"You bastard… even now, you're still trying to threaten my Minato?!"
With a sharp whoosh, Kushina shot forward and drove her right fist straight at him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had intended to defend himself, but the Rinnegan in Namikaze Kirito's eyes flashed faintly.
In an instant, Hiruzen lost the ability to resist.
His entire body froze in place. Only his eyes could still move as he watched the fist rushing toward him.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, Hiruzen was blasted backward and slammed into the nearby wall, cracks spreading across it at once.
Kushina's punch was no joke.
She had always been close to Tsunade, and although she had not fully mastered Tsunade's chakra-enhanced strength, she had still learned enough to use it in battle.
That was her confidence.
She was never just a kunoichi who only knew sealing jutsu.
"Cough… cough…"
Only after crashing into the wall did the restraint on his body finally disappear. Hiruzen slowly raised a hand and touched his aged cheek.
There was no need to guess.
It was already swollen badly, one side visibly higher than the other.
Then he looked at Kushina and Minato with a faint, guilty expression.
"I'm sorry, Kushina. Minato. This is all my fault. If that one punch still isn't enough to calm your anger… then kill me."
Hearing that, Jiraiya hurriedly spoke.
"Minato, Kushina, you can't do that. If you really kill him here, the future may change in ways none of us can predict!"
"Jiraiya, don't stop them."
Hiruzen lowered his gaze and spoke in a weary voice.
"No matter what happens, Kirito will resolve it."
As he said that, he closed his eyes, looking as though he had accepted his fate.
For a moment, Minato and Kushina could only stand there in silence, their expressions conflicted.
Logically, after seeing everything in those visions, they should have killed Hiruzen without hesitation.
But what he said was true.
Those things had not happened yet.
And with the way he was speaking now, it almost seemed as though he had truly repented.
Shouldn't he be given one chance?
"...Heh."
Seeing the expression on Hiruzen's face, Kirito let out a cold sneer.
"What an old fox."
"Now that you've reached a dead end, you're trying to take advantage of my parents' sympathy… and Jiraiya's too?"
Hiruzen was visibly startled, but he still forced a regretful look onto his face.
"Kirito… if that's how you see it, then you may be right. Since you don't believe me, do it. Even if I go to the Pure Land, I'll still pray for your blessing."
"Oh?"
Kirito's smile turned colder.
"Then make sure you remember those words."
"…"
The moment Kirito started walking toward Hiruzen, Jiraiya instinctively moved to stop him—
Only to realize he could no longer move.
The pressure of the Rinnegan, combined with Conqueror's Haki, was enough to completely pin someone in place with only a small release of power.
It was the same method Kirito had used just moments ago when Kushina struck Hiruzen.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
As Kirito drew closer, the anxiety and fear in Hiruzen's heart grew stronger and stronger.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
Shouldn't they have hesitated?
Shouldn't they have chosen forgiveness and let history continue on its original course?
Why was this happening?
If he died here, history would really change.
Was Kirito truly willing to do it?
Was he not afraid of the consequences at all?
Before Hiruzen could sort through those thoughts, Kirito had already stopped in front of him.
He slowly stretched out one hand and brought it toward Hiruzen's head.
"You said it yourself."
"You wanted to atone with your life."
"If I don't kill you now, wouldn't I be disrespecting your resolve?"
"Kirito, stop!"
Minato finally shouted.
"You can't change history!"
Minato was not trying to protect Hiruzen.
He was worried about his son.
No one knew what might happen if history was altered.
Kirito turned his head and gave his parents a calm, reassuring smile.
"Don't worry."
"I'll explain it to you later. Even if I kill him here, it won't change the so-called history."
"W-Wait… wait a moment!"
Seeing the faint aura of power gathering in Kirito's outstretched hand, Hiruzen immediately understood—
Kirito truly intended to kill him.
If he remained silent now, he would never get another chance to speak.
"Kirito!"
"You said history won't change, didn't you? Then let's do this another way!"
"Let's change Konoha together! Under your watch, I'll make Konoha right!"
"Right now, I'm still the respected Third Hokage. If you kill me here, Minato won't be able to explain it to the villagers!"
Hiruzen had seen everything in the illusion world moments earlier.
Of course he knew what mattered most to Kirito.
The only thing that could influence Kirito's decisions was his family.
And no one treasured family more than Kirito did.
To protect them, he was even willing to unify the entire shinobi world, all so that no danger could ever threaten them again.
That kind of love had already crossed into obsession.
Even the intense, twisted love the Uchiha were known for was not necessarily greater than that.
"Using people's weakness to keep yourself alive…"
Kirito's gaze turned ice-cold.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, no matter what era it is, you really are disgusting."
He ignored every word Hiruzen said.
His hand continued moving toward Hiruzen's head.
"You brat!"
Seeing that Kirito was truly determined to kill him, Hiruzen finally tore away all pretenses.
"If you insist on killing me, then for the safety of the village, I will eliminate you as a threat first!"
With all his strength, Hiruzen forced his hands into a seal.
"Thi—!"
The moment everyone present saw the hand sign, their expressions changed.
They all recognized that jutsu.
The Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Hiruzen intended to drag Kirito down with him.
Seeing that, Minato and Kushina both rushed forward at once, trying to stop him—
But a gentle force suddenly appeared and froze them in place.
Kirito, who now stood at the perfect Six Paths level, also wanted to see for himself whether this so-called Shinigami could really take his soul.
Because the one manipulating the shinobi world from the shadows carried an aura eerily similar to that of the Shinigami.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of existence this Shinigami truly was.
…
As Hiruzen completed the seal, a transparent and terrifying Shinigami descended onto the battlefield.
"Ahem… Namikaze Kirito…"
Even now, Hiruzen forced out a twisted smile.
"Your greatest mistake… was letting me complete this seal."
"In that illusion world just now, you saw it too. Even a tailed beast cannot escape the Shinigami's judgment."
"Come with me… into the Shinigami's belly!"
As he spoke, he tried to command the Shinigami to seize Kirito's soul—
But in the very next moment, his expression froze.
The Shinigami… was not moving according to his will.
How could this be?
Hiruzen quickly looked back.
The Shinigami's face was still as ferocious as ever, but its eerie eyes were fixed completely on Kirito.
And for some reason, Hiruzen felt something impossible from that terrifying being.
An emotion.
Fear.
'Impossible.'
Hiruzen stared at the Shinigami in disbelief.
By all logic, the Shinigami should not possess self-awareness.
It was only supposed to be the form invoked by the sealing jutsu.
So what was this fear?
Why was even the Shinigami… reacting to Kirito like this?
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 200 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.