At this time, Onoki was inside the Tsuchikage Building, buried under piles of tedious paperwork. Just as an emperor could not skip court, Onoki also insisted on reviewing official documents daily.
He rubbed his aching lower back, his bones letting out a crisp crack. With a sigh, Onoki lamented Iwagakure's current state, as it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the village was beset by internal and external troubles.
There was a big problem in front of him, with the village's Shinobi were facing a generational gap. There were plenty of Shinobi, but as the saying goes, 'Among ten thousand tigers, there will always be a white one'.
Despite the numbers, the village lacked strong new-generation talent, so that his own granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, was practically the leading figure among the younger Shinobi.
In the past, he has a troublesome disciple, but unfortunately, he'd been led astray and turned into a Missing-nin.
Now, his whereabouts were unknown. Even if he were still alive, there was no hope left for him. After all, once a traitor, always a traitor. There was no going back.
After reminiscing about the past for a while, Onoki turned his attention back to the documents.
Internally, the village is worried about the lack of talent, and the entire generation of Shinobi seemed to be regressing. Externally, they were worried about the fact that Iwagakure was almost at the bottom of the ranking of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Konoha, of course, was in a league of its own. As the former hegemon, a single bow from Senju Hashirama could bring about world peace. It wasn't so much that Hashirama was sincere, but it was just that when someone of his stature bowed, refusing his goodwill would be suicidal.
Even now, as Konoha declined, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse.
While Kirigakure and Sunagakure had both undergone drastic changes, they had survived and recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye. Sunagakure had even formed an alliance with Konoha.
As for Kumogakure, they have been steadily progressing, and their new generation below is also filled with exceptionally strong Shinobi. What's more terrifying is that they have developed a way to train the Biju's Jinchuriki.
In comparison, Iwagakure seemed like the first one destined to collapse.
Onoki was really afraid that once he died, the village would fall into Kurotsuchi's hands. Without him around to steady things, his clever but inexperienced granddaughter might not be able to hold her position.
Worry after worry… humans couldn't live forever, after all.
Onoki put down his pen and sighed heavily. At the same time, his gaze drifted toward the window.
The sky had darkened, the faint outline of the moon appearing over the mountains. The night was peaceful, and it was another serene and quiet evening in Iwagakure.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel suddenly split the sky above the Tsuchikage Building, striking down without warning like a divine hammer.
A deafening explosion erupted as the Tsuchikage Building trembled violently. Onoki saw nothing but an unbearable flash of white light, followed by a blast so loud it nearly ruptured his eardrums.
Since it was already after hours, the Tsuchikage Building was mostly empty, with only a few dedicated workers still on duty or pulling overtime.
The overworked Shinobi were instantly knocked off their feet by the thunderous strike. Before they could even react, multiple bolts of lightning came crashing down one after another.
"What's going on? Where did this lightning come from?" A workaholic in the Tsuchikage Building clung to his desk and shouted, "Is anyone injured?"
Crack!
A sound that sent chills down everyone's spines echoed through the building.
"The walls are splitting!" Someone shouted in horror.
"Run! The building is going to collapse!"
Villagers across Iwagakure threw open their windows in shock and looked towards the center of the village.
The night sky was quiet and the moonlight was gentle, except for the furious storm of lightning raging directly above the Tsuchikage Building.
Before anyone could process what was happening, several more jagged bolts of silver fury viciously struck the building again,
"This is..." The villagers were shocked, "Is this divine punishment?"
"Punishment my ass! This is an enemy attack!" A Shinobi tied his forehead protector tightly as he leapt onto a rooftop, and shouted to the surroundings, "Everyone, evacuate! We're under attack!"
Iwagakure's Anbu appeared almost simultaneously and rushed towards the center of the village, while the rest of the people dispersed to all directions of the village to secure the perimeter.
Onoki was not afraid of these thunders and lightnings. He jumped out of the window and flew straight into the sky.
There are not many people in the Shinobi World who can fly, and Onoki is one of them. He is not only proficient in Earth Release, but also relies on his Dust Release to be one of the strongest powerhouses in the Shinobi World.
Even though the Iwagakure was in such a mess, they were still able to act so arrogantly thanks to this old monster's terrifying power.
Dust Release is capable of disintegrating anything in its path, and it could be called a terrifying laser.
Outside the Tsuchikage Building, Onoki stood in the air. When a bolt of lightning struck him, Onoki did not dodge at all, but formed a hand seal, twisted his hands, and threw out the Dust Release like Kamehameha.
The collision between lightning and Dust Release triggered a massive explosion in midair. At this time, a large crack appeared in the middle of the Tsuchikage Building, and it looked like the building was about to collapse.
Seeing this, Onoki frowned. He could only form hand seals and use Earth Release Ninjutsu to forcibly bind the building that was about to collapse. Even though Onoki was strong, in the end, he was already old.
If he's still in his prime, supporting a disintegrating building barehanded wouldn't have been an issue. But now, beads of sweat formed on Onoki's forehead as he strained to maintain control.
Everything had happened so fast that he had no time to think about which force attacked Iwagakure and what was their purpose?
This lightning wasn't natural. But the number of people who could use such a terrifying Lightning Release Ninjutsu in the Shinobi World could be counted on one hand.
'Those muscle-headed brutes from Kumogakure?'
But before Onoki could even catch his breath, another disaster struck. The thunder ceased, only to be replaced by the bone-chilling roars of monstrous beasts echoing across Iwagakure's night sky.
Onoki: "…!"
Meanwhile, amidst the chaos, Naruto had already led his team to sneak into the Iwagakure.
"Haha, let's see if that old geezer can sleep tonight!"