Amid the piercing howl of the air-raid sirens—
A raging sea of fire twisted into a towering vortex, erupting skyward from the ground.
Even though there were many army soldiers in the city of Rōran who wielded Flame Breathing techniques,
This particular blaze was far more overwhelming than anything they'd ever seen.
Because the man who released it—
Was none other than the one known as the Flame Pillar.
Currently a Lieutenant Colonel of the Army Headquarters—Rengoku Kyojuro!
[BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!]
The massive spiral of fire roared like a furious inferno tornado.
Even as it weathered a barrage of purple orbs from above,
It soared upward in an instant and devoured the ash-gray shadow in the night sky.
"Hm? A puppet?"
Midair, Rengoku was surprised to realize that what he had just sliced apart was no living being—but instead shattered fragments of mechanical parts.
Rengoku immediately scanned the surroundings, searching for the puppeteer controlling them.
But under the vast, open night sky—he saw no one.
Invisible?
At that moment, more puppets emerged, attacking from multiple directions.
Rengoku was forced to dodge rapidly using Moon Step, evading one assault after another.
These tall, slender puppets with four arms didn't just fire purple energy blasts from their hands.
They possessed dual elbow joints reminiscent of the Long-Arm Clan, which gave their limbs an unusually elongated structure.
Furthermore, the arms could detach and remain connected only by chakra threads—snaking outward to try to seize Rengoku's limbs.
But every attempt was cleanly severed by the flaming Nichirin blade in his hand.
Realizing that they were no match for Rengoku in close combat, the puppets—almost as if they were sentient—stopped trying to approach him.
Some resumed forming purple orbs with all four palms.
Others opened their wrists, unleashing a flurry of silver senbon.
Still others spewed blackish-purple poison gas from their mouths.
What was especially problematic was that their flight capabilities were even more agile and responsive than Moon Step, which relied on stepping through air.
This allowed them to maintain their distance while launching coordinated attacks from all sides—
Leaving Rengoku to fend off the siege in a rather disheveled manner, relying on various Flame Breathing sword techniques.
And this kind of scenario—
Was now unfolding all across the skies above Rōran.
Colonels and lieutenant colonels held the upper hand in close-range combat, but once distance was introduced, they found it nearly impossible to keep up.
Whether these puppets possessed innate learning intelligence or were being controlled remotely was unclear.
But after suffering considerable losses,
They began to mimic the forms of breathing techniques and taijutsu with surprising accuracy.
Meanwhile—
The Army and CIPHER POL units, now fully alert,
Were rapidly assessing the abilities and tactics of the enemy puppets.
First, they activated the city's pre-installed floodlights—
Driving away the darkness both within and outside Rōran entirely.
Then the already-chaotic gunfire intensified into a thunderous barrage.
The staccato rattattat of automatic weapons fully drowned out the sharp air-raid sirens.
From time to time, the sound of boom—boom—boom from high-caliber sniper rifles would punctuate the din.
Outside the gates of the central tower, Sakazuki hadn't moved a muscle.
Even when several puppets had attempted to attack him earlier, he left them for Shiryu to handle.
Sakazuki stood deep in thought.
Where had these puppets come from?
According to the intel they'd acquired beforehand—and all the information gathered upon arrival—
The Shinobi World shouldn't have possessed the capability to launch an air raid on this scale.
Even Sunagakure only gained long-range puppet control capability by combining Rōran Puppetry, Den-Den Mushi, and Shukaku's chakra, all thanks to Crocodile's assistance.
As for the other shinobi villages—
The only known exception was the long-destroyed Sky Ninja Village, which supposedly had aerial assault capabilities during the Second Great Ninja War a decade ago.
Because of that, after the army took control of Rōran, they hadn't bothered making significant preparations for aerial defense.
Roughly an hour later, all of the attacking puppets were wiped out.
Peace returned once again to the city of Rōran.
However, the shattered roads, damaged city walls, fractured aerial bridges, and even the scarred exterior of the spires all stood as proof—
That a battle had indeed just taken place here.
Under such circumstances, Sakazuki had no choice but to abandon his plan to head for Iwagakure.
After all, there was no telling whether another air raid might follow.
While giving instructions to collect the remains of the puppets and send them to the alchemists currently researching the Dragon Vein in the underground palace,
He also notified the other end of the Dimensional Gate, requesting that the Canberra Continent of the Titan World urgently deliver a batch of anti-air missiles and flak cannons.
As for the origin of these puppets, Sakazuki felt it was necessary to report to the World Government back on the Starfish homeworld.
Perhaps they could offer some explanation using that mysterious precognitive ability of theirs.
...
Meanwhile, inside the underground palace—
There sat Isaac, Director of the Alchemy Academy of Truth from the Alchemy Kingdom of the Teigu World.
At some unknown point, he had closed his eyes and settled into a meditative posture beside the sealing altar.
Standing behind him was his young disciple from the Zero Magic World—
A boy named Damien, only ten years old this year.
His bright blue eyes curiously took in the environment and the people coming and going.
After sitting still for nearly an hour, Director Isaac finally opened his eyes—now filled with amazement.
"Boundless worlds, truly full of marvels…"
He had thought that the Zero Magic World had already brought him enough surprises.
But now, this Shinobi World had delivered even greater astonishment.
Truthfully, Isaac had been quite troubled not long ago.
For some unknown reason, his Stigmata Alchemy had suddenly ceased functioning in the Starfish World.
Normal alchemy still worked, but this particular branch didn't—something he couldn't make sense of no matter how hard he tried.
After extensive research and no results, he had no choice but to temporarily set it aside.
It wasn't until Mr. Tucker invited him to visit the Zero Magic World, where he witnessed the wonders of magic and took on the extraordinarily gifted Damien as a disciple, that his mood finally brightened again.
"Director Isaac, may I ask—did you discover something?"
A senior researcher in a white lab coat stepped forward and asked quietly.
Behind him stood a man in a sharp black suit, silent and watchful.
Damien also turned his curious gaze toward his teacher.
"Hmm…"
Director Isaac paused, mentally sorting through the conversation he'd had with the Dragon Vein.
"First of all, the Dragon Vein is indeed a type of geopulse—what we alchemists refer to as the force behind tectonic motion."
"But the key point," he continued, "is that this Dragon Vein is a geopulse with self-awareness. The problem is, its energy is far too immense and uncontrollable. Most alchemists, after breaking through the so-called sealing techniques with alchemy, attempt to communicate with it on a mental level—but their minds are overwhelmed by the shock. It's a bit like your Conqueror's Haki on the Starfish World."
"I see," murmured several researchers and alchemists nearby, nodding in agreement.
"So, you've already spoken with the Dragon Vein?"
"I have."
Director Isaac looked down at the altar beneath his feet as he continued.
"According to the Dragon Vein, around a thousand years ago, a strange, sky-piercing tree took root here. It absorbed the planet's natural energy through countless massive roots."
"The geopulse energy was part of what it absorbed, and it was through that pain that the Dragon Vein gradually awakened to a vague self-awareness."
"Later on, as it began to develop emotions—and eventually came to understand that what it felt was despair—the tree suddenly vanished one day."
"This naturally brought it great joy, but it soon realized that the tree's earlier absorption had inflicted heavy damage on the world's natural environment. Once lush and green, the land had become dry and desolate."
"To restore balance, it made a pact with the ruler of the time—the first Queen of the Rōran people. In exchange for Rōran's help in healing the natural world, it agreed to obey the commands of her descendants."
At this point, the senior researcher mused aloud, "So if we want to make use of the Dragon Vein, do we need to find that original Rōran Queen?"
"I don't think that's it," came a soft voice.
At that moment, Damien looked at Director Isaac.
"Teacher, you mentioned a pact before. But judging by the state of Rōran's environment now, it's clear that successive queens haven't fulfilled the agreement."
"Quite right."
Director Isaac gently ruffled Damian's blond hair and praised, "You really are a bright child."
Damian looked resigned.
"From what the Dragon Vein remembers, after the pact was made, the queens of Rōran did lead their people in planting trees on the parched land. The environment around them improved quite a bit in a short time."
"But they found that the trees rarely survived long—perhaps due to a lack of rainfall, or perhaps the increasingly violent storms. Either way, they couldn't sustain life."
"Still, they didn't give up. They kept planting new saplings. But as time went on, they had to watch those trees wither and die, while the greenery in the distance slowly turned into a violet desert."
"Eventually, they ran out of tears and gave in to despair. They gave up."
Isaac sighed repeatedly. His words were one thing—
But what the Dragon Vein had shown him was a replay.
The image of the seventy-eighth Queen of Rōran, sobbing uncontrollably as she prostrated herself in this very underground palace some 600 years ago—he felt he would never forget it.
"Trying to prevent desertification in the first place is incredibly difficult—let alone doing so with severely depleted geopulse energy."
"So… would you say that the Dragon Vein's contract with Rōran has expired?"
Director Isaac nodded.
"Yes. The Dragon Vein said itself—it no longer needs to obey the commands of Rōran's queens."
"But since the people of Rōran gave their all, it still responds to their requests out of respect."
The senior researcher from the Academy suddenly lit up.
"Then does that mean we can sign a contract with the Dragon Vein?"
"Well, yes—it's possible. But the question is…"
"Do we actually have the ability to uphold such a contract?"
Director Isaac turned to him, doubt etched on his face.
The researcher asked in confusion, "Your Stigmata Alchemy can't do it?"
"…"
Director Isaac was instantly speechless.
In this Shinobi World, his Stigmata Alchemy could indeed function, however—
"This researcher sir," said Damien, stepping forward to answer on his teacher's behalf, "trees are living organisms. And creating life from nothing is an absolute taboo in alchemy. So even if my teacher and I could do it, we wouldn't."
"..."
The researcher frowned.
In his view, such a taboo was laughable within the World Government.
After all, over at the Bio-Sciences Division, they tampered with life on a daily basis.
"But we can help transform the desert into soil suitable for tree growth,"
Damien quickly added, sensing the shift in mood.
Director Isaac raised an eyebrow at that.
"Now that's actually a solid idea. But this desert in the Land of Wind is so vast... just the two of us working on it might take forever."
"Teacher," Damien said excitedly, "we could use the Nationwide Alchemy Array you mentioned before—reshape the terrain to inscribe a massive array across the land, then activate it with our Stigmata Alchemy to convert most of this desert into fertile soil! We could even ask the Dragon Vein to help supply the energy!"
He spoke all at once, brimming with enthusiasm.
"That's workable," Isaac said, stroking his chin. "As for the trees—once we have soil, we can just have the World Government send people to plant them."
From the bottom of his heart, he truly did want to help restore this desert to its state from a thousand years ago.
According to the Dragon Vein,
if the environment in the Land of Wind were restored, it would generate a vast amount of natural energy—enough to replenish the Dragon Vein's essence, lost centuries ago, within just a few years.
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