This Is Art!

"You destroyed my village, took the Tailed Beasts, said a bunch of incomprehensible things, and then just left?"

Ōnoki floated in the air, his aged face twisted as he raised both hands high.

In his palms, three kinds of chakra surged, fused, and condensed in a manner so intricate that even the Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't copy it.

"Fifth Hokage, what kind of joke is this? Go to hell, you brat!"

This technique was incredibly powerful. Few in the current Ninja World could take it head-on. Having pushed his chakra to its limits, the Tsuchikage was brimming with confidence. He didn't even have time to check the result before he dropped from the sky.

His son, Kitsuchi, caught him steadily with a hand of clay.

Witnessed by three thousand Iwagakure shinobi, a thick beam of pure white light tore through the air and shot straight toward the golden film surrounding the Fifth Hokage and his group.

Hyuga Tokuma instinctively felt a pang of fear.

Could it hold?

This was one of the strongest attacks in the Ninja World.

The instant the beam struck Negacion, the answer became clear. There was no earth-shattering explosion as expected; they couldn't even hear the sound of the surface being broken down.

Dust Release sank into the sea and was swallowed by Negacion.

Jiraiya saw clearly that the thin film, about three meters away from him, had only trembled faintly before settling back to stillness.

It was as if an attack powerful enough to destroy a mountain had been no more than a breeze brushing past it.

How incredible.

Fifth, you're hiding so many secrets.

Could you be the child of destiny who would truly change the Ninja World, the one the Great Toad Sage spoke of?

The crackpot had his own crackpot theories.

By comparison, Shisui seemed exceptionally calm, letting blood tears run down his face.

"Obito's resistance to genjutsu is really high. My eye power has dropped badly. This Kotoamatsukami Eye on the left will need at least ten years to recover. Sigh, if I use both eyes like this twice more, they'll probably be ruined."

"How will I protect you and serve as captain of the Shadow Guard then, Lord Fifth?"

Uchiha Xiu, who had guessed what Shisui was thinking, casually replied:

"It's fine. Take them out and let me wear them while I sleep a few times. They'll recover a bit."

At worst, he could return to the space and have the Main God Great Light Sphere heal him.

Healing had nothing to do with side quests!

The reward points required merely increased with one's life level and the severity of the injury.

"How is that possible?!"

Supported by a kunoichi from the medical team, Ōnoki struggled to his feet. Seeing what had happened, he couldn't help questioning his whole life.

He didn't believe it.

It was a dream, right? Everything tonight was just an illusion.

Dust Release was the ultimate ninjutsu he had developed over most of his life, building on the Second's work. It was the last Kekkei Tōta in the Ninja World!

The old man, whose back was about to give out, refused to accept it. He tried to form Hand Seals again, but his chakra was depleted. He immediately spat out blood. Even his big red nose lost its color, and he collapsed into the arms of a medical-nin kunoichi, forced to accept all sorts of treatment.

"What... what kind of jutsu is this?"

Behind Ōnoki, Jonin Commander Kitsuchi looked just as incredulous. He had never seen such a bizarre barrier ninjutsu. Even his father's Dust Release couldn't break through it.

What could possibly shatter this film?

With thousands upon thousands of eyes fixed on him, Fifth Hokage Uchiha Xiu's mocking voice rang out again:

"Sayonara, everyone in Iwagakure~"

Under the intensive care of three medical-nin jonin, Ōnoki had just managed to catch his breath when he abruptly raised a hand and roared at the Iwa forces, "All troops, attack! Strike together! Charge through this damned thing!"

"Smash it!"

"Kill the Hokage! Think of your fallen comrades and family... show these Konoha beasts the Will of Stone!"

Before his words had even faded, thousands of Iwa shinobi formed Hand Seals all at once.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide.

Earth Dragon Bullet.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears.

Earth Release: Earth Style Wall...

Dozens of different Earth Release techniques erupted at the same time. The ground shook violently as thousands of earth dragons, stone pillars, and earthen spikes surged toward Negacion from all directions.

Then came a tangle of gales, flames, and lightning. After all, Iwagakure was a large village, with over ten thousand registered shinobi. How could they all have trained in only one chakra nature?

A flood of ninjutsu blotted out the sky as it bore down, as if it would fill the entire heavens.

The spectacle was so overwhelming that Uchiha Xiu suspected it could flatten a medium-sized or small shinobi village in an instant.

"Tch. The Third Raikage, who got sent packing, was something else. He held off an army of over ten thousand Iwa shinobi, fighting for three days and three nights."

He said it, but didn't even blink.

If they weren't strong enough, what good was having numbers? Against Negacion, a technique straight out of the Soul Reaper world, every jutsu that struck it seemed powerless.

Even a thousand-meter-tall stone giant!

It had been created by five hundred elite Iwa shinobi, but when it threw a punch, it did less damage than Dust Release.

Boom—

Boom!!!

"Too bad I'm not wearing glasses. It would've been more convincing."

"Besides, my hair doesn't really work with hair gel."

Uchiha Xiu watched the Iwa shinobi outside attacking furiously and raging helplessly, the corners of his mouth lifting.

In a moment like this... should he break out his signature laugh?

The thought flashed through his mind.

As everyone rose to a height beyond the others' field of vision, golden light flickered.

Led by the Hokage, the Konoha group made a flawless escape!

The moment Negacion vanished, the attacks stopped too.

Silence fell over the ruined Iwagakure.

Stone pillars jutted from the rubble. Smoke rose from burning buildings, and the ground was riddled with pits of varying depths, filled with molten lava. Human remains lay everywhere.

Crying echoed all around.

As Tsuchikage, Ōnoki was overcome by a profound sense of helplessness.

Just because the Iwa shinobi had grown up poor and could endure hardship, did that mean they had to keep eating dirt forever?

And then there were the two Iwagakure Jinchuriki, whose survival was uncertain. Leaving aside the cost of raising them, the Tailed Beasts inside them... had been bought from First Senju Hashirama at great expense.

For the seller to come and repossess them was a real breach of trust!

"Sir, m-my house is gone. The whole block is gone. Waaaah!"

Ōnoki slowly landed, staggering as he braced himself against a nearby boulder. He muttered, "What can these hands of mine protect, after all?"

"Sir, what do we do? The village's finances are already exhausted from preparing for war."

"The daimyo already said that he and the court nobles wouldn't give us another silver coin until the village had expanded its territory and achieved a clear victory. How are we supposed to rebuild our homes and compensate the families of the fallen...?"

At the mention of money, the little man, unable to find an answer, went limp and simply fainted.

Only a sinister-looking blond boy stood staring at the burning village, murmuring to himself:

"This is art."

"Explosions are art, and so is burning."

"And leaving the stage... from high above, that was so cool!"

Uchiha Xiu had no idea that he had given the demolition specialist Deidara a new inspiration.

He had gained one rabid fan.

At the northern edge of the Land of Fire, on its border with the Land of Fields.

Inside an unremarkable cave.

Several figures suddenly appeared.

Without time to inspect their surroundings, Shisui dropped to one knee, utterly drained. "Xiu, sir, I can't maintain the genjutsu controlling the Five-Tails and Han for now."

"It's fine. I'll handle it," Uchiha Xiu said easily.

Just as expected. Without Hashirama Cells to prop them up, and without fusing with another Mangekyō Sharingan from the same bloodline, an Uchiha went blind far too easily.

Just like Sasuke of Team Taka in the story. He'd practically use Amaterasu on every stray dog that passed by, rapidly burning through his eyesight until he nearly suffered the consequences himself.

"Son Goku or Kokuō? Which one should I seal inside myself?"

"Without the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, I'll have to choose for now."