At the Mizukage's Office Building, the thick mist had already faded, yet dark clouds still pressed heavily over the sky.
Facing the idea of one man resisting hundreds alone, Hōzuki Takitsuki sneered at the calm expression of Konoha's Lightning Flash.
Since you seek death, then die.
His hands rapidly formed seals, and among the countless techniques unleashed, another Water Dragon surged into existence.
Chakra roared violently. More than a hundred combined Ninjutsu crashed forward, converging on the unmoving Hayashi, compressing him at the center. He made no attempt to dodge.
At that moment, there was no escape.
Water Release filled the sky, lightning surged through it, and wind howled fiercely. The three elements fused into a devastating storm that swallowed Hayashi whole.
From afar, it looked like a natural disaster. Up close, the pressure of wind, water, and lightning felt overwhelming, like a stampede shaking the heavens, the noise piercing straight through the ears.
The violent wind whipped against his clothes, making them flutter sharply. Hayashi stood still, arms relaxed at his sides, his expression unchanged.
Yet from his left eye, a thin line of blood slowly slid down his cheek.
Magatsukami.
The Mangekyō Dōjutsu within his left eye activated fully. Its invisible force spread outward, absorbing the chaotic Chakra in the air before twisting the sequence of cause and effect itself.
Then, everything changed.
"What is this?"
A sudden pain struck Takitsuki, forcing his body to react instinctively. He dissolved into liquid using the Hydrification Technique.
Before he could even process what had happened, one of the Kirigakure ninja nearby moved.
He was young, no more than fifteen or sixteen, likely only a Chūnin. His body suddenly gave out, collapsing forward and falling from the rooftop with a dull thud.
That alone was shocking, but it did not end there.
In the next instant, more ninja began to fall.
One after another, like rain striking the ground, Kirigakure ninja dropped from the rooftops.
"It's happening," White Zetsu muttered from the shadows, eyes filled with intrigue.
They were the ones attacking, yet they were the ones falling.
What exactly was the ability of his Mangekyō Sharingan?
After reforming his body, Takitsuki stepped forward and crouched beside one of the fallen ninja.
His heart trembled.
Dead.
How could this be?
"This… makes no sense… it must be Genjutsu."
He disrupted his own Chakra flow, attempting to break the illusion, but nothing changed.
Around him, roughly a third of the ninja remained standing, staring in horror at their fallen comrades.
Over three hundred lives lost in an instant.
Even witnessing it firsthand, it was difficult to accept.
That was not a small number. That was a force capable of wiping out an entire minor nation.
Yet Hayashi had no time to dwell on the result.
Magatsukami functioned by reversing cause and effect. It allowed an opponent's attack to strike themselves, then erased the fact that they had attacked at all.
But like all techniques, it had limits.
It absorbed enemy Ninjutsu and converted it into energy, but only up to a certain threshold. Anything beyond that could not be handled.
If too many attacks came at once, some would still get through.
Hayashi was no god, and this power was not limitless.
A sharp pain pulsed in his left eye.
He raised a hand to cover it, feeling the strain from overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan.
For now, that technique could not be used again.
At that exact moment, the remaining Ninjutsu continued to descend.
Hayashi lifted his gaze slightly.
A burst of blue Chakra erupted around him, forming a skeletal figure in an instant.
It was the first stage of Susanoo.
The translucent ribcage surrounded him, shielding his body.
"I've seen that before…" White Zetsu whispered, recalling Uchiha Madara.
For someone who had only recently awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, mastering this much already was astonishing.
Still, the skeletal Susanoo alone was not enough.
Summoning Jutsu, Triple Rashomon!
With the clash of metal, three massive gates descended from the sky, crashing down between Hayashi and the incoming attacks.
The impact shook the ground violently.
This was the third time he had used this technique today.
A single useful technique was worth more than many unreliable ones.
Moments later, Hayashi dropped to one knee.
The blue Chakra around him faded as the skeletal Susanoo dissolved.
The strain on his eyes and Chakra had reached its limit.
Blood vessels were clearly visible in his eye now.
For the time being, he could no longer rely on his Dōjutsu.
Even so, no one dared to move.
Standing amidst the shattered remains of the Mizukage's Office Building, Hayashi looked like a demon risen from battle.
Who would dare step forward after witnessing that?
Only Takitsuki.
As the head of the Hōzuki Clan, he recognized the power Hayashi had used.
Susanoo.
The same ability once wielded by Uchiha Madara.
And power of that level always came with a cost.
He must be exhausted.
This was the perfect moment to strike.
But before he could act, Hayashi moved first.
Closing the distance in an instant, Hayashi rushed toward him.
Takitsuki raised his hand and fired a concentrated Water Release attack.
"Die!"
Hayashi met his gaze.
Die.
His Sharingan spun.
He did not need Magatsukami this time.
A simple Genjutsu was enough.
In that instant, Takitsuki froze.
Lightning Chakra surged through Hayashi's body as he accelerated forward. His kunai flashed in a precise arc.
The clan leader's head fell cleanly.
Hayashi did not look back at the corpse.
Instead, he formed a reverse summoning seal and vanished from the battlefield.
No one tried to stop him.
No one dared.
The survivors stood frozen, as if death itself had just walked past them.
Was Hayashi someone who enjoyed killing?
No.
To him, killing was simply part of a shinobi's duty.
But if heavy losses could force Kirigakure to end the war sooner, then there was no reason to hesitate.
As for Takitsuki, someone so devoted to his village would only continue fighting.
This outcome was inevitable.
He had completed everything.
He obtained the Byakugan, devastated Kirigakure, triggered chaos, destroyed the Mizukage's headquarters, and wiped out hundreds before leaving.
A flawless mission.
When the reverse summoning ended, Hayashi appeared in Ryūchi Cave.
One of the three great hidden realms, sealed away within a separate space.
Without summoning techniques, it was nearly impossible to reach.
For now, it was the safest place in the world.
Still, he would not stay long.
There were only two paths ahead.
Return to Konoha.
Or head to the Land of Waves battlefield.
After everything he had done, returning to Konoha seemed the wiser choice.
At the very least, he needed to report in.
He only hoped that Hiruzen Sarutobi would not be too shocked.