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Izuna quickly arrives at the sacrificial altar. He throws a cursory glance at the altar and then turns his attention toward an unconscious Naruto and Sasuke.

There are several cracks in the protective barrier around them and it is barely holding out.

Izuna disperses the barrier and checks up on the duo.

"Sasuke has exhausted his chakra and Naruto has passed out from the backlash of the negative emotion sensing technique of Kurama. Other than that, they have some minor injuries which will heal in no time."

Swish… swish…

"Summoning Jutsu: Katsuyu"

Poof…

A white slug with a blue striped line appears in front of Izuna.

"Izuna-kun!"

"Lady Katsuyu! Take these two to safety and help me treat the rest of the villagers and shinobis. Also, Lady Tsunade's disciple is with them."

Katsuyu raises her antler and glances at the giant eye in the rift. She shivers at the sight of that frightening chakra oozing out from the centurion.

"Izuna-kun, take care!"

"Don't worry, Lady Katsuyu, I don't have any plan to die yet."

Izuna smiles at her and waves his hand as he mutters to himself.

'I might really die this time.'

He stares at the state of his body.

'Due to the influence of this negative chakra, the detriment of my chakra system has accelerated. Perhaps this will be my last fight.'

Izuna tightly clutches his fist.

'But somehow, I have a gut feeling that not only will I find a cure, but I will also get stronger if I survive this battle.'

Izuna closes his eyes and listens to the mysterious notes humming inside his mind.

'This must be the sound pattern for Saezuri to unleash the Ama no Hoko. But why does it feel like I have heard it before?'

Haah…

He shakes his head and opens his eyes, and glares at the giant eye in the sky.

'Since you want to desperately free yourself from this prison, I will lend you a hand.'

Izuna steadily walks on top of the reverse pentagon seal.

Bang…

He stomps on the ground and destroys the floor underneath to reveal a hidden alcove. There is an odd-looking device in the alcove.

Wham… wham…

The sound rods in Izuna's pocket fly on their own. The device also floats out of the alcove.

Clank… clank… clank…

Izuna grabs the rods and slots them in the keyholes. A futuristic panel appears on top of the ancient device. Izuna hums the melody sung by Miina and presses on the device accordingly.

Haa… Humm… Hoo… Haa…

The rhythm of the song echoes throughout the hole as the musical note enchants almost everyone.

Outside the barrier, Dokku and the rest of the villagers hear the melody of Ama no Hoko.

"That's the… that's the melody Miina usually hums." Leo instantly points it out.

All the villagers silently stare at an unconscious Miina.

"So, the legends are true. Our ancestors were the guardians of the HOLE."

Ausma and Kurenai stare at each other and shake their head.

"We must do what can we do in our power to fulfill our part of the responsibility." Kurenai sighs helplessly.

"The old man was right! Even if the sky falls one day, there will be someone to hold it for us." He lights up a cigarette.

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Inside the barrier,

Kakashi, Guy, Shisui, and Itachi's combined effort easily subdues the demonized Disonasu. Itachi summons the Totsuka blade and pierces it through Disonasu to seal him in a gourd.

Kakashi stares at the giant rift in the sky.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

He turns towards Shisui and Itachi.

"I feel like Izuna is going to do something reckless again!"

Shisui and Itachi stare at each other and nod.

"We both also have this jittery feeling since the moment Izuna Nii-san appeared. Let's go and help him. We might not be able to help much, but at least we won't become a burden like last time."

All of them recall the previous encounter with Urashiki and Isshiki.

"We have grown a lot stronger since then!" Shisui clutches his fist.

"Let's go!"

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Back at the Ama no Hoko.

Saezuri continues to produce the musical notes and slowly molds them into different shapes.

Bam… bam…

The mind-controlled demon who is hammering the seal around the rift pauses in its action. It slowly turns its head towards Izuna and growls.

Whoosh…

The demon lunges at Izuna as its entire body gets coated with the negative chakra.

"So, you sensed my intention!"

Izuna calmly raises his head and stares at the gigantic eye in the rift.

"Yes, I don't have any intention of resealing you; I will kill you and end it for once and for all."

SUSANOO!!

Izuna roars as a large amount of chakra pours out of his body to form gold and silver Susanoo. There is a gigantic black shield on Susanoo's back.

Whoosh…

The Susanoo stretches out his left palm. Five complete truth-seeking orbs appear on its fingertips. The Susanoo clenches its fist as the truth-seeing orbs fuse to form a blade.

'Sword of Nunoboko,'

The Susanoo wields a large, double-helix-shaped great sword.

"For the first time in my life, I will go all out!"

He swings the sword towards the rapidly approaching demon.

"Annihilation Release: Absolute Severance,"

All five types of elemental chakra condense on the tip of the Nunoboko blade. The elemental chakra harmonizes in such a destructive way that any sort of imbalance might trigger a collapse in their form.

*BOOOMMM*

An ear-piercing, deafening explosion occurs at the tip of the Nunoboko blade as the condensed sword light forcefully pushes the air in its vicinity to create a vacuum.

The surrounding air compresses in a cone and blows backward like a powerful stream of jet, blowing everything to dust in its immediate surrounding.

The beam of sword light rapidly approaches the demon and drowns it in its radiance, annihilating it in the process.

*BANG*

The annihilation beam hits the crimson barrier around the HOLE.

Crack… crack…

With a sound like the shattering of glass, numerous cracks appear all over the barrier as it is almost on the verge of collapsing.

Huff… huff…

Izuna breathes heavily as he stares at the aftereffects of his jutsu.

"Huff… huff… so this is the power of an offensive Kekkai Mora. If the power of a Kekkai Shi is vastly spread out, then the power of a Kekkai Mora is extremely condensed. Condensed to the point that it can distort the very reality and matter."

Izuna stares at the aftermath of the jutsu.

There are numerous chaotic space fragments in the wake of the impact. The annihilation beam has left a ravine of plasma in its path. Harmful radiation continues to leak out from the surroundings as nearby plants and other microscopic lifeforms wither and die.

"The demon and the barrier absorbed ninety-nine percent of the force of the jutsu, otherwise the situation might be even worse."

Izuna shakes his head and stares at the Nunoboko sword in his hands. There are multiple cracks in it.

"If truth-seeking balls are a utility type jutsu, then my annihilation release is a pure destruction type jutsu. After all, destruction is much easier than creation."

Izuna shakes his head in dismay.

"Kaguya was something else to create a powerful utility type Kekkai Mora, like Truth seeking balls. Later, Hagoromo, Hamura, and their descendants received it as an heirloom. However, for me… How could I be content with just the truth-seeking ball? I won't be a true sage if I didn't create my own Kekkai Mora. Besides, Kaguya took centuries, whereas it only took me ten years."

Sparks appear in between Izuna's fingers as the five elemental chakras perfectly synchronize with each other in harmony.

"There are still flaws in it. It's the reason I had to use truth-seeking orbs to stabilize it. Once perfected, it would be a grade above the truth-seeking balls. Still, if I use it at full power, I can easily cleave the entire shinobi world in half."

The previous attack wasn't a gamble. He consulted Genryū about the strength of the crimson barrier. Only after getting his confirmation did he release this jutsu?

Whoosh…

A fierce wind blows towards the vacuum created by the previous jutsu. Kakashi, Guy, Shisui, and Itachi are almost blown away by the winds.

Shisui and Itachi summon their Susanoo to shield Kakashi and Guy from the strong winds.

"This jutsu…"

Kakashi and Guy stare at each other with trepidation.

"This monster had long left us in the dust. We could only chase his footprints on the sand. But now, not even footprints are visible."

Both of them shake their head and give up any hope of catching up to Izuna.

"At least, he was never our target to surpass!"

Kakashi heaves a sigh of relief.

"With him around, Konoha will be safe from all sorts of otherworldly threats lurking in the dark."