The dark purple pillar of light that shot into the sky came quickly and vanished just as fast.
When the light faded, every surviving ninja and villager in the Hidden Leaf Village subconsciously raised their heads, staring blankly toward its source—the sky above the Senju Clan estate.
A colossal Wood Dragon, vast enough to blot out the sun, coiled through the air. Its serpentine body covered nearly half the village, while its head, formed from countless thick vines, reared high. A pair of dragon eyes condensed from chakra gleamed with majestic, icy light.
Vast life force and Sage Jutsu chakra spread from the Wood Dragon like a tsunami, even diluting some of the destructive aura left behind by Pain's Shinra Tensei.
And atop the ferocious Wood Dragon's head stood a black-clad figure with his hands behind his back.
He wore simple black combat clothes, with black hair and black eyes, and a handsome face. Yet his gaze was as deep as a bottomless abyss as he looked down indifferently at the ruins flattened below, and the black-robed figures patterned with red clouds standing at their center.
It was Chenshu Senju.
"It's Lord Chenshu!"
"Lord Chenshu Senju has made his move!"
"We... we're saved!"
After a brief deathly silence, the Hidden Leaf ninja at the edge of the ruins erupted into cheers of survival.
Looking at that familiar yet unfamiliar Wood Release creation, and at the figure descending like a god, the hearts that had been filled with fear and despair were instantly given a powerful boost.
However, this was only the beginning.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several figures dressed in the same black combat clothes flashed out from behind the Wood Dragon like ghosts, landing steadily atop the roofs of the Senju Estate below and echoing their leader from afar.
At