood above it all, gazing down with quiet detachment.
"So that's how pride kills a clan."
The flames answered with another scream.