Chapter 89: To Stand in the Clouds
"What you perceive as a loyal member of Konoha… never existed from the very beginning!"
Aizen's words were a final, crushing weight on the Third Hokage's soul, extinguishing the last ember of hope. The carefully constructed image of the humble, promising genin shattered completely, revealing the terrifying void beneath.
The arc of Kyōka Suigetsu, graceful and inevitable as a crescent moon, cut through the air and found its mark in the Third's body. The old Hokage, his life force already being devoured by the Shinigami and his body ravaged by battle, could offer no resistance. He had reached his absolute limit.
In his final moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew his long reign was over. But the village, the great Konoha, would endure. The Will of Fire would continue to burn in the hearts of its shinobi. It was immortal!
"A pity… I could not drag you down with me," he gasped, his voice a faint whisper as his life faded. "Aizen Sōsuke… we will meet again… in the pure world…"
With a final, weary exhalation, the Third Hokage—the man hailed as the Professor, who had led Konoha for decades—closed his eyes for the last time. His story ended not in a blaze of glory against his former student, but in cold, calculated betrayal from the shadows.
Aizen's gaze remained fixed on the fallen Hokage. There was no triumph in his eyes, no malice, not even satisfaction. There was only a profound, unshakeable calm. The moment he had chosen to reveal himself, this outcome had been as certain as the setting sun.
"There was no one standing in the sky from the beginning," he stated, his voice quiet yet carrying an impossible weight. It was a declaration of a fundamental truth, as he saw it.
"Not you, not me, and not even a god."
He took a single, deliberate step forward. As he did, the immense Reiatsu he had been containing—the spiritual pressure that had shattered the barrier and subdued the Sound Four—now erupted outwards in full force. It was a silent, invisible tsunami, a wave of pure, oppressive power that rolled out from the watchtower, washing over the entire Konoha shinobi village.
Every shinobi, every civilian, every living thing within the walls felt a sudden, inexplicable chill. A primal fear, a sense of something immense and alien looking down upon them.
"However," Aizen continued, his eyes looking up, as if seeing a throne far above the chaos and smoke, "the vacant throne in the heavens has been intolerable for long enough."
The pressure intensified, a declaration of intent made not with words, but with sheer, overwhelming presence.
"From this moment forth… I will stand in the clouds."