Chaos still raged in the arena. The Sound Ninja and Sand Ninja attacked with mounting ferocity, while Konoha's ninja fought desperately to hold them off. Naruto and Gamabunta were locked in a fierce battle with Gaara in his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, the collisions between waves of sand and the toad's short sword deafening.
Ling, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji stood back-to-back in a small battle formation, efficiently clearing out the enemies around them. Ling's Water Release was precise and lethal, always finding the enemy's weakest point; Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique grew increasingly refined in actual combat, repeatedly turning the tide; Shikamaru's Shadow Manipulation and Choji's Human Bullet Tank provided solid battlefield control and explosive power.
Yet a deeper shadow hung over everyone's hearts-the enormous purple barrier enclosing the viewing platform, the Four Violet Flames Formation. The terrifying chakra fluctuations that occasionally leaked from within hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles. Everyone knew that the battle's outcome there would determine the fate of all Konoha.
Just then, an indescribably vast and chilling surge of chakra erupted from the Four Violet Flames Formation! Laden with the stillness of death and the rank smell of earth, it instantly overwhelmed all the clamor in the arena!
"Ugh... what is this feeling?" Ino's face went deathly pale. Her mental perception was especially sensitive to this kind of power.
"This feels awful... like a cold snake crawling down my spine..." Choji shuddered.
Shikamaru's brow knotted tightly. "I've got a bad feeling..."
Ling felt it most intensely! The instant that icy chakra erupted, Tobirama reacted inside his mind like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, more violently than ever before!
[This is...?!] Tobirama's voice brimmed with utter shock, fury, and a trace of... indescribable, uncanny bewilderment, as though he had encountered