"Uchiha Hikaru..." the Third Raikage said slowly, his voice thick with wariness and unwillingness.
He stared hard at Hikaru, trying to read the truth in his gaze. "You... knew we'd do this from the start?"
Hikaru offered a faint smile, one that carried a hint of inscrutable depth.
"How could I have known ahead of time? I was simply prepared for anything."
That calm, unshaken tone created a subtle pressure over everyone present.
Ōnoki took a deep breath and spoke gravely:
"This conflict was provoked by Konoha. We'll overlook it—for now. But from this moment on, we go our separate ways. No more interference. Agreed?"
Hikaru suddenly laughed aloud. His voice echoed through the air, growing louder and louder.
Ōnoki's expression darkened with shame as if his pride had been publicly trampled.
His fists clenched. Fury surged within him. He stared Hikaru down and roared:
"You little brat, do you think we fear you?! There are more of us—if we join forces, you won't come out unscathed!"
But before the words left his mouth, Ōnoki's pupils contracted.
An overwhelming force descended out of nowhere, freezing him in place.
He struggled, but it felt like chains from the abyss had wrapped around him—tight, unyielding.
Then came the sound—sharp, brittle, chilling—the sound of shattering glass.
He looked down, eyes wide with horror, as his body cracked apart like a mirror.
Time seemed to stop. The air froze. Everyone held their breath, staring in stunned silence.
Ōnoki was shaking, terrified by what was happening to him. His mind swirled with confusion.
He had no idea why this was happening, or what would come next.
Hikaru's smile faded. He gazed at the petrified Tsuchikage and spoke, almost playfully:
"The space around you is already fragmented—what you're seeing is just the beginning."
His tone was light, as if describing the weather.
But those simple words struck Ōnoki like a hammer to the chest. A cold, hopeless dread gripped him.
"This... this can't be..." Ōnoki stammered. He couldn't believe that space itself was being torn apart.
Hikaru didn't answer. He simply raised his right hand, palm up.
A swirling vortex of invisible energy formed above it.
"You... what are you doing?!" Ōnoki gasped, sensing the spiraling force pulling at the world around him.
Hikaru said nothing. He just looked at him—as if watching a leaf about to blow away in the wind.
Then—BOOM—the power exploded.
Ōnoki let out a final scream before he was completely swallowed by the vortex.
The air stood still.
Time itself felt like it stopped moving.
Eyes widened across the battlefield.
Ōnoki—the Tsuchikage, one of the strongest of the Four Kage—was gone.
Not beaten. Not defeated. Gone.
Hikaru calmly lowered his hand. The vortex vanished, as if it had never existed.
He scanned the crowd, his eyes piercing through each heart like a blade.
"You chose to stand against me. You should've known that meant death."
His voice was steady, detached. As if this was nothing out of the ordinary.
"None of you planned to spare Konoha tonight... so I'm sure you were prepared for this outcome."
Not a sound.
No one dared speak.
No one even dared to breathe too loudly.
Hikaru's gaze cut through them all.
"You may submit. Or die."
His tone remained even. "But whichever you choose, you'll pay for what you've done."
"Uchiha Hikaru, don't get cocky!!"
A brawny, thick-faced man from Iwagakure finally snapped, roaring in rage.
"You think you alone can fight all of us?!"
He burst forth with chakra.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Hikaru casually tilted to the side and dodged.
Then raised one hand.
With a simple push of his palm, the man was blasted through the air, slamming into the ground in a painful arc.
He writhed, trying to rise—but his body wouldn't respond.
"That's your strength?" Hikaru said flatly. "If that's all you've got, none of you are walking out alive."
Just as his words fell, the air rang with sharp whistles.
Dozens of figures surged in from all sides, surrounding him.
"Uchiha Hikaru, you're dead today!" came the shout of Yagura from the crowd. "You can't fight us all!"
Hikaru scanned their faces.
There wasn't even a hint of fear in his eyes.
Only amusement.
"You really think numbers matter?"
He closed his eyes.
And when he opened them again—
A terrifying aura burst forth.
In the next instant, his Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan appeared for all to see.
"Let me show you... what true power looks like."
With that, a crushing wave of power enveloped the battlefield.
Everyone froze.
Their bodies wouldn't move, as though invisible chains bound them.
Only now did they understand—why Ōnoki didn't flee.
And then—
The world around them changed.
They looked around, stunned.
They weren't in the battlefield anymore.
"ROOOAAAAARRRR!!!"
A deafening roar shook their souls.
They looked up—
A massive Tailed Beast Ball was already hurtling toward them.
Their eyes went wide.
The last thing they saw...
Was a ten-tailed beast towering at the eye of the storm—its overwhelming chakra raging like a god of destruction.
And then—
They were gone. Obliterated. Erased in an instant.
"Seriously? I just started acting cool, and you already killed them all?"
Hikaru muttered with a hint of irritation, as he smacked the Ten-Tails across the head with Susanoo.