Uzushiogakure.
After the invasion by Hidden Cloud Village and Kirigakure Ninja, its former peace was long gone. The once tranquil village had been torn apart by war and floods, and even the air carried the damp stench of blood.
Raging torrents roared with overwhelming force. Broad streets became rushing rivers, and the water rose at a rate visible to the naked eye. Buildings crushed by the torrents were either swept apart on the spot or submerged beneath the flood.
Wooden and stone houses gave off teeth-grating cracks in the rapids, lifted as easily as sheets of paper, swept away, then hurled deep into the churning waves.
Everything here seemed unbearably fragile before the mighty power of ninjutsu, nothing more than faint traces that could be erased in an instant.
Countless people cried out in agony as the torrents swept them along, only to be swallowed by the flood the next second and disappear into the murky currents, never to make another sound. Only scattered debris remained, spinning on the surface.
Although the Hidden Cloud Village and Kirigakure Ninja had not deliberately targeted them, even the aftermath of the fighting was no less than an apocalyptic natural disaster to ordinary people.
In less than half an hour, the prosperity and order of the past had collapsed, becoming a vast expanse of floodwater.
Only a few higher rooftops barely remained above the surface, like a drowning person's hands reaching out of the water for the last time.
Above the currents, the ninja were still locked in fierce combat. The sharp clash of blades, the booming explosions of ninjutsu, and the roar of the flood mingled into a chaotic wave of sound. No one could spare any attention for the village beneath their feet, already changed beyond recognition.
Fallen bodies stained small patches