The Tailed Beast Bomb's deadly trajectory shifted ever so slightly, passing cleanly over En's head.
Without slowing in the slightest, it hurtled straight toward the ruins of the Official Inn below—toward the utterly defenseless people there!
"Run... we can't outrun it..."
One candidate's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, his face drained of color.
Gāngtài's pupils trembled violently. His sword hand shook like a leaf.
That sphere was impossibly fast.
Where could they run?
Despair swept over everyone like a rising tide.
Just as they lost all hope, a figure appeared between them and the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Whoosh.
Sweeping Blade.
Using the buildings as footholds, he darted directly into its path, gripping his sword with both hands and raising it overhead.
"Wind Wall!!!"
Voom!!
Clear blue-green chakra erupted from the sword's tip, forming an immense, densely compressed wind shield that spanned heaven and earth.
Like a thin yet unyielding barrier, it stood firmly before them all, taking the descending blow of destruction head-on.
Boom!!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb struck the wind wall.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Then the wind wall shook violently.
Spiderweb cracks spread wildly from the sword's tip.
Veins bulged along En's arms, and his robes snapped in the wind.
He stood like a sword driven into the space between heaven and earth.
"Deflect!!"
Boom!!!
The wind wall burst apart.
The Tailed Beast Bomb was forcibly diverted, flying diagonally into the night sky and tracing a long arc.
It swept over ruined streets and collapsed rooftops before finally descending with unstoppable destructive force, landing precisely in the heart of the West Quarter!
Boom!!!
The West Quarter erupted in a nuclear blast.
A mushroom-shaped pillar of light turned half the sky bright as day.
Dozens of magnificent, lavish noble estates vanished