A massive puff of smoke heralded the arrival of Gamabunta, the Toad Boss, carrying the ancient Great Toad Sage on his broad back.
Normally arrogant and carrying himself like a Yakuza boss, Gamabunta now stood utterly paralyzed. He stared up at the colossal form of Metroplex, his usual bravado replaced by sheer, unadulterated terror.
The Great Toad Sage, typically half-asleep and aloof, was wide awake. His bulging eyes stared in absolute disbelief at the apocalyptic scene unfolding before him.
A towering steel titan eclipsed the sun, its colossal fist slowly descending to crush Hashirama's sprawling forest. The greatest Kage in shinobi history buzzed around the descending metal meteor like helpless gnats.
'Absolute chaos,' the ancient toad thought, his mind racing back to the darkest eras of the shinobi world.
Jiraiya bounded across the battlefield, landing heavily on Gamabunta's snout.
"Great Sage! You're here," Jiraiya panted, wiping sweat from his brow. "What do we do now?"
The thousand-year-old sage regained his composure with a heavy, croaking sigh. "What are you fools doing?" he rasped, his voice cutting through the din of battle.
"Why are you still standing here? Retreat!" He banged his wooden staff against Gamabunta's back. "We need to fall back and strategize. Now!"
At a tap from the Sage, Gamabunta coiled his massive legs and vaulted across the chaotic terrain, landing with a heavy thud beside Hashirama Senju.
Hashirama wiped a smudge of dirt from his cheek and offered a strained smile. "Great Sage! Perfect timing. We could use a hand here."
The ancient toad shook his head. "Hashirama, fall back immediately. Put some distance between us and that machine so we can figure out a plan."
"Retreat?" Hashirama blinked, completely stunned.
The Great Toad Sage let out a raspy, exasperated sigh. "If you all just run away, its punch hits nothing but dirt, doesn't it?"
Hashirama paused, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
He was right. If they just moved, the titan would be punching empty air. Why the hell were they trying to catch a falling mountain?
Hashirama quickly amplified his voice with chakra. "Everyone! Evacuate all shinobi from the impact zone! We will regroup in the rear!"
Beneath the shadow of Metroplex's fist, thousands of Chunin and paralyzed Kumogakure shinobi were still frozen in shock. Hashirama's booming order finally snapped them out of their trance, sending a massive wave of soldiers scrambling frantically for their lives.
"They're moving too slowly!" Hashirama barked. "Commanders, assist the evacuation!"
Minato Namikaze was a blur of yellow light. Relying on the Flying Raijin, he zipped back and forth, teleporting squads out from under the shadow of the apocalyptic fist.
The Raikage followed suit, his Lightning Release armor flaring as he hoisted his men over his shoulders and sprinted to safety.
But the most efficient evacuation came from Mount Myoboku.
A chorus of loud poofs echoed as the Great Toad Sage summoned dozens of massive battle toads. The amphibians scooped up large clusters of terrified shinobi, swallowing them whole into their stomachs before leaping miles out of the danger zone.
Elsewhere, Jiraiya bounded up the side of a tree, grabbing Tsunade by the waist just as she prepared to throw another useless punch at the mecha's unyielding hull.
"Let's go, Tsunade! We're retreating!" Jiraiya shouted.
Tsunade ground her teeth in frustration. She had battered the steel chassis with hundreds of chakra-enhanced blows, yet all she managed were a few shallow dents. With a bitter curse, she finally relented and joined the retreat.
Inside the command center of Metroplex, the Sand Shinobi monitored the mass exodus.
"Lord Kazekage," Gaara reported, his tone strictly professional. "They are retreating. Should we pursue and cut off their escape?"
Mufasa leaned back in his chair and waved a dismissive hand. "Let them run. They're just small fry. Crushing them doesn't change the outcome."
With the foot soldiers finally clear, Hashirama and Ishikawa, the First Tsuchikage, exchanged a tense nod.
Pushing their chakra to the absolute limit, the ancient wood and towering stone pillars flared with power, stalling the giant fist for just one vital second.
Using that tiny window, the Kage scattered. Mu and Onoki cut their weight-reduction jutsu and blasted away through the sky.
Without their combined resistance, Metroplex's fist was completely unhindered.
It plummeted toward its original target: the heart of the Kumogakure encampment. The legendary trees of the First Hokage and the stone spires of the First Tsuchikage shattered into fine dust under the sheer kinetic mass.
BOOM.
The colossal fist slammed into the earth. The impact didn't roar; it produced a deep, muffled thud, like a god beating a subterranean war drum.
A devastating shockwave rippled outward from the epicenter. The solid desert floor behaved like water struck by a boulder, with visible, undulating waves of earth rolling across the landscape.
The sheer magnitude of the force made the ground seem as fragile as thin paper. The shockwaves rippled outward for miles, knocking the retreating shinobi off their feet, tossing them around like sailors caught in a violent storm.
Hashirama, Jiraiya, and the Great Toad Sage watched from a safe distance, their breath catching in their throats.
'What incomprehensible power,' they thought in unison.
Metroplex slowly stood upright, its towering joints grinding as it raised its colossal arm.
Beneath where the fist had struck, the Kumogakure camp was gone. In its place was a massive, perfectly flat crater.
But it wasn't filled with sand. The apocalyptic pressure and heat of the strike had compressed the desert floor into a vast sheet of jagged, glass-like crystals, gleaming brightly under the harsh sun.
A collective shiver ran down the spines of the Allied Shinobi Forces. If that punch had landed on flesh and bone, there wouldn't even be atoms left.
The Great Toad Sage tapped Gamabunta's back with his staff. The massive toad reluctantly hopped forward, keeping a healthy distance from the metallic titan.
"Young Kazekage!" the ancient toad croaked, amplifying his voice to reach the mecha's head. "Can we have a chat?"
Mufasa's booming laughter echoed from Metroplex's colossal acoustic arrays, rolling over the shattered dunes.
"Oh? The legendary ancestor of Mount Myoboku has finally shown his face," Mufasa taunted. "I recall you being a recluse who never interfered with the mortal world."
"I certainly didn't want to," the Great Toad Sage replied, adjusting his spectacles. "This desert is far too dry for a toad's liking. But for the sake of the shinobi world, I had no choice."
The Sage frowned. "You've done many drastic things, Kazekage, and Mount Myoboku has never intervened. But don't you think this is pushing things a bit too far?"
"Too far?" Mufasa's voice dripped with mocking disbelief. "Was I supposed to just stand here and let a three-hundred-thousand-strong army slaughter my people? I graciously let them fire twenty heavy artillery rounds at my front door, and I only threw one punch in return. Tell me, how is that excessive?"
The Great Toad Sage slowly shook his head.
"I'm not talking about the casualties. I've lived for a millennium. I've seen massacres, genocides, and endless wars. Even if you slaughtered every soul on this battlefield today, it would be a mere drop in the ocean of history."
"No, the problem is your power. You have grown far too strong, and in doing so, you are threatening the very balance of this world."
The ancient toad locked his strange, rippling eyes onto the mecha. "I propose you impose limits on yourself. Halt Sunagakure's development of these devastating weapons and technologies."
"If you agree, I will stake my reputation as the forefather of Mount Myoboku to guarantee peace between you and the other nations. You will remain the Kazekage, and your village will keep its current prosperity. Deal?"
A heavy silence fell over the desert. The wind howled against the ruined earth.
Finally, Mufasa's voice cut through the tension. "No."
The Great Toad Sage frowned, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "Do you truly not trust my word, young man?"
Inside the cockpit, Mufasa smirked and shook his head. "I don't trust you because you're a toad."
The Great Toad Sage blinked in genuine confusion. 'A toad? What does my species have to do with anything?'
"There's an old proverb about a frog trapped at the bottom of a well," Mufasa explained, his tone laced with pity. "Because it never leaves the well, it thinks the tiny patch of sky above is the entire universe."
"You've sat on your mountain for a thousand years, looking only at this tiny, fragile shinobi world. But I stand outside that well. I see the vastness of the universe, and I know for a fact that my power is still not enough. My weapons are still too weak."
Mufasa's eyes went cold. "Why on earth would I chain myself down now?"
"So, save your breath, old toad. I have no interest in your petty balance."