Boom, boom, boom, boom-!
Bursts of orange-red flame erupted in the distant sky, spreading high overhead like a curtain set ablaze.
Three independently targeted warheads were struck precisely by interceptor missiles and burst into fragments and smoke. The debris trailed gray-white streaks in the high-altitude winds as it slowly drifted toward the ground.
Yet through a gap in that curtain of explosions-a brighter, faster, smaller point of light had already slipped through the interception net.
A technician's voice came through in his ear, speaking rapidly. "Interception failed-four independently targeted warheads detected, three intercepted. The remaining warhead is making its terminal penetration-"
Before the technician could finish, Tianyi pushed off with explosive force. A sonic boom erupted behind him-bang!-and he shot forward faster than sound, heading straight toward that point of light.
The shock wave forced the clouds beneath him into a white ring, while the air ahead of him compressed into a conical shock front, its edges shimmering orange-red from friction.
The warhead had already entered its terminal penetration phase.
Its speed climbed to Mach twenty-6.8 kilometers per second-as it plunged toward the ground at a speed beyond human reaction.
Its thermal protection layer glowed white-hot from the intense friction, like a spark of fire falling from the sky.
Tianyi pressed his palms together. The power of his Tenseigan surged, and the blue light in his pupils suddenly blazed.
Sage Mode markings spread across his cheeks as senjutsu chakra rapidly fused with Magnet Release chakra inside him-
"Sage Art: Magnet Release-!"
A mass of metal fragments emerged behind him, each carrying pulses of Magnet Release chakra. They spread around him like a metal curtain wall, then rapidly extended forward to cover the incoming warhead's path.
The metal fragments formed a broad interception plane in the air, like a vast net