"Sealing Art: Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice cut through the darkness, heavy with unshakable resolve.
Yui Xuanyue's eyes gleamed. Finally.
Orochimaru's gaze flicked to the Edo Tensei shell that bore Xuanyue's form, but sensing no change, he dismissed the thought. Instead, his sharp eyes narrowed on his old teacher.
"A jutsu I've never seen before? Then show me, Sarutobi… let me witness it."
The battlefield trembled as Hashirama, Tobirama, and Xuanyue's Edo bodies surged forward. But this time, everything was different.
With the Shinigami's spectral hand piercing his chest, Hiruzen could clearly and vividly see their souls. Guided by death, he moved with a speed born of desperation, his shadow clones converging with him.
"Got you!"
In a flash, the Third Hokage and his clones seized their prey. The darkness peeled back, revealing Hashirama, Tobirama, and Xuanyue bound in his grasp. And Orochimaru—Hiruzen's true target—was caught by the shoulders, held in the old Hokage's iron grip.
"It's over!"
Blood gushed from Hiruzen's mouth as his battle-worn chest tore open. The Shinigami's arm burrowed deeper in his private vision, reaching into the bodies before him. And then—pull.
Threads of soul began to tear free.
"What is this…?!"
Orochimaru's smirk shattered into panic. He could feel it—the pull of death clawing at his very essence. He struggled, writhing, fighting with everything he had. But against the Shinigami's grasp, and Hiruzen's unbreakable will, even Orochimaru's defiance faltered.
By contrast, the First and Second Hokage offered no resistance. With their minds fully their own again, they yielded to the inevitable, their voices calm even as their souls were dragged from the Edo shells.
"Sorry to trouble you, old monkey."
"Forgive us, Sarutobi."
Hiruzen shut his eyes for the shortest while, his heart weighed down by sorrow yet lightened by relief. He hadn't wanted it to come to this. But there was no other choice.
"First… Second… forgive me."
He didn't finish.
Because a mocking voice cut across the seal.
"Well, well. How touching."
Hiruzen's eyes snapped open. Hashirama and Tobirama's faces darkened as they turned.
Yui Xuanyue was smiling. His Edo body stood defiant, hand raised in a casual wave as though bidding farewell to old friends. Unlike the others, his soul clung fast, refusing to be pulled away.
"Impossible…"
Hiruzen's chest tightened. The plan should have been flawless.
Orochimaru, too, froze. If Edo Tensei had any weakness, it was this—when faced with sealing techniques, the souls of the resurrected were helpless. That was the unbreakable law. Yet Xuanyue resisted effortlessly. Worse—Orochimaru felt the link between them snap, his control… gone.
Xuanyue chuckled at their stunned expressions. "Don't understand? Blame yourself, Orochimaru. You gave me too much time. Your little binding seal? I picked it apart piece by piece."
When the Shinigami's pull touched him, his soul surged, burning brighter. He had seized the moment, erased Orochimaru's curse, and claimed full dominion over his Edo body.
Hashirama's voice was grave. "Xuanyue… we're already dead. Don't drag yourself deeper into this. Let the living inherit the world."
But Xuanyue only smiled. "Dead, am I? Perhaps. But I have no intention of rotting in the Shinigami's gut. You lived long enough, Hashirama. Me? I've barely begun. If fate hands me this chance and I let it slip away, I'd be nothing short of a fool."
"Xuanyue, you—"
"Enough, brother." Tobirama's voice cut through, harsh and final. His gaze locked onto Hiruzen, deadly serious. "Sarutobi, listen to me. All your strength—use it to seal Xuanyue. No matter what, he must not be allowed to walk free."
Only those of their era truly understood the danger before them. Xuanyue's genius had always been terrifying—now, unbound by death, he was a calamity waiting to awaken. Compared to him, even Orochimaru was a lesser threat.
But it was too late.
The Shinigami's pull claimed the First and Second Hokage, swallowing them into eternal silence. They vanished, leaving only the bitter weight of warning behind.
Xuanyue watched them disappear, his expression unreadable. Then he lifted his hand, clenching it tight as if seizing the very horizon in his fist.
"This era…" His voice was calm, but it rang with finality.
"...belongs to me."