Chapter 54 – The Reaper Gets Dissected, The Old Men Give Up
Tobirama's glance toward Aike confirmed his fears.
Hiruzen's main body had never even gotten close.
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode picked up the killing intent instantly.
A few casual Wind-style blasts had stalled the shadow clones mid-lunge.
"So that's the Shinigami you called?" Aike tilted his head. "Kinda ugly."
It looked less like a death god and more like some hungry oni.
"But the composition is interesting…"
Soul energy.
An ocean of extremely pure Yin-release chakra.
And something else—even Aike didn't recognize every strand.
It brushed the very edge of Six Paths essence without actually reaching it.
"Could this be the Sage of Six Paths' handiwork?"
His muttered question made Hiruzen's blood freeze.
"You can see the Shinigami?!"
"Shinigami? Just a hungry ghost."
Aike snorted.
Then the real pressure of a Death God—one that actually deserved the title—leaked out of him.
It slammed into the white figure behind Hiruzen.
Instantly.
The Reaper's silhouette shrank back, trembling like a scolded dog.
Hiruzen himself felt his soul try to crawl out of his skin.
This was no gap in power.
This was a different dimension entirely.
Aike, now genuinely curious about this half-baked Six Paths relic, raised a hand.
"Bakudō #63: Sajo Sabaku."
Golden chains erupted from thin air, thick as pythons.
They wrapped around the invisible Reaper, yanked it forward, and pinned it in front of Aike like a lab specimen.
"Let's see what makes you tick."
He immediately started poking and prodding.
To everyone else it looked like he was swatting at empty air, but they all knew better.
"Soul-binding arts…"
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.
His tongue slid across his lips.
Techniques that directly manipulated souls were almost nonexistent in the shinobi world.
And for his immortality project, the soul was the final bottleneck.
After countless body hops, his own soul was paper-thin.
If he could learn even a fraction from this man…
"That forbidden technique… just got neutralized in seconds."
Hashirama stared, dumbfounded.
"Big brother, this isn't the time to be impressed!"
Tobirama snapped.
"The monkey's suicide attack failed. What happens to the village now?"
"I don't know," Hashirama shrugged helplessly. "We're dead. We're only here because of your jutsu. We don't even control our own bodies. What can we do?"
Even the God of Shinobi had officially checked out.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, collapsed the moment his Reaper was stolen.
He lay on the ground, life force draining, staring in despair as Aike casually dissected his trump card.
Izumi, Naruto, and Sasuke stepped forward.
"Third Hokage," Sasuke said coldly, looking down at him. "Bet you never thought this day would come."
Naruto's grin was all teeth.
Izumi didn't even speak.
She just opened her eyes.
Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan spun lazily, pressure rolling off them in waves.
"Same eyes as Madara!"
Hashirama recognized the pattern instantly.
And these felt… stronger than Madara's ever had.
"Another pair of Eternal Mangekyou. What a cursed bloodline."
Tobirama kept running his mouth.
Cue Hashir
ama's automatic lecture.
At this point, the old generation had fully accepted the L and gone into retirement mode.
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