Temari's expression changed as she witnessed it with her own eyes.
She had seen Suna's steel puppets. She had seen Deidara's clay birds. She had seen the mechanized weapons Kankurō was developing…
But she had never seen anything like this.
It was not a puppet. It was not a machine.
It was a true, complete flying war fortress.
"So this is… the Sky Ninja Village's aerial base?"
Her voice sounded a little unsteady.
Teizawa stood beside her, looking up at the massive structure rising into the air. The smile at the corner of his mouth slowly deepened.
"No," he said after a pause. "This is Suna's aerial base."
Temari turned to look at him.
When she saw the determined gleam in his eyes, a faint unease stirred inside her.
This man could always do things no one else could.
He could always obtain things no one else could reach.
"Everyone," Teizawa's voice echoed through the forest, "prepare to board."
The fortress had fully risen from the ground.
It hovered in midair.
Its size was astonishing. It was several hundred meters long and several dozen meters wide.
Its outer shell was covered with gun turrets and launch ports for flying puppets.
Sunlight fell across its rust-spotted metal surface, reflecting a dark red gleam.
Several black shadows flew out from a hatch on the side of the fortress.
Like a swarm of bees, they rushed toward Teizawa's group.
They were remnants of the Sky Ninja Village, wearing the village's unique combat equipment.
"Kankurō, they're yours."
Teizawa spoke without looking back.
Kankurō grinned.
He took a puppet scroll from his waist and unfurled it.
After biting his thumb, he drew a rune on the scroll.
A pitch-black steel puppet emerged from the smoke.
It carved a shooting-star arc through the air and rushed toward the flying puppets.
The Anbu also moved one after another.
Kunai, shuriken, and ninjutsu wove together into an airtight net of firepower.
There were many Sky Ninja.
But against the encirclement of Suna's elites, they still seemed overwhelmed.
Teizawa did not take part in the battle.
He stepped onto black Iron Sand condensed by magnetism.
Step by step, he walked toward the fortress, the Iron Sand slowly rising from behind his neck.
The Sky Ninja who tried to intercept him were shredded by an invisible force before they could even get close.
Temari followed behind him.
She gripped her Three-Star Fan and watched the surroundings warily.
Kankurō controlled the steel puppet, clearing away the remaining enemies.
The Anbu followed close behind.
They surrounded this aerial fortress that had slept for so many years.
The moment Teizawa stepped onto the fortress's main deck, he stopped and looked around.
The floor was made of gray-black metal. Towering structures stood on both sides. Ahead was a massive sealed hatch.
At the center of the hatch was the symbol of the Sky Ninja Village.
It was already mottled with rust.
Footsteps came from above.
They were light and steady.
As if the person had been deliberately waiting for them.
Teizawa raised his head. A figure stood in the shadow of the tower.
Graying hair. Dark skin. Though he looked old, his body was packed with muscle.
A white cloak hung over his shoulders.
Beneath it was the uniform of the Sky Ninja Village.
"Kazekage of Suna," he said, his voice hoarse and low, like sandpaper scraping across stone. "What are you doing here?"
Teizawa looked at him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Shinnō, so you know me." His voice was soft, but every word landed with weight. "Or should I call you… the leader of the Sky Ninja Village?"
Shinnō's pupils contracted slightly.
That name.
That identity.
He had hidden them for many years.
No one knew.
How did this young man know?
His fingers curled faintly beneath his cloak.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Shinnō's voice remained calm.
But something was surging beneath that calm.
Teizawa shook his head.
"There's no need to pretend. The Sky Ninja Village. The Zero-Tails. Ancor Vantian…"
He paused. "And that girl named Amaru."
His voice was soft.
Yet every word was like a blade, stabbing precisely into Shinnō's heart.
Shinnō's expression finally changed.
He stared hard at Teizawa, shock and fear churning in his cloudy old eyes.
And beneath them was a chill that sank deep into his bones.
Who exactly was this person?
How did he know these things?
These were secrets even Konoha did not know.
Where had this young man from Suna learned them?
"You… who are you?"
Shinnō's voice was dry, as though there were sand in his throat.
Teizawa did not answer.
He took a sealing scroll from his robe, opened it, bit his thumb, and drew runes across the paper.
Then he pressed it against the ground.
Chakra surged, and black runes peeled away from the scroll.
Like snakes, they slithered across the floor.
They crawled toward every corner of the fortress.
This was Sealing Technique: Five Elements Seal.
It was designed specifically to seal large chakra-powered devices.
Although Teizawa had activated the aerial fortress, Shinnō almost certainly had a hidden card that could control it.
To be safe, Teizawa would take control first.
Immediately after, the fortress's engine let out a deep rumble.
The sound grew lower and heavier.
Then it died out completely.
Shinnō's pupils shrank sharply.
The fortress's power system had been sealed by him…
Without its engine and energy supply, this aerial fortress was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
The base Shinnō had painstakingly managed for so many years…
Had just been casually taken from him.
"Give it back…"
His voice was hoarse and sharp.
His body began to swell. Muscles bulged, veins stood out, and his whole frame expanded several times over, as if he had been inflated.
Body Revival Technique!
It strengthened the body at the cellular level.
Power, speed, and reaction time would all rise dramatically.
This was his final hidden forbidden technique.
"That is mine… mine…"
Teizawa looked at him and shook his head.
He raised his hand, and dozens of pitch-black Iron Sand needles formed in the air, hovering around Shinnō.
Each one flashed with a cold gleam.
Their tips aimed at every vital point on Shinnō's body.
"Yours?"
Teizawa's voice was soft, carrying a trace of mockery.
"This fortress is the legacy of the Sky Ninja Village. It does not belong to you alone. You are nothing more than a thief squatting in someone else's nest."
He paused. "Besides… that girl in your hands, Amaru, does not belong to you either, does she?"
Shinnō's expression changed completely.
He was no match for Teizawa.
At that moment, he was weakened because his chakra had been sealed.
Every one of those Iron Sand needles had locked down his chakra points, leaving him unable to move.
He could not even maintain the Body Revival Technique.
"You… what kind of monster are you?"
His voice trembled, squeezed from deep in his throat.
What terrified him most was that the other man could actually break through his trump cards.
Those Iron Sand needles had clearly been prepared specifically to counter his Body Revival Technique.
They even cut off his chance to use the Eight Gates.
The other party knew his information inside and out.
And had prepared measures tailored specifically against him.
A wave of helplessness surged through Shinnō's entire body.
Who exactly was this man?
But at that moment, Teizawa turned away and no longer looked at him.
"Take him away."
The Anbu rushed forward and pinned Shinnō to the ground.
They bound him tightly with sealing chains.
Shinnō still tried to struggle.
An Anbu punched him in the stomach.
His whole body curled up like a shrimp, and he no longer had the strength to resist.
He was unwilling to accept it, but his eyes sharpened.
He needed to wait for an opening.
An opening to use the Eight Gates.
He understood very well how terrifying the Eight Gates were.
Paired with his Body Revival Technique, he could unleash their power to the greatest possible extent.
Even if the other side knew his information…
As long as he opened the Eight Gates, he would absolutely be able to defeat the enemy.
With that thought, Shinnō quieted down and began gathering his strength.
"Kazekage-sama…"
At that moment, Kankurō walked out from deep inside the fortress.
More than a dozen masked Anbu followed behind him, and they were carrying a frail girl.
She wore a gray dress, and her pale blue hair fell messily over her shoulders.
Her face was as white as paper, and her lips were purple.
Her breathing was so weak it seemed it might stop at any moment.
"This is the girl named Amaru."
Kankurō's voice was a little rough. "When we found her, she was locked in a secret room at the deepest part of the fortress, with tubes and cables inserted all over her body."
Teizawa walked over and looked down at the sleeping girl.
The Zero-Tails' vessel.
Amaru, the jinchūriki, with her lingering will.
He reached out.
Gently, he checked her pulse.
"Take her back. Arrange the best doctors for her. Do everything possible to save her."
"Yes."
Kankurō answered.
Teizawa stood on the fortress deck and looked down over the dense forest below.
Sunlight emerged from behind the clouds.
It spilled across the rust-covered shell of the fortress, gilding it with a thin layer of gold.
This aerial fortress, which had slept for so many years…
From this day forward, belonged to a new master.
(End of Chapter)
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