"Not my problem. Let it fall if it wants."
That was what Shengu Xuan said, but he did not lie back down. He leaned against the tree trunk, his chaos-colored eyes watching the ever-approaching moon through the gaps in the leaves, as though watching a spectacle that had nothing to do with him.
But the moon did not give him the chance to keep watching.
In the noon sky, a dazzling green light suddenly lit up on the surface of the pale full moon. It poured out through the moon's cracks, gathering into a straight pillar of light that plunged directly toward the ground.
Its destination was none other than the very center of Konoha.
Tsunade's voice came from the village. Even several kilometers away, the strain tearing at her throat was audible. "Everyone, evacuate the central district! Sensory unit, report its energy level!"
Shengu Xuan yawned, stood up beneath the tree, and brushed the grass clippings off his pants. He took two leisurely steps toward the village, then stopped.
Before touching the ground, the green pillar of light suddenly dispersed, becoming an emerald sphere of energy suspended three hundred meters above Konoha. Inside it, a human silhouette was slowly taking shape.
Short white hair, pale skin, a closed eye in the center of his forehead, and a white, high-collared robe, with several emerald orbs of light circling him.
"Someone from the Ōtsutsuki Clan?" Shengu Xuan tilted his head and studied him for a few seconds, then curled his lip. "A relative of Kaguya's?"
The white-haired man suspended in midair opened his eyes. His pale blue pupils looked down upon Konoha below, and his voice carried clearly from three hundred meters above into every ninja's ears, its peculiar tone mingling lofty coldness with pity.
"Vermin of the earth, I am