"How much effort did you put into mobilizing these ten thousand people?"
he asked, with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
"Seven thousand main force, three thousand elites, hundreds of elites are holding the battle line. And you personally lead the team. Wow, what a huge battle."
Ōnoki said nothing.
Shaoyu continued, "Let me guess - you are afraid of me. Afraid that I will go back alive, afraid that I will bring Kumogakure to level Iwagakure in the future. So even if you risk offending Kumogakure, you have to get rid of me here."
He paused, and the smile on his lips deepened.
"Lord Tsuchikage, I understand you. Really."
Ōnoki's brows furrowed even more.
"Do you understand me?" he said coldly, "What do you understand?"
Shaoyu looked at him, a trace of pity flashed in his eyes.
"I understand your fear." He said, "You are over seventy years old, your son is useless, your apprentice is still young, and no one under you can take over. What will Iwagakure do when you die? Who will carry you?"
Ōnoki's expression changed.
Shaoyu continued, "So you want to get rid of me while I am still young and before I reach my peak. Even if you bet ten thousand people, even if you bet your own life. As long as I die, Kumogakure will have one less person who can threaten Iwagakure in the future."
He nodded.
"Wise choice. Really."
Ōnoki's hands trembled slightly.
It's not because of anger, it's because it hit home.
Shaoyu looked at him and smiled.
"But you know what?" he said, "You made a mistake."
Ōnoki's pupils shrank slightly.
"What error?"
Shaoyu has no answer.
He just slowly raised his hands and made a seal.
The seal is very simple, just a gesture of joining hands.
In fact, Hand Seals is not needed, but he wants to show off.
Then he closed his eyes and opened his lips slightly.
The voice was very soft and light, as if singing an ancient song.
"Burube, Yura Yura."
At that moment, the world changed color
Ōnoki was stunned.
What is this spell?
He has lived for more than seventy years and has never heard such singing.
The voice didn't seem to come from this world, but from an older time and space, with a strange rhythm that made people palpitate.
Ten thousand people were also stunned.
They couldn't understand the meaning of the spell, but they could feel it.
Something is waking up from its deep sleep.
The sky changed color.
The originally dark night sky suddenly glowed with a strange dark red color.
The red color spread like blood in the clouds, gradually dyeing half of the sky.
The moonlight was blocked, the stars were swallowed, and the whole world seemed to fall into a huge dark red vortex.
The ground began to tremble.
It was not an ordinary vibration, but a rhythmic trembling, like some giant thing moving slowly deep underground.
The tremors became more and more intense, causing countless people to lose their balance and fall to the ground.
Then--
The ground cracked.
Just tens of feet away in front of the 10,000-strong army formation, a huge gap suddenly opened in the earth. The gap became wider and deeper, as if it reached the center of the earth.
Dark red light poured out from the cracks, illuminating the faces of everyone around him.
Those faces were filled with fear.
"What... what is this?!"
"The ground is cracking! The ground is cracking!"
"Run! Run!"
Some people began to panic, and some wanted to retreat, but their legs seemed to be filled with lead and they could not move at all.
It wasn't that he didn't want to run, it was just that he was suppressed by the terrifying aura and couldn't move.
Ōnoki was suspended in mid-air, his face turned pale.
He felt it.
Deep in the crack, there was an extremely terrifying aura rising upwards.
That breath is not chakra, not the power of Tailed Beast, but an older and weirder existence. It is like an ancient beast that has been sleeping for thousands of years and is slowly waking up at this moment.
From the cracks, black mist began to pour out.
The mist was as thick as ink, spreading around like a living thing. Wherever it passed, vegetation withered, rocks weathered, and the air seemed to be corroded and sizzling.
Ten Thousand Iwagakure Ninja looked at the mist in horror, watching it gradually condense, rise, and expand.
Then, a huge silhouette emerged from the mist.
First there is the head, which has no eyes and four wing-like structures on both sides, like some kind of weird crown. A thick tail extends from the back of the head, swinging slowly in the mist.
Then there is the body, with muscles knotted together and covered with dark skin. Each muscle contains explosive power. Above and behind the head, a rudder-shaped wheel slowly rotates, making a strange buzzing sound.
Finally, there is the arm. The right arm holds something, wrapped in light.
The light gradually dissipated, revealing a huge sword. The sword body was pitch black, but the blade glowed with a strange white light. The light was so pure that it was dazzling.
Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General·Mahoraga.
It rose slowly from the crack, its huge body dozens of feet high, like a moving black mountain.
It lowered its head and looked down at the 10,000 people below. There seemed to be some kind of strange "gaze" on its eyeless face.
Those ten thousand people froze instantly under that "gazing".
No one dared to move.
No one can speak.
Even breathing stopped.
That is the fear coming from the depths of the soul, the instinct screaming to the body.
Run quickly, run quickly, it's too late if you don't run!
But they can't run away.
Because their legs no longer belong to them.
Mahoraga's roulette wheel began to rotate slowly.
The buzzing sound was like a death knell, echoing in everyone's ears.
Its right arm slowly raised, and the Sword of Extermination pointed towards the sky. The white light on the sword became brighter and stronger, as if it was going to crush the world.
Ōnoki's lips are trembling.
"This... what kind of monster is this..."
He has lived for more than seventy years, met countless strong men, and experienced countless battles.
He has seen the complete body of Tailed Beast, he has seen the Susanoo of Uchiha Madara, and he has seen the Wood Human Technique of First Hokage.
But this one...
He has never seen it.
That does not belong to Shinobi World.
It didn't belong to any system of power he knew.
What is that?
Where did it come from?
Why does it appear here?
He doesn't know.
He only knows one thing -
This thing must be dealt with here.
At this moment, Shaoyu moved.
He smiled faintly, and that smile looked particularly calm under the dark red skylight.
Then, he jumped into the shadow at the feet of Mahoraga.
The shadow was like black water, creating a circle of ripples.
Shaoyu's body sank into it and disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Mahoraga looked down at the shadow and ignored it.
Sword of Extermination shines brighter.
Mahoraga took a step, and the huge body stepped on the ground, and the whole earth trembled.
"Ho--!"
It let out a thunderous roar, the sound was like thousands of giant beasts roaring at the same time, causing countless people's eardrums to rupture and blood to flow.
Then, it pounced on the ten thousand people.