Above the horizon of the sea, a giant ink bird glided smoothly southward, carrying Heiyan—the Immortal Sage—Konan, and Yahiko on its back.
At this pace, they would reach Penglai in about two days.
Heiyan, also known as the Immortal Sage, had already learned of Tsunade's title of "Goddess," as well as the scheduled date for Konoha's upcoming Hokage inauguration ceremony.
In truth, he wasn't entirely against the idea of unifying the shinobi world.
However, as he had told Tsunade through the voice of the Immortal Sage, even if she managed to create a unified nation, it would inevitably fracture again due to internal conflicts. War would never end.
In Heiyan's eyes, true and lasting unity among the shinobi world could only be achieved through one way—
A powerful external force must emerge, posing a deadly threat to the entire world of shinobi. This would force every country, every ninja village, and every individual ninja to unite and fight together for survival.
That "external force" was the Otsutsuki Clan from outer space.
The invasion of the Otsutsuki was precisely the opportunity Heiyan had been waiting for.
Only when the people of Earth saw the overwhelming power of the alien Otsutsuki would they finally awaken, forget their national and ethnic divisions, and unite tightly under the shared identity of Earthlings.
That was when the true unification of the shinobi world could finally become possible.
Back to the present.
Heiyan had said he would definitely attend Konoha's upcoming Hokage inauguration ceremony—but not to celebrate. Rather, he had his own Plan B:
To retrieve his woman.
Just then—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several gusts of wind blades suddenly shot out from afar, flying directly toward the trio riding the ink bird.
An ambush.
Without showing any emotion, Heiyan calmly steered the ink bird to dodge the attack—it had already sensed the enemy's presence long ago.
"Ahh!" Caught off guard, Yahiko and Konan wobbled and nearly fell off the bird's back.
Once they steadied themselves and looked up, they saw several unfamiliar ninja with wings approaching from all directions.
As the figures drew closer, they realized that those wings were actually mechanical flight devices apparently powered by chakra.
"Listen up! You have entered the jurisdiction of the Sky Ninja Village. I order you to surrender immediately, or we will kill you without mercy!"
One of them, apparently the squad leader, shouted at the trio.
Heiyan didn't respond. He simply tapped the cane in his hand against the ink bird's head. The bird then opened its mouth and sprayed a wide cloud of ink in all directions.
"Agh!"
Caught off guard, the attackers' vision was completely obscured while their flight devices became corroded by the ink, causing them to lose power.
Plop! Plop!
They splashed into the sea one after another like falling stones into deep water.
After dealing with these minor nuisances, Heiyan said to Yahiko and Konan,
"This bird will take you to Penglai. I've got something else to deal with here."
With those words, he leaped off the bird's back, while the ink bird accelerated skyward, carrying the two of them further south.
Heiyan slowly descended onto the horizon of the sea.
Now, he was no longer in the form of an Immortal Sage, but had reverted to his true appearance—white-haired with two horns and wearing a long robe adorned with a tomoe.
"Damn it! Daring to ambush them? You're finished!"
Several Sky Shinobi erupted from beneath the water's surface, thrashing about while cursing furiously. But when they laid eyes on Heiyan, they froze at once.
Who is this guy? And where are those three people from earlier?
Heiyan wasted no time speaking. With one swift motion, he extended a hand and unleashed a pulling force, yanking the team leader midair toward him.
Then, under the enemy captain's terrified gaze, he shoved a glowing green orb into the man's chest and rifled through his memories.
He now knew the location and approximate strength at the Sky Ninja Village's maritime base.
"Please, sir! Don't kill us!"
Only then did these men realize they had run into someone extremely dangerous. They all began begging Heiyan for mercy, hoping he would spare their lives.
"Don't worry, I never kill innocent people without cause."
With those calm words, Heiyan tossed the enemy captain back into the ocean and flew straight ahead toward the horizon.
After Heiyan flew off, the remaining shinobi sighed with relief, grateful they'd survived. But suddenly, they realized something terrifying—they were surrounded by a group of sharks.
As screams echoed all around, the sharks tore through the water, ripping into their prey like savage beasts. The blood of the dead dyed the surrounding waters red.
Heiyan zoomed westward, skimming just inches above the ocean's surface.
From what he remembered of the original timeline, the Sky Ninja Village had staged an aerial assault on Konoha during the Second Great Ninja War. After being defeated by Konoha, they fell silent for a while. However, years later, they returned with a floating airborne fortress city called Angkurbadia.
Based on the memories he extracted, the Sky Ninja Village had originally been plotting a large-scale assault on Konoha, but the sudden appearance of Tsunade had scared them into delaying the operation.
Nevertheless, these people had not given up. Instead, they were determined to activate the Wuge Fortress and deploy its super-heavy cannon during Konoha's inauguration ceremony as the new Hokage to obliterate the Hidden Leaf Village outright.
Heiyan decided to intervene.
On one hand, he didn't want these guys causing trouble and ruining the Hokage inauguration ceremony—that kind of important event could only be disrupted by himself.
On the other hand, Heiyan found the Sky Ninja Village's chakra-powered technology fascinating, especially the Wuge Fortress. If he could seize it, Penglai Kingdom would gain a powerful floating stronghold.
Before long,
From far away, Heiyan spotted three massive ships resembling aircraft carriers on the sea. Their decks swarmed with many Sky Shinobi continuously taking off and landing.
"Enemy approaching!"
Soon enough, the Sky Shinobi fleet detected Heiyan's arrival and immediately dispatched a team of more than ten shinobi to intercept him.
Swoosh!
Without hesitation, Heiyan accelerated forward, flying over the three carriers, forming a seal with his hands, and unleashing a Ninjutsu.
[Shhh!]
A deluge infused with Boil Release chakra swept across several kilometers, descending like a storm of corrosive needles from the heavens. Infused with intense chakra, the acid rain poured down fiercely, highly destructive to metal surfaces.
[Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!]
The Sky Shinobi flying in the air had no way to escape within the range of the Acid Rain. As soon as they came into contact with the rain, their flight devices were riddled with large holes and rendered completely useless.
The three aircraft carriers also became pockmarked under the corrosive downpour of the Acid Rain before slowly sinking beneath the sea.
These carriers appeared powerful yet were fragile inside — exactly like toys. Within the original timeline's narrative, Shino Aburame alone had used his insects to destroy all three carriers. Now under Heiyan's command, they proved even more fragile than before.
Within less than a minute, the entire fleet of Sky Shinobi above the sea was completely wiped out by the Acid Rain conjured by Heiyan.
He spared one survivor and asked him for the locations of the other Sky Shinobi units.
"Mercy, my lord!"
The man had already lost his courage, quickly spilling everything he knew without hesitation.
It turned out that the leader of the Sky Ninja Village had led his forces to attack and subdue several small ninja villages in order to activate Wuge Fortress. More than a thousand people had been captured and imprisoned within the fortress' prison, serving as living batteries to generate power.
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