A ferocious thunderbolt raged across the land, aimlessly reshaping the battlefield.
A towering tree, over a hundred meters tall and wide enough for several people to wrap their arms around, snapped like a twig under the lightning's wrath—its fall drowned out by the roar of the storm.
Even the screams of the dying were swallowed by the deafening thunder.
"Is that the true power of Naraku-san...?" Itachi muttered from a distant vantage point, having barely avoided the point of impact. His battle with Shisui was over, but his mind was elsewhere—on the man who had summoned lightning from the heavens.
He wanted to help, but Shisui held him back.
Shisui nodded, then shook his head.
"Even in the most dangerous situations I've faced with Naraku-san on missions... I've never seen him forced to go all out," he said quietly.
"That... was him not holding back?" Itachi stared at the scorched battlefield where the thunderbolt had struck.
In a radius of several kilometers, the land had been leveled by lightning and flame—so powerful that even a combined defense by a dozen elite ninja using the Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique had failed to stop it.
A ridiculous thought crept into Itachi's mind:
Could Naraku be a member of the Uchiha clan?No one outside their bloodline should be capable of controlling fire and lightning with such devastating precision.
Meanwhile, at the center of the destruction, Naraku slowly dispersed the remains of the Kirin.The overwhelming chakra that had filled the air returned to the land.
"That's the last of it," he said softly, casting his gaze across the battlefield to where four shinobi remained standing—barely.
Shinnosuke Sarutobi and three others.
Naraku stood calmly, unmoving, as the survivors stumbled toward him.
"Surround him!" Shinnosuke snarled. His eyes burned with malice and murderous intent.
The three ninja beside him had exhausted themselves breaking free of Naraku's shadow binding technique.
But before they could mount an attack, they witnessed something terrifying.
Naraku, who had just summoned down the wrath of the skies, now looked like a god of thunder walking among mortals.
Those who tried to draw chakra could barely muster enough to move.
"Such talent... such power... such jutsu... Why does it belong to him?" Shinnosuke trembled—not with fear, but with rage and envy.
He hated Naraku.
He hated Kakashi.
He even hated the late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Back when Hatake Sakumo died, Shinnosuke had entered ANBU alongside Minato. But no matter how hard he tried, he was always overshadowed—by Minato's strength, by Kakashi's genius, by Orochimaru's talent.
He had never been qualified to compete for the Hokage title.
"Power like yours should never belong to a slave from the Hyuga branch family!" Shinnosuke shouted.
"If I had your strength... I would've ruled the village!"
His bitter screams echoed across the ruins, and in that moment, he felt strangely relieved—like venting his lifelong frustrations had lifted a weight off his chest.
"I always wondered why you never killed me before," Shinnosuke muttered.
He was an elite jonin. True, he couldn't compare to Sakumo, Minato, or Orochimaru, but surely he posed some threat. So why had Naraku ignored him all this time?
"Do you think you can run away now?" Naraku asked coldly."No. You'll stay and enjoy the end."
Naraku's lips curled into a smile.
"As for becoming Hokage..."He scoffed."If you weren't the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, would anyone even remember your name?"
"Watch your mouth!" Shinnosuke roared, his eyes bloodshot.
He hated being reminded of his lineage.
No matter what he achieved, people only saw him as Hiruzen's son, not a shinobi in his own right.
"You think I can't become Hokage?" he growled.
Naraku tilted his head slightly. He didn't understand what kind of delusion Shinnosuke was caught in.
Was this his fantasy?
"You used such a massive jutsu," Shinnosuke said with a twisted grin. "There's no way you have chakra left."
That was what he truly believed—and why he now dared to confront Naraku.
After all, who could fight dozens of shinobi, use such overwhelming ninjutsu, and still have chakra remaining?
Inside the Hokage Building.
The Third Hokage and his advisors shared the same thought.
"I don't know if Shinnosuke can finish the job, but…" one muttered.
More than a hundred shinobi had gone to face Naraku—only four remained.
"We've paid a steep price," someone said grimly.
"Relax, Hiruzen," Danzo said with false calm."That thunder jutsu looked terrifying, but it was only made possible through the use of natural energy."
"It's not pure chakra—it's nature's power," Danzo insisted."That's why it was so dramatic. But now that his own chakra is gone, he'll have to rely on tricks."
"He must die today. No one can save him now."
The Third Hokage nodded slowly. Danzo's words sounded logical...
Yet a strange unease still churned in his gut.
By the banks of the Naka River...
Shinnosuke stood before Naraku, his expression smug.
"You think this ends with you?" he sneered.
He flashed through a sequence of hand seals.
"I'll send you straight to hell! Fire Style: Inferno Titan!"
A ten-meter-tall blazing giant of fire took form, the ultimate Fire Release of the Sarutobi clan—Shinnosuke's strongest technique.
"Not bad," Naraku said, almost like a teacher grading homework.
Shinnosuke's face twisted in fury.
But then—
A blur of motion.
Naraku moved faster than lightning, piercing straight through the fire giant.
His chakra barrier glowed blue as he burst from the other side—unscathed.
The fire titan shattered like fragile glass.
Shinnosuke's pupils shrank in terror. He stumbled backward, desperate to escape.
Too late.
The cold edge of a blade touched his neck.
Naraku leaned in, his voice like ice:
"Is this the power of someone who wants to be Hokage?"
Shinnosuke trembled so hard he nearly fainted.
BOOM!
The windows of the Hokage building shattered.
The Third Hokage didn't use the door—he launched himself out of the broken frame in a blur of panic.
"Danzo was wrong!" he muttered, heart pounding.
"All that analysis, and not a single part of it was right!"
His face paled like ash as he dashed toward the banks of the Naka River—
Toward the demon his village had failed to kill.