A few hours earlier,

At the border of Fire Nation, there was an intense fight going in the forest. Akira and Aiko were engaged in a furious fight against Iwa ninjas. Four Jounins and three special jounins surrounded both of them. The right hand of one of the jounin was detached but he still wielded a kunai in the left hand and clashed with them. ​​

Clank …Clank

The sound of metal hitting metal rang as both sides retreated after an attack. Both Akira and Aiko had consumed some Chakra pill and were regenerating their Chakra while combating Iwa ninjas.

'Earth Style: mud bullet'

One of the jounins made some hand signs and spewed out a bullet of mud. Akira jumped up in the air and dodged the bullet as the bullet hit a nearby tree and broke into half.

Clang

Akira blocked an attack from the rod of another Iwa jounin as used the momentum from the attack to summersault and land on the branch of a nearby tree.

Meanwhile, Aiko also wielded metal wires as she tied many shurikens to it and launched them at the three special jounins. She controlled the directions of the Shurikens with the wire as she continued to assault the special jounins. The Iwa special jounins jumped and dodged as they ran in between the trees. Aiko was tracing their movements with her Sharingan as she continued to attack them without giving any chance for making hand signs.

The remaining two jounins of Iwa kneaded chakra in their hands as one of them flung a huge rock towards the Aiko.

'Earth Style: Boulder Crash'

A large rock was flung toward Aiko. Aiko immediately pulled the metal wire as all the wires tightened as made a trap tied in between the trees. The rock was blocked by a large number of wire strands as few of them snapped.

The broken wires launched shurikens with much greater speed towards the special jounins as the back of one of the special jounin was impaled by many shurikens. The impaled special jounin breathed his last his body dropped on the ground. The other two special jounins were able to take cover behind the trees and escape from the shurikens.

Aiko panted and covered her arms with bandages as her arms were bleeding from the strain from the wire. Although she was able to block the rock jutsu with wires, it created a huge amount of tension in metal wires as they pierced her skin and wounded her hands.

Akira noticed this and hurriedly regrouped with Aiko. He wasn't able to gather enough Chakra, but he gathered all of his restored Chakra in his eyes as they began to change.

The tomoes in his Sharingan merged as they formed a pinwheel with four spokes perpendicular to each other tilted at forty-five degrees. Blood leaked from both of his eyes as he muttered,

'Mangekyo Sharingan'

The Iwa ninjas were startled then saw and they hurriedly made hand signs to interrupt Akira,

'Gates of Hell: Reaper Summon'

Akira slumped on the ground as his vision began to blur. Mangekyo Sharingan puts a heavy toll on the user's body and their vision would deteriorate over time. The awakening of a Mangekyo Sharingan granted the user a powerful unique power at a great cost.

The unique power of his Sharingan was able to open the gates of hell to summon a death reaper for 30 seconds which was able to slaughter his enemies before vanishing. But there was a catch with this power, whenever he used this power entirety of his Chakra reserves will run dry and a portion of his vitality would be consumed and he would be bed-ridden for months. So, he always used this jutsu as a last resort as he won't able to use it again for a while with his eye. He casted this jutsu during the Second Shinobi War with his right eye when he was surrounded by lots of Amegakure ninjas.

That was his first time using this jutsu, the duration of this jutsu depended on his Chakra reserve Capacity rather than the amount of Chakra he had left. The limit can be over-drafted but then the vitality of the user will begin to drain. Every powerful jutsu had its own weaknesses. He awakened his Sharingan during the Second Shinobi War when one of his close friend died in the war. His newly awakened Sharingan cast this jutsu and slaughtered an entire team of jounins.

The jutsu drained his chakra and vitality as he fainted. He was saved by Aiko who carried him over to the camp. He had to rest for the entire six months before he was able to do the mission again. He later married Aiko and after he confessed his love to her.

Akira fainted with such thoughts as he was caught by Aiko.

A large tori gate encircled within a circle opened in the Air as an eerie skeletal hand grabbed the edges of the door. A large scythe dripping with blood slowly emerged from the door. An eerie aura was emitted from the scythe as nearby trees began to wither as large clouds began to swirl and cover the sky blocking the sun. Darkness surrounded the nearby area as the scent of blood and death permeated in the air.

The Iwa ninjas were terrified as their gathered Chakra dispersed from their bodies. The legs became jelly as their face went pale.

A large skeleton covered in purple robes with green eyes emerged in the real world. It's gloomy eyes gazed at the Iwa ninjas.

Screeeeeeeeeeee...…..

The Reaper screeched loudly as it slowly began to float towards the terrified Iwa Ninjas. It slowly raised it's massive blood-red scythe and swung it. A large gale blew away all nearby trees as a large crater was left in a hundred-meter radius. The bodies of the Iwa Ninjas were nowhere to be seen. The Reaper opened its mouth wide opened as its skeletal jaw appeared in Aiko's vision. The Reaper sucked the souls of the Iwa Ninjas as it dragged them to depths of the hell to be never reincarnated again.

Thirty seconds were up as the Reaper entered inside the door as the door closed shut and disappeared. The sky began to clear but the nearby area was devastated beyond recognition. All of the lifeforms in the radius of hundred meters except for Akira and Aiko died.

Akira and Aiko laid inside the crater for a while as Aiko gathered enough energy to move. Her body was very weak and even moving a step caused pain in her entire body. Akira laid unconscious in her lap as she stared at the dripping blood from his eyes. She took out a bandage, wiped the blood from Akira's eyes, and tied the bandage over Akira's eyes. She began to wrap Akira's left hand with bandages too as it was badly mutilated and needed immediate attention. She opened a sealing scroll and took out a small bottle of potassium permanganate as he bit the cap off and dripped the bitter red medicine on Akira's arm. She dressed Akira's and her wounds as she began to stand up slowly.

She lifted Akira's unconscious body and placed it on her shoulder and began to crawl out of the crater. As she was walking out from the crater a memory of the Second Shinobi War flashed by in her mind.

It was the same setting as the present. Akira laid unconscious on the ground, it was she who noticed him and carried him over to the camp. With such thoughts, she slowly reached the edge of the crater as she climbed out of it.

She was stunned to see the sight out from the crater. Nearly ten Iwa Anbus surrounded her and were ready to assault her. A pained expression rose on her face as she gave up on her misfortune.

'So, their re-enforcements appeared after all.'

Aiko closed her eyes and waited for her imminent death.