Just as expected...
With her center of gravity suspended in midair, Black-robed Chiba fell along with the collapsing black wall. Yet there was little surprise or fear in her heart—not even the slightest ripple. She merely frowned faintly, swiftly swept her gaze over her surroundings, and a thought that seemed long anticipated flashed through her mind.
"Wha—!"
"Lady Chiba!"
"No... impossible! This can't be possible!"
At that moment, cries of shock erupted both inside and outside Konoha. Even Kakashi, who had reacted a step ahead of the others, wore an expression of utter astonishment.
At this moment, the view before them had become far more open than before. Even the Sound Village and Sunagakure ninja outside the village could see the shocked Konoha ninja at the breach within the village. The black wall that had originally stood between them was now cracking and collapsing bit by bit, shattering apart almost without a sound.
That seemingly indestructible black city wall had completely fractured in an instant. It had not happened gradually, either. The perfectly intact black wall from moments ago broke apart inch by inch in the blink of an eye, chunks of black rock resembling metal and stone plunging downward.
"Wood... Wood Release."
"There's no mistake. It's Wood Release—the First Hokage's Wood Release!"
"Uchiha Nobuhiko... how could he have the First Hokage's Wood Release?"
However, what truly shocked them—what made both the ninja inside and outside the village cry out in disbelief—was not the black wall's instantaneous collapse. It was the thick branches, bearing flower buds and seemingly still growing, that appeared to have suddenly sprouted amid the crumbling wall.
Yes, at this very moment, enormous branches were still growing out from within the collapsing black city wall.
It was clearly the First Hokage's Wood Release.
Whether they were Konoha