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As soon as their last hope failed, everyone knew it was over.
Everything was over...
They had risked the future of the shinobi world on capturing the Tailed Beasts, but that plan fell apart with Matatabi's death and the Sage of Six Paths stepping in.
Now, they could only face the harsh results of their choices.
"Master, I won't disturb you any longer. I'll be leaving now."
The Shinigami gave a quick bow in farewell. Before it even finished speaking, its cold presence faded as it slipped back into the void, clearly wanting to leave as fast as possible.
The sudden change left the whole Eight-Clan Alliance in shock. Thousands of shinobi stood frozen, their faces showing disbelief and despair. The Uzumaki looked the most shaken, their faces pale as the truth hit them.
The Reaper Death Seal, the forbidden technique their clan had always seen as their greatest weapon, was never truly theirs. The Sage of Six Paths, now standing before them, was its real creator.
Their final hope was a power given by the very man they wanted to defeat. How could it ever work against its own creator?
"Shinigami! You can't leave!" the Uzumaki clan leader cried, watching the phantom figure disappear. "I can't bear to part with you! What am I supposed to do without you??"
The Shinigami's face grew darker.
As if I give a damn about you...
With the Shinigami fleeing and the alliance's morale collapsing, the Shimura clan leader finally snapped.
"Damn it! None of these people can be trusted. I'll have to do this myself!"
He had always been ruthless and ready for battle. With no way to escape, he put everything into one last attack. He gripped his kunai, sent chakra through his legs, and shot toward Manji like an arrow.
"Today, I'll challenge God himself!"
The Shimura leader roared as he poured every bit of chakra he had for his attack.
Manji did not even look at him.
A hidden force burst out from Manji. As soon as the Shimura leader got close, it hit him with a powerful push.
A dull explosion followed as his body exploded into a cloud of blood before he could get close. Nothing was left of him.
"THE SHIMURA CLAN LEADER IS DEAD!"
Someone's terrified scream tore through the battlefield.
The alliance shinobi had been trying to prepare for a last stand, but watching a clan leader being wiped out so easily crushed their courage. Fear spread, and their formation quickly fell apart.
"RUN! The Shimura leader is dead!"
Panic swept through the ranks. Shinobi left their comrades behind and ran in all directions, only thinking about getting as far from the Sage as possible.
..............
At the front of the army, Uchiha Gen and Senju Shima stared at the blood mist, feeling a chill run through them. They were as strong as the Shimura leader, but if they fought back, they would die just as easily.
What choice did they have but to run?
"Everyone, scatter! Run in different directions!" Shima shouted, trying to organize a mass retreat.
He turned around and stopped in his tracks.
The leaders of the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans had already disappeared while everyone was distracted. The three Ino-Shika-Cho clan heads had left their people behind and escaped through a hidden path.
"What the hell?? Where did our clan leaders go?"
"Those backstabbing bastards ditched us and ran!"
"Stop shoving me! If you want to live, quit pushing!"
"Run! My leg! Who stepped on my leg??"
The battlefield descended into chaos. Screams, curses, and cries of pain blended together as thousands of shinobi shoved and trampled one another in their desperation to escape. Nothing remained of the imposing Eight-Clan Alliance except a frightened mob fleeing for its life.
They were just a scattered crowd now. Nothing more.
"Teacher, they're getting away!" Shukaku shouted from behind Manji. "They'll scatter completely if you let them keep running!"
Manji stood still, his face cold and his eyes empty. Behind him, black Truth-Seeking Orbs kept appearing, one after another.
One. Ten... A hundred!
Soon, over a hundred Truth-Seeking Orbs floated behind him, filling the sky like black stars. Each one could destroy anything it touched, and their power made the fleeing shinobi feel like death itself had come to the battlefield.
Then Manji vanished.
He moved so fast that he left no trace behind. In the next moment, he was ten thousand meters above the ground, his robes whipping in the strong wind as over a hundred Truth-Seeking Orbs circled him.
The Tenseigan on his forehead opened, blazing with pale blue light.
The light grew stronger until it formed a beam as wide as a mountain. Suddenly, it shot from the eye and fell on the fleeing alliance like a judgment from above.
Blinding white light swallowed the world.
The shinobi below, the shattered earth, and the remains of the battlefield all vanished within the brilliance, their outlines erased by the overwhelming glare.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
A thunderous explosion shook the world. The blast spread out from where it hit, warping the air as it tore through the battlefield.
The fleeing shinobi had no time to scream or evade. The light reached them first, consuming their bodies before they could take another step.
Uchiha Gen, Senju Shima, the Uzumaki clan leader, the Sarutobi clan leader, and more than ten thousand shinobi from the Eight-Clan Alliance disappeared beneath the Tenseigan's judgment.
Rank, strength, and distance made no difference.
Not one of them could resist.
There wasn't even ash left behind.
Just moments before, the battlefield was full of frantic footsteps and desperate cries. Now, it was silent. Only fading waves of energy moved over the ruined ground.
Manji hovered above it all, more than a hundred Truth-Seeking Orbs circling his body. His Rinnegan turned as he reached beyond the physical world and seized the souls of the fallen alliance shinobi.
Over ten thousand souls rose from the battlefield and were pulled into the Totsuka Blade.
Manji watched them disappear into the sword, his voice colder than the empty sky.
"I won't let any of you die that easily."
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