"Let's see if they can still get up."
Sasuke's words had barely spread across the coast when a dull crash came from the first position.
Ōnoki crawled out of the rubble, his left arm hanging at his side and blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked up into the air. The first meteor had already split into several pieces, but they were still bearing down with heavy momentum.
Gaara knelt amid the gravel, his right hand braced against the ground as sand poured continuously from his palm.
"Lord Tsuchikage, can you still move?"
"I'm not dead yet."
Ōnoki raised his other hand, and a Dust Release Light Pillar shot from his palm. A layer was shaved off the bottom of the meteor, slowing its descent slightly.
Gaara immediately followed with Sand Release. A thick layer of sand supported the rock, opening a passage for the troops evacuating below.
"Get the wounded out first."
"Kazekage, what about you?"
"I'll hold."
"You've already said that twice."
Gaara did not answer. More sand swept in from afar, covering the cracked rock. But just then, a tremor of chakra came from overhead.
Ōnoki looked up, and his expression changed.
"He hasn't stopped."
The view in the water mirror shifted high into the sky.
Madara stood on a distant ridge, forming hand seals. Twenty-five Wood Release Clones rose from the ground, each wearing battered Battle Armor and holding a long chakra blade.
A had just gotten up beside the sea, his shoulder still bleeding.
"Madara Uchiha, what are you trying to do?"
Madara did not answer.
All twenty-five clones leaped at once. Susanoo skeletons unfolded behind them, their ribs, arms, and long blades forming an unbroken stretch along the coast.
Darui watched the scene, the Black Lightning in his hand slowly dissipating.
"Lord