When the section of forest was finally surrounded by Danzō's Root and the remaining Anbu, Danzō stepped forward.
"How could you let yourself be captured so easily, Hiruzen? Your time as Hokage is over. At last, I will seize power and lead Konoha into a new golden age."
Danzō straightened himself before the gathered ninja and raised his hand.
"Prepare yourselves. Use your strongest ninjutsu and destroy the barrier around this woman."
In the very next moment, a storm of ninjutsu rained down on the barrier from every direction.
But it did not move even once.
Not a single inch.
It stood there like an unshakable wall, as though nothing in this world could ever make it tremble.
Amid the roaring thunder of the attacks, a scream was suddenly heard.
"Ahhh! Ahhh! That monster—!"
Hiruzen was violently thrown out of Naruto's mindscape.
The Uzumaki did not take kindly to betrayal.
For a dead woman, she hit me damn hard.
Artoria was still holding him fast with iron strength, and although he could barely breathe, his hands were free.
Luckily, the damage I suffered inside the seal hadn't carried over to my real body.
Slowly, he began to form the first hand signs of the Shiki Fūjin.
Thank you for letting me get this close to you. I will die for Konoha… together with you.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
Artoria's gaze remained empty.
In her other hand, she held her spear — and with it, she maintained the barrier effortlessly.
"Wait!" Danzō shouted after the first wave of attacks.
His one visible eye narrowed as he recognized the hand signs Hiruzen was forming.
Are you really using that for the good of the village… or only because you hope to die with honor?
Hiruzen struggled for air in Artoria's grip, but his hands did not tremble.
Blood ran down his chin as he completed the final sign.
At that exact moment, a small nine-tailed fox in her cat-like form appeared beside Artoria and looked around wildly.
Kurumi.
Artoria's gaze, which until then had seemed empty and distant, immediately became clear again.
But before she could react, Hiruzen shouted with the last of his strength:
"Shiki Fūjin!"
The air tore open behind him.
A massive, ghostly figure rose up — the God of Death himself.
Its gaze was empty, its presence cold and ancient. The Shinigami reached through Hiruzen's body, its spectral hand shooting forward and closing around Artoria, as though it meant to tear her soul from her by force.
For one heartbeat, even the battle itself seemed to fall silent.
Then Artoria laughed.
Softly.
Almost amused.
"How cute of you," she said, and her voice carried naked mockery. "You are not even a true god."
Her eyes lifted toward the being behind Hiruzen.
"And yet you dare reach for my divine essence."
Kurumi froze.
Her eyes widened when she recognized the figure.
Three years ago, this being had dealt her one of her worst defeats. But what truly terrified her this time was not its appearance.
It was what was hidden within its chakra.
Something familiar.
Something ancient.
Something she knew down to her very core.
"No…" she whispered.
Her voice broke.
"Father…?"
Panic shot through her small body.
"He split me in two… What is your plan, Father? But you chose the wrong target…"
Artoria turned her head only slightly.
"Hey, Kurumi," she said calmly. "Would you take care of the little flies? I think I should stretch my muscles a little."
Kurumi stared at her.
"What?! She wants to stretch her muscles? She said she has only used a spark of her power so far!"
Hiruzen's eyes widened.
"What… what is she doing?!"
Before anyone could react, Artoria flung Hiruzen high into the air with a single motion.
The God of Death still tried to seize her essence.
In vain.
Then Artoria spoke a single word.
And the air began to tremble.
Slowly, Artoria lowered her gaze.
The spear in her hand did not begin to shine — the world around it grew darker.
Chakra fell silent.
The forest, the wind, even the breathing of the assembled shinobi seemed to stop for one single, impossible moment.
What she held was not a weapon.
It was a pillar at the end of all mercy.
Artoria's voice was quiet.
Gentle, even.
But for that very reason, it cut deeper than any roar.
"You wished to witness power," Artoria said softly.
"Then bear witness."
She raised the lance.
"Restraints released."
Her voice did not grow louder.
It grew deeper — until it no longer sounded like the voice of a king, but like the judgment of heaven itself.
"Noble Phantasm—
Rhongomyniad."
The moment the True Name was spoken, the world split open.
The light did not burst from the lance.
It descended through it.
A colossal pillar of white-gold radiance crashed down from the heavens, vast enough to make the entire forest seem tiny, pure enough to make every flame, every jutsu, and every human idea of power appear vulgar and meaningless.
The earth did not explode.
It surrendered.
Barriers collapsed.
Ninjutsu unraveled.
Chakra disintegrated into worthless dust before a higher order.
The Shinigami did not even scream.
He was simply erased.
Hiruzen as well.
And far above them, with a single impossible strike, a massive hole was torn into the moon.
When the light slowly faded, only silence remained.
And at the center of that divine annihilation stood Artoria.
Motionless.
Untouched.
As though she did not wield the light — but merely allowed it to fall through her hand into the world.
No one spoke.
Where orders, explosions, and the thunder of ninjutsu had just filled the forest, there now lay a silence heavier than any scream.
The smell of scorched earth hung in the air.
Above them yawned the impossible hole in the moon.
And before them still stood the same woman.
Motionless.
Flawless.
As though she had not just destroyed everything that had attacked her with a single name.
One of the Anbu let his kunai fall.
The sound of the blade striking the ground rang through the silence with almost obscene loudness.
Then the next one dropped to one knee.
A Root agent staggered half a step backward, as if his body had finally understood what his mind still had no words for.
This was no longer a battle.
Danzō's visible eye twitched.
"Get up," he said sharply. "Why are you hesitating? She is alone!"
But no one moved.
Not a single one.