This horrifying scene unfolded before everyone's eyes. The ground beneath their feet had caved in, forming a massive funnel. The buildings, already reduced to rubble by the explosions, found a new destination, pouring into the collapsing hole.
It was as if someone had poked a hole through the bottom of a sand tray, and with a single touch, all the sand began to sink into the hollow ground.
Countless stones tumbled into the deep pit, and a tremendous roar filled their ears, sounding like a giant chewing its food.
"What's happening?"
"Why did the ground suddenly collapse?"
The shinobi continued to flicker away from the center of the collapse, their gazes filled with shock and uncertainty as they looked into the distance.
However, like a colossal wave crashing upon the sea, a frenzied tide of wind erupted with a deafening roar and a splash of debris, kicking up a dust cloud dozens of meters high and completely obscuring their vision.
The roaring from within the dust cloud gradually subsided. The shinobi stopped, staring intently at the center of the cloud. Rainwater dripped from their foreheads, spattering onto their hands held in seals. Their intuition screamed that something was in there...
The last remaining lights had been extinguished. The darkness of the rainy night descended, yet no one panicked. No one spoke. Everything fell into a dead silence, with only the sound of breathing and the wind and rain.
"Could this be the work of Kumogakure?"
Akimichi Todo stared grimly into the dust cloud. He glanced at Toroi in the distance, only to see the same grave expression on the man's mangled face.
So, is it the work of those Iwagakure shinobi after all?But what's the point of this?
"To-Todo-senpai."
Just as Akimichi Todo was lost in his doubts, a voice reached him from his side.
The trembling voice seemed to carry a trace of fear.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw Hyuga Kumo, his Byakugan activated, staring fixedly into the distance. A drop of liquid—rain or sweat, he couldn't tell—trickled down from his temple to his chin before falling.
"Something... is about to come out!" Hyuga Kumo stammered.
At that moment, lightning split the night sky, its branches spreading like a tree.
And illuminated by that stark white light, a figure within the distant dust cloud flashed before their eyes for an instant.
BOOM!
A clap of thunder rolled in from the far-off sky. This one was particularly deafening, as if the heavens themselves were roaring in anger and disgust.
What was the source of this fury? They didn't need to guess. The answer was already walking toward them.
Pitter-patter... Pitter-patter...
The footsteps that reached their ears were crisp and ethereal. Though seemingly ordinary, they pierced straight into their hearts. Each step resonated with the air, causing their eardrums, scalps, and even their bones to thrum in unison.
Reflected in their pupils, a figure slowly emerged.
They could finally see the approaching silhouette clearly. It was clad in robes as black as the stormy, rainy night itself. Looking at it was like staring into a hollow shadow, one that emanated an aura of fear, decay, and the abyss.
Only the eyes, those blue-white eyes, glowed faintly from within the shadows, as if suppressing something.
"..."
An intuition, from a source he couldn't identify, suddenly struck Toroi.
Even if he were to attack now, his blade would only slice through that flowing black shadow; it wouldn't touch a speck of flesh or blood.
He had always trusted his instincts. His entire body tensed up.
That thing... is not right.
"You..."
Aburame Ryoma narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something. The Root ninja in front of him subconsciously raised their hands, gripping their kunai and short swords...
In that instant, the figure's once-empty, unfocused eyes seemed to find their mark. They settled on Aburame Ryoma's position as the figure raised a hand and swung it gently.
"Move!"
Aburame Ryoma felt his scalp go numb. A bone-deep, formless chill caused the insects within his body to stir violently. With a roar, he retreated without hesitation.
Swish.
An invisible wind blade, shaped like a full moon, tore a gash in the air before them. The arc of light instantly extended several meters, slashing toward the group of Root ninja.
The Root members, who had been about to move, were suddenly frozen in place as if solidified, their faces under their masks stunned. Time itself seemed to stagnate for a brief moment.
Gradually, the displaced air began to flow back, and the whistling sound of the blade was stretched out long and thin.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
The next moment, a storm-like current sliced through them like a horizontal blade. The shinobi "standing" before them were severed at the waist as if by an invisible scythe.
The upper halves of the Root ninjas' bodies separated from their lower halves. Their torsos, eyes wide with confusion and helplessness, slid to the ground. They looked like blood-red wheat reaped by a sickle.
Blood instantly erupted from their severed waists, shooting toward the sky and showering down a bloody rain that chilled everyone to the bone.
It quickly formed a pool of blood, reflecting the stunned expressions on every face.
"Aaargh!!"
The Root ninja, severed at the waist, did not die immediately. The excruciating pain finally reached their central nervous systems, and their terrified, agonizing screams ripped through the air.
"What... what kind of jutsu was that?"
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique?"
The screams seemed to jolt everyone back to their senses. Akimichi Todo shuddered violently and murmured, "Are you kidding me? It's just a B-rank jutsu. How can it have that kind of power?"
From a distance of several hundred meters, and it only took a second... how did that guy do it?!
An astonishing amount of blood continued to gush out, like a fountain from a severed artery. The sticky, crimson liquid flooded their vision, painting the scene in a garish red.
The sounds of wind, rain, thunder, and wailing screams merged into a symphony, like the accompaniment to a demon's cruel torture.
In the distance, the figure slowly raised its arms, spreading them wide as its black robes rose like great wings.
"Slaughter, death, blood, hatred, fear, despair, pain, screams, wails, wind, and rain..."
The hoarse voice rose from a low murmur to a clearly audible, joyous tone. It laughed. "Ha, what a beautiful night!"
He truly seemed to be treating the screams of the Root ninja as musical accompaniment; he had intentionally kept them from dying instantly. The horror, madness, and delight in his words sent a wave of cold through everyone present.
Lightning branched through the dark clouds, once again bleaching the world in a greyish-white light that illuminated the pale faces of the shinobi.
They had no idea who this person was, but that didn't stop them from recognizing the undeniable fact before them.
A monster.
This suddenly appeared individual was, without a doubt, a monster!
A monster of immense power that fed on slaughter, death, despair, pain, and screams