Chiya stood at the entrance to the passage, gazing at the shinobi world on the other side, a faint, serene smile flickering in his eyes.
Holding the gilded Ryūjin Jakka, he stepped forward first and crossed the stable spatial passage he had cleaved open with a single slash.
The moment his foot came down, he stood on the battlefield of the final showdown in the Land of Iron.
The morning sun rose high, spilling golden light over the devastated earth. Cracked and collapsed ravines scarred the battlefield, and the shattered remains of the samurai fortress, destroyed by the battle's shock waves, lay scattered everywhere. Corpses from the White Zetsu Army and the blood of shinobi still littered the ground. A bitter wind swept loose stones across the battlefield, carrying lingering malice and the stench of blood.
The Fourth Shinobi World War had reached its final stage. Tens of thousands of shinobi from the Allied Shinobi Forces stood in small groups across the battlefield. After days of bloody fighting, they were exhausted in body and mind. Most of their uniforms were in tatters, and many still bore unhealed wounds. Yet they kept their kunai and Ninja Blades clenched tightly, their gazes fixed on the enormous spatial passage, unconsciously softening even their breathing.
No one knew how the final showdown in the Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball Space had ended.
No one knew whether Kaguya and Black Zetsu had been slain for good.
Still less did anyone know whether this world-ending war that had engulfed the entire shinobi world could truly come to an end.
All they could do was wait here for the final outcome, waiting for the man who had single-handedly turned the entire war around to bring them the answer.
The instant Chiya emerged from the spatial passage and landed firmly