In the Victoria Housekeeping Estate, the Mistress of the manor had gathered everyone close to Zhong Yan—including Anby—into one place.
This way, when Zhong Yan came to rescue them, he wouldn't have to run all over the place.
"That person... it's Zhong Yan, right?"
At that moment, the television in the hall was broadcasting footage of Uchiha fighting the Ethereal Army.
Everyone present knew that Zhong Yan was Uchiha, so their first reaction was to assume that the man on screen was Zhong Yan.
But only Anby furrowed her brows slightly. For some reason, she had a strange feeling that the person in the footage didn't seem like Zhong Yan.
Yet aside from Zhong Yan, who else in New Eridu possessed that kind of power?
...
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Elsewhere, faced with the Ethereal Army surging toward him like a tide, Zhong Ling's hands rapidly formed a series of seals.
In the next instant, a massive fireball spewed from his mouth, its searing heat instantly engulfing swathes of the Ethereals.
Countless Ethereals were reduced to ash under the scorching flames. The ones that survived either hadn't been touched by the flames or were so weakened after withstanding the blast that they lost the ability to fight.
"Is this all—just this kind of worthless trash... Just like the future," Zhong Ling muttered after clearing a large group. Yet he realized that the number of Ethereals had not diminished. On the contrary, even more were surging in his direction.
However, the Ethereals charging at him were mostly common and elite types. There were barely any giant-class or super-giant-class Ethereals in sight.
This didn't mean those powerful types wouldn't appear—it was a tactic. They were deliberately sending cannon fodder first to exhaust New Eridu's active forces before unleashing their elite troops to devastate what remained.
In New Eridu's future, people had mistakenly assumed that giant and super-giant Ethereals wouldn't appear. They let down their guard and threw all their top forces at the cannon fodder.
The outcome was predictable. When the true giants showed up, the defenders, already spent, had no strength left for a second round of intense combat.
This time, Zhong Ling, armed with foresight, would never let that tragedy repeat itself.
"Let's see how many fire-style jutsu these worthless mobs can actually endure."
...
Meanwhile, in another location—
After emerging from Hollow Zero, the three members of Akatsuki had immediately plunged into battle.
As for Zhong Yan, watching the endless tide of Ethereals pouring from Hollow Zero, an idea suddenly came to him.
With the Ethereals packed so tightly together, a large-scale destructive ninjutsu would certainly deliver a devastating blow.
And now, ever since awakening the Rinnegan, Zhong Yan just so happened to have such a technique at his disposal.
With that thought, he didn't hesitate. In a flash, he appeared atop a nearby building. Gazing at the massive Hollow Zero before him, he raised one hand and formed a hand sign without a moment's pause.
Beneath the white mask, his spiraling pupils—each embedded with six black tomoe—suddenly emitted a ghostly glow.
"Tengai Shinsei!"
In the next moment, without warning, a colossal meteor tore through the clouds and plummeted from the sky.
Its immense size instantly blotted out the sun over all of New Eridu.
At that moment, every citizen of New Eridu instinctively looked up, their faces twisted in shock and disbelief.
It was a scene too visually overwhelming to ignore.
Yet the meteor wasn't aimed at the Ethereal Army invading New Eridu—it was heading straight for Hollow Zero.
As it passed through the spatial barrier of Hollow Zero, the giant meteor slowly vanished from view.
Inside Hollow Zero—
The Ethereal Army, under the command of their Overlord, was steadily crossing through the spatial nodes, launching their lives into the invasion without hesitation.
Just then, a meteor began descending—slowly, deliberately—toward the ground.
However, the mindless Ethereals hadn't the awareness to feel fear.
Only the Overlord, gazing directly at the meteor, showed a look of stunned disbelief.
"Something that big… could that guy have created it?" Its heart trembled. Its first instinct was to assume Zhong Yan was behind the meteor.
If that were true, then his power was beyond terrifying.
The leader of the Exaltists hadn't been lying.
With that thought, the Overlord didn't hesitate. Its body suddenly began to swell uncontrollably.
In just a few breaths, its body grew to an unsustainable size—then exploded with a thunderous boom.
But its physical form didn't die from the explosion. Instead, its true form was revealed.
A super-giant Ethereal over 500 meters tall—when it emerged, it seemed to fill nearly half of Hollow Zero with its bulk.
If someone were standing at its feet, they might've mistaken the sudden shadow for nightfall.
The descending meteor overhead was nearly the same size as the creature itself.
Given the slight power difference, it simply reached out both hands and caught the massive meteor.
Feeling the weight—completely manageable—it even felt a bit relieved, thinking that this Uchiha wasn't so scary after all.
But just as that thought crossed its mind—
The second meteor ripped through the clouds above and entered Hollow Zero.
BOOM!
In mere seconds, the two meteors collided violently. The combined weight, multiplied by the impact, caused the Overlord's massive body to tremble, its face twisted in horror.
The twin meteors exploded on impact, and massive shards of rock rained down like a torrential storm.
Wherever the debris struck, Ethereals were vaporized into dust. Even the giant-class ones struggled to survive.
This single strike inflicted catastrophic losses upon the Ethereal Army. Though only less than a tenth were destroyed, the psychological blow was devastating.
Sadly, no one in New Eridu witnessed the scene—otherwise, their entire worldview might have been rewritten by the sight of those two meteors alone.
As far as the Ethereal Army was concerned, their only takeaway was that the Overlord remained unscathed.
Now fully aware of Zhong Yan's power, the Overlord realized retreat was no longer an option. Gritting its teeth, it ordered the army to continue the assault.
This time, even the giant and super-giant Ethereals were being deployed—clearly, it intended to fight to the bitter end.