No—
They hadn't vanished.
They had been reduced to a field of ruin, bodies torn apart into scattered limbs and fragments!
Blood drenched the ground like spilled ink, and the thick stench of slaughter seemed to seep straight through the Sky Screen itself.
Even Danzō Shimura, the scheming elder of Konoha, had not been spared.
His body had been cleaved diagonally in two, collapsing into a pool of blood. His single eye was still wide open, frozen in absolute terror and disbelief.
Only two people remained standing.
One was Sakura Haruno.
She still stood where she had been, pink hair stirring in the breeze. Not a speck of dust stained her body—yet her face was pale with shock.
The other was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Hokage's hat was gone, his white hair in disarray. He knelt on one knee, barely supporting himself with his left arm.
His right arm—
severed cleanly at the shoulder.
The cut was smooth, mirror-flat.
Beside him, his summoned companion Enma lay dead—
the massive ape cut cleanly in half at the waist.
One strike.
Just one strike.
The battlefield was wiped clean.
Enma slain.
The Hokage crippled.
ANBU and ROOT annihilated.
Danzō killed.
"W-what… what just happened?"
"That light—what was that?!"
"How is this possible?!"
Across the shinobi world, screams of panic and disbelief erupted.
This was far beyond anything they could comprehend.
Yet in the Land of Iron, among veteran samurai and swordmasters who had devoted their lives to the blade, the reaction was entirely different.
They stared at the Sky Screen, faces drained of color. Hands gripping their swords trembled uncontrollably as cold sweat poured down their brows.
"N-no… impossible…" an elderly swordmaster whispered, voice shaking.
"That was… a slash? No. It can't be."
"Can I… still draw my sword?" another master murmured, staring at his quivering hand and beloved blade, fear and doubt overwhelming him for the first time in his life.
That fleeting light had not merely cut down trees and lives—
it had severed the very foundations of their understanding.
"W-what… happened here…?" Hiruzen forced out the words, enduring the agony of his severed arm as he stared at the scene around him—
a hellscape as though harvested by an invisible scythe.
That instant of light had surpassed everything he knew about power.
Across from him, Sakura was just as shaken. Though uninjured, that world-cleaving brilliance had sent a tremor straight through her soul.
Her body tensed as she scanned her surroundings warily.
Then—
Tap… tap… tap…
Measured, unhurried footsteps echoed from the edge of the battlefield.
Both of them snapped their heads toward the sound.
A tall, imposing man emerged slowly from the drifting dust.
He had sharp, hawk-like golden eyes, and strapped across his back was a massive black blade, its hilt and guard forming the shape of a cross.
An overwhelming pressure radiated from him—as if he himself were a blade drawn from its sheath.
"I am Hawk-Eye," the man said calmly.
"A member of the Land of Iron Samurai Elite Guard ( Order of the Divine Knights)."
Hiruzen forced himself upright, suppressing his shock, and shouted hoarsely:
"Who are you?! What do you want?! And what is this 'Divine Knights' order?!"
Hawk-Eye didn't even glance at him.
His piercing gaze settled instead on Sakura. He studied her briefly, then gave a slight nod.
"Your Divine Technique is cultivated reasonably well.
You qualify as a probationary knight."
Sakura's heart lurched. She instinctively stepped back, her guard rising even higher.
"Y-you… you also practice Divine Techniques?"
Hawk-Eye did not answer.
Instead, he said flatly, "You don't need to be so cautious. If I wanted to kill you, it wouldn't take two swings."
The absolute confidence in his voice made Sakura's pupils shrink. She retreated another two steps, her alarm peaking.
Hawk-Eye ignored her reaction. His gaze swept the battlefield and settled on the crimson stone tablet—the one Danzō had taken, now lying where he fell.
He walked over, bent down, picked it up, and casually stored it away.
Then he turned back to Sakura.
"Come with me. Since the inheritance chose you, you must also shoulder the responsibility that comes with it."
"Where?" Sakura demanded. "And what responsibility?"
"You'll find out in time," Hawk-Eye replied evenly.
"And judging by the situation, you don't exactly have anywhere else to go."
He paused, as though only now remembering someone else was present. His golden eyes flicked toward the barely standing Third Hokage.
"Do you want this old man dead?"
"He only survived because his summon took the blow.
I don't feel like swinging a second time."
The air froze solid.
Sakura's gaze snapped to Hiruzen—
filled with hatred, pain, and fierce inner conflict.
Kill him…
or let him live?
The Sky Screen's sudden turn, and Hawk-Eye's overwhelming entrance, plunged the entire shinobi world into shock and uproar!
"A-another Divine Technique user?!"
"The Order of the Divine Knights?! That's an organization?!"
"Sakura is that strong and she's only a probationary member?! What kind of abyss is this world hiding?!"
"And he's clearly far stronger than her! That wasn't even a proper slash—just light!"
"One strike! One strike wiped out ANBU, ROOT, Danzō, crippled the Hokage, and killed a legendary summon! What level is this power?!"
"This is terrifying… If someone like that entered a battlefield, ordinary shinobi would just be fodder!"
"Total annihilation in a single strike!"
"So this is why it's called a Divine Technique… This isn't ninja power anymore. It's something that belongs to gods—or at least far beyond human understanding!"
"Where did he come from? Why take Sakura? What 'responsibility' is he talking about?"
"Konoha didn't kick a steel plate—
they kicked a meteor."
Fear, awe, speculation, and dread swept through every corner of the shinobi world.
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