The sun hung high in the sky, its glaring rays spilling over the lush forest below.
"Whoosh..."
A gentle breeze swept through the trees. Leaves rustled, carrying with it a few suppressed growls.
"Whoosh!"
Sakumo suddenly appeared on a thick branch.
His brow furrowed as he stood there without a sound, gazing into the distance at the area before a rocky mountainside.
The next moment, a terrifying crash erupted ahead, and his expression turned grave. Without hesitation, he vanished again and rushed toward the sound.
In the distance, before an enormous cliff,
a humanoid figure stood motionless. Terrifying chakra surged wildly around his body. Even as he stood still, the pulsing waves of air sent dust swirling in every direction.
He could only be called a humanoid creature, because it was impossible to tell whether he was even human anymore.
Boiling, blazing-blue chakra engulfed him completely. His hair stood on end, and his pale eyes radiated an aura more terrifying than that of the fiercest beast.
He suddenly jerked his head up. His faintly pale gaze fixed on the immense cliff before him, utterly devoid of emotion.
His legs bent slightly, and he planted his foot against the ground with all his strength.
"Boom!"
The ground beneath him instantly split apart. Clouds of dust burst into the air, revealing a massive crater several meters deep.
His figure had already vanished!
A dark blur hurtled across the ground at a speed almost impossible to follow with the naked eye. Rocks jutted up along its path, while fissures crisscrossed the earth.
Trailing a scorching wave of air, the blur charged straight toward the towering cliff with unstoppable force.
Sakumo suddenly appeared in the trees in the distance.
When he saw the figure wrapped in blazing blue chakra hurtling forward, shock crossed his