The Land of Rain, the Abandoned Shrine.
Killing intent filled the air, which seemed to freeze.
Danzo, Orochimaru, the Root elites, the reincarnated Tobirama Senju, and Hanzō formed an encirclement, trapping Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan in the center.
Yahiko's eyes nearly split with rage. Paper fluttered around Konan, while Nagato covered his eyes, his body trembling slightly, as though something inside him was stirring.
At that tense instant, with battle about to erupt-
"RUMBLE!!!"
It was neither thunder nor an explosion, but a muffled roar from deep underground, mingled with endless pain, madness, and an aura of blasphemy. Accompanied by an indescribably terrifying pressure, it erupted without warning like an invisible tsunami from beneath the shrine-no, from the depths beneath the entire Land of Rain!
Immediately afterward, a colossal pillar of light of an indescribable color, blending deep dark red with filthy purple, tore through the shrine's roof like a demonic god's spear holding up heaven and earth. It pierced the thick, lead-gray rain clouds and shot into the highest heavens! Wherever the light passed, space itself seemed to warp and groan, giving off ominous fluctuations that made souls tremble.
Those fluctuations were so powerful, so evil, so... exalted!
In an instant, they overwhelmed all the chakra and killing intent gathered within the shrine, making everyone present, from Kage-level fighters to ordinary elites, feel an irrepressible fear and insignificance born of their most primal instincts!
It was as though ants were facing the abyss, as though mortals had glimpsed gods and demons!
"Wh... what... is that?!" A Root elite's voice trembled, and even his kunai-wielding hand shook.
Hanzō's grip on his chain-sickle abruptly tightened. His breathing quickened beneath his mask, and for the first time, his eyes revealed an alarmed uncertainty beyond what he felt toward powerful enemies, almost as