Another Round

Thunder roared, and lightning crashed down from above, striking all around Rasa. Each bolt hit an Iwagakure Ninja with pinpoint accuracy.

Rasa strolled through the thunder and lightning, as if he were an emperor. The inspiration for this technique had come from Sasuke's Lightning Release: Kirin.

The difference was that Kirin used Fire Release to form storm clouds, then drew down lightning to attack. It took longer to prepare, and offered little control over the lightning.

Rasa was different. He manipulated ions, gathering electric charges directly. The technique took less time to prepare; with enough chakra or a high enough Electromagnetic Force Intensity, the buildup took no more than three or four seconds.

He left the movement of electric charges beneath the clouds to nature, saving some of his strength. All he had to do was give them a slight push, then he could perfectly control the direction of every bolt.

In terms of power and range, it was about on par with Lightning Release: Kirin, but his control over it was far superior. That was why he named it the Nine Heavens Thunder God.

This was the highest deity in the Chinese mythological Thunder Department.

As Rasa recalled, there was a manga called Shaman King, whose character Tao Ren had also used this name for one of his moves.

Huh?

Rasa's mind stirred as he sensed something off about the electromagnetic waves released by Mahiru's body. He must have used some kind of Shadow Clone technique while Rasa was forming Hand Seals, hiding his real body underground.

All objects above absolute zero could emit electromagnetic waves. Shadow Clones, Water Clones, and the like looked just like the original and possessed strength of their own.

But because their nature was different, the frequencies of the electromagnetic waves they emitted differed ever so slightly from those of the real body.

That meant many deceptive techniques wouldn't work on Rasa. Electromagnetic Force was practically omnipotent; even at the beginner stage, it could be developed into all kinds of useful abilities.

He happened to need someone to carry word of him back to the Land of Earth, and Mahiru was just the right person for the job.

Controlling the lightning, he struck every ninja down in an instant, reducing them to charred husks and clearing the field. The heat of the lightning sent wisps of smoke rising from the sand, and a wide area nearby had melted into murky glass.

Mahiru was fairly clever. The instant his Shadow Clone was struck down, he took advantage of Rasa's "inattention" and tossed another clone into its place.

He copied the charred appearance of his teammates after they'd been struck by lightning, making himself indistinguishable from them. At the same time, he held his breath and tried to steady his heartbeat, hoping not to draw Rasa's attention.

The clouds parted, and the bright moon appeared once more. If not for the scattered corpses, no one could have imagined what had just happened here.

It was like a dream.

Rasa pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and gazed up at the night sky, effortlessly striking a dramatic pose. Deliberately trying to mislead anyone listening, he said, "What a bunch of fools.

"My original Lightning Release Ninjutsu is even stronger than the Lightning Release Body Refining Secret Technique. Even Lord Raikage has praised it to no end.

"Like mayflies trying to topple a tree. Pathetic."

Hidden underground, Mahiru felt even more aggrieved when he heard that. But there was no denying that his whole group had been wiped out in a single move.

Even he, who had escaped underground in his real body, wasn't much better off. The lightning had struck the sandy ground and heated the layers of sand. He hadn't dug deep enough, and it felt as if he were trapped inside a furnace.

Rasa shook his head and left the scene, calm and unruffled. He headed toward the Land of Earth—or rather, the Land of Birds.

The Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Five Great Nations did not actually share borders. Countless small countries lay between them as buffer zones. The Iwagakure Ninja had probably entered from the Land of Birds.

Creating an organization called Celestial, the Celestial Group, wasn't a decision he'd made on a whim. Now that he was out and had some free time, he might as well settle the question of where to establish its headquarters.

The Land of Birds would do.

The Shinobi World was a little like the New World in One Piece. Countries that weren't far apart—or even bordered one another—could have completely different climates and scenery.

The Land of Wind was desert, forcing the Sand Ninja to settle near water and build their village by an oasis. The Land of Birds, by contrast, had a mild climate and springlike weather all year round, and migratory birds came to roost there every year.

The Land of Birds also had two neighboring countries. Everyone knew about the Land of Rain, where it rained all year. The other was the Land of Bears, home to dense forests and a valley filled with miasma. Hoshigakure was located there.

After searching for ages, he finally found a suitable spot at daybreak: nestled between mountains and water, wreathed in clouds and mist, like a heavenly paradise.

"Now that's a fine place. This is what you call taste."

Rasa nodded in satisfaction. He sent out electromagnetic waves, sensed the density and structure of the mountain, and found a suitable spot. Then he got to work carving out an opening.

He manipulated dense, sturdy metallic ore to chip away at the mountain. One man was as good as several construction crews, and he tossed the rubble straight into the lake, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Several dozen minutes after Rasa left, Mahiru finally emerged from the sand. He'd been lucky to use chakra to protect his body in time; even so, the exposed skin in several places was badly burned.

His eyes swept over the corpses scattered across the scene, filled with grief. He'd only created a Shadow Clone to fool Luo Yongxin, planning to catch him off guard with a sneak attack from his real body. He hadn't expected it to save his life instead.

He took out a Storage Scroll and sealed away all his teammates' corpses. First, it would let him lay them to rest; being buried in the Iwagakure Village Martyrs' Cemetery would at least be a decent end for them.

Second, the corpses held too much information. Anyone who knew what to look for could tell from the type and severity of the wounds who the killer was, what techniques they'd used, and roughly how strong they were.

It was all evidence.

Once everything was taken care of, Mahiru steeled himself and hurried off. Two days later, he returned to Iwagakure.

"It's Lord Mahiru! He's one of the village's elite ninjas," a child exclaimed, pointing at him.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a ninja as strong as Lord Mahiru!"

It was already midday, and the streets of Iwagakure were crowded with people.

The ninjas who knew a little about what was going on kept glancing at Mahiru. Hadn't he left on a special mission a few days ago? Why had he returned so soon?

The more the children chattered, the more his heart ached. What did he know about being strong? He hadn't even been able to withstand a single attack from the enemy.

Thirty Chunin, two elite Jonin, and one Jonin had gone on the mission. He was the only one who had come back alive. It was a disgrace.

The ridiculous thing was that he still had to live on in shame just to bring the intel back.

Without saying a word along the way, Mahiru walked straight to the Tsuchikage's office, his face dark, like a walking corpse.

"Bang!"

He wasn't paying attention and walked straight into the office door, crashing through it and falling to the floor. For a long time, he couldn't bring himself to get up.

Onoki of the Two Scales, the Tsuchikage in the final peak of his ninja career, was seated at his desk handling official business. Beside him stood Roshi, the legendary Four-Tails Jinchuriki who had been "missing."