The streets were packed with civilians fleeing toward the outskirts, a chaotic mass of confusion, panic, and terror. A running man knocked over a woman holding a child, yet did not even look back as he continued to flee.
The woman clutched her child and cried out. Trampled by countless people, she struggled her way into a corner and narrowly escaped being crushed to death. The piercing cries of the child in her arms failed to draw even a moment of sympathy or a single backward glance from those around them. In their panicked flight, they paid no attention to whether their merciless footsteps might hurt the fallen woman.
Ronglin watched as the woman finally made it to the corner and broke down in tears, and his heart ached. So this was what it meant to start a war? So many people would be dragged into it, and so much harm would be caused?
"I have to end this war quickly!" Ronglin gritted his teeth and sped up, charging toward the palace. There should never have been such a flaw in the original plan. He had no idea where things had gone wrong for explosions to erupt inside the city, frightening the citizens before the fighting had even begun.
"Boom!" As Ronglin raced onward and drew closer to the palace, another deafening explosion rang out. Looking up, he saw another massive blast erupt in a densely populated part of the city. Countless buildings collapsed, and the billowing smoke rising into the air was painfully glaring. Ronglin did not even dare use Observation Haki to sense that direction and see what had happened.
"Whoosh!" Ronglin moved even faster. He left behind no afterimages at all as he launched himself toward the palace highlands. As he sped along, the massive airflow he