The black "stone" trembled so faintly that it did not stir even a breath of wind.
But to every member of the Levee unit, that silent tremor was more terrifying than a Tailed Beast Bomb exploding beside their ears.
"Alert!"
Minato's voice no longer traveled through spatial resonance. Instead, he shouted outright.
Even when he had faced that "void" within the genjutsu, he had never lost his composure like this.
Because this time, it was real.
"Nawaki! Get everyone out! Use your Wood Release to 'dig' all the survivors out of here, along with the ground beneath their feet!"
Minato's orders came as swiftly as lightning.
"Everyone else, form a defensive formation! Keep your energy output at thirty percent. Do not initiate attacks. Our mission is to 'stall,' not 'annihilate'!"
"Understood!"
No one questioned him. No one hesitated.
That perfect-score exam they had "failed" had already carved the iron rule of "preserving fighting strength" into their bones.
"Wood Release: Earthquake Core!"
Nawaki plunged both hands into the ground. The power of Wood Release within him no longer sought destruction, but became the toughest, gentlest "palms."
Rumble-
The entire underground base shook violently.
The metal cages holding the Uzumaki survivors, together with the rock strata several meters thick beneath them, were lifted intact and steadily by an immense force. Like an enormous tray, they slowly rose toward the surface.
Yet the black "stone" seemed enraged by this act.
Or rather, it had sensed the establishment of "order," and its instinct was to create "chaos."
Hum-
A hum that no ear could hear, perceptible only to the soul, spread from the stone.
In the next instant, a bizarre transformation began.
The corpse of the rogue ninja nearest to it neither rotted nor decomposed. Instead, like a faulty stretch of program code, it