The Curtain Begins

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Under the cover of night, urgent sounds of air tearing echoed from the tree trunks within the lush forest.

"Judging by the situation over there, the enemy is probably an expert among the Rock Ninja. Jiraiya, be careful!"

Upon a tall tree trunk, a beautiful figure with short golden hair darted past, her calm voice trailing behind her.

Hearing her words, Jiraiya, at the front of the group, turned and smiled at her. Then he faced forward again, the smile fading from his face as he said solemnly, "Don't worry, Tsunade. If they're Rock Ninja, I definitely won't let them keep endangering the village!"

Tsunade's pretty face turned slightly cold, but she said nothing more.

They both knew that, in this Rock Ninja invasion, the truly dangerous enemy was not the Rock Ninja at all, but Aizen, the one who had provoked everything.

Though they had no idea where he was at the moment.

There was no doubt that even if they encountered him again, they would be unable to stop him. The truth had already proven this: when the five of them had fought Aizen earlier, they had been utterly incapable of halting his advance toward destroying Konoha.

At that thought, a heavy glint passed through both their eyes.

Led by the two of them, the small ninja squad soon arrived at the foot of the rocky mountain.

Shrouded in darkness, the enormous rocky mountain stood amid the night like a towering giant. Dark brown soil still clung to its cliff face, revealing where it had come from.

"To have pulled an entire mass of land straight out of the ground... just who could have done this?"

Jiraiya muttered as he stared at the immense black mountain up close.

At his words, a cold gleam