The devastation caused by Naruto's "Gran Rey Cero del Sol" left a smoking crater where the vanguard of the Allied Shinobi Forces used to be. But the horror for the million-man army was only beginning.
From the shimmering heat of the white sand, two more figures materialized beside Naruto.
Sasuke Uchiha (The Second Espada) stood to his left, his black wings folded, his Void-Sharingan scanning the terrified faces of the Five Kage.
Sakura Haruno (The Third Espada) stood to his right. Her white cloak was trimmed with emerald thorns, and her eyes—once full of compassion—were now cold, crystalline pools of spiritual indifference. On her forehead, the Byakugou seal had evolved into a black diamond that pulsed with the Reiatsu of the Hogyoku.
The Death of Hope
The Five Kage stood paralyzed. Tsunade looked at her former students—the team she had raised, the future she had hoped for—and saw only monsters.
"Naruto... Sasuke... Sakura..." Tsunade's voice trembled. "What has he done to you?"
"He didn't do anything, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied, her voice smooth and devoid of emotion. "He simply removed the blindfolds. You call this world 'peaceful,' but it is a cycle of rot. We are the cure."
Suddenly, the air vibrated with a familiar, golden flash. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, appeared ten feet away, followed by Hashirama, Tobirama, and Hiruzen. The Edo Tensei legends had arrived.
Minato looked at the silver-haired god before him. "Naruto... is that really you?"
Naruto didn't answer. He didn't even acknowledge his father's existence. He simply looked at Sasuke and Sakura. "The remnants of the old era have arrived. Shall we erase them together?"
"Wait," Sasuke said, his head turning toward the eastern dunes. "Someone else is coming. Someone who smells of blood and ancient pride."
The Arrival of the True Ghost
The sand began to swirl into a massive vortex. A pressure—different from Aizen's, but equally heavy—crushed the dunes. From the storm stepped Madara Uchiha. He was alive, his skin pulsing with vitality, his Rinnegan glowing with the hunger of a predator who had finally found worthy prey.
Madara looked at the three Espada, then at the four Hokage, and finally toward the distant palace of Las Noches.
"So many 'Gods' in one place," Madara laughed, a sound like grinding stones. "Hashirama, you look pathetic in that resurrected skin. And you three... you children playing with Aizen's toys... you think you know power?"
Madara slammed his hands together. "Wood Style: Deep Forest Bloom!"
The white sand was torn apart as massive, gnarled trees erupted from the ground, but these trees were reinforced with Madara's living chakra. At the same time, Sasuke unsheathed his blade.
"Sakura, Naruto," Sasuke commanded. "The Hokage are yours. Madara... belongs to the Uchiha."