Shu Shiraishi pulled open the rusty iron door.
The military boots stepped over the threshold and out onto the rooftop.
The iron gate slammed shut behind him with a dull thud.
The cold air in the hallway was abruptly cut off.
Hiruzen lay sprawled on the concrete floor. His sobs, escaping the window, were completely muffled.
Shu Shiraishi didn't turn around. He walked down the dimly lit stairs.
The surface of the cement steps is rough.
The military boots stomped on it, making a monotonous "clack-clack" sound.
He put his hand into his jacket pocket and felt for a half-collapsed pack of cigarettes.
He pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He didn't light it; he just chewed on the cigarette holder.
They went down to the basement of the Hokage Building.
This is the main power distribution room.
The two heavy lead doors were half-closed.
Shu Shiraishi Gate of Opening.
The door hinge emitted a harsh, scraping sound.
A strong smell of engine oil mixed with the odor of ozone assaulted my nostrils.
The basement was large. Several dim, explosion-proof lights hung from the ceiling.
Orochimaru stood in front of a huge control panel.
His white lab coat was covered in black grease and had a tear in the cuff.
He was clutching a large cast iron wrench in his hand.
He was looking down, tightening a thick nut on the control panel.
Clang.
My hand slipped. The wrench hit the metal plate on the ground and rolled half a meter away.
Orochimaru didn't pick it up. He raised the back of his hand, which was covered in black oil, and vigorously rubbed it on his forehead.
A noticeable black mark appeared on his pale forehead.
He opened his mouth wide and yawned deeply. Two drops of natural tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Hearing footsteps, Orochimaru turned his head.
His snake-like eyes were bloodshot.
" Lord Shu." His voice was hoarse, dry as if two pieces of sandpaper were grinding against each other.
Shu Shiraishi walked to the control panel.
In front of me was a bronze push gate, about half the height of a person.
The switch handle was wrapped with several layers of black insulating tape. The edges of the tape were peeling off and curled up.
Shu Shiraishi didn't see the gate being pushed open.
His gaze went past the control panel and landed on the three enormous glass water tanks behind it.
The middle tank was filled with a murky, pale green nutrient solution.
A person is soaking in the water.
Or, to put it another way, a piece of dried-up charcoal.
The Third Raikage of Kumogakure.
His muscles, once harder than steel, have now completely atrophied.
His dark skin, soaked in a high-concentration electrolyte solution, turned white and wrinkled, hanging loosely on his bones like old tree bark.
At the site of the severed right arm, an ugly, dark red scar had formed.
A dozen or so thick insulating rubber tubes.
It was roughly inserted into the Raikage's back, chest, and dantian.
The skin at the tube connection point was turned inside out, oozing a trickle of dark blood.
"How much longer can it be squeezed?"
Shu Shiraishi looked at the person in the water tank.
The Raikage's eyes were half-open, the whites of his eyes cloudy and murky.
His mouth was slightly open.
A few air bubbles were squeezed out of my throat with difficulty.
"Gurgle."
Bubbles, accompanied by white foam, rose to the surface and burst with a pop.
The eerie blue Chakra surged wildly within the tube, crackling with tiny sparks of electricity.
Lightning Release Chakra was continuously drawn from his depleted meridians and sent to the battery pack at the back.
"At most three days."
Orochimaru walked over, bent down, and picked up the wrench from the ground.
"His organs have begun to fail. The IV fluids can't replenish his depleted cells."
Orochimaru licked his chapped lips. "Last night, he had a seizure. He almost popped the tubes off."
Three days is enough.
Shu Shiraishi withdrew his gaze.
"Once this batch of special steel is extracted, the airship unit should also tow One-Tail back."
He spat the half-smoked cigarette he had chewed up onto the ground.
Shu Shiraishi walked up to the huge bronze gate.
"Are all the transformers in each district connected?" he asked.
Orochimaru walked to the power distribution cabinet, his eyes fixed on the fluctuating gauges.
He reached out and patted the rightmost dial where the hands were stuck.
"Snap." The pointer jumps back to its original position.
"Full line deployment." Orochimaru took a half step back. "Power can be supplied now."
Shu Shiraishi raised both hands.
He gripped the bronze handle wrapped in insulating tape in his palm.
The adhesive residue from the tape is stuck to my skin and feels rough to the touch.
His arm muscles tensed instantly.
Several bluish veins bulged on his forearm.
Take a deep breath. Engage your core and lower back muscles.
Push down that heavy bronze gate with all your might.
"Click!"
The cast iron gears meshed together, producing a clanging sound that made your teeth ache.
The instant the copper gate makes contact.
A blinding orange-red spark burst from the crack and splattered onto the floor.
"Buzz--"
The dozen or so giant transformers in the power distribution room simultaneously emitted a deafening low-frequency roar.
The concrete ground beneath my feet began to tremble violently.
A powerful electric current flowed along the thick, high-voltage cable.
It surged out like a flood bursting its banks.
It rushes towards the surface along the underground pipe network.
Konoha on the ground.
Night had just fallen. There was no moon in the sky, and thick clouds hung low.
The whole village was shrouded in gloom.
The working-class area in the south.
A bricklayer, who had just finished work, was squatting in his dark yard.
He was holding a cold cornbread in his hand, about to put it in his mouth.
A newly planted wooden utility pole stands outside the courtyard gate, with a large incandescent light bulb hanging from the top.
An electric current surged in.
The filament flickered suddenly.
"Snap."
A blinding incandescent light exploded instantly.
It illuminated half of the dirt road and also the bricklayer's face, which was covered in cement dust.
The bricklayer was dazzled.
He instinctively closed his eyes, and his hand trembled.
The cold cornbread fell to the ground and rolled into a puddle of sewage.
He didn't pick it up. He stared blankly at the glowing thing above his head, mouth agape.
At the same second.
The heavy industrial area to the west.
Hundreds of giant searchlights mounted on the factory roof and scaffolding were powered on simultaneously.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
A thick, white beam of light shot straight into the sky.
The light illuminated the billowing black smoke from the exhaust chimney, making it crystal clear.
The roaring steam press gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the beam of light.
The newly built red brick residential buildings on the east side.
Inside the glass windows of every house.
The warm yellow lights lit up in unison, row after row.
Like countless eyes opening in the darkness.
In an instant.
All the lights in the entire Konoha.
They burst forth with dazzling light in the same second.
The darkness was brutally torn apart and completely dispelled.
This was once a backward ninja village where people could only use kerosene lamps at night.
At that moment, it shone like a giant, glowing torch lying on a plain.
It made the clouds overhead appear deathly white.
A brief silence.
The entire village was stunned by the sudden burst of bright light.
Two seconds later.
"It's lit up! It's fucking lit up!"
Someone in the street shouted something in a hoarse voice.
The sound was like a spark that ignited the entire Konoha.
The cheers of tens of thousands of people exploded like a tsunami.
The sound echoed through every corner of the village.
Akimichi Chōza sat on scaffolding more than ten meters high.
He didn't use the Multi-Size Technique. He was holding a large iron wrench in his hand.
He gazed at the sea of lights stretching into the distance.
He wiped the sweat from his face with his thick palm. His eyes suddenly felt a little hot.
Several exploration team members from the Hyuga Branch Family were walking home on the asphalt road.
They took off their headlamps to protect themselves from the wind.
I looked up and saw a few moths fluttering their wings under the streetlight.
They glanced at each other, then grinned and chuckled foolishly.
No more walking on dirt roads in the dark. No more smelling the pungent kerosene.
This is the age of steel and electricity.
Underground main power distribution room.
Shu Shiraishi stood under the glaring overhead light.
The light bulb is overloaded and is making a faint "buzzing" sound.
He was separated by a thick concrete ceiling.
They heard faint cheers coming from the ground.
Shu Shiraishi twitched the corner of his mouth.
He gripped the handle of the power switch with both hands.
His finger joints relaxed slightly. He was just about to release the bronze handle and move away.
The ceiling of the basement.
It was in the section of tin ventilation duct directly above him.
Suddenly, a very faint metallic scraping sound was heard.
"Sizzle."
The sound was very soft, like a fingernail gently scraping against a metal plate.
It was almost completely drowned out by the low-frequency roar of the generator set.
The exhaust fans in the ventilation ducts were still whirring.
The edges of the metal mesh cover were rusted.
A thin steel wire hung down silently along the gap in the mesh cover.
The steel wire is not much thicker than a human hair.
Under the glaring incandescent light, its surface gleamed with a ghostly blue, poisonous light.
It extends straight down.
It drooped straight down towards Shu Shiraishi's unsuspecting nape.