"Hmph!! A brat hiding behind a little girl dares to talk so big?"
Though the Sand ninja didn't know what a "Gundam" was, they recognized the threat in Raizen's tone and sneered with disdain.
"Your Konoha is finished today, and the three of you are about to be erased!!"
The Sand ninjas glared at Raizen, ready to strike. Uchiha Sasuke, seeing the danger, urgently interjected: "Uncle Raizen, take Mirai and Karin and run! I'll hold them off here."
Sasuke had rarely seen Raizen fight and assumed his strength was merely that of an average Genin. He planned to sacrifice himself as a shield so Raizen could escape with the girls.
Raizen didn't move. He simply patted Sasuke's shoulder. "Relax, Sasuke. Your uncle isn't so weak that he needs a child to protect him."
"But Uncle, your strength—" Sasuke looked at him with worry.
"Stay calm. Your uncle's strength is... adequate." Raizen gave a small smile and turned to Mirai. "Mirai, use your sword to guard Karin and Brother Sasuke."
"I got it, Papa!!!" Mirai had seen Raizen level a mountain with Tōkijin; she knew exactly how powerful her father was.
"Hehehe!!" The Sand ninja leader crossed his arms. "Amusing. I'd like to see how a man without even a forehead protector plans to escape this predicament!"
"Sand ninjas... do you really think you're the winners here?" Raizen stepped forward, and in a flash of dark light, Sōnga appeared in his hand. "Do you think just because you broke in, you've conquered us?"
"I beg to differ."
Raizen slowly drew the blade from its sheath. Instantly, a wave of pure, concentrated evil saturated the air. A terrifying, primeval pressure weighed down on the Sand ninjas, making their hearts hammer against their ribs in primal fear.
"What is this pressure? Where did that sword come from?" The sneering Sand ninjas turned pale.
In that instant, it felt as though the world lost its color. To them, the stadium vanished, replaced by a vision of a crumbling, desolate wasteland where everything had been reduced to ash.
"What kind of blade is this? It's giving me apocalyptic hallucinations!!"
"I see it too!"
"That isn't a hallucination," Raizen said, his voice dropping to a frigid tone. "That is the future. The future of your Hidden Sand Village."
"You will regret threatening my family."
Holding Sōnga, Raizen's aura exploded. His dark hair fluttered in the surging chakra, his eyes cold and distant like a god of death.
"So terrifying..." Sasuke was stunned. Is this really the uncle I thought never practiced? He had thought he would surpass Raizen upon graduation, but this power was beyond anything he could imagine. Because he stood behind Mirai—whose Tōkijin acted as a spiritual buffer—Sasuke only saw the visual intensity of the aura without being consumed by the soul-crushing evil within it.
"Careful! This man is no ordinary civilian!" the Sand Jōnin barked, his voice cracking. "This evil aura swallows the mind! Guard your hearts!"
He didn't notice that behind him, a Chunin with a weaker will already had eyes turned blood-red.
"Kill!"
The corrupted Chunin roared, his face contorting into a demonic mask. He drove a kunai straight into the back of his own teammate.
"Sago, you—!" The victim stared back, dying at the hands of his own comrade.
"Sago, have you lost your mind!?"
"Kill! Kill everything!"
"Dammit, he's being controlled! Take him down!" The Jōnin quickly neutralized and killed the possessed Chunin. He turned back to Raizen, trembling with rage. "You did this!?"
"If I said no, would you believe me? Probably not." Raizen's eyes glinted with icy light. "If I were you, seeing me like this, I'd have started running a long time ago."
Raizen gripped the sword and began to walk toward them, one deliberate step at a time. With every step, the pressure doubled.
"Attack together! Kill him before he releases any more of that foul air!" The Jōnin felt his own will fraying. The terror was magnifying. If they stayed in this aura any longer, they'd all become mindless puppets.
"Kill!" The two Jōnin and the remaining Chunin lunged at Raizen.
"Brave. Body Flicker!" Raizen sneered.
Whoosh!
To the Sand ninjas, it appeared as though dozens of Raizens materialized simultaneously. This wasn't just a standard Body Flicker; it was ten times faster than anything they had ever seen.
"Die!!" The voice seemed to come from the depths of hell. Flashes of white light flickered through the air, followed by the sound of tearing flesh and gurgling screams.
When the afterimages merged back into one, every Sand ninja lay dead on the ground.
"Hmph. Being able to die by Shisui's Body Flicker... consider yourselves lucky."
"So... so strong!!!" Sasuke's jaw was on the floor. Two Jōnin and a squad of Chunin, erased in a heartbeat. My uncle is a monster!
"Wow! Papa is the best!" Mirai ran over and hugged Raizen's leg, her face full of adoration.
"Raizen-sama is incredible!" Karin's eyes were sparkling.
The Aftermath
In the distance, Might Guy, who had just finished his own fight, caught a glimpse of the massacre. "Everything... wiped out in a second?" He felt a wave of internal gloom. This guy has over a hundred kids, spends every day in the 'fields,' and he's still this strong? I only 'saved' a few sisters recently and I feel exhausted. I'm definitely the one who's 'deficient' here!
"As I thought, Raizen is no ordinary Genin," Kakashi noted, his gaze lingering on the dark blade in Raizen's hand. "Even I couldn't have wiped out two Jōnin and multiple Chunin that fast. His strength is... above mine."
Kakashi's competitive spirit flared. He performed a hand seal, and lightning crackled in his palm. Chidori! He cleared the remaining enemies around him with renewed intensity, while Guy opened the Inner Gates to finish his sector.
Once the immediate area was clear, Kakashi and Guy approached Raizen.
"This aura...?" As they drew closer, Kakashi felt a chill down his spine. His eyes locked onto Sōnga. "Raizen, you've kept us in the dark. I actually spent all that time worrying about your safety."
Guy huffed, looking at Raizen. "Yeah! What was that about being a simple Genin? You didn't tell us!"
"I didn't tell you?" Raizen laughed. "You never asked! Is it my fault you assumed things? That's pretty funny, Guy."
"Raizen, that sword..." Kakashi's voice was grave.
"It's a good one, isn't it?" Raizen grinned.
"It feels... wrong. Malignant," Kakashi noted.
"Want to hold it?" Raizen offered.
"Huh?" Kakashi hesitated, then shook his head.
"A sword? Let me see!" Guy, being Guy, reached out and grabbed Sōnga. Raizen didn't stop him.
The moment Guy's hand closed around the hilt, his eyes bulged. He began to shake violently, his face twisting in terror. He collapsed onto the floorboards, the sword slipping from his numb fingers. Raizen caught it before it hit the ground.
"Guy! What happened?" Kakashi rushed to support him.
"The end... the end of the world is coming..." Guy muttered, his spirit temporarily broken by the vision.
"Raizen, what is this?" Kakashi demanded.
"It's a demonic blade," Raizen explained. "Those with weak wills are consumed by it. But don't worry, Guy's will is firm. He's just shaking because he saw something he wasn't meant to see."
"What could scare Guy that much?" Kakashi asked.
"Want to find out?" Raizen held the sword out to Kakashi.
Kakashi hesitated, but curiosity won. He gripped the hilt. Because of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he didn't collapse like Guy, but he stood frozen. He saw a gray, colorless world—a wasteland of silence where no life remained.
"Is this... the future?"
"It's a possibility," Raizen said, taking the sword back. "If this blade were left to kill indiscriminately, it would create that world of death. But in my hands, it's just a tool."
Raizen patted Kakashi's shoulder. "Kakashi... if your father could be brought back, would you be happy?"
"What?" Kakashi froze. "My father?"
"Choosing to save comrades over the mission," Raizen mused. "To us, Sakumo Hatake was a hero. To the officials, he was a failure. But doesn't it strike you as odd? Why would the common people, who usually adore heroes, suddenly turn on him so viciously? It's almost as if someone was manipulating public opinion to break his spirit."
Kakashi's body stiffened. "Raizen... are you saying someone targeted my father on purpose?"
"Maybe," Raizen smiled enigmatically. "It's all in the past now. But if your father were here, the Sand wouldn't have dared to invade. He was a nightmare for them. It's a shame he died so 'unworthily'."
Kakashi's gaze darkened as he let out a long, heavy sigh. "The past is the past. Nothing can be changed."
"Kakashi, look over there," Raizen pointed toward the roof where the barrier stood. "That isn't the Fourth Kazekage fighting the Third. It's Orochimaru. And do you recognize the two men he just summoned?"
Kakashi looked up and his eye widened. "The First and Second Hokage!? How is that possible?"
"It's a forbidden jutsu—Edo Tensei," Raizen explained. "He's brought their souls back. Against the two founders and a Sannin, the Third is in serious trouble."
"I have to help the Third!" Guy said, regaining his footing.
"Wait!" Raizen said, his voice ringing with a sense of 'justice.' "We have to support the Hokage and stop that traitor Orochimaru!"
"Hold on, Raizen," Kakashi blocked his path, his expression serious. "We don't have enough intel on the barrier or the enemy's traps. We have to trust the Third. He's Lord Hokage—the 'Professor.' He taught Orochimaru; he must have a counter-plan. Those reanimated Hokages can't possibly be at their full strength, or the Third would have fallen already. We need to focus on securing the perimeter first."
Raizen looked at Kakashi and gave him a deep, knowing look. "Spoken like a true strategist, Kakashi. You're right. We shouldn't act rashly. We must trust our 'partners' to handle the threat."
Exactly as planned, Raizen thought. Stay right here and watch the 'Professor' meet his end.