Heaven's Punishment

Pitch-black stardust slowly fell, like fragments of the night sky torn apart and cast down to earth.

The Raikage stood atop the cracked, scorched ground, his ragged breathing echoing in his chest. Every breath brought searing pain. His Lightning Release Armor had long since dimmed; the once-violent blue-white arcs had dwindled to a few scattered sparks, flickering like dying candles in the wind.

He looked up, staring fixedly at the ever-approaching "Great Rasenshuriken."

He had lost—completely and utterly.

Menma's strength far exceeded his expectations. The destructive energy contained within that black sphere brought a sense of danger that surpassed even the day the Eight-Tails had gone berserk. But this time, there was no sealing squad, no reinforcements. Only he stood alone beneath the shadow of death.

If he took that attack head-on... he would die without question.

The Raikage clenched his fists. He had long been prepared to die for his village—as the Raikage, dying on the battlefield was an honor.

But... he could not fall like this, without meaning!

Menma's existence had already surpassed any personal grudge. A madman capable of casually unleashing a ninjutsu of this level was a fatal threat to the entire Ninja World. If he died here, Hidden Cloud would lose its Kage, and his death would bring no benefit to the village whatsoever.

Now... was not the time to die!

Resolve flashed in the Raikage's eyes. He might have been reckless, but he was never stupid. A proud warrior could face death head-on, but a senseless sacrifice would only let the enemy have his way.

"Boom—!"

The storm pinning him down finally dispersed. The Raikage's legs suddenly tensed, and the ground beneath his feet collapsed with a thunderous crash.

He squeezed the last of his Chakra to its limit. His Lightning Release Armor erupted once more with blinding lightning. Though it was far weaker than at its peak, it was enough to turn him into a bolt of lightning—escaping the heart of destruction.

His figure tore through the scorching air and shot beyond the massive crater. The Raikage did not look back.

Surviving was the wisest choice right now.

"Hey, hey, are you serious... Destroying all of Konoha? Isn't this getting a little out of hand?"

Darui's voice carried its trademark laziness, and he forced a bitter smile. Looking around, he saw that Konoha's ninja had already descended into chaos—the sealing squad was desperately forming hand seals, the Anbu stood ready for battle, and even the Third Hokage's face had gone deathly grim.

His joke did not loosen anyone's expression in the slightest.

Tch... completely useless.

Darui's smile gradually stiffened. Instinctively, he turned to Shii beside him. As Hidden Cloud's finest sensory ninja, Shii's judgment mattered more than any reassurance at this moment.

However—Shii's expression made Darui's heart sink.

Cold sweat covered that normally calm face. His pupils trembled faintly, and even his breathing had become hurried. It was the first time Darui had ever seen Shii wear such an ugly expression.

"No... no good!" Shii's voice was practically squeezed through clenched teeth. "Lord Raikage is still in that forest! The Chakra of that ninjutsu—it's already comparable to a tailed beast!"

A tailed beast... Darui's throat went dry. He looked up at the sky, where that black "star" was slowly descending, twisting the surrounding air into bizarre vortices.

"Just where did that kind of monster come from?"

Shii clenched his fists tightly. As the Raikage's guard and right-hand man, his duty should have been to protect the Kage's safety. Yet now, he could only stand here and watch destruction descend. Helplessness coiled around his heart like a venomous snake, nearly suffocating him.

"Hey."

Suddenly, a hand landed heavily on Shii's shoulder. Darui's voice remained lazy, but his gaze was unusually resolute.

"Sorry, boss..." He paused. "But rushing over to help now would only be throwing our lives away."

Shii abruptly turned his head, only to meet Darui's calm eyes. "Have faith in him." Darui smiled, though the smile was strained. "He's the Raikage, after all."

The man who had held up Hidden Cloud on his own shoulders and inherited the name of A.

Shii's breathing gradually steadied. He took a deep breath and slowly nodded, trying to relax himself. Yeah... As people who could entrust their backs to each other, believing in your comrades on the battlefield was the most basic thing.

Then, a transparent red barrier rose from the ground, like a layer of translucent crimson crystal that enveloped all of Konoha.

"Four Violet Flames Formation—!"

The Third Hokage's three Shadow Clones stood at three points around Konoha, joining the sealing squad in forming hand seals. Chakra became a tangible barrier, while sealing runes emitted a scorching radiance. This was a defensive barrier that could only be cast by four Kage-level experts, yet the Third Hokage was forcibly sustaining it with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, at the cost of rapidly depleting his Chakra.

Yet even so—the black stardust finally fell.

"Everyone, stay alert!"

The world lost its sound in that instant.

"BOOM--------!!!!!"

Then, a white light of destruction erupted.

At first, it was only a blinding point of brilliance. Then it suddenly expanded like a collapsing supernova, becoming a pure white tide that devoured everything. The shockwave spread at a horrifying speed. Wherever it passed, the earth was torn apart and flung up like fragile sheets of paper. Towering ancient trees were carbonized within a thousandth of a second, then vaporized without a trace. Distant mountains twisted and collapsed in the intense heat. Rocks melted into crimson lava, only to be scattered by the shockwave into a rain of fire that filled the sky.

The clouds were completely torn apart, revealing the blood-red sunset beyond. Even the heavens themselves seemed pierced by that single strike.

The crimson barrier of the Four Violet Flames Formation trembled violently, spiderweb-like cracks spreading across its surface. Inside the barrier, Konoha's ninja looked up, their pupils reflecting the scene of destruction beyond—

The forest was disappearing.

It was not burning, nor was it collapsing. It was being erased from existence itself. Wherever the white light swept, all matter was broken down into its most primitive dust, then swept into the sky by the tempest, becoming ash snow that blotted out the heavens.

A streak of blood trickled from the Third Hokage's lips. The barrier's backlash made his organs feel as if they were being scorched by flames. But he did not let go. His aged fingers desperately maintained the hand seal.

Hold on... I have to hold on...!

Outside the barrier, the world was ending.

Inside the barrier, humanity held its breath and stared at the apocalypse—just beyond their reach.

A constant ringing filled his ears as the Third Hokage's vision was swallowed by chaotic darkness. He knelt on one knee, sweat sliding down his aged cheeks and striking the scorched earth, leaving tiny pits. His Chakra-depleted body was like an emptied vessel; every inch of muscle and every bone cried out in sharp protest.

I can't fall yet... not yet...

The ringing gradually faded, replaced by indistinct shouts—"Lord Hokage! Lord Hokage! Medical Team! Hurry!"

The voices came closer, as if muffled by a thick pane of glass. He felt someone support his arm, allowing his taut nerves to relax slightly.

"I... am fine."

He tried to stand, but staggered and had to rely on his subordinates for support. The green glow of medical ninjutsu covered his body. Cool Chakra seeped into his dried-up pathways like a stream, and the burning pain gradually subsided. The darkness before his eyes began to break apart, patches of color assembling in his vision like a faded ink painting slowly taking shape.

The first thing he saw was Konoha—the village still stood.

Residential buildings, Hokage Rock, familiar streets... everything was intact. The crimson barrier of the Four Violet Flames Formation had already vanished, but its sacrifice had secured the most precious outcome: Konoha had survived.

The Third Hokage let out a long breath, but before that relief could reach his heart, he instinctively turned his head—then froze.

"...Good heavens."

The dry murmur squeezed from his throat, like a rusty blade scraping across his windpipe.

Beyond Konoha's destroyed gates lay an entirely different world.

The once-lush forest, winding dirt roads, rolling hills—all of it had vanished. In their place was a massive crater more than several thousand meters across, dozens of meters deep. The exposed rock layers around its edges had become vitrified crystals forged by intense heat.

The bottom of the crater was pitch-black. There were no remains, no fragments—only dust.

Farther away, the end of the devastation blended into the horizon, as though the edge of the world had been brutally severed. The air was thick with a pungent scorched smell mixed with a strange ozone scent, causing a faint sting in the lungs with every breath.

A gust of wind swept through, lifting fine gray ash from the crater floor like a black snowfall.

More than the traces of a battle,

it looked like Heaven's Punishment.