Across the boundless sky, an enormous aerial fortress floated above the clouds like a colossal city.
Angkor Fortress.
At the central plaza, the Sky shinobi stood in perfectly ordered ranks.
They wore matching uniforms and forehead protectors bearing the symbol of the Sky Village.
On the raised platform at the front of the plaza stood the leader of the Sky shinobi, dressed in a black cloak.
They had remained hidden for years.
Today—
They would finally reveal their blade!
He would announce the strength of the Sky Village to the entire ninja world.
A shinobi village did not need overwhelmingly powerful individual shinobi to call itself strong.
The Sky Village had already discovered an entirely new path!
The world knew only the fame of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Today, he would show the entire ninja world the true power of the Sky Village.
The Sky shinobi would unify the ninja world!
"Today!"
"We will declare the strength of the Sky Village to the entire ninja world!"
"Go, warriors!"
"Destroy Kumogakure!"
The leader of the Sky shinobi raised his arm and spoke with soaring passion.
The Sky shinobi entered their flying ninja tools in perfect formation and flew toward Kumogakure.
—
"What is that?"
"A flock of birds?"
"Strange…"
The Kumogakure shinobi responsible for keeping watch suddenly heard a deep, piercing roar approaching through the sky.
It rolled closer like a black cloud pressing down upon the village.
The moment he saw the Sky shinobi flying toward them, instinct warned him that something was terribly wrong.
He immediately sounded the alarm.
The sudden sirens echoed throughout Kumogakure.
The villagers raised their heads in confusion.
A mass of black shadows swept across the blue sky, large enough to blot out the sun.
Cold metallic light flashed beneath them.
The next instant—
A dazzling streak of fire tore through the peaceful afternoon.
A deafening explosion followed.
One corner of the street was instantly swallowed by flames.
The enormous shock wave shook the surrounding buildings violently.
Shattered glass rained from above, while the sharp stench of smoke and explosives filled the air.
Then more explosions followed.
Flames erupted everywhere, like the fires of hell spreading across the mortal world.
The villagers panicked.
They abandoned whatever they were doing and scattered in search of cover, hiding behind buildings and inside alleyways.
Kumogakure's shinobi responded quickly.
They converged from every direction and began carrying out the village's emergency plans for an enemy attack.
A small number of Cloud shinobi evacuated the civilians.
The rest stared warily into the sky.
"Are those Sky shinobi?"
"They're back!"
"Defend the village!"
"Where are the Earth Release users?"
"Raise the defenses!"
More than a dozen Earth Release users simultaneously created Earth-Style Walls, blocking part of the bombardment.
"Hahahaha!"
"Idiots!"
"Behold our treasure!"
"White phosphorus bombs!"
The Sky shinobi moved in perfect formation and dropped white phosphorus bombs toward the areas where the Cloud shinobi were most densely gathered.
This was a secret weapon developed by the Sky Village's research institute.
It was even more destructive than Konoha's grenades!
The extreme heat generated by burning white phosphorus could instantly ignite clothing and flesh.
A scorching wave of air swept across the street.
Then came a blinding flash of white light.
The bombs exploded in midair, scattering countless burning particles like fireworks falling toward the ground.
They rained down like droplets of flame, instantly igniting everything around them.
"Water!"
"Save me!"
"It burns!"
The Cloud shinobi screamed in terror as they desperately tried to extinguish the flames consuming their bodies.
They rolled across the ground in agony, trying to escape the fire.
But the burning phosphorus made it impossible to rise.
Their skin blackened.
Their flesh sizzled beneath the flames.
The fire was nearly impossible to extinguish.
It would continue burning until the material was completely consumed.
It was practically an artificial version of Amaterasu.
The surviving Cloud shinobi treated their burning comrades as though they were facing terrifying enemies.
They had already witnessed the danger of even the smallest spark.
The flames clung to flesh like maggots burrowing into bone.
The moment someone touched them, their entire body began burning.
"Leave it to me!"
"Water Release!"
A shinobi skilled in Water Release attempted to rescue his comrades.
But instead of extinguishing the flames, the water spread the burning material farther.
The fire intensified and even reached the people nearby.
"How is that possible?!"
"Water can't extinguish it?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Cloud shinobi, these flames cannot be put out!"
"They will keep burning until everything becomes ashes!"
The Sky shinobi laughed proudly as they admired their work.
The Cloud shinobi listened to the piercing laughter from above.
The desire for revenge blazed inside them.
Yet they were powerless.
The Sky shinobi maintained a safe altitude and showed no intention of descending.
Most of them were not individually strong.
The majority were genin, and even chunin were relatively rare.
Earlier, several overconfident Sky shinobi had flown too low and been struck down by Kumogakure's ninjutsu.
After several rounds of bombardment, the survivors learned their lesson.
They maintained control of the air and exploited their advantage without restraint, pouring firepower down upon the village.
The Cloud shinobi could not even raise their heads.
They could only defend passively, evacuate as many civilians as possible, and retreat into underground shelters.
Flames and thick smoke blanketed Kumogakure.
People struggled in despair.
Large amounts of phosphorus compounds filled the air, forming poisonous smoke that launched a second wave of destruction upon the village.
The Sky shinobi admired their masterpiece.
Once they felt the timing was right, they activated devices attached to their flying tools.
Purple light flashed across the tail sections.
Angkor Fortress quickly received the signal and flew above Kumogakure.
"My little darling…"
"This time, you can eat as much as you want."
Beneath his cloak, the leader of the Sky shinobi wore an expression of uncontrolled excitement.
A massive black creature more than a hundred meters long coiled before him.
A strange mask covered its face.
This was the ultimate weapon the Sky Village had spent years developing—
The Zero-Tails!
The Zero-Tails released an impatient cry.
Soon, dark chakra began floating above the burning Kumogakure.
Every trace of it was drawn into the Zero-Tails.
Afterward, the Sky shinobi simply turned around and returned happily to Angkor Fortress.
Far away in the Land of Earth, Kumogakure's senior leadership was still absorbed in arguing over the distribution of funds.
They had no idea their home had already been emptied by the Sky shinobi.
Uchiha Ren received the news that very night.
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu had been monitoring every movement of the Sky Village without pause.
"Damn…"
"The Sky shinobi were even more brutal than I expected."
"Kumogakure truly suffered this time."
"Whatever little foundation they had left has been completely burned away."
"This scene…"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"It looks as though a Tailed Beast Ball exploded in the middle of the village."
Uchiha Ren watched the recorded footage with pity in his eyes.
"Hokage-sama, what do you think of the angle I filmed?"
"I nearly got burned by those strange flames just to capture that close-up!"
A bald White Zetsu danced excitedly as he spoke.
"Hey, you coward!"
"You were obviously hiding underground while filming!"
"Hokage-sama, look at mine!"
"I exposed half my body to record it!"
"The visual impact is much stronger!"
A half-bald White Zetsu with horns growing from its back spoke while giving the bald White Zetsu a thumbs-down.
The two bizarre-looking White Zetsu, both fond of spouting nonsense, had carried cameras and recorded the first-hand footage.
"Shut up, you two idiots!"
"Who allowed you to follow me inside?"
"Wait outside!"
Black Zetsu became furious as he watched the pair perform their ridiculous routine.
It was bad enough that they acted insane while outside.
They had actually dared behave like fools in front of his dearest elder brother!
"Oh…"
"Yes, Lord Black Zetsu."
After being scolded, the two White Zetsu immediately wilted.
"Little brother, don't get angry."
"These two White Zetsu still performed their work well."
"They can continue doing this in the future."
"Konoha Television happens to need people like them."
"When they have nothing else to do, they can work there."
"Hmm…"
"Being reporters might even waste their talents."
"These two could debut as a comedy duo."
Uchiha Ren rather liked the two White Zetsu.
If he remembered correctly, these were the two who had once guarded Uchiha Obito.
A natural comedy pair—
One delivered the jokes.
The other supported them.
If they performed comedy on television, their absurd style would probably attract plenty of viewers.
Most importantly—
He wouldn't need to pay either of them.
"Wow!"
"Hokage-sama, is that true?"
"We can appear on television?"
"That television?"
"I want to join!"
"Me too!"
"Where is Konoha Television headquarters?"
"Is it downstairs?"
The two White Zetsu began dancing excitedly again, circling Uchiha Ren while cheering.
"Get out!"
Three bulging veins nearly appeared across Black Zetsu's dark head.
He furiously drove the two White Zetsu out of the Hokage's office.
Those two idiots were still embarrassing him!
"Hokage-sama, we'll be leaving now."
"Make sure you look forward to our television performance!"
"…"
The two White Zetsu laughed and joked as they left the office.
They completely ignored Black Zetsu's anger.
After all, they had been born without a care in the world.
"Those two idiots…"
"If they weren't still useful, I would have scrapped them long ago."
Black Zetsu clenched his fists and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Little brother, don't be angry."
"Here."
"Try my Fool-Calming Head Rub!"
As always, Uchiha Ren gently stroked Black Zetsu's smooth head.
The moment he felt his elder brother's touch, Black Zetsu's emotions calmed.
Elder Brother's hand is so warm…
"Little brother, continue monitoring the Sky Village."
"I need to know their movements at all times."
"They are far too dangerous."
"Yes, Elder Brother!"
After Black Zetsu left—
Uchiha Ren remained alone in the office, repeatedly watching the recorded footage.
Weakness and ignorance were not obstacles to survival.
Arrogance was.
He had underestimated the danger posed by the Sky Village.
A sudden aerial assault was simply too difficult to defend against.
Even Konoha had no effective countermeasure.
The Sky shinobi could complete a successful surprise attack within one or two minutes.
Konoha would not even have enough time to respond.
By the time defensive forces were organized, the Sky shinobi could already escape.
Then would come the second bombardment.
The third.
The fourth.
Again and again—
Until an entire shinobi village was destroyed.
No wonder the Sky Village had developed ambitions of unifying the ninja world.
Moreover, the Sky shinobi appeared to have developed a special kind of bomb.
It looked strangely familiar to Uchiha Ren.
He felt as though such a weapon had existed in his previous world, though he could not immediately remember its name.
Fortunately—
The White Zetsu had collected several samples from the scene.
That same night, Uchiha Ren delivered them to Senju Tobirama.
"White phosphorus?"
After conducting several tests, Senju Tobirama reached a conclusion.
"White phosphorus is highly reactive and has many applications."
"I normally use it as a raw material for producing phosphoric acid."
"If I remember correctly, one of the pesticides I developed also contains it."
"I never expected the Sky shinobi to turn it into a bomb."
"That is quite an interesting idea."
"If that is possible…"
"Chlorine gas might also be a useful material."
"I could experiment with it when I have time."
The Sky Village's weapon immediately inspired Senju Tobirama.
His previous thinking had been too conservative.
Countless interesting ideas began appearing in his mind.
"This truly is interesting."
"A bomb made from white phosphorus…"
"If the Uchiha Clan had possessed this weapon back then, we could have secretly ambushed the Senju Clan."
"Especially Senju Hashirama."
"His Wood Release would ignite instantly!"
"Hahahaha!"
Uchiha Izuna leaned closer and made a horrifying suggestion.
"Defeated loser, are you trying to cause trouble again?"
"What?"
"Am I wrong?"
"Uchiha Ren, you heard him!"
"Uchiha Izuna started this!"
"Release the restrictions on my body!"
"I'll use the Flying Thunder God Technique to cut him into eight pieces!"
"You think I'm afraid of you?"
"…"
The two immediately began arguing again.
They looked ready to fight.
"Enough!"
"All you do is argue!"
"Look at the situation we're dealing with!"
Uchiha Ren immediately stopped them before they could attack each other.
"Tobirama, is there any method of countering this kind of bomb?"
Uchiha Ren frowned.
No wonder the weapon looked familiar.
It had existed in his previous world.
Its use on battlefields had been explicitly prohibited.
The first time Uchiha Ren learned about it had been because of those deranged squids.
"Hmm…"
"It would be difficult."
"Once this material explodes across a battlefield, it becomes a disaster."
"However, I can develop weapons even more powerful than this."
"The Sky Village's researchers have given me considerable inspiration."
Senju Tobirama could not think of an effective method for countering white phosphorus bombs.
The substance was far too chemically reactive.
Once it began burning on the human body, extinguishing it was extremely difficult.
However—
If Uchiha Ren wanted a more powerful weapon, Tobirama had several ideas.
Even reproducing the white phosphorus bomb itself would be easy.
With Konoha's industrial capacity, once production lines were established, output could rise quickly.
"Hmm…"
"All right."
"As for the new weapons, create several prototypes first."
After careful consideration, Uchiha Ren decided to let Senju Tobirama develop new weapons.
He might choose not to use them.
But Konoha absolutely could not afford not to possess them.
Shinobi ultimately had high offensive power and weak defenses.
One explosive tag or bomb could easily eliminate an average low- or mid-ranking shinobi.
Even a jonin could be killed.
Even Uchiha Sasuke, after awakening the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, had nearly died after Madara controlled him and stabbed him through a vital area.
Therefore—
When dealing with enemies, slightly crueler methods could still be accepted.
However, if weapons like these appeared—
Future shinobi battlefields might become filled with ordinary civilians used as expendable cannon fodder.
Those damned Sky shinobi!
They had opened Pandora's box!
Their crime was unforgivable!