The hundred thousand ninja of the Allied Shinobi Forces trembled beneath Shihōin Naraku's world-subduing presence, struggling to hold on.
Conqueror's Haki poured out, bearing the aura of a natural disaster as it crushed down upon them. The hurricane blasting into their faces felt like the end of the world.
Thud!
Naraku's raised foot came down, planting steadily and firmly on the ground.
At the same time, all the ninja facing that mountainlike, oceanlike pressure felt their hearts ease. They could clearly feel that the pressure on their shoulders had diminished considerably.
But the pressure did not gradually disappear. Instead, it rolled toward them like waves.
Even as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they could only muster their spirits and courage, grit their teeth, and keep holding on.
Watching the Allied Shinobi Forces, Naraku's lips curved into a smile that no one else could make out.
Naturally, he had deliberately created this situation.
His purpose was to keep the Allied Shinobi Forces from collapsing while forcing them to continue enduring the intense pressure.
Naraku had struck the right balance!
He could neither let these hundred thousand ninja collapse nor allow them to weather the terrifying pressure of Conqueror's Haki with ease.
With war already upon them, if these hundred thousand ninja truly failed to hold on and collapsed, their morale would crumble along with them.
Then there would be no point even talking about the coming battle against the Akatsuki.
Surely Naraku could not head to the front lines right at the outset and fight an entire army alone!
But letting the Allied Shinobi Forces get through it too easily would not do either.
In that case, the lesson Naraku was teaching them would amount to wasted effort.
Their earlier arguments would break out again, too.
That would not do!