Konoha.
Ninja Academy.
"Alright, it's time for Uzumaki Naruto to make his appearance!"
Naruto clenched his fists, hoping for Light Screen Naruto to appear!
At this moment, he couldn't understand the Pain Pain spoke of.
He simply believed.
Even if you are persecuted by others and feel Pain.
Must you then persecute others and make innocent people feel Pain too?
Isn't that the thought process of a villain!
Therefore, Naruto really hoped Light Screen Naruto would stop Pain before he unleashed his ultimate move.
All hero stories are written this way, aren't they?
At the most critical moment, a hero descends and saves the world.
This moment is also the most critical moment!
Sakura and Ino also watched the screen intently.
They didn't appear much on the screen.
But they were all striving to protect Konoha.
Just like their counterparts on the screen, they hoped the outcome of events would improve!
According to the screen's images.
The next step should be Naruto being summoned by that old lady Slug, right!
Konoha has suffered so much devastating damage; it's time for a rebirth!
Land of Waves.
A certain forest.
Haku: "Can Naruto return before 'Shinra Tensei'?"
He himself thought not.
Because the screen stories about Naruto were not all fairy tales.
The end of the first Land of Waves battle seemed to foreshadow something.
The Ninja World is cruel.
The screen should have recorded it faithfully.
Zabuza: "No, Konoha's current state can't be called destruction."
"However, this person named Pain, I do think he has some valid points."
"For things to change, they must first experience complete annihilation."
"Just like the Hidden Mist Village's brutal graduation exam system… perhaps suffering Pain in this process is unavoidable."
Haku: "So you agree with Konoha's destruction?"
Zabuza: "Perhaps."
He wasn't a newborn child.
Who liked hero stories.
He had experienced too much of the Ninja World's reality.
No matter what, everything seemed to confirm Pain's words.
Before peace, there is always war.
On the screen.
["Shinra Tensei"]
[After a flash of pure white light]
Some images gradually emerged.
["Boom boom boom boom!!!"]
[Innumerable houses of the entire Konoha Village were arranged in rows]
[Its center point suddenly generated an explosion with the power of billions of explosive tags]
It was as if a huge rock suddenly fell into a tranquil body of water.
Under immense force, it created a massive air crater on the water's surface.
Water splashed everywhere around it.
And even continued to spread to the outer and outermost rings!!
Water, after a heavy impact, eventually calms down, and the rock sinks.
But these were the neatly arranged residential houses of Konoha.
[A huge crater instantly formed at the center point]
The houses at the original center point were annihilated and vanished.
Not a trace of their original form could be seen.
Vanished instantly.
Leaving behind only a massive basin.
The power of Shinra Tensei had already altered the topography!
The immense "destruction" had not yet ceased.
Impact forces were transmitted in wave after wave.
[As if a natural disaster earthquake, countless houses "floated" on the ground and spread outwards]
[Kicking up a hundred-meter-high yellowish-brown smoke]
[Not only that, the nation-destroying repulsive force of Shinra Tensei had not yet dissipated]
[The yellowish-brown smoke rumbled, rising higher and higher, engulfing the entire Konoha]
Or perhaps it could no longer be called Konoha.
[All houses were destroyed under the repulsive force]
[Until Konoha Village's outermost defensive wall was impacted and toppled by accumulated rubble and wood fragments]
[Only then did this "destruction" come to an end]
[At this moment, Konoha had not a single standing wall]
[The huge inner circle was left with only a mud pit, and the outer circle with only ruins and broken walls]
[Konoha is destroyed]
[A two-to-three-meter-sized Slug, covered in injuries, emerged from the cracks between the broken wall fragments]
[A figure was "squeezed" out from inside the white Slug]
This was one of the summoning beast Slug's auxiliary abilities.
["Cough! Cough!"]
[Sakura knelt amidst the ruins, coughing a few times, choked by the dust outside]
[After a slight recovery, Sakura looked up and gazed around]
[The view was very wide]
Because any slightly taller building had already collapsed.
["This, what is this!"]
[Sakura stared wide-eyed at the scene before her, utterly terrified]
At this moment, Sakura was only sixteen years old.
The home she had grown up in since childhood had become a wasteland.
Her father, relatives, familiar street vendors, neighbors, and friends.
All the fun places she had spent time in as a child.
The familiar Ninja Academy… all destroyed in an instant.
["Why did this happen?"]
[Two streaks of water slid down her cheeks to her chin from her green eyes]
The current Sakura was filled with sadness and despair.
Once her tears fell, they couldn't be stopped.
["Naruto, hurry and come!"]
["Please!"]
[A heart-wrenching cry echoed through the ruins]
["Naruto!!!"]
…Konoha.
Hokage Building.
At this moment, the people who were originally sitting in the conference room all stood up.
Looking at the ruins on the screen called "Konoha."
Shinra Tensei!!!
They had considered many possibilities.
But they never expected this ability related to repulsion to be so incredibly powerful.
Shikaku's wisdom ranked high in Konoha, and even in the entire Ninja World.
But even he had not speculated on the ability of a "god."
The eyes of the legendary founder of Ninshū, Six Paths Sage.
They were indeed as powerful as a god.
Finally, looking at the scene of devastation.
Everyone present felt extremely heavy-hearted.
Truly, destroyed.
They had thought the previous level was enough.
They had thought Shinra Tensei didn't possess the power of a god.
And what about their respective family members, their families' futures… could it be that they were all destroyed with Konoha at this moment?
The Third Hokage's heart suddenly ached intensely.
Even if it was just a screen.
Even if it was just a future possibility.
Such a thing was enough to break the Third Hokage.
His heart was bleeding.
From learning under the Second Hokage, witnessing Konoha's development and growth.
The Third Hokage was fiercely loyal to Konoha.
But now he was made to witness every detailed scene of Konoha's destruction.
He felt a suffocating numbness.
This was a Pain he had never experienced since becoming the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage once had a good impression of the screen.
Now that too had completely vanished.
After all, this feeling was not pleasant.
But Konoha seemed quite good afterwards.
He quickly thought of the glimpses revealed during Light Screen Naruto's wedding.
The Third Hokage felt a glimmer of hope.
Could it be that Naruto still had a miracle to create… Ninja Academy.
"How is that possible!!"
Naruto completely refused to believe that the scene on the screen was Konoha!
Ruins, broken stones, a devastated scene!!!
Naruto, who had been dumbfounded.
Later saw the scene of Light screen Sakura crying sadly.
"Sakura!!"
Naruto clenched his fists in anger.
Light Screen Naruto, why aren't you back yet!!
He never expected this story to be like this!
Naruto originally thought he would make a cool entrance right before this moment.
Yet, even when Sakura was in Pain, Light Screen Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
His dissatisfaction with Light Screen Naruto.
Made him secretly resolve.
Sakura was his comrade, and he would never let Sakura experience such a desperate moment!
Konoha would not tolerate any enemy invasion!
Even if it was Pain, who called himself a god, he would trample that god underfoot!
With this resolve, Naruto turned to look in Sakura's direction.
Sakura stood there blankly.
The pink-haired Sakura was twelve at this moment.
Like Light screen Sakura, she was somewhat distraught at this time.
She felt.
How could she bear such heavy Pain… Suddenly.
A slender, strong hand gripped hers.
Sakura looked up.
Ino!!
She and Ino hadn't been this close in a long time.
At this moment, Ino's proactive gesture interrupted her emotions.
Sakura also detached herself from the atmosphere of the screen.
"Sakura, you must have confidence!"
Hearing this familiar phrase.
Sakura instantly recalled the scene of her first meeting with Ino when they were children.
At that time, she also brightened up with Ino's encouragement.
Now, receiving encouragement again.
The previously negative Sakura felt as if she had been given a strong shot of adrenaline.
She gripped Ino's hand back.
"Ino, thank you!"
Then the two looked at the screen together.
With the help of a comrade.
Sakura had already adjusted her emotions and looked at the screen's content with a positive attitude.
Konoha could not possibly be destroyed.
Even if it was destroyed in the screen's future, it definitely wouldn't be in reality!
Besides Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and other comrades, she herself would also work hard!
Pain was bound to be defeated!
[A cry, it seemed, truly summoned Naruto]
[The white smoke of the summoning dissipated]
[Three toad-like mountains were summoned]
[Naruto in Sage Mode stood on Gamabunta's massive body, appearing extraordinarily heroic]
[He looked at the unfamiliar and vast basin around him, asking strangely]
["Where is this place?"]
[Gamabunta: "Where is the enemy?"]
[Shima, who summoned them, flew up]
["Take a good look around."]
[Sage Naruto looked at the Hokage Rock in the distance]
[Shima: "It's obvious who did this, isn't it?"]
[Sage Naruto: "!!!"]
Sage Naruto's appearance on the screen was extraordinary!
His entrance immediately brought three powerful, giant toads.
A free-spirited red cape.
Eyes with orange eyeshadow.
Standing with arms crossed, exuding an aura of a powerful warrior.
Countless people in the Ninja World were seeing Mount Myōboku Sage Mode for the first time.
And it was the first time they had seen such a cool Naruto.
If the previous Naruto was an unyielding youth, the current Naruto was an heroic young man!
If one were to ask who could contend with the previously god-like Pain.
It could only be Sage Naruto at this moment!!!