Shlick. Naruto's kunai slid out from another Sand-nin's neck, blood gushing forth.
He then infused Reiatsu into the departing soul.
The Chunin's soul spasmed.
White mist appeared, forming a mask.
"Another Hollow." Undisguised disappointment flickered in Naruto's eyes. He bypassed the newly formed Hollow and continued his experiments.
"ROAR!" The Hollow bellowed, charging towards nearby shinobi, and another round of slaughter began.
Having finished, Naruto wiped his hands and, with a faint smile, headed towards areas where the fighting was even more intense.
Soon, several more Hollows were born, roaring as they rushed at the ninja, interrupting the battles between Sand and Konoha shinobi to engage in indiscriminate killing.
"Where did these monsters come from?!"
"Damn it, normal shuriken are useless against them!" the ninja cried out in distress.
The Hollows felt no pain, and indeed, seemed to grow fiercer the more they fought. The strength of a single Hollow wasn't vastly different from their own, but their complete fearlessness and willingness to trade blow for blow, life for life, struck terror into everyone's hearts. This prevented the ninja from fighting at their full potential, causing them to steadily lose ground against the Hollows.
While dealing with the Hollows, they also had to watch out for sneak attacks from enemy ninja. It was safe to say they were suffering immensely. A single misstep could mean death.
Throughout Konoha, the number of ninja casualties began to skyrocket. Not only were the Konoha shinobi in dire straits, but even the Sand-nin were struggling. Their numbers were already few, and with the appearance of the Hollows, their losses mounted. Many ninja even considered fleeing.
Despair enveloped Konoha. In their eyes, unknown monsters had invaded the village and begun a large-scale massacre. No one knew where the Hollows came from. No one knew why they had come.
"This monster... it couldn't be a Tailed Beast, could it?"
"It's a monster from hell!"
"Is Konoha going to be destroyed?" For a time, panic spread, and the morale of Konoha's ninja plummeted.
Kakashi and Guy, who had been holding back, quickly noticed the situation. They knew they had to act.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, they appeared near the Hollows.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!" Guy's taijutsu directly shattered a Hollow that was virtually immune to kunai attacks. White mist scattered as the Hollow let out a piercing, agonized roar before dissolving into white smoke and vanishing.
'Its body is tough, but not overwhelmingly strong. That death shriek was a bit strange, though,' Guy mused, already sprinting towards a second Hollow. These Hollows were only Chunin-level, some perhaps even weaker, yet their roars could awaken a primal fear in people's hearts—an eerie howl filled with pure negative emotions. These were definitely not creatures native to the shinobi world.
"Who on earth created these monsters?" While Guy was taking down Hollows, Kakashi, his expression impassive, had already dispatched several himself. His Chidori pierced a Hollow's already empty chest, detonating it from the inside. With a mournful cry, the Hollow was blasted to dust by the lightning. This was followed by a barrage of various ninjutsu: Fire Style ignited them, Wind Style tore gashes across their bodies, and Earth Style techniques were used to envelop and immobilize them.
With Kakashi and Guy joining the fray, the pressure on the Konoha ninja lessened significantly, and they finally managed to organize a proper counterattack. Kakashi and Guy, with their absolute strength, reawakened the fighting spirit of the Konoha shinobi!
"Well now, not bad at all." Naruto took everything in, a confident smile playing on his lips. He moved like a phantom among the ninja, each strike felling another. Subsequently, a Hollow would be born from the soul, causing more chaos.
Naruto watched with a blank expression as the Hollows attacked the ninja, a strange sense of satisfaction welling up within him. To be honest, he really detested ninja.
"Naruto." Inside the seal space, Minato watched his own flesh and blood continuously awaken Hollows, which then reaped the lives of shinobi. This meant Naruto's hands were already stained with the blood of Konoha ninja. In a way, he was already a rogue ninja of Konoha, destined to become its enemy.
Minato murmured in anguish. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed Naruto was still set on walking that blood-soaked path. As a father, all he could do was choose to support him. From this day forward, he truly could have no more ties to Konoha. As this thought settled, amidst his pain, Minato felt a surprising sliver of liberation. His gaze gradually hardened with resolve.
'If Naruto is to become a devil, then I shall accompany him!'
Sarutobi Shin was an ordinary Konoha Chunin. Born into the Sarutobi clan, he was kin to the Hokage and lived a relatively comfortable life. After graduating, he joined the ANBU, and after a dozen years as a shinobi, he was promoted to Chunin.
When the Konoha Crush began, Chunin like him immediately clashed with the Sand-nin. The Sand shinobi, hailing from the desert, suffered from a lack of resources, and their ninja development naturally lagged behind Konoha's. Sand-nin of the same rank were rarely a match for their Konoha counterparts. Coupled with their numerical disadvantage, Shin's battle had been relatively stable and safe.
In the distance, Shukaku was still rampaging, and the Konoha ninja on the very front lines were suffering heavy casualties. This made Shin feel quite fortunate; being born into the Sarutobi clan meant he didn't have to fight on the front lines, which was practically a death sentence. With this in mind, he fought even harder, hoping his actions would support the Hokage.
But soon, a piercing shriek tore through the sky. Shin looked towards the sound and saw a monster, at least two meters tall, wearing a white bone mask and with a deep hole in its chest, reaping ninja lives with its claws. Each swipe could completely shred a shinobi.
"ROAR!" The monster threw its head back and let out a deafening cry, an endless torrent of negative emotions pouring out with it, shaking everyone to their core.
"What is that monster?!" Shin stood frozen, muttering to himself. Hearing that terrifying howl, his limbs turned to ice, goosebumps erupted on his skin, and he even felt the urge to flee.
"Shin, what are you doing?!" A few comrades blocked an enemy attack for him, shouting anxiously. All the ninja were affected by the Hollows, their movements becoming sluggish.
Shin and his comrades seized the enemy's momentary distraction to slit their throats with kunai, finally gaining a moment to look at the Hollows. One had already killed the surrounding Sand-nin and was heading for the Konoha shinobi. Just then, the area erupted in commotion as several more Hollows appeared, attacking the ninja from different directions. Faced with the relentless, pain-immune Hollows, the Konoha ninja faltered, quickly losing ground.
"Use ninjutsu! Use ninjutsu!" Sarutobi Shin immediately rallied his nearby comrades, and they began unleashing Water Projectiles and other techniques at the Hollows.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Ninjutsu exploded against the Hollows, making them shriek in pain, yet their movements only grew fiercer. However, the Konoha ninja had numbers on their side; with each person using one jutsu, they instantly overwhelmed the Hollows.
Not far off, the Sand-nin followed suit, concentrating their ninjutsu fire on the Hollows as well. Under the barrage of countless techniques, some Hollows finally succumbed, dissolving into white smoke.
"It's working! Kill them with ninjutsu!" For the ninja, this was the most effective morale booster. Their spirits soared, and they continued to take down Hollows with their jutsu. For a moment, the Konoha and Sand ninja even observed a temporary truce, minding their own business.
"ROAR!" Under the suppressive fire, one Hollow went berserk. It bit into one of its own kind, absorbing it, and then a terrifying, seething white light began to gather in its mouth. The white light shot out in a straight line—a devastating Cero that tore up rubble and earth, sweeping it along in its path. Wherever it passed, the ground cracked, and all vegetation was obliterated. The Reiatsu coalescing within it radiated an aura of death, making souls tremble and bodies freeze.
"BOOM!" The Cero slammed into a crowd, causing a massive explosion that sent building fragments flying. Flames erupted, and a dense mushroom cloud rose slowly. In an instant, cries of agony filled the air, and severed limbs were strewn everywhere. Black smoke billowed from the once-prosperous Konoha, the buildings beneath it almost entirely reduced to dust. Such power was comparable to an ultra-small-scale Tailed Beast Bomb.
Sarutobi Shin watched in shock, or rather, terror, his limbs feeling like ice. The ninjas' morale plummeted once more.
After the Konoha Crush began, Jiraiya soon found himself facing several giant snakes summoned by Orochimaru. With Jiraiya's own strength, he could have easily annihilated Orochimaru's little toys. However, his desire to protect the villagers restricted his movements, and he also had to deal with sneak attacks from several Sand Jonin.
Truthfully, these weren't the real reasons he couldn't quickly dispatch his opponents. In fact, he was holding back—holding back an ocean's worth. Sage Mode, Kage-level chakra, and outstanding ninjutsu meant he wouldn't falter even against Orochimaru himself, let alone Orochimaru's pets and a few jonin. If he wished, he could have eliminated the enemies in a very short time and then rushed to the arena to support the Third.
But it was precisely because of his dissatisfaction with the Third that Jiraiya focused on protecting the villagers, tending to slack off in battle. As for the Third... if a Hokage died that easily, he wouldn't be Hokage. Jiraiya still had a fair amount of respect for the Third's strength.
After the Konoha Crush began, Jiraiya had also peripherally observed the nearby situation. To his disappointment, Konoha's ANBU had few strong individuals; faced with the sudden Sand-nin assault, the ANBU were actually at a disadvantage.
"Konoha has so few powerhouses left," Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh. He knew Danzo was unlikely to intervene; Danzo probably wished the Third would just die so he could take his place as Hokage. With such internal and external threats, Konoha was likely to suffer grievous wounds this time. In the past, how could mere Sunagakure have pushed Konoha to such a state, or even dared to invade? One could only say Konoha had weakened far too quickly.
Jiraiya was deeply dissatisfied with the Third. If not for the Third and Danzo colluding to suppress others, Konoha's top-tier fighting strength wouldn't have dwindled so rapidly. Sometimes, Jiraiya even wondered if things would improve if the Third died. For him, the Third's disciple, to harbor such treasonous thoughts… what an irony!
The more he thought, the more agitated he became. He directly formed seals and unleashed a highly destructive jutsu: "Toad Oil Flame Bullet!" The flames instantly engulfed a Sand Jonin, snuffing out his life. The remaining Sand Jonin were terrified, never imagining that the Sannin they had been tying down could suddenly unleash such terrifying power. They grew vigilant, but in the face of absolute strength, all caution was futile.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
"Swamp of the Underworld!"
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
"Rasengan!"
Jiraiya first defended against all the jonins' ninjutsu, then used his own techniques to defeat the remaining few one by one, before charging towards the giant snakes.
En route, his peripheral vision caught a Konoha ninja appearing before several Sand-nin, a kunai flashing across their necks. Jiraiya merely thought it was someone finishing them off and didn't dwell on it. He even mused, 'Wonder which Konoha ninja that is? Smart enough to secure the kill quickly.' He had no idea Naruto was inwardly rejoicing. Just as he was vexed about how to experiment with jonin-level souls, these had been delivered right to him.
At the same time, Naruto was also shocked by Jiraiya's true strength. Although these Sand Jonin weren't particularly strong—even Naruto could beat them one-on-one—Jiraiya's ability to incapacitate all of them in such a short time while surrounded was undoubtedly top-tier among Kage-level shinobi. And that wasn't even counting Jiraiya's trump card: Sage Mode!
"Even as a Kage, one must tread carefully," Naruto muttered to himself, frowning. He believed that once he reached the Pure Land, his strength would increase by leaps and bounds. Perhaps then, he wouldn't have to worry even when facing Jiraiya.
With these thoughts, Naruto deftly reaped the lives of the incapacitated jonin with his kunai. Waiting for their souls to emerge, he infused his Reiatsu into them.
"Buzz." As the first soul trembled, billowing white mist appeared once more. Under the influence of Reiatsu, the jonin's soul underwent a drastic change. A white bone mask began to solidify.
"This one's no good either." Naruto's expression remained unchanged as he quickly infused Reiatsu into a second jonin's soul.
"Crack, crack." The soul emitted strange sounds, followed by the same swirling white mist, but this time, no mask appeared.
"Success!" Naruto's heart leaped with joy.
Soon, the soul that had successfully undergone Shinigamification opened its eyes, which were filled with confusion. He only remembered being knocked out by Jiraiya's Rasengan; his next moment of awareness was now.
"Am I dead?" he murmured, looking at his own hands.
"ROAR!" An urgent, angry bellow caught his attention. He looked up and suddenly saw a monster with a white bone mask charging at him. He hastily tried to dodge, but his body felt weak. Before he could react, the Hollow's claws struck him.
"Thwack!" He was sent flying, several slash marks appearing on his body.
"What is this monster?!" The Shinigamified jonin began to form hand seals, only to realize with a shock that the chakra within him felt different from the chakra he remembered.
"Earth Style: Earth Projectiles!" Nevertheless, he successfully completed the seals and unleashed the ninjutsu.