Nagato... No, He Was Chimei Now. Madara Uchiha Had Planned So Far Ahead...

At Uchiha Ensei's question, Shion could not help searching her memories.

But after a long pause, she gave an unexpected answer.

"I don't know..."

"My memories don't contain the name of the god we worshipped."

A god having no name seemed ordinary enough in this day and age.

Hidan, for instance, knew the deity he worshipped only as the Evil God. He did not know his name.

A name was the source of a god's power. Without a name or worshippers to make offerings, a god would naturally perish.

But Uchiha Ensei knew another explanation.

That was right. It came back to that upheaval of heaven and earth.

Rampant Natural Energy had wiped out nearly all the Ninja World's native supernatural powers. The few that survived had no chance to grow.

Judged purely by efficiency, the Ōtsutsuki Clan's method of harvesting a world was extraordinarily effective.

But it was a grim thought if you were one of the crops being harvested.

"I see... I understand."

"Shion, tell me: does Mōryō have to be sealed because he can't die otherwise, and because he'll keep growing stronger with time?"

Shion nodded eagerly at Uchiha Ensei's question.

But just as she thought Uchiha Ensei would help her seal Mōryō, he vanished before her eyes.

Only a finely crafted Kunai remained where he had stood.

The capital of the Land of Dawn.

In just three days, the capital had become utterly different from what Uchiha Ensei had imagined.

An outer ring of enormous stone statues guarded the capital. The various factions that had gathered there were long gone.

He extended his senses and found that the Five Great Ninja Villages had all withdrawn. The Land of Dawn seemed to have returned to the way it was before the war. Only the shattered houses