"In front of my Body of Light, striking me is the same as striking yourself…"
Watching the descending blade, Uchiha Kai curled his lips slightly.
He could see it clearly.
Behind the Third Hokage, the newly descended Shinigami projection had already swung its dagger.
The blade had become a cold afterimage racing straight toward him.
Where the edge pointed—
Space itself froze.
A wave of deathly aura surged toward his mind.
If this strike landed—
His soul would be dragged away instantly.
But at the exact moment the blade touched the loose strands of hair on Kai's forehead—
He suddenly looked up.
First toward the Shinigami summoned by the Third Hokage.
Then he turned back toward the fading Shinigami trapped behind him.
A mocking smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
HUM—
The faint golden particles surrounding his body began flowing like streams of light.
They seeped into every pore of his body.
Forming a honeycomb-like membrane of shimmering sunlight.
That smile—
That ridicule—
Made the bound Shinigami's hollow chest tighten.
The joy it had just shown vanished instantly.
Then it realized something.
Light transformation.
The human could turn into sunlight.
If he transformed now—
Then where would the blade fall?
The answer was obvious.
CLANK!
"ROOOOAR!!"
The bound Shinigami began struggling violently.
But the chains held it firmly.
It could not move.
Unable to escape—
It desperately signaled the other Shinigami.
Across from them, the Shinigami summoned by the Third Hokage saw everything clearly.
It silently nodded.
Then—
It swung its blade even faster.
Since its fellow Shinigami was urging it forward, the newcomer could not afford to lose face.
And then—
It saw the human below suddenly dissolve.
Like dust scattered in sunlight.
His body became transparent.
One with the light.
The dagger sliced downward.
It met no resistance at all.
The freezing death aura passed directly through Kai's body—
And landed squarely on the fading Shinigami behind him.
"ROOOOAR?!"
Ghostly flames flickered wildly in the fading Shinigami's eye sockets.
The emotion was unmistakable.
The rage of encountering a terrible teammate at work.
The cursed chains—
It couldn't break them.
Which meant—
This friendly-fire attack was unavoidable.
All it could do was watch helplessly as the blade fell.
SPLASH!
The black dagger covered in sealing talismans plunged directly into the Shinigami's chest.
No explosion followed.
Only a sharp sizzling sound—
Like red-hot iron plunged into freezing water.
Two forces of death—
Born from the same origin yet fundamentally different—
Collided violently within the fading Shinigami's body.
One smooth and flowing.
The other chaotic and violent.
"Ghh… ROOOOAR!"
For the first time, the fading Shinigami's voice became clear.
No longer arrogant.
No longer dismissive.
Only pure anger remained.
Anger at a useless teammate.
CRACK…
The ghostly light on its body flickered erratically.
Its gray-black skin and loose robes began peeling away—
Like crumbling plaster from an old wall.
Now!
Kai reacted instantly.
CLANK!
With a powerful pull of both hands—
The chain snapped tight.
And in the next instant—
He ripped the Shinigami's arm off.
The collision between two Shinigami projections caused the entire sky above Konoha to fall silent.
Below them—
"PUH!"
Hashirama's Edo Tensei body suddenly trembled as he struggled to maintain the True Several Thousand Hands against the death vortex.
"Tobirama!"
Tobirama's face turned even colder as he glared at the Third Hokage.
Disappointment filled his eyes.
"Look what you've done."
Hearing that, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned pale.
He couldn't say a word.
He wanted to explain—
The connection had already been severed.
But…
He had indeed briefly considered sealing both targets at once.
Behind him, the newly summoned Shinigami also froze.
It looked down at the dagger it had thrust forward.
The ghostly fire in its hollow eye sockets flickered twice.
As if its rules had entered a moment of confusion.
Then—
It slowly looked around the battlefield.
And suddenly dropped the dagger.
CLANG.
The blade landed at the Third Hokage's feet.
The Shinigami stood there silently in the air.
As if saying:
This was the human's idea. Not mine.
"Oh?"
Still in his light-transformed state, Kai raised an eyebrow.
His lips curved with amused excitement.
He jerked his chin toward the fading Shinigami.
"Your coworker… is he an intern or something?"
Instead of retreating, Kai stepped closer.
Standing in the air, he carefully observed the chaotic point within the fading Shinigami's chest.
Something strange was emanating from there.
A disturbing aura—
Yet strangely comforting.
SIZZLE.
SIZZLE SIZZLE.
Soon, right before his eyes—
A tiny black point appeared at the center of the Shinigami's chest.
No larger than the tip of a needle.
Then—
It began spinning.
Rapidly devouring everything around it.
BOOOOM!
The aura inside that black vortex was far more terrifying than the death vortex above.
Colder.
Deeper.
More ancient.
Even at the size of a basketball—
Its suction force became overwhelming.
Above them, the massive death vortex that had nearly devoured the Hokage Tower began collapsing.
It was dragged downward.
WHOOSH!
The good news—
The death vortex disappeared.
The bad news—
A far more terrifying black vortex had been born.
CRACK.
The remaining pillars of the Hokage Tower could no longer withstand the pull.
They were sucked in instantly.
Broken stones.
Charred wood.
Even several corpses—
All vanished into the vortex.
Total chaos.
The collision of death laws had unexpectedly torn open a spatial tunnel.
In the blink of an eye, the tiny black point expanded into a grinding-stone-sized vortex.
BOOM!
From its center seeped a vast and ancient aura.
A terrifying presence filled with endless death and sinking despair.
When Kai felt it—
His heart skipped a beat.
A thought flashed through his mind.
This…
Is the aura of the Pure Land?
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