After his encounter with the CIA agent, Byakuya had scouted America in advance.
He'd paid particular attention to several important military bases, and the White House...
All in preparation for today.
As the Battle of Tokyo was about to begin, the four shadows Byakuya had summoned through "Limbo: Border Jail" had each deployed to four of America's most critical military installations.
These four shadows were invisible to anyone without the Rinnegan—completely undetectable, impossible to sense.
And they could still use ninjutsu...
So the four shadows had teleported directly to America's various military bases through the power of Kamui.
They waited there on standby. Once the battle began, they would strike.
...
The army, navy, and air force crossed the Pacific Ocean without any obstruction, all the way until they landed on Japanese soil.
Japan couldn't possibly have its navy intercept them—those old bastards in the Cabinet were practically praying for Byakuya and the entire CCG to be wiped out. And even if they'd wanted to intercept, they couldn't have stopped them anyway.
The ground forces had completed their landing. The air force had invaded Tokyo's airspace. Aircraft carriers and their accompanying fleets occupied the waters of Tokyo Bay.
With America's numerous military bases spread across the globe, including in Japan, Tokyo found itself surrounded on all sides.
Just as Byakuya had predicted, the enemy had concentrated their main forces in Ward 1, with Ward 23 as their secondary target.
Not only did a steel tide come pressing forward, but there was also continuous aerial bombardment. The aircraft carriers stationed in Tokyo Bay's waters displayed an absolutely terrifying level of firepower suppression.
In this age of advanced internet, the American military's "counter-terrorism operation" had spread across the global web, instantly attracting countless viewers.
Almost everyone believed this would be a foregone conclusion—the US military would achieve an overwhelming victory.
...
The steel tide hadn't even arrived yet when the drones came first.
Various types of drones were among the most representative weapons of modern warfare.
But in the next moment, a massive sphere of wind came hurtling toward this wave of drones.
The drones couldn't dodge in time and were instantly shredded.
One-Tail Shukaku's massive form appeared in Ward 1, its body restored to its original size. That wind sphere had been its Wind Style ninjutsu—Drilling Air Bullet.
Simultaneously, Tailed Beasts began appearing across multiple districts of Tokyo.
They were all protecting Tokyo under Byakuya's command.
"A monster appeared! Bullets have no effect on it?!"
"Obviously! Something that size needs armor at minimum!"
"Save me! AAAAHHH—!!"
"..."
The ground troops who'd encountered Four-Tails Son Goku tried to retreat and call for reinforcements, but they saw the massive Four-Tails leap toward them.
"BOOM—!"
The terrifying weight shook the earth when it landed.
Lava Style: Mount Huaguo!
Son Goku suddenly planted both hands on the ground, and the surface instantly transformed into a sea of lava.
At least several hundred soldiers were swallowed by the magma sea. They didn't even survive long enough to see the volcanic eruption—not even ash remained.
Seconds later, the lava sea erupted like a volcano, instantly consuming the soldiers who'd been standing at what they'd thought was a safe distance.
"THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!—"
"ROAAAAR—!!"
Son Goku pounded its chest with both fists and let out a tremendous roar.
The ground forces in the distance and the air force above were all stunned. A monster that could create a sea of lava out of thin air and was impervious to weapons—was this really not a dream...?
...
The other Tailed Beasts were similarly dominating the American forces with absolute power.
While the American military situation was deteriorating badly, the four shadows back on American soil had already begun their operation.
Norfolk Naval Base—one of the largest naval bases in the world—was one of Byakuya's primary targets.
"Isn't this just about taking down a little Tokyo? Did they really need to send so many people?"
"Wrong. This isn't just about 'little Tokyo.' The primary strike target of this operation is that youth known as 'the incarnation of a demon.' That guy has supernatural abilities beyond human comprehension. He's not to be underestimated."
"Yeah, just being able to summon those giant monsters is terrifying enough."
"But those monsters are just big, right? Missiles and similar weapons should be able to take them down. And that youth, no matter how strong, is still human. I refuse to believe he could survive a missile strike."
"..."
This naval base's main functions were maintaining warships and training sailors, so a large number of personnel remained stationed there.
They were casually discussing today's Battle of Tokyo.
Clearly, the American military lacked understanding of Byakuya's true capabilities.
The intelligence they'd gathered was limited. Even though videos existed of Byakuya defeating Tailed Beasts, those clips were all brief—at most showing Byakuya one-shotting a Tailed Beast with Perfect Susanoo.
While Perfect Susanoo was certainly terrifying, it hadn't yet reached the level that would make America truly afraid. And it was far from Byakuya's full strength.
Most American soldiers assumed this would be just like previous counter-terrorism operations—crushing the enemy with overwhelming firepower.
No one could have imagined that American soil would be struck again since the Twin Towers...
At that moment, these sailors were chatting away while sunbathing outside.
Suddenly, the sky darkened.
"Oh! What the hell, how did it suddenly become overcast?"
"Is it going to rain? Wait! That's not right! Look at the sky!"
"Oh my god! What is that thing? How did a meteor suddenly appear?! Why wasn't there any alarm?!"
The sailors all clutched their heads, staring up at the sky in horror and disbelief at the meteor that had suddenly appeared.
The massive meteor already looked very close to them, which was why it had blocked out the sunlight.
What baffled them was that such a huge meteor was about to crash down, yet the base alarms still hadn't sounded. Had no one detected this meteor in advance?!
But they had no time to worry about that now—they immediately turned and ran.
Only then did the naval base's alarms finally begin blaring.
No one knew when this meteor had arrived in Earth's atmosphere...
...
The White House.
An official rushed into the Oval Office, his expression anxious and grave.
He approached the President and whispered something. The President's expression immediately changed.
Internally, his heart lurched, but he forced himself to maintain composure.
Yet just as the President was about to think of countermeasures, another official hurried into the office.
The President could barely keep his expression under control, because he knew what this second rushing official meant...
That official was momentarily stunned to see someone had already arrived before him.
Before he could even speak, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.
The President had to answer the phone first, gesturing for the official to speak to someone else.
Then yet another official entered...
One piece of urgent news after another struck the President like thunderbolts from a clear sky. Though his expression remained relatively calm, his face rapidly flushed red.
His emotions swung between shock and fury. He couldn't sit still, and careful observation of his micro-expressions revealed his growing panic.
Four meteors with diameters exceeding 250 meters had simultaneously struck Norfolk Naval Base and three other military installations—all four of which were among their most critical bases.
Under the impact of four meteors of such size, those bases would be utterly annihilated...
The most important question was: why had four meteors appeared out of nowhere? NASA hadn't detected anything. And the impact locations were all suspiciously precise—four of their most vital military bases...
No matter how he thought about it, this was absolutely no accident!
Facing this emergency, the President sat in a daze for a moment before immediately heading to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
Simply put, this was the President's emergency bunker, located roughly beneath the White House's East Wing. Its exact location was, of course, highly classified.
The Presidential Emergency Operations Center was designed to withstand any attack except a nuclear strike. It could guarantee the President's safety while maintaining communication with the outside world for crisis response.
The last time an American President had entered the Presidential Emergency Operations Center was during the Twin Towers incident...
"..."
The President remained silent the entire way until he entered the emergency center.
His emotions were extremely complex. If he handled this meteor incident poorly, he would be utterly disgraced with no hope of reelection.
Conversely, if he could handle this situation well, he could turn things around...
His approval ratings had already plummeted, leaving him with almost no hope of reelection. So this was actually a precious opportunity.
But at the same time... this meteor incident was on an entirely different level from the Twin Towers.
Four meteors simultaneously striking four major military bases...
In the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the President held an emergency meeting with the Vice President and White House staff.
Little did they know, another crisis was about to descend.
Byakuya's main body appeared above the White House at some point, immediately triggering its defense systems.
Alarms, warning sounds, and various ear-piercing noises erupted instantly.
The President, Vice President, and senior officials in the emergency center were all startled.
"That sound... is the White House about to be attacked?!"
"Could there be a fifth meteor? If so... can this place withstand a meteor impact...?"
"It's designed to withstand any attack except a nuclear strike, but meteor impacts weren't factored into the design specifications..."
"..."
Everyone present was panicking. This emergency center had never been attacked since its construction, let alone subjected to something like a meteor strike. None of them had any confidence.
The President immediately contacted the outside and learned that a human figure had appeared in the sky above the White House—that figure was Byakuya.
"Is he here to negotiate? If so, immediately inform him we're willing to negotiate!"
Now the President couldn't care less about approval ratings or reelection. If a meteor really came crashing down, his life would be forfeit—what would be the point of talking about reelection then?
And come to think of it, could those four meteors that destroyed the military bases also have been summoned by Byakuya?
Though it seemed utterly impossible, that was the only explanation he could think of.
Right now, the only existence that would dare to directly attack American soil was Byakuya, and the Battle of Tokyo had also begun today.
Whether or not this was actually Byakuya's doing, he didn't dare gamble—even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance. The consequences of losing that bet were unthinkable.
If the White House were destroyed by a meteor...
The Vice President and senior officials shared the President's thoughts. In short, they wanted to negotiate with Byakuya.
Floating in mid-air, Byakuya heard the broadcast from below, but he paid it no attention whatsoever.
Things had already reached the point of open hostility. How could he possibly negotiate or back down now?
Since he'd come all this way, he was definitely going to let the White House taste what a meteor felt like.
Byakuya made no response. The Susanoo with two faces and four arms appeared around him as he hovered in the air.
Susanoo's four hands and Byakuya himself simultaneously formed three different hand seals.
Tengai Shinsei!
The peaceful sky suddenly produced an enormous meteor that broke through the clouds, plummeting toward the White House directly below.
Seeing this, the White House officials knew Byakuya had completely torn away any pretense. They immediately ordered attacks on Byakuya in the sky and attempted to intercept the meteor.
The White House, with its vast grounds, possessed formidable defensive capabilities. Firearms, anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft missiles—all manner of weapons were deployed.
But Byakuya, protected by Susanoo in the sky, was completely unharmed. Those bullets and shells couldn't breach his defense at all.
And they had absolutely no capability to intercept a meteor.
The main problem was that Byakuya's appearance had been too sudden, and the meteor had come without any warning.
Even if they wanted to intercept it with a nuclear weapon, there wasn't enough time. Launching a nuke at this range would be suicide.
They could only watch helplessly as the meteor slowly approached...
Visually, the meteor's descent didn't seem that fast—partly due to the optical illusion created by massive objects, and partly because this meteor had been summoned by Byakuya's Rinnegan abilities rather than being pulled from actual space.
After all, a real meteor passing through the atmosphere couldn't possibly remain so perfectly spherical.
The officials and the tens of thousands of police and Secret Service agents defending the White House grew increasingly desperate. Some even threw down their weapons and fled like headless chickens.
But at this point, they could no longer escape Tengai Shinsei's kill radius.
The meteor was about to strike the White House. The President, hiding in the emergency center, began to pray silently.
As the President of a superpower, he now appeared utterly powerless.
Praying to God—this was the only thing he could do now.
...
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