Speaking from the heart

"What happened? Why did it feel like time itself had stopped?" Kankuro asked, swallowing hard.

"You felt it too? I thought it was just my imagination!" Kurotsuchi looked somewhat dazed as well.

Hearing the two of them say that, everyone around them came to their senses.

"Huh? So everyone felt that way?"

"Ah! I thought I'd awakened a time-stopping kekkei genkai!"

The experience was so fantastical that everyone was left in a daze, even ignoring the high-energy scene unfolding before them.

"Time did not stop. Your consciousness was suppressed and lost contact with your bodies!" Hashirama Senju stared intently at the towering figure ahead.

"To think there was an Aura even stronger than yours, Brother... no..." Tobirama Senju's expression turned exceedingly grave. "More accurately, it is not even on the same level!"

"What? There is an Aura stronger than the First Hokage's?" Sakura and the others could hardly believe it. They had seen with their own eyes that the First Hokage's Aura was powerful enough to become tangible!

"Haha! Not even close!" Hashirama Senju laughed openly. "This man's presence can even alter the weather!"

Following the First Hokage's gaze, everyone looked up. The once bright, clear sky had somehow become densely packed with dark clouds, and churning thunderclouds surged like a god venting his wrath.

Kakashi's throat went dry. "This... this can be caused by Aura alone?"

Even Sasuke, who was often overly confident, revealed a horrified expression. His most powerful Lightning Release, Kirin, had merely drawn down the lightning already present in the sky. Yet before him, the weather itself was changing in response to that man's Aura!

He finally understood why that man called Hawk Eyes had only grudgingly acknowledged the First Hokage's Aura. Indeed, after witnessing such soul-shaking power, the First Hokage's Aura no longer seemed like