War—and not just any war, but a Great Ninja World War. When this grim reality settled in, the members of the Alliance all wore heavy expressions.
Only those who had experienced war could truly understand how cruel the reality was beneath its passionate, thrilling surface!
Compared to the older generation's worries and concerns, the younger generation was mostly excited and eager to prove themselves.
They had always lacked a platform to showcase their strength!
Rock Lee wildly threw punches at the air. "Yaaah! I can feel it now—the burning passion of youth Master Guy spoke of!"
Meanwhile, Shikamaru yawned sleepily. "No way. What about my morning naps now?"
Just then, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from one direction within the Alliance.
Startled awake, Shikamaru cried, "What the hell? What's going on now?"
As he spoke, he suddenly felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.
It was Rock Lee, leaping onto him and looking into the distance. "Trouble! The prison is under attack!"
"The prison is under attack?!" Hearing this, Shikamaru no longer thought about pulling Lee off his shoulder.
Unlike the cramped, suffocating prisons of the ninja village era, the new prisons of this age were often built as part of large-scale labor projects. As a result, they were massive and located far from the Alliance's central area.
Though remote, the prisons were protected by powerful barriers set by the Alliance's leaders. There had been no fear of prisoners escaping—until today, when someone actually dared to attack one!
"A prison attack? Could it be another secretive group?"
As Shikamaru was thinking this, he suddenly noticed a dangerous gleam in someone's eyes.
Choji was rubbing his palms together, seemingly about to copy Lee and leap onto Shikamaru's shoulder for a better view.
Shikamaru immediately ducked into the panicking crowd—the commotion quickly spreading. The Grand Arena, which had just begun to calm down, once again fell into chaos.
Many jonin rushed toward the prison instinctively, but before they had even taken a few steps, a gigantic castle rose into the sky in the distance.
Its design was elegant yet imposing, as if it were the dwelling of a god!
"What... what is that?!"
"That's actually... a floating city in the sky!"
Even in this new era, such an epoch-defining creation still shocked everyone to their core.
Of course, the two individuals from the Otsutsuki clan were exceptions.
Momoshiki glanced contemptuously at the crowd. "These backwards fools are amazed by a mere floating fortress. If they saw a space fortress, wouldn't they be blown off their feet with shock?"
Isshiki finally regained a bit of his usual arrogance. "Hmph, no matter how strong they are, they're just a bunch of rednecks who've never even left their own planet. If they—what the...?! What is this?!"
In his line of sight, thousands of mechanized bodies flew out from the edges of the airborne castle. Together, they fired beams of light at the barrier. In just a few breaths, the chakra barrier covering the prison was shattered!
They weren't the only ones stunned—members of the Alliance stood frozen in disbelief.
Finally, Onoki croaked out, voice hoarse with shock, "[Dust Release]... and over a thousand of them using it at once!"
While there were rumors from the biological research institute about artificial Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tota are completely different in nature!
Most Kekkei Genkai can be defended against, but how does one defend against Dust Release?
You can only dodge!
But with over a thousand simultaneous Dust Release attacks carpeting the battlefield, there's no escape!
Even more terrifying was that those using Dust Release didn't seem to be humans at all, but Mechanized Bodies!
This meant that these machines could be rapidly replenished after being damaged!
"Who does this aerial castle belong to? I hope it's not the Void organization…"
Just as this thought surfaced in their minds, they heard Aizen's laughter from the sky.
"Everyone, are you curious about my palace?"
"It's really him!" The people's hearts sank, especially those who had once believed the Alliance held the advantage — now filled with dread.
They had originally thought that although the Void organization was powerful, their small numbers would eventually lead to exhaustion.
However, the sudden appearance of the Sky Fortress, one thousand Mechanized Bodies, and the fifty thousand White Zetsu soldiers imprisoned in the prison made them realize one thing — this war was going to be anything but easy!
A asked solemnly, "Being able to use Dust Release and actually possessing it are two different things. Tsuchikage, doesn't Dust Release consume a massive amount of chakra?"
Onoki nodded slightly, "Indeed, the chakra consumed by Dust Release far exceeds that of ordinary ninjutsu. Even for me, I can only use it continuously about twenty times!"
Rasa mused, "The chakra powering puppets generally comes from puppet masters, but no puppet master could supply enough chakra for a thousand simultaneous uses of Dust Release!"
"It's probably Greer Crystals being used as the power source for these puppets!" Terumi Mei analyzed. "Don't forget, that Greer crystal vein is in their possession!"
Even Isshiki and Momoshiki were deeply troubled. Although they could absorb chakra, if the attacks became too intense, there would inevitably be lapses. And with an attack like Dust Release, even one lapse could lead to major problems!
Isshiki especially recalled the very sword Aizen had ignored with his genjutsu during their previous battle. If that sword had been replaced by a single use of Dust Release…
In this deathly silent atmosphere, Seiki looked at Aizen and shook his head slightly, "Is attacking the prison really playing fair?"
Aizen smiled slightly, "After suffering such a big loss at your hands last time, I had to get some compensation this time around, right?"
Hearing their conversation, the group that had been disheartened by Aizen's display of strength felt psychologically balanced. So that guy had come seeking revenge after suffering a major defeat at their leader's hands?
Seiki sighed softly, "Was it really a loss?"
Aizen remained noncommittal, "Speaking of which, you don't plan to intervene?"
Seiki was silent for a moment, "Letting them serve for eight years is probably enough to atone for their sins back then. However, they're simply too different from normal humans. This world has no place for them to survive. Handing them over to you might be a pragmatic choice!"
At Seiki's words, everyone suddenly understood.
No wonder the Sky Net didn't respond — so the leader had tacitly approved?
They didn't oppose this outcome. In fact, they felt a faint sense of relief.
After the Fourth Great Ninja War, they were told that some of the White Zetsu were actually the results of ancient humans having their chakra completely drained by the technique [God: Nativity of a World of Trees]!
At the time, they felt relieved that this era had a heroic leader who saved the world. They also felt sympathy for the White Zetsu who might have been their ancestors!
Yet while they felt sympathy, they absolutely would never want to live together with those bizarre-looking creatures.
So when they heard Aizen wanted to take the White Zetsu away, their first reaction was actually relief!
It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders!
Isshiki and Momoshiki, however, began to feel uneasy. The Xu organization now had an army — what about them?
The Gaka organization only had about a hundred members. Surely they couldn't expect the two of them to handle everything all the time?
And where were their closest allies?
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