High above the ground — hundreds of meters in the air — Mizuki raised his right hand, palm turned toward the heavens.
Fūton: Ōdama Rasenshuriken ▻ Wind Release: Big Ball Rasenshuriken
The Rasenshuriken formed in an instant, blazing white and dazzling against the night. As it spun, it gave off a sharp whir — like the rotor of a helicopter.
But he still wasn't satisfied.
Mizuki continued pouring chakra into it. The Rasenshuriken swelled rapidly — five meters, ten meters, fifteen… growing larger and larger.
Down on Konoha's streets, countless people looked up.
Inside the barbecue restaurant, Orochimaru, Danzō, and the others went pale.
"This is bad!"
They rushed outside and stared into the sky. That ever-expanding Rasenshuriken made everyone's blood run cold.
"Who the hell is it?!" Danzō roared.
In the darkness they couldn't make out Mizuki's face — only the silhouette of a human-shaped shadow beneath the enormous Rasenshuriken.
"It should be Mizuki." Orochimaru rasped, "I've seen that technique of his before."
He had witnessed the Rasenshuriken back in the Land of Waves — back then, not even the Triple Rashōmon could withstand it.
And this one was bigger. Stronger.
Its diameter had already reached twenty meters — and it still wasn't finished.
"What? He didn't die?" Danzō's eyes widened.
Wasn't it agreed that Mizuki used the Reaper Death Seal and died together with Dan?
So why was Dan dead… while Mizuki was alive?
Orochimaru's expression sank, "We guessed wrong."
Danzō stared at the falling shadow and spoke quickly, "What do we do now? Judging by his aim, it's the Hokage Building. If that goes down, it'll be completely destroyed — and the surrounding area will be hit by massive collateral damage."
He said it, but in truth he wasn't anxious at all.
If the Hokage Building was destroyed, it would be a catastrophic blow to Orochimaru — the Fifth Hokage. His prestige would be ground into dust.
When that happened, Danzō would have the perfect pretext to drive Orochimaru from office and seize the Hokage title for himself.
Of course, Orochimaru wouldn't let him have his way.
Even though this body was old and his combat power had fallen to a miserable level, he was far from out of tricks.
He leapt onto the rooftop, hands flashing through seals at high speed.
Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei ▻ Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation
Two coffins surged up from the ground. The First and Second Hokage stepped out.
Tobirama's face immediately twisted with displeasure, "Damn it… Edo Tensei again. Orochimaru, was it? Do you really think you can control me?"
Orochimaru bowed his head slightly, "My apologies, Second Hokage. I had no choice."
This time, he hadn't used a cursed-seal kunai to forcibly control their will.
Tobirama turned and saw Orochimaru wearing the Hokage robes.
His brow furrowed, "What is going on?"
"It's a long story." Orochimaru said, "If there's a chance later, I'll explain. In short, I'm on Konoha's side. Everything before was an act. What matters now is stopping the one in the sky — if we don't, Konoha will suffer tremendous losses."
Hashirama had already lifted his gaze toward the huge Rasenshuriken, admiration in his eyes.
"The power of that ninjutsu… it's not much weaker than Madara back then."
Tobirama went silent for a beat, then snapped, "Big brother, you can't go three sentences without bringing up Madara. It gives me a headache. And is now really the time to be saying that?"
Hashirama laughed awkwardly, "Well… it just slipped out!"
Tobirama pressed a hand to his forehead, even more exasperated.
Orochimaru urged, "Seniors, now isn't the time to chat. Konoha is on the brink."
Tobirama nodded, eyes sharpening, "Enough. Priority is blocking the enemy's attack. I'll handle it."
Meanwhile, the Rasenshuriken in Mizuki's hand had reached thirty meters in diameter.
He had poured a full three hundred ka of chakra into it — its power was beyond imagining. If it hit, it could very well erase half of Konoha.
This time, he was truly furious.
The next moment, the Rasenshuriken shot downward, aimed straight at the Hokage Building.
"Here it comes!"
Tobirama reacted instantly. With a flick of his wrist, he threw two kunai — one streaked to the rooftop of the Hokage Building and embedded itself under the eaves, while the other flew straight up into the sky.
In the next instant, his figure blurred — appearing on the rooftop exactly where the first kunai had landed.
The Flying Thunder God Technique!
Standing on the roof, Tobirama looked up at the Rasenshuriken diving in at an angle, his expression unchanged.
It was unimaginably fast — reaching him in the blink of an eye. The gale it dragged behind it made his armor clatter.
"Impressive." Tobirama said coolly, "But if you think you can destroy Konoha, you're dreaming."
With a cold snort, he raised both hands — without forming a single seal.
In midair, sealing markings abruptly appeared and spread outward, weaving into a giant net above the Hokage Building.
A hundred meters up, Mizuki narrowed his eyes at the black sealing array.
"That looks familiar… Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder?"
In the anime, Guiding Thunder had appeared several times — used by both the Second and the Fourth Hokage.
During the Nine-Tails' attack, Minato used it to teleport away the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb — an attack that left the Allied Shinobi Forces helpless — was also casually teleported to the sea by Minato.
Tobirama had even redirected Obito's Truth-Seeking Orbs with it.
"Using that against the Rasenshuriken is effective." Mizuki mused, "But where will you send it?"
At that moment, the Rasenshuriken touched the Guiding Thunder seal.
The net collapsed inward, wrapping the Rasenshuriken — and then, together with it, vanished.
Aside from a few roof tiles torn loose by the wind, the Hokage Building suffered no damage.
"Success." Tobirama said calmly.
He lifted his gaze toward the sky — toward the second kunai.
At the same time, Mizuki looked up. The Rasenshuriken that had just disappeared reappeared high overhead.
"Teleporting it into the sky to detonate?" Mizuki smiled faintly, "Not a bad idea. But do you really think an attack I spent that much chakra on can be neutralized so easily?"
In the next instant, his position abruptly shifted — he appeared on top of the Hokage Building.
At the same time, Tobirama's body flashed into the air a hundred meters above.
In that shadow-swapping movement, their positions had been exchanged.
"Hm? He can use space-time ninjutsu too?" Tobirama frowned.
He used Flying Thunder God again to return to the rooftop kunai's location, then launched a kick toward Mizuki.
Mizuki only smiled, "It's about to explode."
The next moment, the shadow-swap triggered again — this time exchanging him with the Rasenshuriken still under his control.
In a flash, Mizuki appeared high in the sky… and the thirty-meter Rasenshuriken appeared on the rooftop of the Hokage Building.
"What?!"
Tobirama didn't even have time to react.
He was swallowed by the terrifying shredding damage — lasting less than a tenth of a second before his body turned to ash.
Under the dreadful grinding destruction, the Hokage Building crumbled like tofu, collapsing in an instant.
"It's over…" Orochimaru muttered from afar, eyes empty.
"Don't panic." Hashirama said evenly.
He had been prepared. Biting his finger, he slammed one hand to the ground.
Kuchiyose: Gojū Rashōmon ▻ Summoning: Quintuple Rashōmon
Five enormous Rashōmon gates erupted from the earth.
Compared to Orochimaru's, their height, width, and thickness were magnified severalfold.
And unlike before, these five gates weren't arranged in a straight line. They stood side by side in a semicircle, shielding the rest of the village behind them.
BOOM!
With an earth-shaking explosion, a blinding pillar of light speared into the sky — turning all of Konoha as bright as day.
The ground trembled violently. The Rashōmon gates shook without pause — some even beginning to tilt backward.
"Such power… even the blast's aftershock can push the Rashōmon." Hashirama's expression changed.
He clapped his hands together and shouted:
Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan ▻ Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees
Great swaths of towering trees surged upward, bracing the Rashōmon from behind.
"We blocked it — thank goodness!"
❊❊❊❊❊
By then, Mizuki had already flown toward another destination.
Seeing the Rasenshuriken's explosion contained by the Rashōmon and Wood Release, he didn't feel any regret.
The Hokage Building was gone. The shinobi on duty inside had all died.
Behind it, the Hokage Rock — still under reconstruction — had been destroyed once again.
"This is just right." Mizuki thought, "Enough to teach Orochimaru and Konoha's upper ranks a lesson… without hurting too many civilians."
He still intended to harvest Konoha's resources — and take people with him when he defected.
If he truly destroyed Konoha, those geniuses would be gone.
Today's bloody warning was enough.
"Next… Danzō's Root."
From the memories of that ANBU squad captain, Mizuki had already learned the Root base's location.
"That filthy, stinking rat's nest — better to wipe it out."
He slipped into the Root base.
The Root ninja guarding it hadn't even revealed themselves before they were subdued by genjutsu — unable to raise an alarm.
Mizuki didn't rush to slaughter them.
Instead, he began combing through the underground complex, room by room, checking every hidden chamber.
Anything he considered useful, he packed up and tossed into his storage ring.
"So many seals at the entrance…" he murmured, "Whatever's inside must be important."
To him, those seals were meaningless.
By using his sealing-technique absorption method to drain the chakra at the source, the seals automatically failed.
The moment they unraveled, Danzō sensed it.
"Damn it — the base has been infiltrated." His expression changed drastically, yet he didn't dare rush back at once.
He knew it was Mizuki. And he was afraid of dying.
Just as Mizuki was about to push the door open, he suddenly frowned.
A dangerous aura was approaching from behind.
He turned — yet saw nothing.
"No… something's getting closer."
He activated both the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. Then he saw them: swarms of tiny insects drifting through the air.
"Insects… an Aburame shinobi." Mizuki's eyes narrowed, "And insects this small… Torune Aburame?"
Then he couldn't touch them casually.
Torune hosted nano-scale poisonous insects within his body. Once infected, the toxin would destroy a target's cells — killing them. Extremely dangerous.
"Looks like this room really is important." Mizuki's interest deepened.
Shinra Tensei ▻ Almighty Push
A powerful repulsive force detonated outward. The insects that had flown close were blasted back at once.
At the same time, Mizuki's Sharingan cut through the darkness. With a single glance, the hidden Torune fell into a genjutsu, losing the ability to attack.
Mizuki pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Then he saw the walls lined with reagent bottles — each one holding an eye.
Sharingans… One-tomoe, two-tomoe, three-tomoe.
No fewer than three hundred.
"Hiss…"
Even Mizuki — long accustomed to the shinobi world's cruelty — felt his scalp go numb at the sight.
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