Aoki Yoru's face showed no sign of relief after receiving the report that the Sky Ninja had been completely wiped out.
He knew that the true trump cards of the Sky Ninja Village were that fortress and the Zero-Tails.
This was also the reason he had stayed behind to guard Konoha Village.
If Shennong were to fire a Chakra Cannon at Konoha from the rear while he was busy dealing with those small fries, Konoha's barrier wouldn't be able to hold at all.
Of course, this was also because he had recently reached the half-step Super Kage Level, giving him the confidence to intercept it; otherwise, he would have run as far away as possible.
At this moment, a massive fortress was moving toward Konoha Village.
By now, they already knew their vanguard had been wiped out. Their faces were extremely grim as they all looked toward Shennong.
"Leader, what should we do now? The surprise attack plan has failed, and Konoha is already prepared."
Shennong gave them a dark look, stood up, and walked to the edge of the terrace. Looking toward Konoha, he said through gritted teeth:
"Since a surprise attack is useless now, fire the Chakra Great Cannon directly. I must show Konoha what I'm made of."
"Xuan, how is the Zero-Tails? Has it recovered yet?"
"Leader, not yet. Even though we've thrown all those captured people into the Zero-Tails' mouth, it will still take a while for it to fully recover."
Shennong nodded. "Make it quick. As soon as the Zero-Tails recovers, fire the Chakra Cannon immediately."
As he spoke, his face was filled with murderous intent. "I will make Konoha taste the pain of their Village's destruction."
At this moment, Aoki Yoru and Tsunade were standing on the roof of Konoha Plaza, their robes fluttering in the whistling wind.
Both of them had heavy expressions, feeling no joy from having thwarted the enemy's conspiracy.
"Lady Tsunade, have you still not found the Land of Sky's headquarters?"
Tsunade shook her head. "I've already mobilized all our forces to search, but it seems to have vanished suddenly."
Tsunade's expression was also very grim. The Sky Ninja Village was clearly preparing a major move; if she couldn't find them, she wouldn't be able to rest easy.
Aoki Yoru rubbed his brow helplessly. "We'll just have to deal with whatever comes our way. All we can do is stay on high alert."
Tsunade nodded helplessly. She just wanted to boost the morale of Konoha's people, but why was it so difficult? All sorts of monsters and demons were popping up.
Suddenly, a vibration came from the ground. All of Konoha panicked, with people rushing out to take cover, thinking it was an earthquake.
Aoki Yoru's expression changed. He sensed the ground five kilometers away from Konoha slowly bulging upward.
He realized why Tsunade hadn't found the Sky Ninja Village's fortress despite sending out everyone; it turned out they had buried the Angkor Fortress underground.
What shocked Aoki Yoru was that the Angkor Fortress could actually move underground; he had thought it could only fly.
Including him, almost no one expected it to move through the ground; it was simply unheard of.
By now, the Angkor Fortress had slowly risen from the ground. The entire floating fortress was built of greyish-white stone, with Buddha faces and spires arranged sporadically. Countless pipes hung down, and powerful air currents blasted from the bottom, holding this mobile fortress steadily in mid-air.
Everyone present was stunned, frozen in place as they stared at the floating fortress in the distance.
Before long, the crowd erupted into a frenzy of discussion, filled with both curiosity and fear.
"What is that? It can actually fly!"
"Is it Konoha's new weapon? Are they going to take us up for a spin?"
"I hope it's not an enemy. Otherwise, if something that big crashes down, everyone will die."
In a private box on the top floor of Konoha Plaza, a dark-skinned man with a short beard, wearing silver-framed glasses and a high crown, looked at the fortress and then turned to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
"It seems the visitor comes with ill intent. We won't be caught up in this, will we?"
Although his words sounded like concern, his tone was one of schadenfreude.
The other three Daimyos also looked over, their eyes filled with mockery.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire covered his mouth with a folding fan and said with a smile, "Rest assured, Konoha won't let an enemy break through like this."
'I hope Tsunade doesn't let me down. Otherwise, if I lose face in front of the other nations' Daimyos, I'll have to harden my heart and replace the Hokage.'
On the roof, Tsunade looked at the massive fortress with a grim expression, saying through gritted teeth, "We were played. It was hidden underground; no wonder we couldn't find it even after searching the entire Ninja World."
At that moment, a dark cannon port extended from the Angkor Fortress, locking onto Konoha's direction.
A blinding blue light instantly lit up deep within the cannon port as violent energy was frantically compressed. The air was baked hot, and a shadow of death instantly loomed over the entire Village.
Everyone's expression changed instantly; the visitor clearly came with ill intent.
"Bang—"
Aoki Yoru's figure blurred as he charged directly toward the fortress.
He used Moonwalk to step through the air, sending ripples through the void beneath his feet. He turned into an afterimage, moving so fast he almost tore the air apart.
Simultaneously, he instantly drew 'nightfall'. Natural Energy flowed from his arm and wrapped around the blade, which began to glow with a faint black aura.
At the same time, his spiritual power spread out, frantically gathering the surrounding Natural Energy and wrapping it around nightfall.
By now, the cannon's energy had reached its peak, and the blue energy particles were trembling incessantly.
"Boom—"
A blinding blue-white beam of light, carrying a destructive force, suddenly erupted from the cannon port and surged toward Konoha.
Everyone froze in place, things falling from their hands as they stared wide-eyed at the death beam heading straight for Konoha, even forgetting to breathe.
Aoki Yoru charged toward the Chakra energy cannon and swung nightfall down hard.
"Sage Art: Immortal Might Flow!"
"Screech—"
The faint black blade light collided violently with the blue-white energy beam, and a piercing tearing sound instantly exploded. That invincible Chakra beam was actually split in half.
The distorted energy waves were knocked off course, turning into two Chakra energy beams that headed toward the mountains on either side of Konoha.
"Boom—"
The energy streams slammed into the mountains, and the massive explosions instantly leveled the two peaks. Towering flames and dust rose on both sides of Konoha, shaking the entire Village.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events. They hadn't expected the cannon to be so powerful; if it had hit directly, the entire Konoha would have vanished.
Moreover, what they hadn't expected was that such a massive energy cannon could be split in half by someone, and the blade qi even sliced that huge fortress in two.
"Whoosh—!!"
The deathly silent Konoha Plaza instantly erupted. Cheers and gasps of surprise mixed together as everyone jumped up in excitement.
"He actually split such a powerful energy cannon in half! How incredible!"
"I know him! That's the 'thunder prison kirin', the hero from the last war!"
"He's so handsome! I want to have his babies!"
All of Konoha was boiling over. Discussions, praise, and cheers intertwined, with every face filled with shock, worship, and heartfelt admiration.
Tsunade looked at Aoki Yoru's figure in the distance and showed a gratified smile. "This guy has already become the pillar of Konoha."