Chapter 257: Aftermath of the Battle (Part 2)
In the valley, beneath the giant stone sphere, the Third Raikage sat beside a few hastily assembled tables. His face was ashen, radiating a fierce aura that warned strangers to stay away.
An Anbu approached fearfully and reported, "Raikage-sama, a member of the Akahoshi Clan just reported that there is a massive underground space beneath the stone sphere. It seems something was originally hidden there but has been taken away."
The Third Raikage raised an eyebrow and growled, "I don't give a damn about that! I just want to know what this damn sphere is! How do we get Dana out?!"
After venting, the Third Raikage realized his loss of composure and wearily changed his tone. "Forget it. Send someone down to investigate, but try not to affect the stone sphere."
Ever since the earth-shattering battle ended, Kayo Uzumaki, watching from afar, had sensed the enemy's aura fading into death. She had been overjoyed, thinking Dana-Nii-san had won.
But before she could run over to celebrate, she discovered that Dana's aura was also weakening.
In her Mind's Eye of the Kagura... no, even without it, from ten kilometers away, Kayo could see the hundred-meter-tall stone sphere forming with her naked eye. She knew something was wrong.
She ran up to investigate, only to see a colossal stone sphere blotting out the sky. Her sensory ability couldn't detect Dana's aura inside.
This meant either the sphere wasn't ordinary stone and could block sensory perception, or... the person inside had completely lost their chakra reaction.
Kayo panicked and immediately used the golden slug Dana left her to call for help. On the other side, the Third Raikage, who knew his son might face combat since Dana called for the "Saturation Annihilation - Type III" bombardment, had been keeping a close watch just in case.
Initially, the Third Raikage wasn't too nervous. Although the "Type III" bombardment was powerful, it was mainly for underground targets. Since Dana called for a bombardment instead of reinforcements, he probably just encountered a complex underground fortification.
His youngest son's strength was no less than his own; he shouldn't be in any real danger.
However, Kayo's distress signal hit the Third Raikage like a sledgehammer. He flew over in a hurry, only to find a giant stone ball.
His son was gone!
The Third Raikage immediately deployed more manpower.
Originally, he intended to use Earth Release or brute force to smash the sphere and rescue Dana. But he discovered that although the sphere looked like a mix of ordinary rock and soil, it was actually an extremely powerful sealing jutsu. The interior was filled with special energy that defied common sense.
The report from the Sealing Corps further dispelled the idea of brute force.
The sphere was just a dead object sitting there; no matter how hard it was, with so many Cloud ninja, they could eventually break it open. But the Sealing Corps warned that the effect of the seal was unknown. Forcibly breaking it from the outside might have fatal consequences for the person trapped inside.
Like violently tearing open a sealing scroll—the contents inside wouldn't end up well.
"But if we leave it alone, won't Dana suffocate inside?"
"Raikage-sama, according to the Sealing Corps' investigation, the interior of this sphere might differ from conventional earth structures. There is a suspected involvement of Space-Time Ninjutsu. Dana-sama should be in a special state; suffocation might not be a concern."
"What do you mean 'suspected'? How confident are you?"
The subordinate stammered for a while before whispering, "Si... sixty percent..."
CRACK!
The Third Raikage smashed the specially air-dropped desk with a single punch. Panting heavily, he roared, "Sixty percent! Are you kidding me?! Is the entire Sealing Corps here? When will the Barrier Corps arrive?! Send me every useful sensory ninja in the village! At least determine the condition inside first!!"
"Yes, sir!"
This was roughly what happened before Yusuke Akahoshi arrived.
Time ticked by. More and more reinforcements arrived from the Cloud, but the Third Raikage grew increasingly irritable.
Although they couldn't determine the specific situation inside, just waiting around felt wrong.
Someone else approached, braving the Third Raikage's murderous gaze. "Raikage-sama, the little girl from the Uzumaki family seems to have found something."
As the only witness, Kayo had been questioned early on. After learning the cause and effect from her, the Third Raikage knew he shouldn't take his anger out on a little girl. But Kayo felt incredibly guilty. Wiping away her tears, she threw herself back into the sensory team, hoping to find something new.
Knowing her sensory skills were the best in the village, the Third Raikage held onto a sliver of hope.
Kayo ran over hurriedly. Her face was streaked with tears and dirt, making her look like a calico cat—marks left from pressing her face against the stone sphere to sense. But her eyes were determined. "Raikage-sama, I just pressed close and sensed every inch. I think I've seen this jutsu before."
A sharp glint flashed in the Third Raikage's eyes. The hardest part right now was not knowing the situation and fearing to act. He asked quickly, "Where have you seen it?"
"Two months ago, in the Eastern Archipelago. Nagato used a similar jutsu once. But I was far away then, and the jutsu Nagato used seemed to dissipate before fully forming, so I couldn't confirm it until now. I just checked again, and the feeling is extremely similar!"
The Third Raikage was overjoyed. "Where is he? Can we find him?"
Kayo said quickly, "I know his address!"
Under the bright moon, in a small town in the Land of Hot Water, Nagato and Kushina lay in their courtyard, watching the sky.
"Do you think there are more?"
"Probably."
"How many have passed?"
"I only saw the tail end of the noon wave, so I didn't count clearly. But this evening wave... at least seventy or eighty streaks have passed."
The two were doing what many people in the Land of Lightning, Land of Hot Water, and Land of Waterfalls were doing tonight.
Counting shooting stars.
Accurately speaking, counting the rainbow lights of the Heavenly Transfer Technique.
At noon, a massive wave of Heavenly Transfer lights had roared overhead. The scale was shocking then, but after a while, the rainbow lights on the horizon started coming like a gatling gun—lining up, coming from the same direction, heading to the same destination.
The Heavenly Transfer Technique was one of Kumogakure's most famous symbols. Anyone with knowledge of the ninja world knew this was the Cloud's trademark.
Many village idlers and high-ranking officials were curious about what required such a massive mobilization from the Cloud.
Even the Takigakure (Waterfall) Daimyo began to worry if his own hidden village had been struck by lightning in the brain and provoked a behemoth like the Cloud.
After all, the rainbow lights kept bombing toward the Land of Waterfalls.
Nagato and Kushina, having finished dinner and with nothing to do, lay in the yard dazing off, counting the lights passing overhead.
"With so many people flying over, is a war starting? The Third Great Ninja War or something?" Kushina asked worriedly.
Nagato thought for a moment. " probably not..."
Saying that, he felt a bit unsure. The Land of Lightning had been chaotic for the past two months. Even in the Land of Hot Water, they could feel it. It was said some small villages couldn't survive and had started migrating toward the Land of Hot Water.
Nagato didn't know the specifics, only that it seemed to be caused by the bureaucrats and nobles of the Land of Lightning.
Suddenly, a third voice popped up in the courtyard.
"Humans are truly foolish and pathetic creatures, constantly manufacturing war."
The voice naturally belonged to the Nine-Tails (Kurama).
Nagato denied it. "You can't say that... Humans aren't pathetic creatures. If you stretch the timeline, humanity is generally moving toward a better direction. We just lack the method to break through current problems."
"Tch! I don't know where you, a brat, learned all this nonsense."
Since the last incident, Kurama's relationship with Kushina had fundamentally changed. It was no longer sealed, forced to be bound within her.
However, the voluntarily returning Nine-Tails could still provide all the abilities of a Jinchuriki.
If one had to describe it, it felt like moving from a "prison" to a "home."
The former allowed no entry or exit; the latter was much freer—for example, its voice could now be heard outside.
The only flaw was that hearing a deep, raspy voice coming from a teenage girl's stomach like ventriloquism was a bit creepy.
"Hey, look... a few more coming over there."
"Really... they look prettier at night, more conspicuous."
"I wonder what it feels like to sit inside one. Can you see the ground?"
"Probably... Eh? Why are they getting slower?"
"Why does it look like they're flying toward us?"
"Impossible..."
The rainbow lights drew closer until they were directly above the small courtyard. Then, they turned and plummeted.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, three glowing white delivery pods smashed into the ground, completely obliterating Nagato's courtyard. Even the walls cracked from the tremor.
Nagato: "...."
Someone's vegetable garden and flower bed, painstakingly tended for two months, had turned into scorched earth.
Kushina: "...."
POOF!
The delivery pods vanished, revealing three Cloud ninja holding scrolls.
"You're Nagato, right? We need your help."
Veins popped on Nagato's forehead. He extended a hand.
"Repair fee: 100,000 ryo. Please settle the payment before talking to me about anything else."