At that moment, in a natural stone forest outside Iwagakure, wisps of mist rose into the air. From above, they were clearly visible.
Any Iwagakure villager passing by wouldn't have found it strange. Beneath this stone forest lay one of the Land of Stone's rare geothermal deposits, heating the scattered open-air pools into hot springs.
But today, in one part of the forest, the white steam was especially thick, gathering like a dense fog and standing out sharply.
Anyone who entered the fog would find the area in complete disarray.
And the so-called fog was actually high-temperature steam. The clumps of wild grass poking up from the ground had withered yellow. Even their tenacious vitality couldn't withstand the scorching heat.
The stone spires jutting from the ground leaned this way and that. Some lay shattered across the earth, others had snapped into several pieces, as if savage beasts had charged through and smashed them. Still others were scorched black on the surface, as though burned by fierce flames.
At the center of the chaotic stone forest, a tall man lay on the ground. He wore a conical hat, a red mask over his mouth, and red armor.
But he was sprawled on his back, apparently unconscious. Strangely, there wasn't a single visible wound on his body.
Beside him stood a black-robed man wearing a mask. He murmured, "As expected of the Steam Ninja, renowned throughout the Ninja World..."
"He's not easy to take down..."
"This is only the first Tailed Beast I've captured..."
The high-temperature steam, hot enough to scald an ordinary person's flesh, had yet to dissipate. But the Masked Man stood within it as if completely unaffected, looking perfectly at ease, as though he were surrounded by gentle mist from a hot spring.
Suddenly—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Strong gusts