Bankai—Fallen Scenery of Autumn Leaves and Ashes

"What's going on? The sky suddenly went dark."

"Is it going to rain?"

"I didn't hear anything about rain today..."

Looking at the darkened sky, Konoha's residents responded with some confusion to what appeared to be incoming rain.

But what puzzled those with more life experience was that they had yet to feel the damp chill that usually came before rain, nor had the aches in their legs and feet told them of any change in humidity.

Rather, it felt as though a filter had simply been laid over everything, or as though it had all been left there blankly. The air was instead filled with dryness and thirst. Even breathing seemed to become tense and hurried.

The elite ninja vaguely sensed something and looked toward the gray-black sky, but found nothing.

The Byakugan and Sharingan users seemed to have noticed something else, but when they tried to speak, the elders of their clans pressed them back down.

The elders warily glanced toward the Konoha building, then at the godlike figure in the sky. They shook their heads at their children and descendants before silently closing their doors.

They could indeed see and sense it, but as ninja from Konoha's clans, they should not be the first to reveal it, nor should they take action. They had to wait until the Third Hokage made a decision and gave a response.

Otherwise, it would violate the ninja's principles. This was already a universally acknowledged taboo, one they could not touch lightly.

Yet these people did not know that the heavy pressure in the sky was not aimed at Konoha at all, but at certain people within Konoha.

Or rather, at someone in Konoha's central residential district.

Uchiha Kagami is strong. Just how did Sosuke Aizen manage this...?

Looking at the figure standing in the sky in a White Haori, Orochimaru assessed the situation and found Kagami Uchiha somewhat terrifying now.

Orochimaru said nothing, because he had not sensed any strain or surprise from Aizen.

As a guest, all Orochimaru needed to do at this moment was quietly watch everything unfold.

And just as he expected, Aizen did not even glance at Kagami Uchiha, who was radiating authority in the sky. Instead, he spoke to Orochimaru with a calm expression.

"Since we are partners, a suitable display of technology is necessary. Kagami Uchiha's current state is the other path to immortality I mentioned: Shinigami Transformation."

Ignoring the disturbance in the sky, Aizen smiled as he spread a paper across the table.

"Look, I once stated this in a paper. Through twenty-one Soul Surgery procedures and one's own obsession, I can transform a soul into Kagami's current form and wield another kind of power entirely different from Chakra. I call it—"

"Aizen, your days of running wild in Konoha are over. It is time for me to uphold Konoha's justice."

"Interrupting others is a bad habit, Kagami."

Hearing Kagami interrupt him, Aizen looked up at him in the sky with some displeasure.

The next instant, Kagami Uchiha seemed to be struck by lightning in midair. He immediately lost control of his body and struggled to half-kneel in the air as though suffocating, his eyes wide.

But the instant Kagami Uchiha revealed that vulnerable state, the invisible force vanished as quickly as it had come. In the next moment, it was gone without a trace. Even the people on the ground had no idea what had happened when they saw Aizen push up his glasses somewhat apologetically.

"My apologies. I am always unable to control my power properly. But you must understand the difficulty involved."

Aizen stood, slipped both hands into his Haori, and looked toward Kagami Uchiha in the sky as he apologized with utmost sincerity.

"It is like trying to find the right drop of water in the ocean to trap a little bug rather than kill it. Such an action is difficult for me as well. I sincerely apologize for making you uncomfortable, Kagami."

"Damn it...!"

How was this possible?! Was he even stronger than Uchiha Madara?!

Feeling the pressure that had nearly crushed his soul in that instant, Kagami Uchiha looked uncertainly at the smiling Sosuke Aizen on the ground.

Kagami Uchiha's thinking was simple. Uchiha Madara had once been the God of Shinobi's opponent. Even in old age, Uchiha Madara had remained immensely powerful. Sosuke Aizen, however, was merely a twenty-year-old young man. Even if he possessed some skill, how powerful could he possibly be?

Moreover, after killing Uchiha Madara, he seemed to have experienced a portion of an even greater power. He had understood his own heart and mastered the power of Bankai. So why, why could he not even withstand a single glance from Aizen?! Had Aizen left something inside him?

Facing Kagami Uchiha's furious gaze, Aizen smiled kindly.

"If possible, I hope you will not use your abilities so impulsively, Kagami."

He smiled at Kagami Uchiha in the sky as though watching an animal causing trouble in a zoo, his expression filled with pity.

"It still takes a bit of effort for me to make a puppet perform the movements I want. So please do not make too many decisions on your own. It will not be performed perfectly otherwise. You still need to display your Bankai and Mangekyo Sharingan, do you not?"

"Aizen! You knew all along, didn't you?! You left something inside me from the beginning, didn't you?!"

"Anger will not increase your strength, Kagami. And I never left anything inside you. Your own behavior was simply far too obvious."

"..."

Gritting his teeth, Kagami Uchiha looked at the smiling Aizen below and came to a realization.

From the very beginning, everything had probably been within this man's plans. Whether it was his Bankai or his Sharingan, Aizen had known.

But he definitely did not know how immense the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan and his Bankai truly was. Otherwise, there was no way he could sit here so calmly and watch him as though nothing had happened.

Perhaps in terms of being a Shinigami, he was merely a child who could be crushed in an instant. But what about the Sharingan?

"Yes, you are right, Aizen. Anger is meaningless."

Slowly covering his eyes, Kagami Uchiha let out a long breath.

"I thought about it for a long time, and struggled for a long time. You said I had no killing intent toward you, and that was true. Because I could not find a reason to kill you. But I found my ancestor, Uchiha Madara. From him, I received my final answer."

"Sometimes, hostility cannot be explained by whether one understands another. Sometimes, when facing someone else, one truly must release one's killing intent, even without reason."

"This is everything I have thought about, and this is the answer I have ultimately reached."

An invisible ripple began spreading from around Kagami Uchiha.

Amid Aizen's Smile, gray ash began falling from the gloomy sky.

Within that shattered, decaying world, Kagami Uchiha slowly lowered his hand. His rapidly spinning Sharingan locked onto Aizen's calm eyes.

"Aizen, I am going to kill you."

Kagami Uchiha's presence steadily rose as he spoke calmly.

"It is not because of how harmful you currently are to this world, but because of my own decision."

"I know I possess neither justice nor righteousness. I do not understand your transcendence or your technology, and I understand even less what your research means for this world. But I do know that a truly arrogant person will never see their own problems."

"Like my ancestor Uchiha Madara, I understood this after personally killing my ancestor. Sometimes, killing someone does not truly require a reason or an excuse. If I want to kill him, then I can act. And now, Aizen, I am going to kill you."

Kagami Uchiha's eyes instantly transformed into a mass of triangles, and in that instant, heaven and earth turned a bleak gray.

Then something surging Spread out behind the clouds.

Those were the true forms of the ashes, Kagami Uchiha's most pessimistic and despairing dream.

That was the essence of his Bankai.

"Bankai—Fallen Scenery of Autumn Leaves and Ashes!"

A world blended into one color unfolded over Konoha, turning into a bleak gray before everyone's eyes.

What fell from the sky was not cold snow, but slightly warm embers that gradually died out in people's palms, becoming dim ash before vanishing into the air.

Whether ninja or civilians, everyone living in Konoha instinctively looked up. Then they discovered in shock that layers upon layers of dim buildings were gradually appearing within the gray-brown clouds.

"What is that?"

"A-a mirage?"

"I don't know..."

Countless ashes poured down from the buildings in the sky, and their burning appearance further proved the reality of their existence.

But as more details emerged, everyone realized what exactly the burning, ruin-like world in the sky was.

The storefront of Ichiraku Ramen, the appearance of Konoha Restaurant, the towering Hokage's Office at the very center, and Hokage Rock reduced to ruins. Everything familiar and unfamiliar alike was burning in the sky, turning into ash.

Like a hundred-scene lantern palace, what appeared in the sky was a scene of destruction that no one had ever considered, nor dared to imagine. Veteran ninja, even elders who had lived through the First Hokage's era, stared at the disturbance in the clouds in shock. They did not dare say another word, only watched everything in terror as though looking upon their own future.

That was Konoha.

Konoha was burning in the sky.

A prophecy of the end of days unfolded before everyone.