The night sky lit up.
It was not the glow of dawn, but the chakra aurora created after the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded.
Brilliant bands of purple and black light wove through the clouds, like a god's brush painting wildly across the sky.
On the ground, everyone remained frozen with their heads tilted back.
They stared at that dark-gold giant hand.
The hand still held its fist clenched, suspended in midair. Between its fingers, wisps of black smoke slowly drifted away.
That Tailed Beast Bomb, powerful enough to wipe half of Konoha off the map, was just... gone?
"Th-this is..."
The Adamantine Staff in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand trembled slightly.
He had lived for so many years. He had seen the First's Wood Release, the Second Hokage's Water Release, and Madara Uchiha's complete Susanoo.
But he had never seen anything like this.
It was not the power of a single person. He could clearly sense that the giant hand had been formed from countless streams of chakra gathered together.
Though those streams of chakra all had different natures, under the guidance of some mysterious force, they had somehow fused together perfectly, forming an entirely new, higher-dimensional energy.
"Uchiha..."
The Third Hokage turned his head and looked toward the distant tower.
There, three hundred Uchiha clansmen were forming hand seals. Their chakra flowed like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, pouring endlessly toward the young man standing at the very top.
Uchiha Xuanshi.
"So this is the power you've been hiding?" the Third murmured to himself.
Shock.
Wariness.
But more than that, a feeling of relief so complicated it reached the extreme.
Thankfully, this power was now being used to protect the village.
"Hiruzen! Stop spacing out!"
Enma's anxious voice came from the Adamantine Staff, interrupting the Third's thoughts.
"That monster