Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
Smoke filled the air, ruins lay everywhere, and explosions erupted one after another throughout the village. Orange-red fireballs lit up half the sky, while thick smoke rose like black pillars into the heavens.
Summoned beasts rampaged through the streets. A massive rhinoceros smashed houses apart, sending rubble flying and dust billowing everywhere.
A many-legged bird leaped between rooftops, its talons tearing through tiles and ripping the roofs off homes.
A gigantic lobster spat high-pressure water cannons, washing away the earthen walls the ninja had raised.
The screams of ninja, the thunderous collapse of buildings, and the explosions of Explosive Tags intertwined as the entire village descended into chaos.
A black figure slowly emerged from the dust of the ruins, the red clouds on his black cloak flickering in and out of view in the firelight.
The Rinnegan of Pain's Deva Path reflected the burning village beneath his feet. There was not a trace of emotion on his pale face.
His gaze swept over the burning streets before settling on a burly figure in the distance—Kitsuchi, a Jonin of Iwagakure and the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
He was half-kneeling amid a pile of rubble, his right arm braced against the ground and his left fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Kitsuchi raised his head, his eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the black figure.
The village had been destroyed. Countless comrades were dying, and the culprit stood right before him, those cold eyes chilling him to the bone.
He gritted his teeth and forced down the pain in his chest. His mind rapidly replayed the earlier battle, the instant the Explosive Tags had detonated.
This enemy had used an invisible force to deflect every explosion.
In