Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 484 Is it laughing?

In a confined space.

Yamashiro Aoba leaned against the wall, trying to embed himself as much as possible in the shadows of the corner, his breathing as slow and light as possible, but with each inhale, the dry air stimulated his senses.

The whole room was crooked and distorted, with only a few rays of light coming from a similarly crooked hole in the wall, which could barely be called a "window".

All around him, the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were lifeless grains of sand; there were no bricks, no wood, only sand.

Yamashiro Aoba's last memory was the all-consuming darkness and the icy black hand that suddenly reached out from the shadows beneath her feet and grabbed her ankle.

Is it an illusion?
No, the touch, the smell, and the flow of chakra within the body are all too realistic.

"So, what exactly is this place?"

As a special Jonin of Konoha, Yamashiro Aoba forced himself to calm down, tilted his head slightly, and moved so slowly that he made no sound.

Out of the corner of one eye, a glimpse was cast outside through the window.

Outside the window, there was endless darkness; the sky was a somber, inky black, as heavy as solidified oil paint, with not a single star in sight.

The only source of light was the full moon hanging in the center of the sky.

Its edges emanated a pale, cold halo, outlining a perfect circle, but within the halo, where the moon's surface should be, lay a deep darkness that swallowed all light.

Like an eye without a pupil, it floats silently in the air, looking down indifferently.

A few rays of moonlight sparsely fell, barely illuminating the scene outside the window.

Outside lay a vast, desolate desert, its undulating dunes stretching to the horizon and merging into the deeper darkness.

There was no end in sight, no vegetation, no water source, only sand, endless sand, which appeared a deathly grayish-yellow under the dim light.

In this vast desert, a few scattered...

architecture?

Yamashiro Aoba feels it's difficult to describe them as "architecture".

Because those things, like the sand house he was in, had an interior space, but were entirely made of sand, with bizarre, crooked, and twisted shapes, and no discernible pattern.

Some resemble a pile of sand towers, barely managing to form a tall spire, but leaning to one side as if they might collapse at any moment.

Some of them look like children filling buckets with sand, hollowing them out, turning them upside down on the ground, and then digging out two windows and a door.

Others are simply clumps of inexplicable sand, with barely discernible outlines of doors and windows, but they are oddly shaped.

All the buildings were shrouded in the pale halo cast by the eerie black moon, casting equally distorted shadows. Standing silently in the windless desert, they added to the eeriness of the place.

It was eerily quiet.

There was no sound of wind, no chirping of insects, only the suppressed breathing of Yamashiro Aoba and the increasingly clear beating of her heart in her chest, which sent a chill down her spine.

What kind of hellish place is this?

"Coo...coo coo..."

A soft sound suddenly came from not far away.

Yamashiro Aoba's heart stirred, and he looked toward the source of the sound. About ten meters away, inside another relatively tall sandcastle, a pair of equally vigilant and tense eyes met his gaze.

It's Iruka Umino.

Their eyes met, and they instantly recognized each other.

Without a word, Iruka raised one hand and made several gestures in the direction of Yamashiro Aoba.

Location? Situation? Danger?

The meaning of the gesture was quickly deciphered by Yamashiro Aoba: Iruka was asking where they were, what the situation was, and whether they had discovered any danger.

Yamashiro Aoba gently shook her head, raised her finger, and pressed it lightly to her lips, making a clear gesture to be quiet.

Iruka instantly understood, nodded almost imperceptibly, and then shrank back into the shadows, leaving only a sliver of his gaze to observe the outside world.

Both were experienced ninjas, belonging to the First Division stationed in the capital, and had a basic understanding of each other.

While hiding, Yamashiro Aoba's mind raced as she considered the current situation.

They were dragged into this place by that strange black hand. Nara Shikaku-senpai and Yamanaka Inoichi-senpai were also on the battlefield at the time, so they must have been caught up in this place as well.
Given Inoichi's abilities, if circumstances allowed, he should have already tried to contact these scattered individuals using the "Ninja Art: Mind Communication Technique".

However, until this moment, my mind was completely silent.

Not only that, but the enemies—Golden Horn, Silver Horn, and Brubi, who were resurrected through Edo Tensei—as well as the Second Hokage, were also nowhere to be seen, and no sounds of fighting could be heard.

This is not normal.

The only explanation is that either they are not here, or they have discovered something more threatening and suppressed all action and conflict.

Yamashiro Aoba leans more towards the latter possibility.

Therefore, waiting and seeing is the only and best option at present.

However, just as this thought arose, a laugh suddenly pierced the deathly silence, almost ringing in his ears.

"Hehe, I've found you."

The laughter was high-pitched and crisp, childlike and mischievous, carrying a pure and innocent malice.

Yamashiro Aoba's heart skipped a beat. She abruptly turned her head and raised her hand...

Behind him, on the wall, the grains of sand seemed to come alive, silently rising and taking shape.

An eye grew out of the wall.

The crimson pupils of its eyes curved slightly, and a slit opened below the pupils, revealing fine, sharp teeth, as if it were a mouth grinning open.

Is it laughing?

Without thinking or hesitating, the instinct for survival and the reaction speed honed through countless brushes with death allowed Yamashiro Aoba to complete the hand seals in the instant he turned his head...

boom!
The sand house he was in was crushed from the outside by a giant sand hand, which grabbed Yamashiro Aoba along with the sand in its palm, and countless grains of sand flowed out from between its fingers.

The anticipated scene of shattered bones and flesh turning to mush did not occur.

Gaa! Gaa gaa!

Several piercing bird cries rang out.

A dozen or so crows with flapping wings scattered from the sand palm and then converged on the top of another sandcastle not far away, transforming back into the figure of Shancheng Qingye.

His face was pale, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

This is his "scattering a thousand crows technique".

Yamashiro Aoba raised her head and looked in the direction from which the sand palm strike was coming.

In the night sky, beneath that eerie full moon, a cloud of sand floated, and above it, a short figure stood barefoot.

—The Seventh Espada: Sandstorm.

"Hahaha!"

The 'Sandstorm' laughed loudly as countless sand hands of varying sizes coalesced in the air, grabbing at the allied ninjas hidden in the various sand fortresses below.

"What the hell?!"

"what is this?"

Exclamations and shouts instantly shattered the illusion of the desert's deathly silence.

Several Allied ninjas hiding inside the sandcastle were suddenly grabbed by several sand hands.

"what!"

Click! Pfft!
The men only had time to let out a scream before they were crushed into a mass of mangled flesh. The sand released its grip, and the mangled corpses and entrails mixed with sand slipped through the sand's fingers.

Several other allied ninjas were grabbed by the arms simultaneously by two sand-wielding hands, one on each side, and pulled to the sides. *Sizzle!*

The sound of flesh being torn apart was chilling. Several ninjas were ripped in half alive, their blood and entrails splattered on the yellow sand.

These sand warriors seemed endless, seizing every Allied ninja who tried to hide or resist, and then killing them in the most brutal and cruel way.

Crush, tear, flatten, bury alive...

Is that guy playing "catching ants" and "hide-and-seek"?!

Watching the 'sandstorm' laughing and playing loudly, a thought suddenly popped into Yamashiro Aoba's mind.

"Iruka!"

A sudden, angry roar came from behind, jolting Yamashiro Aoba out of her anger and fear, and she turned around sharply.

Seeing that Umino Iruka was being held in the palm of a sand hand not far away, Yamashiro Aoba's expression hardened, and he quickly formed hand seals, his cheeks puffing out.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A blazing fireball erupted from his mouth, and several Allied ninjas who had just escaped the attack also launched their own attacks.

"Lightning Release: Swift Lightning Arrow!"

"Wind Escape·Vacuum Jade!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Ninja tools and ninjutsu came rushing in from different directions, all aimed at the sand hand that was gripping Iruka.

"You're really interested in this bug?"

Seeing this, 'Sandstorm' tilted its head, seemingly finding the scene more interesting than simply crushing it to death, and casually waved its other hand.

call!call!call!
Several smaller sand hands instantly coalesced, blocking the ninjutsu and ninja tools.

The wind blades slashed into the sand, only stirring up a cloud of dust. The water bullets were absorbed by the sand hand, and the kunai and shuriken were sent flying.

"Um……"

'Sandstorm' looked at Iruka, who was being held by Sand Hand, a thoughtful look flashing in its crimson eyes. It slowly clenched its outstretched fist and said with a grin, "Play like this."

Below, the sandy hand gripping Iruka began to slowly tighten as Iruka's fist moved.

Click click click!
The crisp sound of bones cracking came from between the tightly clenched fingers of Sand's hand.

"what!"

Iruka's face flushed red with pain and suffocation, his eyes bulged slightly, blood vessels spread rapidly, almost bursting open, and he couldn't help but scream, blood seeping from his mouth and nose.

'Sandstorm's' smile grew brighter and more excited as it watched the toy gradually crumble in despair.

Just as Iruka's consciousness was about to be completely crushed...

Boom!

A whip-like shadow, crackling with violent arcs of lightning, emitted a piercing shriek, tearing through the night like a bolt of lightning, instantly exploding the air and creating a visible white shockwave.

With a speed beyond visual perception, it struck the sand hand, causing it to explode and turn into a cloud of flying sand.

"Cough!" Iruka felt a sudden release as he fell from mid-air, the intense pain and dizziness from suffocation almost causing him to lose consciousness.

Yamashiro Aoba caught the falling Iruka and, without pausing, immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the spot and reappear dozens of meters away in the shadow of a sandcastle.

He quickly examined Iruka's injuries: multiple rib fractures and internal organ compression causing bleeding. He immediately took out his personal ration pills and hemostatic bandages to provide emergency treatment.

"Ok?"

Above the sand cloud, as if his toy had been snatched away, the smile on 'Sandstorm's' face vanished instantly, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his scarlet eyes as he looked in the direction from which the whip shadow had come.

Below, amidst the ravaged sand, the two Yugitos still bore the scars from their battle with Tobirama Senju and the others, but she stared intently at the 'sandstorm' in the sky.

In her hand, she tightly gripped the "God-Slaying Whip".

At this moment, the "God-Slaying Whip" has evolved from its previous long mace form into a long golden whip.

The whip crackled with ferocious, dark blue arcs of electricity, and lightning crackled and shrieked at the joints.

That attack just now was clearly her doing.

"you……"

'Sandstorm' looked down at Yugito, tilted its head and said, 'You're asking for death.'

He raised his right hand, pointing in the direction of Yukito, his five fingers spread wide...

But just then, a violent aura emanated from it.

The "Eye of Sand," hovering around the "Sandstorm," turned to look at the location of that aura.

In the distance, atop the sand dunes, the massive, mountain-like body of the Eight-Tails had appeared, its head tilted back, and in front of its enormous mouth, chakra compressed and gathered, transforming into a Tailed Beast Ball.

"Yo!" Killer Bee's voice came from the Eight-Tails' body as he shot out a Tailed Beast Ball.

Bang!
The Tailed Beast Ball tore through the air with a whooshing sound, shooting towards the 'sandstorm' above the sand cloud. Wherever it passed, the sand sea below was carved out with ravines.

However, faced with this attack that could destroy mountains, 'Sandstorm' didn't even turn its head. The sand figure behind it, which had been silently floating and had the appearance of a woman, moved at this moment.

Raising both arms, he caught the Tailed Beast Ball that shot towards him perfectly. The sand grains in his palms spun and flowed the instant they touched the Tailed Beast Ball.

The Tailed Beast Ball, which contained terrifying power, was like a pebble thrown into a mud pit, not even causing a ripple.

Immediately afterward, to the disbelief of all the Allied Shinobi, the figure gently pushed it forward, and the Tailed Beast Ball shot back along its original path.

Boom!!
The Tailed Beast Ball grazed the Eight-Tails' body and crashed into the sand sea behind it, the blinding white light instantly engulfing that area.

The violent impact swept up countless grains of sand, turning them into a sand tide that stretched from the sky to the earth, spreading fiercely in all directions!

Even from a great distance, the powerful shockwave still surged in, blowing many allied ninjas off balance, and the sandstorm filled the air, obscuring the sun.

The sandstorm did not turn back; the last trace of childlike playfulness on its face had completely faded, leaving only cold malice.

“You are the livestock that Lord Shadow wants.”

He looked down at Yukito, his right hand with its five fingers spread open, and gently clenched it.

Rumble!!

Centered on the two Yuki people, the sand within a radius of hundreds of meters around them surged violently like boiling water.

Several terrifying sand hands, many times larger than before, burst from the ground and fiercely grabbed at the two wooden figures in the center from all directions. The sand and dust turned into a murky sand curtain, obscuring all vision.

The oppressive feeling, as suffocating and despairing as a natural disaster, made Yamashiro Aoba and the other surviving ninjas, who had just regained their footing in the distance, turn pale and almost stop breathing.

This is an absolutely overwhelming force.

Faced with this natural disaster, all the skills and ninjutsu they possessed seemed to have lost their meaning.

"It's a fight to the death."

Seeing this, the two Yugitos took a deep breath, and their tailed beast cloaks, which resembled blue flames, suddenly burst into flames, with their two tails burning with eerie blue flames swaying behind them.

She gripped the handle of the "God-Slaying Whip" tightly with both hands, frantically pouring the little chakra she had left in her body, along with the chakra of the Two-Tails, into it.

She could actually sense that she was just a little bit away from mastering the true power of this ninja tool and knowing its real name.

But even this small gap is like an insurmountable chasm.

It was as if this power was not something she was worthy of wielding.

This year has been truly awful. I don't even want to go home for Chinese New Year next year. There are so many troubles, it's driving me crazy. Sigh.

(End of this chapter)