Earth and stone surged, rolled over, and crumbled in the same instant.
The rooftops of Konoha turned to ash in the flames. Sunagakure's earthen walls cracked and broke into fine yellow sand. Iwagakure's solid mountainsides split from within and collapsed with a roar. Kumogakure's lightning and buildings exploded together like a string of firecrackers.
The earth caved in toward the center from every direction. The outlines of ravines spread rapidly across the horizon, like a vast net torn open from within.
The figures struggling in the ruins had no time to scream before the golden flames that followed swallowed them, leaving not even ashes behind.
At the same time, the three great sources of Kindling—the Pure Land, Mount Myōboku, and Ryūchi Cave—lit up together. They burned into nothingness, driving the golden flames to a temperature that made the Living World itself begin to tremble.
Moments later, as the Kindling dwindled and the golden flames dimmed slightly, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's portrait lit up and poured in an even greater surge of power.
The golden flames flared anew. Their color shifted from dark gold to pure, blazing white, turning the entire sky a blinding white.
At last, the outline of the whole world lit up within that blazing whiteness.
The sky, the earth, the oceans, the mountains, and the paths traced by every living creature—all became fuel the instant that portrait lit up, plunging into the golden sea of fire.
The Will of the World burned away completely!
Yongye stood atop the golden giant ape's head, his Golden Cloth gleaming brilliantly in the white-hot firelight.
He did not look down at the fading outlines of the villages, toward the distant horizon slowly breaking apart, or at the streets, stone walls, and rooftops turning to ash beneath his feet.
He looked farther ahead.
The