A deafening explosion erupted alongside a blinding flash! At the point where the lightning struck, seven or eight Konoha Wind Release shinobi did not even have time to scream before they were instantly blasted into charred fragments!
Violent currents scattered and spread like silver snakes. More than a dozen nearby shinobi were caught in the blast, screaming as their bodies convulsed and collapsed, blue smoke rising from them. The air filled with the dreadful stench of scorched flesh!
Then came the second bolt! The third! The fourth!... Countless terrifying lightning strikes lashed down wildly from the roiling thunderclouds like whips of divine punishment! Their targets covered the entire area occupied by Konoha's vanguard! In an instant, the canyon became a hell of thunder!
"Scatter! Scatter, now!" Konoha's captains roared, their eyes bloodshot.
But the lightning covered too wide an area and struck too fast! Konoha shinobi were continuously hit by the destructive light falling from the sky, turned to charcoal or severely wounded and sent sprawling. Their once-soaring morale was instantly battered to the brink of collapse by this terrifying heavenly might. The vanguard spearhead squad led by Chasing Fang was also halted by this sudden wrath of lightning, forced to seek cover.
"Hahaha! Konoha trash! Do you see it? This is Thundercloud Canyon! This is where you'll be buried!" Inside the fortress command room, the scar-faced commander watched the Konoha shinobi desperately dodge and suffer heavy casualties within the crystal ball. He burst into frenzied, vindictive laughter, the scar on his face twisting like a centipede. "Strike them! Strike them hard! Turn every last one of them to ash!"
Thunder roared, and blue-white lights of death flashed madly through the canyon. Konoha's offensive seemed to have been seized by the throat by this sudden heavenly power.
At that critical