Drip... drip...
Uchiha Gen had still been waiting for the monk to treat his headache, but after a long while, nothing happened. Instead, he grew so sleepy that he fell asleep. When he woke up again, he found himself somewhere unfamiliar.
"Where is this?"
Everything around him was pitch-black. The dripping sounded crisp and echoed through the darkness. Was he in some kind of cave?
He instinctively wanted to activate his Sharingan, only to suddenly realize that he had no power left at all. All he had was his own physical strength.
"What... is going on?"
Silence. Endless silence. Uchiha Gen did not know how long he had wandered through the darkness. The dripping had constantly echoed in his ears, as though he had never left the same spot.
But he was clearly walking, moving ever forward... Slowly, he could no longer even feel his own existence. He raised a hand to touch his body, yet he could not tell where his hand was. Even his concept of himself was growing vague.
"Something's wrong... Am I under a genjutsu? Whose genjutsu is this powerful? And... what... is genjutsu?"
Outside, beyond Rōran City, a fully armored giant was smashing the walls with a massive hammer. The few ninja left in the city desperately unleashed ninjutsu attacks, but they did not even cause a ripple on Susanoo.
Inside the city, Queen of Roran wore an anxious expression as she summoned a guard and hurriedly asked:
"Did the messenger we sent out even ask for reinforcements? Why hasn't Sunagakure sent help yet?!"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Our walls can still hold for a while, and Sunagakure is less than a day's journey from here. Ninja move quickly, so they should arrive even sooner."
However, just as the guard finished