On the battlefield, the wind died and the clouds stilled. Only that golden light shone upon the people of the Shinobi World.
The army fell back in defeat, the shinobi's morale shattered.
High in the sky, Yemu stood motionless like a god, looking down upon it all.
On the ground, inside the allied forces' command tent, several key shinobi and Kage-level figures wavered, gripped by fear.
Kakashi Hatake stood on an observation ridge behind the allied forces, gazing up at the figure in the sky. The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Tch... Yemu's gotten stronger again."
He sighed and turned toward Naruto beside him, half joking and half serious.
"Naruto, are you still sure you want to stop him?"
Naruto Uzumaki clenched his fists, Nine-Tails chakra faintly surfacing around him. The conflicted expression froze on his face. "I... I..."
He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
At that moment, Naruto Uzumaki seemed to truly understand the gulf between himself and Yemu. Even the right to speak to him seemed impossibly far out of reach.
Could I really stop Yemu from starting a war?
They were not the only ones. Ōnoki, too, was beginning to waver.
There was no helping it. The Combined Ninjutsu they had spent three years preparing had turned out to be a joke before Yemu. Anyone would have found that hard to accept.
Ōnoki was already drenched in sweat, the wrinkles at his temples as deep as ravines.
He knew that any decision he made could determine whether the entire Land of Earth survived or perished.
"Hiss... this bastard..."
Ōnoki gritted his teeth, but he had no way to organize another counterattack.
All he could do was turn to Kitsuchi and demand in a low voice, "Any movement... from the Akatsuki? Have