Volcanoes were undoubtedly deadly places for living creatures. It was impossible for any life to survive within lava.
But in the Shinobi World, strange and powerful creatures were never in short supply.
Within a volcano in some corner of the Shinobi World,
lived a kind of creature that fed on lava.
They resembled snakes greatly, except they had a single horn on their heads and four limbs beneath their bellies.
They looked remarkably like the legendary dragons!
These creatures had lived in lava for generations. Aside from laying their eggs outside the volcanic crater, they basically never left the lava.
Under normal circumstances, after hatching and growing to a certain point in the lava near the crater, they would swim toward places with even higher temperatures.
But within this volcano was a miraculous form of energy.
Their instincts told them that this energy was greatly beneficial to them.
So they remained here. Over the years, several hundred of these creatures gathered inside the volcano.
Fortunately, there was enough space within the volcano. The smaller ones were pushed into areas with less energy by their larger kin, so it did not seem crowded inside.
Every day, these creatures would occasionally swallow a mouthful of lava to rinse their mouths. When hungry, they would swallow it into their stomachs. Sometimes, when they found stones that had not been melted by the lava, they would use them to grind their teeth.
They lived extraordinarily comfortable lives. Until...
Someone arrived.
Hinata stared at the... creatures before her in shock.
It was hard to imagine that living creatures could survive in a place like this.
Her gaze settled on the sharp horn in one creature's hand. This was the hard substance she had spotted.
Looking at its body again, well, it looked somewhat like a