In the heart of the desert lay a gigantic crater, a hundred meters deep and several kilometers across.
The sand along its rim had melted into a dark, glassy surface under the intense heat of consecutive nuclear explosions, casting irregular reflections beneath the sunlight.
As the molten layer on the crater walls cooled, it formed irregular folds, like black material frozen after being molded by extreme heat.
The sand at the edges had surged outward during the explosions, forming a circular ridge of gravel and lava.
Dozens of meteorites filled the bottom of the crater.
Tianyi slowly descended from the sky, his entire body covered in chakra. Several nuclear bombs had exploded, and now, within the heart of the blast zone, powerful radiation assaulted everything around him.
Through the Byakugan's vision, he saw a depression at the center of the meteorite pile at the bottom of the crater, where a black Truth-Seeking Orb shell had appeared.
Its surface was covered in cracks and gaps, with parts of its edges shattered.
Jiraiya lay inside the Truth-Seeking Orb shell, his condition utterly dreadful. His robes had been torn to rags, and large portions of his exposed skin were covered in burns.
Some areas of skin had already carbonized, revealing new tissue regenerating beneath.
His breathing was rapid and shallow, every inhale accompanied by intense pain. Damage to his vocal cords made Jiraiya let out beast-like roars.
The radiation left behind by the nuclear explosions continued to assault his cellular tissue on a microscopic level, causing his body to undergo an ongoing process of decay.
At the same time, the Sage of Six Paths' Yang Power forced his cells into Rapid Regeneration at an equally intense rate.
The two forces remained locked in a constant tug-of-war within his body, making him like a