Morning light squeezed through gaps in the clouds, spilling across the devastated land.
Teizawa stood at the edge of the massive crater, his dark golden robe fluttering gently in the breeze.
His gaze swept across the still-smoking wreckage, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Mei stood beside him with her arms crossed, her emerald eyes filled with complicated emotions.
"Go home?"
She looked at the ruins, then back at Teizawa, her brows drawing together.
"Don't joke around."
She pointed at the surrounding area, which had been completely leveled.
"Amegakure is gone. This is going to have enormous consequences."
"An entire shinobi village vanished overnight, and not just any village. This was once home to Hanzo of the Salamander, the man known as a demigod."
"Once word spreads, the entire shinobi world will be shaken."
Teizawa said nothing. He simply listened in silence.
"And that brings us to the real problem..." Mei turned to face him. "What happens to the Land of Rain now that Amegakure is gone?"
"Make no mistake, whether it's the peace-loving Konoha, the covetous Kumogakure, or that calculating Iwagakure, they'll all want a hand in this."
"The Land of Rain may only be a minor nation, but its location is far too important. It sits between the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. Whoever controls this territory controls the chokepoint connecting all three nations."
Teizawa chuckled.
There was something strange and unreadable about his smile.
"Well... let's gather everyone first. Assuming they're all still alive."
His tone was casual, as though he were commenting on the pleasant weather.
But something was clearly flickering in his eyes.
Mei nodded, not thinking too deeply about it.
"That's true. Something this important should be discussed with all the major shinobi villages."
"After all, the fate of the Land of Rain will affect the balance of the entire shinobi world. It isn't something a single village can decide on its own."
She completely failed to notice the hidden meaning behind Teizawa's words.
He did not bother explaining.
He merely looked into the distance, his smile gradually deepening.
...
Elsewhere, the explosion had separated Kakashi from the others.
He examined his injuries.
A piece of debris had torn open his left arm, but the blood had already dried.
The rest were merely superficial wounds. Nothing serious.
He was about to retrace his steps when a black figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road ahead.
Kakashi stopped abruptly.
His lone visible eye narrowed.
A black cloak patterned with red clouds.
It was the uniform of the Akatsuki.
The stranger wore an orange spiral mask.
Kakashi immediately went on guard.
His hand instinctively moved toward the ninja tool pouch at his waist as chakra gathered in his palm for a Lightning Blade.
He was ready to attack at any moment.
"You're Kakashi, right?"
The black-robed man spoke in a deep, hoarse voice.
His deliberately unnatural tone made it sound as though he were trying to conceal something.
He tilted his head, and the black eye visible through his mask swept over Kakashi.
"I heard you can fight anyone to a perfect draw. They even call you Fifty-Fifty Kakashi."
"Huh?"
Kakashi did not understand the remark, nor did he dwell on it.
He simply watched the stranger's every movement.
He could not sense an especially powerful chakra from the man.
But that did not mean he was harmless.
Every member of the Akatsuki was a monster.
The black-robed man seemed completely unconcerned by Kakashi's vigilance.
He casually raised one hand.
"Let me see just how capable the legendary Copy Ninja really is."
"Wood Style..."
Countless vines erupted from underground with a violent rustling sound.
They slithered toward Kakashi like serpents, moving too quickly for him to evade.
In the blink of an eye, they wrapped around him from head to toe, leaving only his face exposed.
Kakashi's pupil contracted violently.
The vines squeezed his body with agonizing force.
They even suppressed the flow of his chakra, causing the energy inside him to disperse.
He could not resist at all?
And this was...
Wood Style?
He stared at the vines wrapped around him and the leaves sprouting from their branches, his eye filled with disbelief.
"This is... Wood Style?"
His voice was as rough as though his throat were filled with sand.
Wood Style was the Bloodline Limit of Hashirama, the First Hokage, and one of the most powerful abilities in the shinobi world.
In all of Konoha, aside from the First Hokage himself, only one other person could use Wood Style.
Tenzō, also known as Yamato.
But Yamato had only obtained Wood Style after Hashirama's cells were transplanted into him.
Its power was nowhere close to the genuine article.
Yet the Wood Style wielded by the man before him far surpassed Yamato's in speed, strength, and chakra density.
"Who are you?"
Kakashi's voice wavered slightly.
His mind raced as he searched his memories for any enemy connected to Wood Style.
He found nothing.
The black-robed man did not answer.
He walked over to Kakashi and crouched before him.
The black eye behind his mask stared intently, as though he were examining an interesting piece of prey.
"The Sharingan..."
He reached toward Kakashi's left eye.
"That eye has been sitting in your socket for far too long. It's time for it to return to its rightful owner."
Kakashi's pupil contracted sharply.
He struggled desperately.
But the vines only tightened around him.
His chakra was sealed, and his body refused to move.
He could not even lift a finger.
"You... You're an Uchiha?"
Kakashi clenched his teeth and forced the words through them.
Other than those lunatics from the Uchiha clan, who else would be so obsessed with the Sharingan?
The black-robed man shook his head.
"Uchiha? I'm not one of those lunatics. Besides, who I am doesn't matter. What matters is..."
His fingers touched Kakashi's eyelid.
"I'm taking this eye with me."
"Ah!"
Kakashi's scream rang out.
His left eye socket had become a bloody ruin.
The black-robed man casually produced a specimen container and carefully placed the Sharingan inside.
At that moment, a bolt of lightning shot in from the distance.
It struck the black-robed man with perfect accuracy.
He staggered several steps away from Kakashi.
Straightening, he turned toward the source.
A figure was rapidly approaching.
Silver hair, a black mask, and a short blade strapped across his back.
Several Konoha shinobi were following behind him, including Guy, Kurenai, and a handful of genin.
"Kakashi!"
Guy's voice thundered across the wasteland.
The black-robed man glanced at the approaching Konoha shinobi, then at Kakashi, who was still bound by the vines.
He appeared to hesitate.
In the end, he chose not to continue his attack.
His body slowly sank into the ground.
Like a drop of water merging into the ocean, he vanished without leaving a single trace.
The vines restraining Kakashi rapidly withered as well.
They crumbled into black ash, which scattered in the wind.
Kakashi collapsed to the ground.
His face was deathly pale as he gasped desperately for breath.
(End of Chapter)
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