The enormous golden curtain of light, like an inverted glass dome, completely sealed off everything within a radius of several kilometers.
Inside the barrier, the remnants of the Allied Forces were making their final, desperate struggle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless ninjutsu slammed into the barrier in a frenzy, yet not even the slightest ripple appeared.
This was a Six Paths–grade barrier. Even the rebirth of the Ten-Tails or the descent of Kaguya herself would not be enough to shatter it. How could mere mortals hope to break free?
"Uchiha Tobirama!! If you have any courage, let us out for a final battle!!"
"Trapping us like animals—what kind of power is that?!"
"I refuse to accept this!! I am the Raikage! I will kill you!!"
The one-armed Fourth Raikage, Ay, smashed his remaining fist against the barrier again and again. His knuckles shattered, blood pouring out, yet he seemed utterly unaware of the pain, roaring madly as if possessed.
Though weakened by the barrier, his voice still carried through.
Outside the barrier.
Tobirama casually dug a finger into his ear, his brows knitting slightly in irritation.
"So noisy."
"Since death is inevitable, can't you at least be quiet?"
He turned his head and glanced at the spoils of war behind him—Kurotsuchi, Mabui, Samui, and Yugito, all bound tightly like dumplings.
The captured women stared in horror at the scene unfolding within the barrier, their faces pale as they watched their comrades spiral into madness.
"You think it's noisy too, don't you?" Tobirama asked casually.
Kurotsuchi shuddered violently, nodding and shaking her head at the same time, tears pooling in her eyes. She was far too frightened to speak.
"Since you don't want to die with dignity," Tobirama said calmly, "I'll help you along."
He turned back toward the massive golden prison.
Slowly, he closed his left eye—the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan.
Then, in the next instant, he opened his right eye.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan activated.
The intricate pattern spun wildly, and a mysterious, terrifying force—one that surpassed chakra itself—swept across the entire barrier.
This was the power of time.
"I didn't originally plan to use this technique," Tobirama said softly, the corners of his lips lifting in a cruel smile, as though he were observing bacteria in a dish.
"It's far too unfair."
"But you should feel honored."
"To personally experience what true power looks like."
"Right Eye Pupil Technique—Time Fixation."
Buzz!
A deep, ancient chime seemed to echo between heaven and earth.
In the next second—
The world inside the barrier changed.
The golden curtain of light instantly faded into a lifeless gray-white, like an old photograph bleached by time.
"W-what's happening?!"
Inside the barrier, Kitsuchi, who was preparing another attack, suddenly felt his body grow unbearably heavy.
Instinctively, he raised his hand.
Then his pupils shrank violently.
"M-my hand?!"
His once-powerful arm visibly withered and shrank. The skin lost its sheen, wrinkling as age spots rapidly spread across it.
And it wasn't just his arm.
He felt his chakra draining away, his life force pouring out as if a floodgate had burst.
"No… no…"
Kitsuchi tried to retreat, but his legs refused to obey.
His knees had already become brittle with age.
Crack.
With a soft sound, the famed Iwagakure warrior collapsed to his knees.
In an instant, his hair turned from black to gray, then fell out entirely. His teeth loosened and dropped from his mouth.
One second.
Just one single second.
He had gone from a prime-aged shinobi to a centenarian standing at death's door.
"H-help… help me…"
Kitsuchi opened his mouth, but only a hoarse, wheezing sound escaped.
Then came the second second.
His flesh dried and crumbled away. His bones disintegrated into powder.
Like a sand sculpture eroded by millennia of wind, his body swayed faintly—
—and collapsed.
Splash.
Gone.
Reduced to an unremarkable pile of dust.
And this was happening everywhere inside the barrier.
"Aaaah!! My face! My skin!!"
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die of old age!!"
"What kind of demonic technique is this?! I'm a ninja—I can still fight!!"
Thousands of allied shinobi.
Whether jōnin or Kage-level elites.
Before time itself, all were equal.
Young Kumogakure shinobi instantly transformed into hunched elders, then collapsed and turned to ash.
The already aged Master Yuan didn't even last a full second before evaporating where he stood.
"Uchiha… Tobirama…"
The Fourth Raikage was still holding on.
With his extraordinary vitality and monstrous life force, he endured the erosion for two full seconds.
But his proud muscles shriveled, his steel-like body decaying before his eyes.
He watched himself crumble, and the fury in his gaze finally dissolved into boundless terror.
"You… you really aren't… a ninja…"
"A ninja… couldn't possibly…"
Pop.
Like a bubble bursting.
The Raikage—renowned for his speed and strength—vanished completely, erased by the torrent of time before he could finish his final words.
One second.
Time within the barrier had been accelerated by ten thousand years.
When the gray-white light finally faded, the barrier—once packed with thousands—was utterly empty.
No corpses.
No blood.
Even weapons and armor had rusted away into dust.
Only a thick, pale layer of ash covering the ground bore witness to the army that had once existed.
Outside the barrier.
Kurotsuchi and the other captives stood frozen, mouths agape, forgetting even how to breathe.
What… what kind of power was this?
Even the Konoha ANBU guarding them swallowed hard, eyes filled with fanatical awe as they stared at the man standing with his back to them.
"A god…"
"Lord Tobirama is a true god!"
"Lord God!"
No one knew who shouted first.
But in the next instant, all the surrounding Konoha shinobi—including the Uchiha—dropped to their knees.
Even Hashirama and Madara fell silent.
Madara stared at the ashes inside the barrier, his lips twitching slightly.
"Has Tobirama really gone this far…"
"He can even control time…"
Tobirama slowly withdrew his gaze. The golden glow in his right eye faded away.
There was no backlash. No exhaustion.
The flawless condition of his eyes allowed him to use such power freely, without cost or consequence.
If he wished, even a stray dog on the street could be struck by this ability.
"It's over."
With a wave of his hand, Tobirama dispelled the barrier.
The golden walls dissolved, and the sea breeze swept the ashes into the air, scattering them across the land and sea.
Like a funeral for a vanished era.
"All units, reorganize."
Tobirama turned around, his voice carrying a faint weariness yet remaining absolute.
"Clean up the battlefield. Prepare to return—"
And then—
Sizzle!
Behind him, a streak of black lightning erupted, faint yet impossibly fast!
This was no ordinary Lightning Release.
It carried terrifying penetration power, laced with a chilling aura that did not belong to this world.
"What?!"
Madara snapped his head around, but it was already too late.
Whoosh!
The lightning did not aim for Madara.
Nor for Hashirama.
Its sole target was Uchiha Tobirama.
Within the lightning, a towering figure appeared.
Dark skin. Rock-like muscles. A lightning-shaped scar carved across his chest.
"One-hit technique."
The man raised a finger. At its tip, black lightning condensed—dense enough to pierce mountains.
With speed beyond perception, the chakra spear drove straight toward Tobirama's back.
"The Third Raikage?!"
"Wasn't he already controlled by Tobirama's illusion?!"
Hashirama exclaimed in shock from the distance.
That's right.
The attacker was none other than Kumogakure's strongest spear and strongest shield—
The Third Raikage.
"Die."
His expression was cold and empty as the word fell from his lips.
This strike—
Was meant to be fatal.
--------------Author---------------
Read 15 advanced chapters on
👉 patreon.com/Master_fic