I brushed the sludge off the hem of my coat and dragged Shikamaru forward by the back of his collar.
His legs had gone completely limp, and his soles carved two long channels through the muddy puddles.
"Sen... slow down. My ankle's cramping," Shikamaru panted.
I couldn't be bothered with him and glanced up at the sky.
The enormous wooden net that had blocked that massive repulsive force was now creaking and cracking.
The spikes on its bark slowly withdrew, and the thick trunks plunged back underground along the paths they'd come from.
The grinding of the churning earth set my teeth on edge, and the ground kept trembling.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the wood, making me squint.
But once the wood withdrew, the whole scene beneath it came into view.
Every house that should have been flattened was still standing, perfectly fucking intact.
Except for the few shabby streets beneath Kage Rock that I'd stomped to pieces myself.
Most of Konoha hadn't lost so much as a roof tile.
The sign of Ichiraku Ramen on the street corner still hung from its wooden post, swaying in the wind.
"All right. Looks like my breakfast survived."
I rubbed my empty belly and couldn't help chuckling.
Shikamaru lay slumped on a dry stone slab beside the road, his eyes vacant.
He stared fixedly at the undamaged red rooftops in the distance, his lips trembling.
"You actually stopped it? That terrifying repulsive force!"
"It didn't even leave a crater in the village? How is that possible?"
He whipped his head toward me, looking at me like I was a monster.
"Sen, what kind of iron did they forge your body out of?"
"That was enough brute force to wipe out an entire mountain!"
I rolled my eyes, pulled an unbroken