Hokage Tower.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked as though he had aged ten years in a single breath. His wrinkled face tightened, and his hands rose unconsciously to clutch at his graying hair. Even the pipe that had fallen to the floor went unnoticed as he stared at the sky in shock.
"Uchiha Sasuke... he... he actually forced that brute of a Raikage to back down all by himself?" he muttered, his voice thick with disbelief and a faint, involuntary fear.
He knew A's temper and strength better than most. The Raikage was the kind of man who trusted fists more than words, a violent storm in human form. To suppress the anger of someone like that, there could only be one explanation—an overwhelming difference in power.
Could it be... that Sasuke had already reached the same realm as the First Hokage? Or Madara Uchiha?
The thought sent a cold shiver through Hiruzen's spine. He could not understand how a lone Uchiha orphan could grow to such terrifying heights in only ten years. In the end, the only answer he could force out of himself was the same one that had haunted Konoha for generations.
"The Uchiha bloodline... truly is terrifying."
Then his expression changed abruptly.
"Not good."
He muttered the curse under his breath and barked an order toward the empty corner of the office. At once, the air seemed to tighten.
"Increase the covert protection around Uchiha Sasuke immediately. Highest level alert. No one—especially anyone from Root—is to get anywhere near him."
Though he had already disbanded Root, Hiruzen understood Shimura Danzo far too well. That old classmate's obsession, suspicion, and methods had never truly disappeared. Sasuke's sudden brilliance had shoved the boy onto the edge of the most dangerous cliff imaginable.
***
The streets of Konoha, the Ninja Academy.
The entire village had exploded into chaos.
"Sasuke-kun... future Sasuke-kun is so cool!"
"Even the Raikage had to show him respect!"
"Does that mean Konoha's future depends on Sasuke-kun?"
Exclamations and praise rose from every direction like waves. In the Academy especially, the girls who had always adored the aloof Uchiha genius were now practically glowing. Their eyes shone with admiration, infatuation, and something close to worship, as if they could already see the silhouette of Konoha's future guardian standing in the sky.
Only one person reacted in a completely different way.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Naruto pointed at the screen overhead and shouted at the top of his lungs, his face twisted with jealousy and indignation. "That arrogant Sasuke! How could he possibly get that strong? I'm the one who's supposed to stand there! I'm the one who's going to become Hokage!"
At the center of the uproar, Uchiha Sasuke himself was also shaken to the core.
When he saw the future version of himself standing there—calm, cold, powerful enough to steady the Five Kage with a few simple words—his heart nearly slammed out of his chest. For a brief instant, he almost failed to maintain his usual expression.
And then a blazing ecstasy surged through him like molten lava.
So this is how strong I become... this is my future...
His whole body trembled with excitement. If he could become that strong, then there was only one possible answer. Itachi Uchiha had to be dead. His revenge had to be complete.
The thought lit every vein in his body on fire.
His shock transformed instantly into a fiercer hatred and an even more desperate hunger for strength. He clenched his fists so tightly his nails bit into his palms, yet he did not loosen them. Instead, he stared up at the image in the sky, as if drawing power directly from the man he would one day become.
***
In the heavens, the Five Kage Summit finally moved forward.
Thanks to the turning point created by Uchiha Sasuke, the gathering had at last put aside old grievances and reached a fragile consensus. An unprecedented ninja alliance was formed to confront the looming catastrophe together.
As the summit came to an end, the atmosphere in the hall eased ever so slightly. Even the tension that had nearly torn the place apart began to loosen.
And then the sudden change came.
"Susanoo!"
Without any warning, Sasuke—who had been standing behind Tsunade—let out a sharp, low cry. At the same time, the pattern in his eyes shifted into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
A gigantic purple skeleton made of chakra burst into existence around the Five Kage and their bodyguards. It rose like the frame of a fortress, vast and solid, wrapping all of them inside its protection in the span of a heartbeat.
Almost at the same instant that Susanoo took shape—
BOOM!
A massive sphere of energy crashed down from the sky like a meteor. Its diameter was impossible to judge, and the destructive power contained within it was enough to make every watcher instinctively stop breathing. With terrifying precision and a speed beyond human reaction, it slammed directly into the Five Kage Summit building.
A deafening explosion shook the heavens. Blinding white light swallowed everything.
The sturdy conference building vanished in that instant. So did a wide stretch of the structures surrounding it. When the explosion subsided, all that remained was an enormous crater choked with smoke and heat, the ground itself scorched black as though heaven had dropped a sun upon it.
Even through the distant screen, the shockwave seemed to carry enough force to tear apart the world below it.
As the violent energy slowly dissipated, the purple Susanoo began to crumble and fade.
The survivors stood inside the ruin pale-faced, breathing hard, every one of them visibly shaken.
"Damn it! It's him!"
The Fourth Raikage, A, was the first to roar. Lightning crackled around his body as he glared into the sky with murderous fury.
Everyone's gaze followed his.
High above the crater, a single figure hovered soundlessly in midair.
He wore a uniquely cut white robe that looked almost divine beneath the light. Brilliant golden hair shifted in the lingering blast wind. But what unsettled people most was not his appearance—it was the cold, emotionless smile on his face, and the oppressive aura pouring off him, as though some god had descended only to look down on mortals from on high.
When that face was displayed clearly before the entire ninja world, time itself seemed to freeze.
Thud.
In the Hokage's office, all strength seemed to drain out of Hiruzen Sarutobi at once. He staggered back a step, then collapsed heavily into his chair. His face was pale as paper, his lips trembled, and yet no sound came out.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who had appeared beside him at some point, were no better. Their faces had gone just as white, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.
"No... impossible... how could it be..."
In the darkness of Konoha, even Shimura Danzo's single exposed eye widened with horror. Sasuke's future was already enough to twist his sense of reality. But this newcomer... this existence... was something else altogether.
"That... was the Rasengan?"
Far away, Jiraiya's usual looseness vanished without a trace. All that remained on his face was an unprecedented solemnity. He did not know the man in the sky, but something deep inside him stirred with certainty.
This person... was related to his future disciple.
"Huh? This guy..."
Outside the Akatsuki base, even the gathered members of the organization stared upward in shock. Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan contracted ever so slightly.
Not Pain?
Across the entire ninja world, countless people felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around their hearts the moment they saw that face. The name rose up from the deepest corners of their minds almost against their will.
The Destroyer of Worlds.
***
Konoha, the Ninja Academy.
"Whoa! Whoa... that's an awesome jutsu!"
Naruto Uzumaki gaped at the destructive sphere on the screen and at the golden-haired figure floating in the air, amazement blazing nakedly across his face.
Then he scratched his messy blond hair, confusion suddenly slipping into his expression.
"Weird... why does this guy... kinda look familiar?"
The moment the words left his mouth, silence dropped all around him.