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AtTPC Headquarters, Shinjo stood frozen in shock, staring at the screen as the three beams of light faded away. His mouth hung open, disbelief written all over his face.
In his mind, Ultraman Tiga had fought plenty of brutal battles before. But never like this. Never had he been reduced to pure light particles and completely erased.
To Shinjo, Tiga was the very definition of an invincible war god.
Beside him, Daigo Madoka felt like a hurricane had just torn through his chest. His face turned pale.
Seeing an Ultraman defeated like that struck straight at his soul.
Because he was Tiga.
He had always tried not to imagine the day he might be completely destroyed. The moment doubt crept in, the courage to face stronger enemies would disappear.
But now the brutal truth on the screen smashed into his beliefs like a sledgehammer.
"Daigo…? Daigo, what's wrong?"
Rena Yanase's worried voice pulled him back to reality.
Daigo forced himself to look at her and managed a stiff smile.
"It's nothing… I was just shocked seeing Ultraman get crushed like that."
"It'll be fine!"
Yazumi clenched his fist, his voice full of conviction. "Ultraman would never lose like this!"
Daigo nodded with a faint smile. But deep inside his eyes, there was only a chilling darkness.
On the screen, the three Ultras had vanished. Standing before the empty battlefield, the arrogant declaration of the Alien Bat echoed across the universe.
"From the moment life is born, its fate is extinction. Yes… every living thing will eventually reach its end!"
"Zetton is the supreme law that rules the universe! Zetton is the very origin of annihilation! With this power, I will wipe out every living creature across the cosmos!"
"I will become the god who rules the entire universe!"
"Hahaha! Come! Kneel before eternal fear and endless despair!"
At that moment, Hyper Zetton erupted with an unimaginable surge of dark energy.
A horrifying aura of annihilation spread out.
Black flames burst from its body, and everything they touched was instantly burned away and erased into nothingness.
The despair was so overwhelming it even pierced through the boundaries of the projection itself, striking directly at the minds of viewers across countless worlds.
Naruto World – Akatsuki Hideout
Nagato trembled violently.
His face was pale with fear.
Was this… the power of a god?
The man who once called himself "God" suddenly realized his body was shaking uncontrollably in front of that force.
He tried to stay calm.
But his instincts betrayed him.
Around him, the other members of the Akatsuki were stunned into silence by Hyper Zetton's terrifying display of power.
Except for one person.
Hidan.
He was ecstatic.
Almost delirious.
He stared at the screen with worship in his eyes, completely intoxicated by the hellish despair pouring from Hyper Zetton.
"Lord Jashin! My evil god has awakened! This is my god!"
Hidan looked like he might cry from joy.
He had no idea if the god he worshipped really looked like that.
But the pure, absolute evil radiating from Hyper Zetton convinced him instantly.
"Kakuzu! Do you see this?! This is my evil god! What incredible power!"
Kakuzu didn't respond.
He was already too shaken to speak.
The suffocating aura made a primitive feeling of despair grow inside him.
A terrifying thought even crossed his mind.
I just want it to end. I want to die right now.
Behind the Scenes
Mason frowned deeply.
He hadn't expected Hyper Zetton's aura of despair to be so powerful that it could break through the base restrictions of the Multiverse Projection Platform.
That was bad.
Energy at this level could easily corrupt viewers with weak willpower. It might even push them toward self-destruction.
That would absolutely ruin the platform's engagement metrics and click conversion rate.
Mason would not tolerate anything that hurt his data.
"Catgirl, raise the video's protection level to maximum immediately. Also send a system warning to every viewer via pop-up."
He opened the control panel and issued the command without hesitation.
"Command received. Upgrading now!"
Just as the despair was about to swallow the minds of viewers across the multiverse…
A system notification appeared on every screen like a ray of divine light.
Dear viewers.The system has detected that the despair energy emitted by this video exceeds safety limits.To ensure the best viewing experience, the Multiverse Projection Platform has raised its protection level and is removing the leaked despair aura. Thank you for your understanding.
The moment the message appeared, a soft glow like morning sunlight wrapped around every viewer.
Everyone suddenly felt it.
All the dark thoughts, despair, and negativity in their minds melted away like snow under the sun.
Their thoughts became crystal clear.
Their minds felt calm, almost like entering deep meditation.
Naruto World – Hokage Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at his own body in shock.
His old, aging physique felt like it had rolled back ten years.
This wasn't an illusion.
The strength he had slowly lost over the years was returning. His chakra surged dramatically.
Nearby, Kakashi Hatake experienced something similar.
His Sharingan normally consumed massive amounts of chakra because he couldn't turn it off.
But now, to his disbelief, he could actually close his left eye's Sharingan with ease.
Kakashi's heart pounded.
What on earth just happened?
At the same time, dozens of powerful auras shot into the sky throughout Konohagakure like rising smoke signals.
The entire Hokage office turned to look.
That day, over a hundred ninja who had been stuck at the peak of Chunin suddenly broke through their limits.
Many long-stalled Genin advanced to the next level as well.
Everyone realized something unbelievable.
The Multiverse Projection Platform could actually alter the rules of reality.
Rain Country
Under the gloomy skies of the Amegakure…
Nagato stared in shock at the massive statue before him.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
It had always been connected to his body, draining his life force.
But now…
The connection was suddenly severed.
The statue seemed to reject him.
Fear even radiated from it.
Worse still, the life force it had been draining stopped completely.
Nagato's emaciated body began rapidly filling out.
Muscles formed. His skeletal frame transformed into the body of a healthy adult.
All the life energy the statue had stolen over the years surged back into him like a tidal wave.
"What… what kind of power is this?!"
His heart pounded violently.
Another World – The Seas
At the Marine headquarters…
Sengoku roared.
"Pull yourselves together!"
A terrifying burst of power exploded from his body, sweeping across the entire base like the shockwave of a nuclear blast.
His strength had clearly risen to a whole new level.
Looking around, every elite Marine radiated stronger energy than before.
They had all received a tangible power boost from the platform's compensation.
And it wasn't just the Marines.
In the New World, legends like Whitebeard, Shanks, and Dracule Mihawk also experienced rapid improvements in their power.
Every top-tier fighter who witnessed the video's ending received the platform's mysterious "reward."
Across countless universes, anyone whose mind had been touched by Hyper Zetton's despair received this compensation.
That night would later be remembered by viewers from many worlds as:
"The Night of Divine Breakthrough."
Behind the scenes, Mason watched the viewer count rapidly climb again and finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He had underestimated just how contagious Hyper Zetton's despair energy was.
If he hadn't reacted quickly and activated a massive compensation system, the damage to his data would have been catastrophic.
Yes, he lost a huge amount of Multiverse Points to calm the situation.
But the surge in attention and long-term profit made it worth it.
"Crisis handled. Let the show continue."
Mason closed the monitoring interface with satisfaction.
Back in the Video
The screen was still drowned in thick darkness.
Even though the platform had blocked most of the despair aura, the shadow left in the footage still felt suffocating.
The camera zoomed in.
It focused on the face of Taiga Nozomu.
Pain. Rage. Helplessness.
"All the way to the end… I still couldn't protect anything…"
The camera dropped to his wrist.
The transformation device that once belonged to Ultraman Zero had turned gray and lifeless, as if petrified by eternal darkness.
He had completely lost the ability to transform.
"It's not time to give up yet!"
A powerful voice suddenly rang out behind him.
Taiga turned sharply.
Standing there was a man wearing the same uniform, but with unwavering determination in his eyes.
Shin Asuka.
"But… hope… power… it's all gone…" Taiga gave a bitter smile and glanced again at the stone-like device.
Asuka's gaze was sharp.
"A true warrior can only glimpse a higher level of power after breaking through their limits."
"Stand up, Taiga!"
At that moment, Asuka looked like a seasoned veteran guiding a lost junior back to the path.
Another voice joined in, rough but resolute.
"Taiga! Our belief is enough to protect everything!"
From the other side, the heavily injured Musashi Haruno limped forward.
He was the most wounded of the three.
Hearing them, Taiga froze in place.
"Can we… really still protect it?"
Musashi and Asuka exchanged a determined look.
Then they both turned toward the distant, towering figure of Hyper Zetton.
"No."
"Now the real battle begins!"
Their unbreakable faith ignited something inside Taiga.
The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder.
In that moment, the dormant Light of the Ultras within them was awakened.
"Zheng—!"
Blinding light erupted from their damaged transformation devices.
"AAAAAH!!!"
They roared together.
Their will shot upward like a pillar of light piercing the heavens.
The glow grew brighter.
Brighter.
Almost instinctively, they struck their transformation poses.
Gold.
Deep blue.
Emerald green.
Three distinct beams of light blasted skyward.
Then the beams twisted together in the air.
Entwining.
Roaring.
Fusing.
A power capable of shaking the very foundation of the universe erupted from the screen.
This was…
The miracle light that could defy fate itself.
Across the multiverse, viewers gasped.
"My god… what overwhelming power!"
"That light… it's purifying everything!"
"What kind of power is at the end of that light?!"
But for creatures of darkness…
The light was lethal.
In the world of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, the demon king Muzan Kibutsuji was watching the broadcast.
He never imagined that simply watching a video would almost get him killed.
The sudden burst of light burned his eyes. Tears streamed down his face as black smoke rose from his body.
In a split second he grabbed Nakime and shoved her in front of him as a shield, then fled into the darkness.
Even so, less than a second of exposure nearly destroyed him.
Nakime didn't even have time to scream.
Her entire body was instantly reduced to ash by the light.
With Nakime dead, the technique maintaining the Infinity Castle collapsed.
The entire structure began to crumble.
RUMBLE—!!!
"....."