Crack! Crack!
In the sky above Konoha, the Chibaku Tensei, split down the middle by the golden light, trembled, letting out a groan of distress, and slowly began to shift along the smooth cleavage plane.
The next moment, the Chibaku Tensei, unable to maintain its structure without Chakra to sustain it, loudly disintegrated with a deafening roar!
It broke down into countless pieces of rubble, large and small, that rained down upon the ruins of Konoha below!
Simultaneously, the Konoha shinobi and civilians who had been either dragged into the high sky by gravity, trapped inside the celestial body, or adhering to its surface were also freed from the gravitational bonds.
One after another, like kites with cut strings, they plummeted from the sky!
"Ah!"
Brief sensations of weightlessness and cries of alarm erupted!
"Don't just stand there! Save them!"
Jiraiya's roar was the first to sound, instantly cutting through the noise and chaos. At the same time, he made hand signs and shouted, "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The devastated ground softened into a swamp, catching several screaming civilians who were falling.
"Sage Art: Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Yahiko spat out a massive torrent of water, cushioning the powerful impact of the falling rubble.
Jiraiya's shout also awakened all the Konoha shinobi who were still in shock. Their long-term training instinct suppressed their terror and confusion at this moment.
The surviving Jonin, Chunin, and even Genin moved, enduring their physical injuries and depleted Chakra, desperately squeezing out their last ounces of strength.
Shinobi skilled in defense and Earth Release frantically built simple defensive barriers or manipulated the ground to rise into earth platforms to catch the falling people.
Those skilled in offensive Ninjutsu desperately smashed the falling boulders that were too large and posed a high threat.
Even more shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags were fired into the air, intercepting and detonating the smaller fragments!
Bang! Bang-bang!
The sounds of explosions where rubble met Ninjutsu, the dull thuds of rocks hitting the ground or barriers, the cries of the people, the shouts of the shinobi...
Endless dust was raised again, engulfing the entire ruins of Konoha.
No one knew how much time had passed.
When the last piece of rubble finally fell, and the raised dust gradually settled, the devastated Konoha slowly reappeared.
"Cough, cough!"
"It's over?"
"Did we... make it?"
The surviving Konoha shinobi and villagers leaned on each other, struggling out from behind cover or from the wreckage.
Every one of them was covered in dust and dirt, with injuries of varying degrees, their faces filled with lingering shock and unimaginable confusion.
They simultaneously raised their heads.
The sky had changed.
The heavy, ominous clouds that had covered them were split open and dispersed by the golden light, revealing a pristine blue sky.
Long-absent sunlight poured through the colossal gap in the cloud layer, illuminating this scarred land and every dust-covered face.
In this light that had descended anew, against the backdrop of the azure sky, a single figure hovered quietly in the air.
The sunlight shone from above him, slightly blinding, making his features somewhat blurred and indistinct in the backlight.
But the bioluminescent glow flowing around him and the spread wings on his back outlined a hazy halo.
All the survivors stared up at him blankly. The deathly stillness and confusion on their faces began to shatter and peel away, piece by piece.
The thrill of survival was quietly resurrecting from the depths of their almost desperate hearts.
"Kawa... sama..." someone murmured involuntarily, tears still staining their face as they looked up at the figure.
As if hearing the call, the figure suspended in the air gradually shed the emerald green Chakra surrounding him.
Apparently having exhausted all his strength, he could no longer maintain his suspension. Under the gaze of countless eyes below, he slowly drifted downwards.
The crowd of Konoha villagers below instinctively converged beneath him, looking up, their eyes following the falling figure, countless arms uniformly reaching toward the sky...
Finally, embraced by countless arms, Hyūga Kawa, whose eyes were tightly closed, face pale, and seemed to have fallen into a coma, was safely received and gently held aloft.
There was no shouting, no commotion.
Their movements and voices were soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Seeking Fame and Reputation] [Misleading the Public]. Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi, Tsunade, and others have generated intense emotional fluctuations, reaching the [Deeply Convinced] level. You have obtained 22,000 Fulfillment Points...]
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Seeking Fame and Reputation] [Misleading the Public]. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and others have generated emotional fluctuations, reaching the [Partially Believing] level. You have obtained 1,000 Fulfillment Points...]
[Remaining Fulfillment Points: 33,473]
Hearing the system prompts in his mind, Hyūga Kawa smiled faintly internally.
Displaying this level of power was enough; any more would seem too exaggerated and arouse suspicion.
Hyūga Kawa thought this, then relaxed his mind and allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep.
"..."
Meanwhile, Nara Shikaku, whose face was covered in dust and fatigue, stood not far away.
He watched this scene, which was almost like a religious ceremony, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the people filled with reverence, and then turning towards Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose expression was complex and hard to decipher...
"Sigh." Nara Shikaku couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
If Konoha, deep down, had always longed for the emergence of a leader powerful enough to protect everything and, at the same time, unite the people after the untimely death of Namikaze Minato.
Then, today, atop these desperate ruins, at the very moment everyone needed protection the most...
The hope they had always dreamt of became a reality in a way far exceeding their imagination.
What about the Third Hokage?
What Third Hokage?
What did the Third Hokage, who claimed he would protect the populace, actually do during Konoha's genuine time of peril?
In that moment of life and death, the person who stood before them, who used his own flesh and blood to resist a natural disaster and bought them a sliver of hope, was Hyūga Kawa.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the respected Third Hokage, hadn't truly intervened in a battle for too long.
As the head of the village, staying behind and coordinating the overall situation was important.
However...
Action is always more powerful than any words and better defines the so-called "Will of Fire."
"I hope the transition of the Hokage position can proceed smoothly, without any further mishaps. That way, the Third Lord might still retain some dignity in his later years."
Nara Shikaku lowered his eyelids, his profound gaze hidden in the shadows, calmly pondering in his heart.
"Otherwise, given the current prestige of this Jonin Kawa, and his seemingly gentle yet actually assertive personality..."
Shimura Danzō's sinister face, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's conservative and stubborn attitudes, and even the Daimyo who only knew how to indulge in pleasure, flashed through Nara Shikaku's mind...
At this moment, Nara Shikaku had an exceptionally clear premonition.
The sky of Konoha is about to change.
——————
Swoosh! Swoosh!
At the border of the Land of Fire, several figures were instantly flashing through the branches of the trees.
They were wearing dusty Sunakagure Village attire, clearly Yūra, Ebizo, and the few surviving Sunakagure shinobi who had fled Sunakagure Village.
At this moment, a layer of lingering gloom hung over everyone's faces.
Sunakagure Village had been destroyed. The Kazekage's final instruction before his death was for them to travel to Konoha, inform the Third Hokage of Sunakagure Village's fate, and seek his help. But...
Given the long-accumulated blood feud and suspicion between Konoha and Sunakagure, was it truly possible for them to receive courteous treatment instead of being viewed as stray dogs or even seized the opportunity to be eliminated?
This fear and uncertainty about their future weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
"Stop."
Just then, Yūra, who was at the front of the group, suddenly spoke, his voice low and solemn.
The Sunakagure shinobi instinctively halted, casting puzzled glances at Yūra, their leader.
They saw Yūra looking into the distance, his brows tightly locked, his face so grim it looked as if water might drip from it.
The sky was fragmented by the layers of tree leaves. A flurry of agitated chirping came from the distance, and countless birds could be seen frantically flapping their wings and fleeing from a certain direction.
"What's wrong, Yūra?" Ebizo, behind him, spoke up, his aged face also showing alertness.
Yūra offered no explanation, leaping up to the highest branch of the tree he was on, standing lightly on his toes, and looking into the far distance.
Ebizo and the other Sunakagure shinobi exchanged glances and quietly climbed to the top of the tree canopy.
However, when they clearly saw the scene in the distance, everyone's expression instantly changed drastically.
They saw that the direction of the distant capital of the Land of Fire was now a scene of fiery devastation and thick, billowing smoke!
The capital of the Land of Fire, where the Daimyo's residence was located, was protected by a translucent light shield—the Fire Temple's defensive barrier called the "Sealing Iron Wall."
The light wall of the barrier rippled violently under the impact of countless explosive tags and volleys of kunai, yet it stubbornly held, protecting the core of the capital completely intact.
But outside the capital, it was a living hell.
Countless black figures carrying unique flying Ninja Tools circled the capital like a flock of scavenging vultures, constantly swooping down and dropping a deadly rain of projectiles.
The barrier protected the core, but it couldn't shelter the vast area outside the city and the converging populace.
Watching this scene, the Sunakagure group on the treetop fell silent.
"How could this be?" Ebizo's narrowed eyes widened, and he said heavily, "The Land of Fire is also under attack?"
"No."
Looking at the Sky Ninjas in the distance, Yūra said with a grave expression, "I'm afraid Konoha is the main target of this attack; the Land of Fire capital might just be a side effect."
"Otherwise, given the importance of the Land of Fire Daimyo, Konoha would send people to reinforce them immediately, regardless of when they received the distress signal."
"They certainly wouldn't allow the capital of the Land of Fire to be besieged as it is now."
At these words, all the Sunakagure shinobi behind him fell into deeper silence, feeling a chill crawl up their spines to the top of their heads, leaving them with numb scalps.
The disaster had not only fallen upon Sunakagure Village.
Even the Land of Fire, hailed as the leader of the Five Great Nations, was now under fierce attack. The attackers were very likely the same group of people.
Otherwise, all of this was too coincidental.
What made them even more alarmed was that the Land of Fire capital was under attack, yet Konoha was unable to offer support.
Clearly, the crisis Konoha itself faced was probably more severe than they had imagined, so severe that they couldn't spare the power to protect the Daimyo.
In that case...
"What should we do?" a young Sunakagure shinobi blurted out, "Should we still go to Konoha, according to the late Kazekage's command?"
Going might mean walking into a trap or getting caught up in a vortex more terrifying than Sunakagure's destruction.
Ebizo didn't answer immediately but turned his gaze to Yūra.
He was keenly aware that now, having lost the Kazekage and most of their fighting force, Yūra, who was the strongest and possessed a bloodline limit, was their greatest reliance.
Any decision concerning their survival had to respect her judgment. The future hope of Sunakagure might rest solely on her.
Yūra did not turn back, gazing at the smoke rising from the distant Land of Fire capital, but her eyes seemed to be fixed on a far more distant Konoha, her eyes flickering.
Should they continue to the uncertain Konoha, live under someone else's roof, endure scrutiny, and perhaps get drawn into an even deeper quagmire?
Or...
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