The dust had yet to settle. On the scorched earth, all was silent.
Gamaken's corpse had yet to grow cold. The meteorite that had crushed an entire mountain still lay embedded deep in the earth, its lingering force undiminished, its tremors still echoing through the air.
In the distance, two aged figures slowly appeared atop a rocky outcrop.
Sage Shima and Sage Fukasaku.
They said nothing, silently watching Uchiha Yoru floating above the ruins.
"...Gamaken and Gamahiro are dead, too."
Fukasaku spoke in a low voice, hoarse and heavy with grief, his words weighed down by bitter restraint.
Shima said nothing, only fixing her gaze on the young man in the black robe, whose eyes seemed to devour everything.
Her voice sounded as if it had been forced up from the depths of her throat. "Yoru... Uchiha Yoru... The name of the calamity has finally appeared."
"He... killed Gamahiro and Gamaken with a single blow."
Fukasaku's voice was low, filled with shock.
Gamaken, Gamahiro, and Gamabunta were high-ranking toads of Mount Myōboku, yet now they had all died at the hands of a single person.
"That's not Senjutsu. It's... power from another dimension."
Shima's expression grew even graver. "His eyes exert even more pressure than the Sharingan."
"We can't wait any longer."
Fukasaku nodded. The two closed their eyes and focused in unspoken accord. Senjutsu Chakra surged out as energy roiled within them. They sprang from the ground, and Sage Mode erupted.
The atmosphere around them changed abruptly. It was as if heaven and earth had fallen still. Vast amounts of Natural Energy entered the two toads' bodies. The pressure and energy in the air threatened to tear the earth apart.
Uchiha Yoru finally turned, as though he had noticed them. His gaze was cold, as if he were looking