The End of the Firmament

At Konoha's gates, smoke and dust filled the air. The thunderous blasts of ninjutsu intertwined with the roars of Summoning Beasts.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood at the center of the battlefield, both hands gripping a massive staff—the Adamantine Staff.

This staff was no ordinary iron. It was transformed from his old comrade, Monkey King Enma. It possessed indestructible hardness and could freely extend and change shape, even becoming chains, a long staff, or a massive pillar as battle demanded.

"Roar—!"

Azure Dragon's enormous tail swept toward him. The Third Hokage's gaze sharpened, and the staff in his hands suddenly lengthened before crashing down like a pillar holding up the sky!

"Bang—!"

The air exploded. Azure Dragon's scales collided with the staff, sending sparks scattering everywhere. The tremendous impact cracked the ground beneath the Third Hokage's feet, but he did not budge. Instead, he used the momentum to swing, forcing Azure Dragon back several meters.

However, before he could catch his breath, White Tiger's claws struck from the side!

"Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet!"

Shii's support arrived just in time, the blinding lightning forcing White Tiger back. Darui seized the opportunity to swing his ninja blade, Lightning Release Chakra wrapping around its edge as he slashed at another Nine-Headed Beast closing in.

The Third Hokage's gaze remained calm, but his heart was heavy—these Summoning Beasts were far too troublesome.

He had fought throughout his life and seen countless powerful Summoning Beasts, but nine gathered like this, each possessing at least the strength of an elite Jonin... The last time he had felt such gravity toward Summoning Beasts was when he faced Hanzo of the Salamander.

Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise excelled at close combat, their scales as hard as iron. White Tiger was incredibly fast, its claws capable of tearing apart Chakra-reinforced ninja tools. The two humanoid Summoning Beasts wielding staffs could use sealing techniques to restrict everyone's movements, then the Grim Reaper would harvest their Chakra. Meanwhile, the giant bird circling high above continuously swooped down, suppressing the Konoha Anbu formation.

They were not ordinary beasts, but weapons of war that had undergone strict training. Each had its own fighting style, and their coordination was flawless.

"Lord Hokage!" a Hyuga Anbu shouted through gritted teeth. "Their Chakra signatures... are still growing stronger!"

The Third Hokage tightened his grip on the staff, resolve surfacing on his aged face—he could not hold back any longer.

He took a deep breath, and the Chakra within him began to boil. As the Professor of Ninjutsu who had mastered all five releases, he was rarely forced to go all out.

But today, facing these monstrous Nine-Headed Beasts...

"Everyone, fall back!"

The Third Hokage gave a low shout and rapidly formed hand seals. Chakra surged through his body. Next, he would show these Summoning Beasts what the true strength of a Kage was.

The Third Hokage's Shadow Clones instantly completed their hand seals. Four figures stood in four directions as wind, fire, lightning, earth, and water Chakra gathered in their throats.

Five Release: Great Combined Bullet Technique. This was a devastating ninjutsu capable of completely tearing apart the Nine-Headed Beasts' formation.

However, at the instant the Chakra was about to erupt—

"Whoosh!"

The Nine-Headed Beasts vanished without warning.

It was not the Body Flicker Technique, nor was it the Body Replacement Technique. They vanished like illusions that had been erased, without leaving even the slightest Chakra fluctuation behind.

The Third Hokage's aged fingers suddenly clenched as he forcibly stopped the ninjutsu that was about to be unleashed.

Something was wrong.

His battlefield instincts pounded wildly against his nerves. The disappearance of those Summoning Beasts was too strange, as though... they had been forcibly recalled by some higher power.

He abruptly looked up, his cloudy yet sharp gaze piercing toward the sky.

High in the air a hundred meters away, a blurry figure floated silently. A black robe billowed around him like ink spreading through clear water. In his hands, an indescribable mass of pitch-black energy was gathering, devouring even the light around it.

"Sakufuu! Use the Byakugan to investigate that direction!"

"Yes!"

Hyuga Sakufuu—an elite Anbu of the Hyuga Branch Family—formed hand seals without hesitation. Beneath his mask, veins bulged around his eyes as the Byakugan's vision instantly locked onto the shadow in the sky.

Then—

"...!"

His breathing stopped.

Within the humanoid outline revealed by the Byakugan, there was none of the Chakra flow a human should possess.

There was only an abyss.

Black, viscous, and violent Chakra writhed like a living thing. A crimson vortex churned at its core, and every pulse made the surrounding Nature Energy emit a wail under unbearable strain. Merely looking at it felt as though icy tentacles were crawling along his line of sight into his brain, tearing at his sanity.

What... what is this...

Sakufuu's fingertips began to tremble. On the night the Fourth Hokage had sacrificed himself, he had used the Byakugan to observe Tailed Beasts and had even faced Kurama's Chakra during its rampage. But the existence in the sky at this moment was far more... blasphemous.

No... impossible... How could human meridians contain Chakra on this scale...

The density of that Chakra had already surpassed the very concept of "quantity." It was a denial of "existence" itself. Like someone witnessing a tsunami, even fear seemed pale before such monstrous waves.

Cold sweat dripped from Sakufuu's jaw, soaking through the lining of his Anbu uniform. His throat spasmed as he tried to report to the Third Hokage, only to find that no sound would come out—

"Sakufuu!"

The Third Hokage's low shout boomed like thunder, sharply piercing Hyuga Sakufuu's mind, frozen by fear. Sakufuu awoke from the nightmare, and blood began flowing through his body again. His throat was so dry it hurt, but he finally forced out his voice—

"Lord Hokage! We must stop that ninjutsu! If it falls on Konoha... the entire village will be razed to the ground!"

Never had the threat of death been so clear.

The Third Hokage's pupils suddenly constricted. Though his instincts had long sensed the danger, when Sakufuu confirmed it with his own words, his worst fears became reality.

"Sealing Team! Deploy the barrier immediately!"

He gave the order sharply. Yet just as he prepared to form hand seals and release a ninjutsu as quickly as possible to interfere with Menma in the sky—

The figure in the sky moved.

Menma slowly raised his hand, and the pitch-black sphere—the Great Rasenshuriken—began to descend soundlessly.

It was not fast. It even seemed slow, as though mocking the struggles of mortals. Yet it was precisely that unhurried calm that made it all the more despairing.

Wherever the black sphere passed, the air twisted and shattered. Even space itself could not withstand its weight.

Destruction was about to descend.

Uzumaki Menma floated above the clouds, his black robe snapping wildly in the chaotic currents. Above his palm, the pitch-black sphere—the Great Rasenshuriken—continued to collapse and condense in a terrifying manner.

The Chakra core, already deep as an abyss, became even more solid. Not even light could escape its pull. The black energy had been compressed to its limit, and ominous patterns surfaced upon it, twisting and writhing like blood vessels.

Around the Rasenshuriken, space began to crack apart.

Pale rings of energy appeared from nothing, slowly rotating around the black sphere like planetary rings. These halos were not physical objects, but spatial fissures created by Chakra compressed to its limit violently rubbing against Nature Energy. Like a Saturn shrunk countless times, it hovered above the heavens.

"Bzzzz—!"

A deep hum came from within the sphere. Konoha's ninja looked upward, the slowly descending black star reflected in their pupils.

With every inch the Rasenshuriken descended, the air around it gave a wail of unbearable strain. Clouds were torn apart, light twisted, and even sound was completely swallowed.

A primal terror spread through everyone's hearts.

Beyond fear of death was an instinctive shudder before something beyond comprehension—like ants gazing up at a falling meteorite.

"This is a parting gift."