Land of Wind, the boundless Death Desert.
Fierce winds swept up coarse sand, striking the traveler's cloak with crackling sounds.
A tall, burly figure trudged forward against the sandstorm.
He had wild white hair, a forehead protector engraved with the character for "oil," red tear-like markings at the corners of his eyes, and wooden sandals on his feet.
One of Konoha's Sannin, the "Toad Sage," Jiraiya.
At that moment, Jiraiya's usual carefree demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
His expression was grim to the extreme, his brows tightly furrowed, deep exhaustion showing in his eyes.
"Orochimaru... where the hell did you run off to...?"
Jiraiya took an exceptionally tiny tracking toad from his robes.
This toad had followed a trace of Orochimaru's chakra scent that Jiraiya had risked his life to recover from the laboratory ruins on the night Orochimaru defected, tracking it all the way here from Mount Myōboku.
"Lord Jiraiya, the scent became extremely faint near the ruins ahead. It seems to be disrupted by some powerful magnetic field," the little toad croaked twice.
"Thanks for the effort. Go back."
Jiraiya put away the toad, raised his head, and looked toward the ruined walls beneath the moonlight.
"Rōran..." Jiraiya's mind raced. "After defecting, Orochimaru didn't hide in one of those chaotic little countries and instead plunged straight into the heart of this desert... the only possibility is Rōran."
His hands rapidly formed seals as he used Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation, melting his body into an extraordinarily flat shadow that clung to the sand as he continued scouting ahead.
Whether it was luck or something else, the scene before Jiraiya suddenly changed.
"Wh-what the hell is this place?!"
Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath, his pupils abruptly contracting.
Before him stood a colossal metropolis so vast it was suffocating!