"Even in the world of One Piece, this would be called a great swordsman's slash."
Kaede muttered softly as he looked at the result of his single strike.
At this moment, within Sunagakure, countless people were nearly frozen in shock. Some gazed up at the sky, staring at the upper half of their village, neatly sliced and suspended in the air. Others looked downward, watching as their village's upper half drifted farther from the ground.
"What… what is this?!"
Finally, someone burst out in panic.
Around the same time, the upper half of Sunagakure, having risen so high, began to lose its upward momentum. Gravity took hold, and it slowly stalls before starting to fall back down, breaking apart into pieces as it descended.
"Damn it!"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, snapped out of his shock and gritted his teeth at the scene. With a fierce shout, he raised both hands.
A roaring tide of sand surged upward, rushing toward the falling buildings closest to him, trying to support and hold them up.
Nearby shinobi reacted quickly as well, each forming hand seals and unleashing various Earth Release techniques to catch the falling village pieces.
With thunderous crashes echoing, the entire Sand Village shinobi worked together and barely managed to catch the upper half, preventing it from crashing into the lower buildings and causing further destruction.
But the towering rocky walls surrounding Sunagakure were beyond their control. All they could do was watch helplessly as the wall split open, shattered, and tumbled down.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently with the impact, as if an earthquake had struck.
The raging storm whipped up dust and sand far outside the village, sweeping it violently in all directions, including where Kaede stood.
Kaede remained calm, bathed in a silver glow, stepping out from the swirling sandstorm. The fierce winds and sand couldn't penetrate the silver light enveloping him.
Step by step, he advanced into the chaos of Sunagakure, holding the Kusanagi sword.
Being an S-rank-level shinobi meant showing the power worthy of that title. Otherwise, all the effort spent gaining such strength would be meaningless.
If the Six Paths of Pain could solo Konoha, then he could just as well solo Sand Village. That was the true meaning of reaching S-rank: one person capable of taking on an entire nation.
"What… what's going on?!"
"What happened? Is this an enemy attack?"
Many shinobi were still confused, unsure what exactly was happening.
Then, some shinobi closer to Kaede noticed the silver glow bathing him as he walked through the dust.
They gradually snapped out of their bewilderment caused by the sudden disaster, staring in disbelief.
"That guy… that guy is, "
"No doubt about it."
Cold sweat dripped down one shinobi's forehead, eyes filled with fear and disbelief. "That guy is... the Silver Flash of Konoha!"
The Silver Flash!
Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Yet here he was, alive!
And the village had just been shattered by some powerful ninjutsu, meaning that attack was the legendary S-rank jutsu wielded by the Silver Flash himself.
"Stop! Stop right there!"
"Damn it!"
Some shinobi gritted their teeth and drew their weapons, shouting angrily.
But as Kaede steadily approached, cold sweat began to bead on everyone's foreheads.
What filled their hearts were the terrifying legends from two years ago, stories of the Silver Flash's brutal victories and fearsome reputation.
One shinobi swallowed nervously.
The one closest to Kaede gripped his kunai tightly, trembling all over, wanting to attack, but as Kaede passed by, he couldn't move a muscle, his body stiff and drenched in cold sweat.
The chakra aura radiating from Kaede, along with his earlier devastating strike and the fame he had earned across the ninja world, all of this hung invisibly around him like an overwhelming force.
Every shinobi watching him approach felt as if something unbearably heavy was pressing down on them, making it hard to even breathe.
No one dared to make a move.
Nearby shinobi could only watch, frozen, as Kaede took step after step into the village.
Suddenly, two figures dashed out from inside the village.
Leading them was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, followed by the captain of Sand Village's Anbu and other department heads.
Seeing Kaede's figure, Rasa gritted his teeth.
So it really was the Silver Flash!
He hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly, barely any time after receiving the news, the enemy was already here. His previous defensive preparations hadn't even kicked in yet.
"Is it just the Silver Flash alone?!"
"Yes... Kazekage-sama, we only sense one chakra."
The captain of the sensory unit reported to Rasa, who stared toward Kaede, swallowing nervously, his face full of anxiety and seriousness.
That was the Silver Flash!
Even a single opponent like him was an enormous threat. The single strike that split the village apart was proof enough, their S-rank ninjutsu couldn't produce such destructive power!
He truly was a shinobi who could threaten an entire village by himself.
The only one in Rasa's memory to wield such power was the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, the God of the Shinobi who ended the Warring States Era, decades ago.
"Silver Flash!"
"What do you want?!"
Rasa kept his distance from Kaede, stopping far enough away to maintain maximum caution. He glared and shouted at him.
Kaede likely wasn't here just to attack and destroy, otherwise, he would have kept striking relentlessly from the start.
"I'm here to discuss something with you..."
Bathed in silver light, Kaede looked toward Rasa calmly. "But I doubt you'll agree easily. So, I'll probably have to attack first, then talk."
Those words flickered a spark of anger in Rasa's eyes and the Anbu captain's as well.
Yet Kaede didn't move, and no one dared to act rashly.
All eyes were fixed on Kaede, watching him carefully.
"What do you want to discuss?"
Rasa clenched his teeth and asked.
Kaede's gaze swept over Rasa and the shinobi gathering nearby.
"I think it's better to talk later. For now, I'm giving you some time to prepare."
==========
You can find much more on my Patreon: Patreon.com/Veltoria
There are currently 5 active fanfictions on Patreon, with over 294+ advanced chapters available across them!
From Naruto Onwards, I Control Time — Up to Chapter 238
Haikyuu!!: Rise of Sengoku — Up to Chapter 159
Danmachi: Is It Wrong To Aspire to Be An Adventurer? — Up to Chapter 86
Legend of Hogwarts (Harry Potter x League of Legends) — Up to Chapter 84
I Am Luffy: Partner System Online (One Piece) — Up to Chapter 67