This scalp numbing scene appeared before everyone without warning. The ground beneath their feet collapsed into a funnel shape, and buildings already shattered by the explosion found a place to pour into. Everything slid and fell toward the sinking hole.
It was like someone had poked a hole under a sand table, and with a light touch all the grains collapsed into the empty space below. Countless stones poured into the deep pit, and the huge noise filled their ears. It sounded like something large chewing through food.
"What is going on?"
"Why did the ground suddenly collapse?"
They kept using Shunshin to retreat from the center of the collapse, staring into the distance with uncertain eyes. Before they could stabilize themselves, a violent gust burst out like a wave hitting the sea, breaking apart in noise and spray. The wind lifted smoke and dust more than ten meters high and completely blocked their view.
When the roar within the smoke slowly stopped, they halted and stared at its center. Rain slid from their temples and broke across hands still held in seals, and instinct told them that something was inside. The remaining lights had already gone out, and the darkness of the rainy night pressed down around them.
No one panicked, but no one spoke either. Everything fell into silence, with only breathing and wind and rain left to hear. The darkness seemed to hold its breath along with them.
"Could Kumogakure be behind this?"
Tangdong Akimichi stared into the smoke with a heavy expression and glanced at Troy in the distance. That bloodied face looked just as grim. If not them, then was it really those people from Iwagakure?
But what meaning would that have?
"Captain, Tangdong."
As Tangdong Akimichi hesitated, a voice came from beside him. The trembling tone carried clear fear. He turned his head and saw Ryuji Hyuga with Byakugan open, staring hard into the distance.
A drop, unclear if rain or sweat, gathered at Ryuji Hyuga's temple and slid down to his chin before falling. "Something is coming out," he said, his voice shaking.
Lightning split the night sky at that moment, branch shaped arcs spreading across the clouds. In the white glare, a figure flashed through the smoke and vanished in an instant. Thunder rolled down from far away, louder than before, shaking the night.
They did not need to guess why the sky seemed angry. The answer was already walking out.
pata… pata…
The footsteps were clear and hollow, with nothing strange about them, yet each step struck straight into the chest. Every sound caused the air to vibrate, and ears, scalp, and even bones seemed to hum in response. Reflected in their eyes, a figure slowly emerged.
They finally saw the person walking toward them. He wore black robes that matched the stormy night, like an empty shadow given shape. That shadow carried a sense of decay and depth that made it hard to look at directly.
Only his eyes stood out. Those blue white eyes glowed faintly within the darkness, as if something inside them was being held back.
"..."
Troy suddenly felt a strong intuition rise for no clear reason. Even if he attacked now, he would only cut through that flowing black shadow, and his blade would not catch blood or flesh. He trusted that feeling, and his whole body tensed.
Something was wrong with that guy.
"You…"
Aburame Ryoma narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak. In front of him, the Root Ninja instinctively raised their hands and gripped their Kunai and Short Sword. At that instant, the unfocused eyes of the figure finally found a target.
He looked toward Aburame Ryoma and lightly waved a hand.
"Get back!"
Aburame Ryoma felt his scalp go numb as a bone deep chill spread through him, stirring the insects inside his body into chaos. He shouted and retreated without hesitation. The air in front of him split with a sharp sound.
An invisible blade of wind cut forward like a full moon, tearing a long arc through the air that stretched several meters. It swept straight toward the group of Root Ninja ahead. Those Root Ninja who had just started to move froze in place without warning.
Their bodies locked as if time itself had stopped, and blank looks showed beneath their masks. The parted air slowly rushed back in, and the scream of the cut dragged on unnaturally long. Then the wind passed through them.
In the next moment, it felt like a storm made of blades shoved across the field. The figures standing there were cut cleanly across the waist, as if struck by an unseen edge. Upper bodies slid away from lower halves, faces still filled with confusion, and fell to the ground.
Blood burst upward from the severed waists under the rain, splashing down in a chilling red shower. It quickly pooled on the ground, reflecting the stunned expressions of those still standing. The scene was clear and brutally real.
"Ahhh!"
The Root Ninja who had been cut in half did not die immediately. Pain finally reached their nerves, and their screams of terror tore through the rain. The sound snapped the others out of their shock.
"What kind of Ninjutsu was that?"
"Wind Release?"
Tangdong Akimichi shuddered as he came back to himself, his body shaking as he muttered, "This is a joke, right? How can it have that kind of power?" From hundreds of meters away, in a single second, how could someone do this?
Blood continued to gush like a severed artery, thick and red, swallowing their vision. Everywhere they looked was soaked in color. Wind, rain, thunder, and screams mixed together in a harsh chorus.
In the distance, the figure slowly raised his arms and spread his hands. His black robes lifted like great wings in the storm. The movement was unhurried and deliberate.
"Slaughter, death, blood, hatred, fear, despair, pain, screams, wailing…"
The hoarse voice rose from low to clear, carrying a twisted pleasure. "Another noisy night."
He truly seemed to treat the screams of those Root Ninja as background music, and it was clear he had kept them alive on purpose. The madness and delight in his words sent cold through everyone present. Lightning flashed again through the clouds, washing the world in gray white light and illuminating their pale faces.
They from Root had no idea who this sudden figure was. That did not change the reality standing in front of them. This was a monster, nothing less.
A monster that fed on killing, death, despair, pain, and screams, and possessed overwhelming power to do so.