The Hokage Falls! A Massive Loot Explosion!

That slash severed the Death God's arm. Those flames devoured Konoha's Shinobi Hero.

As the golden explosion of flames slowly receded like an ebbing tide, suffocating heat still lingered in the air at the center of the Root Ruins.

"Cough... cough, cough..."

A cough so faint it was almost inaudible came from the scorched ground.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not quite dead yet.

As a Kage Level powerhouse, as the tenacious "Shinobi Hero" who had mastered all five basic nature transformations, he still clung to his last breath, even after Ryūjin Jakka had grievously wounded him and the Reaper Death Seal had ravaged his soul.

But his current state was more miserable than death.

The combat bodysuit that had once symbolized his glory had turned to ash. Much of his aged body had been carbonized, exposing stark white bones. Black death energy kept leaking from the hole in his abdomen where the Death God's arm had passed through.

He lay on the ground, his clouded eyes fixed on the sky.

His vision had already blurred.

But he could still see the unscathed Uchiha boy standing before him, looking down on him like a god.

"Chi... ya..."

A broken, bellows-like sound escaped Hiruzen Sarutobi's throat. His fingers, reduced to bare bone, trembled as he tried to grasp Chiya's trouser leg, as though he still had something to say.

Did he want to speak of the "Will of Fire"? Or say, "Spare Konoha"? Or was it... the stubbornness of someone unwilling to admit defeat even in death?

Chiya lowered his head and looked at the old man who had once been so insufferably arrogant, who had ruled Konoha for decades through political maneuvering and balancing factions.

There was no pity in his eyes, only calm.

The calm of someone who had seen through the world's ugliness and was burying the old era.

"Save your breath, old Third."

Ryūjin Jakka slowly lowered in Chiya's hand, its tip resting over Hiruzen Sarutobi's faintly beating heart.

"The victor rules, the loser falls. That is the eternal truth of the Shinobi World."

"You lost not just because of your strength, but because of your limitations."

"You were too obsessed with the power in your hands. So obsessed that, to preserve it, you willingly sacrificed half the village's strength to suppress the other half."

Chiya applied a little pressure with his wrist, and the blade's tip pierced the fragile skin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's body jerked violently. The light in his eyes began to scatter as fear, regret, resentment... countless emotions tangled in his cloudy old eyes.

He was afraid.

He was truly afraid.

He feared what would become of Konoha after his death. He feared how he would explain himself when he met the First and Second in the Pure Land. More than anything, he feared... that Chiya Uchiha, this madman without any bonds, would truly turn Konoha into hell!

"Chiya... no... don't..."

"Shh."

Chiya interrupted his final words, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Be a decent person in your next life."

"Stay out of politics, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Shhk!

Ryūjin Jakka mercilessly pierced his heart, extinguishing the Third Hokage's last spark of life.

The searing blade released a burst of heat, vaporizing his heart in an instant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's legs kicked violently, then fell limp.

His eyes remained wide open, fixed on Chiya. He died with his eyes unclosed!

At that moment.

Konoha's longest-serving Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, hailed as "the strongest Hokage in history" and celebrated as the "Ninjutsu Professor"-

Was dead!

He died at the hands of an Uchiha whose clan's extermination he had tacitly approved, atop the Root Ruins that had buried countless dark secrets!

The instant Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed his last, the system that had been silent in Chiya's mind for so long finally erupted with celebratory sound effects unlike anything before!

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have killed Konoha's Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi!]

[The slain target has been identified as an individual of exceptionally special status and immense influence!]

[Achievement unlocked: Shadow Slayer! The Shinobi World trembles!]

[Calculating kill points... kill points have exceeded the limit! The system counter has even suffered a brief overflow!]

[Beginning ultimate settlement and plunder!]

Boom!!

A warm surge of energy several times greater than what he had plundered from Danzo instantly flooded Chiya's body. If his previous power had been a stream, this was a river bursting through its banks!

[Ding! Plunder successful! Passive talent acquired: All-Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation!]

(You have perfectly inherited Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of chakra! Fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang! All seven nature transformations have been fully mastered! From now on, no conventional ninjutsu will hold any secrets from you!)

[Ding! Plunder successful! Acquired: Complete Five Basic Nature Transformations (includes memories of every Konoha forbidden technique of S-rank and below)!]

(The Ninjutsu Professor's lifetime of learning! The hand seals, chakra flow, and techniques of thousands of ninjutsu have been instilled instantly!)

[Ding! Plunder successful! Special contract acquired: Summoning Beast, Enma!]

(Enma's will has been detected resisting fiercely. The system has forcibly erased his original contract and converted him into the host's exclusive weapon of slaughter! If he refuses to submit, he will be erased outright!)

[Ding! As the host has fulfilled the prerequisite for "One Man Against a Nation," Ryūjin Jakka's fusion rate has risen significantly! Current progress: 40%!]

Amazing!

So fucking amazing!

Chiya closed his eyes, feeling the earth-shaking changes within his body.

Previously, although he possessed enormous chakra reserves, his understanding of ninjutsu had remained largely limited to the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release.

But now, as the Third Hokage's lifetime of experience poured into him, he felt as though he had undergone a hundred years of training in an instant.

The suppleness of Water Release, the solidity of Earth Release, the speed of Lightning Release, the sharpness of Wind Release...

Chakra of all five natures danced at his fingertips, obeying his every whim as naturally as his own limbs!

"So this is the Ninjutsu Professor's accumulated mastery?"

Chiya opened his eyes. A new depth of wisdom seemed to have appeared within his scarlet Mangekyō.

"His character was rotten, but those abilities really were a rich prize."

He casually waved his hand.

Whoosh!

Without any hand seals, a streak of purple plasma combining lightning and water swept through the air, its power even more terrifying than ordinary S-rank ninjutsu!

And that was merely a casual strike!

Chiya took a deep breath and suppressed the power boiling inside him. He knew this was not yet the time to celebrate.

Countless eyes were still watching him.

Chiya slowly drew Ryūjin Jakka from Hiruzen Sarutobi's corpse, scattering a trail of sparks.

Thud.

With its support gone, the Third's corpse fell heavily into the dust.

That dull impact sounded especially harsh on the deathly silent battlefield.

Chiya turned around.

His movements were slow, yet carried a suffocating pressure.

At the edge of the Root Ruins stood half of Konoha's power.

Hyuga Hiashi, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Akimichi Chōza, Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka... the heads of the major shinobi clans, along with hundreds of fully armed Anbu elites.

Yet at that very moment.

These powerful figures, whose slightest move could normally shake the Shinobi World, stood pale-faced and rigid, as though immobilized by a jutsu.

They stared at the Third Hokage's corpse on the ground, then at the boy standing beside it like a demon god. Their minds went blank.

Dead.

The Hokage... was truly dead.

Right before their eyes, this Uchiha boy had driven a blade through his heart!

"How... how is this possible..."

An Anbu ninja's sword fell from his hand with a clang. At that moment, his faith crumbled.

Hyuga Hiashi had his Byakugan activated, yet dared not look directly at Chiya.

He could see that the chakra inside Chiya had now swelled to a level that filled him with despair. It was no longer merely fire. It was chaos encompassing all things in the universe!

"Shikaku..." Akimichi Chōza swallowed, his voice trembling. "Should we... avenge him?"

Shikaku Nara stared fixedly at Chiya, cold sweat pouring down his forehead like rain.

Avenge him?

How?

Even the strongest, the Third Hokage, had used the Reaper Death Seal, a forbidden technique meant to take his enemy down with him. And what happened? The Death God fled after losing an arm! The Hokage was butchered like a chicken!

Charging in now wouldn't be revenge. It would be suicide! It would mean dragging their clans into annihilation with them!

But if they did nothing, they would be accomplices who had stood by and watched the Hokage be killed! They would be rogue ninja!

There was no way forward or back!

An air of despair spread through the crowd.

Just then, Chiya moved.

He did not immediately begin slaughtering them. Instead, carrying his sword, he walked toward the members of Konoha High Command one step at a time.

Tap, tap, tap.

His footsteps struck the scorched rocks, each one seeming to land on their hearts.

When Chiya was only twenty meters from the crowd, he stopped.

Boom!

The red Susanoo behind him did not fade. Instead, it flared up again, raising its enormous chakra blade high and radiating a pressure that inspired despair.

Chiya's eerie Mangekyō Sharingan swept coldly over everyone present.

Wherever his gaze fell, no one dared meet it. They all lowered their proud heads.

"What? Nothing to say now?"

Chiya broke the silence, his voice as detached as a god's, without the slightest trace of emotion.

"Weren't you just talking about purging your ranks? Weren't you ready to lay down your lives for the Will of Fire?"

"Now that the Hokage is dead, where's your will? Did it go out with him?"

Deathly silence.

No one dared answer.

Whoever dared speak would be the next Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Chiya scoffed, seemingly bored by their cowardice.

He casually thrust Ryūjin Jakka into the ground.

Boom!

A wave of fire exploded outward, forcing everyone half a step back.

"Listen."

Chiya suddenly raised his voice, his tone domineering and beyond question:

"You all know perfectly well what caused everything tonight."

"Danzo wanted to exterminate my entire clan, and the Third tacitly approved and enabled him. We of the Uchiha Clan were merely protecting ourselves, fighting to stay alive."

"Since Konoha High Command was rotten through, we cut away the rot and found a new way to live."

Chiya extended a finger and pointed behind him, toward the bodies of the Third and Danzo.

"The culprits responsible for all of this-Danzo, the Third, and Uchiha Itachi-are already dead."

"I've settled the old era's debts."

Chiya paused, his gaze sharpening as it pierced Shikaku Nara, Hyuga Hiashi, and the others.

"Now, you have only two choices."

"First, inherit Hiruzen Sarutobi's hypocritical Will of Fire and keep fighting me to the death. I can promise you this: after tonight, Konoha won't just lose the Uchiha. There will be no Hyuga, no Ino-Shika-Cho. I'll slaughter every last one of you and leave nothing alive!"

At those words, every clan head shuddered. They knew Chiya could make good on his threat!

"Second."

Chiya spread his arms, and the Susanoo behind him let out a roar.

"Accept reality. Accept the new order."

"The Hokage is dead. Root has been destroyed."

"Konoha is now a blank sheet of paper."

"And from now on... we Uchiha will decide what gets drawn on it!"

This was nothing less than an open declaration of a seizure of power!

Half an hour earlier, it would have been outright treason.

But now, as they looked at the man who could cut down even the Death God, those words sounded so... perfectly natural.

Chiya drew his sword from the ground again. Its tip slowly swept past the crowd before finally settling on Hyuga Hiashi at the very front.

"Now, it's time... for Konoha to have someone new calling the shots."

Chiya raised his chin slightly, assuming the bearing of a victor.

"Who's in favor?"

"Who's opposed?"

Those few simple words weighed on everyone like a mountain, leaving them unable to breathe.

Who was opposed?

Look at that pile of ash on the ground-Danzo-and that charred corpse-the Third.

That was the fate of anyone who opposed him!

Hyuga Hiashi's expression shifted uncertainly.

He thought of the Root scroll Chiya had revealed earlier, of Danzo's plan to seize the Byakugan, and of the Third's indulgence.

This rotten Konoha High Command truly needed purging!

And for the survival of the Hyuga Clan...

Hyuga Hiashi took a deep breath. Under the shocked gazes of all the Anbu, he slowly deactivated his Byakugan and stepped forward.

Then the head of Konoha's foremost clan bowed his head slightly to the young Uchiha.

"The Hyuga Clan... is willing to follow your orders."

The first domino had fallen.

Shikaku Nara followed.

Konoha's strategist gave a bitter smile, seeing the situation clearly. The Third was dead, and Chiya's victory was assured. Further resistance would accomplish nothing but needless casualties.

"The Nara Clan... concurs."

"The Akimichi Clan concurs!"

"The Yamanaka Clan concurs!"

As the clan heads declared their positions one after another, the Anbu Ninja who had been gripping their weapons let their blades fall to the ground with sharp clatters.

Clink, clang.

Watching them submit, Chiya finally wore a satisfied smile.

He put away Ryūjin Jakka, turned, and looked up at the moon overhead, its blood-red hue already beginning to fade.

Dawn was drawing near.

"Very good."

"Since you're all sensible people, this will be easy."

"However..."

Chiya's tone shifted, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

"Before that, clean out the rest of the trash in the village."

"Anbu, heed my orders! Seal off the village! Arrest Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura!"

"It's time those two old bastards joined their old friend in the grave!"