Time seemed to stretch at that moment, then freeze completely.
The Information Demon's ragged body, made of countless scraps of paper, stiffened in the cold rain.
It gave up running.
Gave up thinking.
It even gave up its fear of death.
Because before that divine beast of pure lightning in the sky, any emotion was a desecration.
It merely raised its head, gazing up with almost devout reverence at its own impending fate.
At the top of the clock tower.
Sasuke's black hair whipped wildly in the gale, rain sliding down his impassive cheeks.
His raised left hand finally swept down.
There was no sound.
In an instant, the world lost all sound.
Then.
A pure white pillar of light, impossible to describe in words, descended from the sky.
The roaring Kirin plunged down faster than light, striking that tiny black speck on the ground with perfect precision.
Only then came the sound.
"BOOM-!!!!!"
That was not thunder.
It was the sky's anguished cry.
It was the earth's wail as it was torn apart.
A visible white shock wave spread frantically in every direction from the point of impact.
Wherever it passed, rain evaporated instantly, roof tiles were ripped away in sheets, and fragile windows shattered into countless glittering fragments, all at the same moment.
The entire City of Wind Chimes trembled violently beneath that world-destroying power.
In a concealed spot several miles outside the city.
The Kakushi members responsible for surveillance and cleanup lay in the grass, watching developments in the city through binoculars.
One second, their hearts were still pounding at the upheaval in the heavens and earth.
The next.
A light so intense it could outshine the sun filled their entire field of vision.
"Aah-!"
"My eyes!"
Everyone instinctively squeezed their eyes shut and screamed in pain.