The next morning, at dawn.
Unraikyō.
The sky was barely beginning to brighten, yet the gates of the inner city had already swung open to receive the emissaries of the Five Great Nations. The walls were lined with rows of heavily armed samurai, forming a human barrier along the mile-long fortifications. Surnamed Cloud elites patrolled in three-man squads, constantly funneling intelligence back to the command center.
Stepping onto the drawbridge, crossing the moat, and passing through the twenty-meter-thick walls, Jiraiya—acting as the envoy for the Land of Fire—finally laid eyes on the scene within this iron fortress.
The ten-hectare expanse of the inner city had been completely cleared of non-essential buildings. In their place stood a landscape of fortifications armed to the teeth: bunkers, tents, anti-cavalry spikes, iron rams, grappling hooks, swallow-tail torches, and blade-carts.
Looking across the plains, rivers of shinobi wearing Cloud headbands surged through the camps. They guarded the center of the city, where the terrain had been raised by Earth Style into a fifty-meter-high cylindrical cliff. Perched atop it was the three-story Tenshu Pavilion.
To the left of the pavilion, atop a high tower that rose from the earth, sat a massive Chakra Cannon forged of cold steel—a weapon that radiated an ominous, lethal aura.
This city-within-a-city was no longer a bustling capital; it had been hollowed out and rebuilt into a massive military encampment. Or rather, it was a specialized battlefield designed specifically to trap and kill Ren Uchiha.
A battlefield established at the very heart of the capital!
"Hey, hey..."
"Just to defend against one person, don't you think you're being a bit excessive?!"
Following the welcoming party through a series of exaggerated defensive lines toward the base of the Tenshu Pavilion, Jiraiya was left slack-jawed. He hurried his pace, trying to pry some information from the Cloud guide.
"Excessive?"
A cold voice cut through the air. A tall, powerfully built young man, A, wearing the Cloud shinobi uniform, walked from the other side of the rock wall. Behind him followed the other members of the Five-Nation delegation.
He spared Jiraiya a frigid glance and answered in a deep, resonant voice:
"No. It is not excessive at all! As long as we can eliminate Ren Uchiha here, everything will have been worth it!"
Jiraiya's brow furrowed slightly. Though he was here as a diplomat, having heard the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, he had resolved to protect Ren and bring him to Mount Myoboku.
However, looking at the forces arrayed before him—a rough estimate of no fewer than four thousand Cloud troops—he felt a massive headache coming on. If a fight broke out, even if he summoned the Two Great Sages and entered Sage Mode, surviving the Cloud army and the various barrier traps he'd seen along the way would be a challenge in itself.
And honestly, Jiraiya truly couldn't fathom how one Ren Uchiha was worth such a massive mobilization. His impression of Ren was still stuck back in the Land of Rain. Back then, the kid was stronger than expected, even capable of a death-match with Ebizo of the Sand.
But even for a Kage, would the Cloud go this far?
Jiraiya looked at the group behind A. Aside from himself, there were four other representatives.
The Sand seemed to have given up hope on killing Ren; they had replaced Chiyo and Pakura with Baki, a loyal subordinate of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, and Yura, another rising official.
The Stone had sent Rōshi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, and a new elite jonin named Dongsi, who was filling in for the deceased Kitsuchi.
Scanning the group, Jiraiya noted something odd. "Wait, did the Land of Water not send anyone?"
Yura of the Sand shook his head. "I heard the Third Mizukage sent Fuguki Suikazan, the leader of the Hunter-nin. But for some reason, he never showed up. There's been no word from him at all."
He tightened the long scarf around his head and neck, letting out a dry chuckle. "Maybe he got scared? When you're facing a guy like that, who wouldn't feel insecure?"
A, who was leading the group up the spiral staircase toward the Tenshu Pavilion, came to a halt. He turned around, his expression iron-willed.
"Gentlemen, there is no need to worry about your safety."
"To ensure the Five-Kage Summit proceeds without incident, our village has deployed all its elites here. Furthermore, we have been joined by numerous shinobi invited by the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations and the various lords."
"Answering the call of the Daimyo are: the Kamizuru Clan of the Stone; the Mist shinobi Nakichi, a user of Dark Style; Hyuga Ka and Hyuga Shota of Konoha's Hyuga Clan; the Fuma Clan; the Shinobi of the Land of Woods; the Xuanuan group; and aid from the minor nations—Grass, Waterfall, Star, Bear, Rain, and the Land of Iron."
"These countless shinobi have been organized into a Perception Unit, Intelligence Unit, Special Combat Unit, Surprise Attack Unit, Daimyo Guard, Diversionary Unit, and the Elite Sealing Unit!"
"This is a perimeter formed by nearly eight thousand shinobi. We have established a 'Flawless Defense' that is absolutely impenetrable!"
"Three lines of defense, total perception coverage, and ultimate firepower. No matter which direction an attack comes from, it will be detected instantly, and the command center will deploy troops to extinguish any ambition of offensive action!"
Standing on the steps of the massive cylindrical rock, A swept his hand toward the magnificent army below, his face as cold as steel.
"There is absolutely no one who can break through this defense!"
The members of the delegation were just about to follow A's gaze to admire the Cloud's military might when a shout of pure shock erupted from among them.
"Look over there—!"
It was Dongsi of the Stone. He was pointing toward the east, his voice trembling with horror. "What is that!?"
Everyone froze and turned their heads. From their vantage point, they saw a figure suddenly take flight from the eastern horizon, leaping high into the sky.
The figure wore a black cloak adorned with red clouds and a Rain headband with four vertical scratches. A shock of red hair glowed brilliantly beneath the rising sun!
Then—
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!"
Accompanied by a blood-curdling, savage roar from the red-haired youth, he snapped his rippled eyes wide open and raised a single hand. He aimed directly at a section of the city wall and the battalion of nearly a thousand soldiers behind it.
"From this moment on... the world shall know pain."
"SHINRA TENSEI!"
In the next instant, the entire eastern landscape was swallowed by a blinding, white flash!