The air caved inward before Deva Path Pain's palm.
A tremendous repulsive force surged outward in every direction, with Deva Path Pain at its center.
Entire layers of soil were stripped from the ground. Ancient trees so thick that several people could barely encircle them were uprooted and blasted into splinters in midair.
Dirt and broken stone mingled into a massive, ring-shaped shock wave.
The ground for hundreds of meters around was forcibly shaved down three feet.
Chikage kept his palms pressed together, pouring out the senjutsu chakra within him without holding anything back.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: Hōbi Technique!"
Sturdy wooden shields bearing masks with savage fangs rose from the earth.
Under Chikage's control, the flat shields swiftly curved, interlocking and overlapping.
The shields formed a huge hemispherical fortress, rooted deep underground.
Yashiro clung to a thick root beneath the ground.
Itachi guarded the unconscious Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, his Sharingan fixed on the shields' inner walls.
The shock wave slammed into the outer wooden defenses.
Boom!
The deafening impact set the interior of the shelter humming.
The once-solid demon-faced shields gave off a piercing grinding sound.
Fine cracks spread across their surfaces.
Standing at the very center of the defenses, Chikage bore the tremendous recoil.
The repulsive force traveled through the Wood Release's network of channels into his body.
A metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth onto the soil.
His Senju Sage Body began working on its own.
Abundant life energy flowed through his damaged chakra pathways, quickly settling the blood churning in his chest.
His injured organs healed at a visible rate.
Chikage spat out the bloody foam in his mouth, silently gauging the Rinnegan's power.
If that attack struck South Street's commercial special economic zone, every shop on