"Such a thing… what nonsense!"
Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade stood up in shock, knocking the papers covering her desk onto the floor.
Regarding the matter of the virus, Sakura could have directly contacted Tsunade through Katsuyu. But she deliberately let the information circulate through the village's external intelligence network, hoping it would spread as widely as possible.
The existence of the Chimera Virus itself carries immense malice toward life. Relying solely on the Land of Fire to prevent it would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Multinational cooperation is needed.
But currently in a state of war, if they offered the intelligence for free, the enemy might not believe it. So the best approach was to let the other Ninja Villages steal the intelligence themselves, thus reaching a conclusion they would find credible.
"Someone, call Shizune. Also, gather all the Medical-Nins and researchers in the village to analyze the samples Sakura sent back!" Tsunade left a desk full of government affairs and walked outside.
The two people from the Hokage Building's Administrative Department saw Tsunade like this and initially thought she was being willful again. They stepped forward to stop her, but Tsunade slapped a heavy piece of intelligence in their faces. Stunned, they willingly took over all of Tsunade's work.
…
On the other side, the capital of the Land of Earth.
On the rock-covered high mountains, the ground was pushed open by emerald-green branches. A cluster of flytraps extended from within, and the black-and-white organism inside climbed out through the plant's pipes.
"This is the place!" Black Zetsu's flattened face squeezed out a ferocious smile. On his raised arm was a test tube containing a scarlet fluid.
As the backup left on earth by Otsutsuki Kaguya, he was truly amazed by Hiruko's talent.
'To be able to develop such a useful and convenient cleaning weapon, and the deformed beings born after transformation could also continue to serve as offshoots of Mother's garden.'
It was a win-win… meaning he, Black Zetsu, wins twice.
"The time is about right. Say goodbye to this beautiful world. Next comes Mother's era!" Black Zetsu smashed the scarlet test tube onto the ground from the high mountain. The broken test tube's scarlet liquid immediately evaporated, dissipating into the air with the wind.
Then Black Zetsu withdrew his hand, laughing as he was wrapped by the flytrap and retracted beneath the ground.
Not long after, many flies flew to the spot where the test tube had shattered, extending their mouths toward the still sticky ground.
The tiny virus entered these organisms, squeezing the flies' lives and proliferating wildly. Soon the flies all died, beginning to fuse under the Chimera Virus.
In the sky, a passing bird noticed this clump of flies that looked a bit strange, but the sweet, cloying aroma it emitted made the bird not hesitate for a moment. It rushed forward and swallowed the clump in one gulp.
As the bird's beak opened and closed, it swallowed the virus from the fly clump along with it. The virus slid down the esophagus into the abdomen. At the same time, its feathers and claws were also contaminated with the virus.
Having attached to the next living organism, the virus began ferociously proliferating. The bird, its nutrients squeezed out, expanded its hunting range by instinct, catching more insects and contacting more organisms.
Insects, birds, snakes, chickens, wolves, foxes, cattle, sheep...
The transmission chain was established. And this was just a small corner of the entire transmission chain.
In secret, the number of virus-infected animals began to grow rapidly and terrifyingly. A calamity was brewing in silence.
Outside the cities, penned cattle and sheep ate grass. The herders did not notice the scarlet insect remains and bird droppings in the feed.
At this point, the virus had not yet spread on a large scale to humans.
But it wasn't absolutely not happening.
Many toiling residents of the Land of Earth thirstily drank water sources tinged with scarlet, gnawing on the beef and mutton that had grown by absorbing all of this.
In a corner of the capital stood a giant iron barrel. This contained household water drawn from afar and purified.
A crow dully perched on top of the iron barrel, occasionally flapping its wings.
This bird was covered in ferocious blood holes. The insects that had fed on it all these days grew out, its abdomen ruptured. With the dripping of pus and blood, a small chimera mutation was completed.
The grotesque bird, controlled by the virus, frantically attacked the top of the water tank. After shredding the iron sheet, it let itself plummet inside. Following the virus's preset instructions, it expanded and reproduced to the maximum extent, dyeing the urban area scarlet in less than a week.
Finally, one morning, the outbreak began!
That day, the residents of the capital of the Land of Earth repeated their daily labor as usual. But suddenly, someone on the street couldn't help but cough.
"Cough, cough, cough... Ugh!"
A man leaning against a wall built from monolithically constructed rock bent over and coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
Then his body began to distort. Several strange appendages extended from his body. Then he went berserk, attacking everyone around him indiscriminately.
"Aaah!!!"
Screams mixed with chaos rent the air. Crows circled above the capital.
They flew together in a sky-covering mass, forming a vortex like a dark cloud, pressing heavily down on the village.
They circled endlessly...
"Strange, why are there so many annoying crows above my capital?"
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth walked out of his palace, glaring at the sky with disgust. "Someone, order those Ninjas to eradicate these annoying things for me!"
Unfortunately, no one answered him behind him. Only pairs of eyes gradually turning crimson stared at him.
The next second, the chamberlain, his body streaming with blood, his abdomen split open with sharp teeth growing out, charged toward him at a grotesque posture, pouncing fiercely.
Chomp, crack!
The sound of chewing echoed in the palace. Screams of terror, one after another, rose and fell continuously.
They were acting like madmen!
Pedestrians on the street ran screaming, like headless flies, not knowing where to go. With every step they took, accompanied by the splashing of blood, their own mutations quickly devoured their intellect, turning them into monsters completely controlled by the virus, continuing to attack the next person.
House after house, doors slammed shut. People took refuge in their homes. The thick, solid walls gave many a sense of safety.
But was it really safe?
A man leaning against his front door, protecting his wife and daughter in his arms, suddenly felt a pain in his chest. When he lowered his head, he saw that his daughter's appendage had pierced through his chest.
"Bastards, you bastards aaaah!" The man wailed in agony. His arms, hugging his family, melted, deeply fusing with them.
After ten hours of madness, the entire capital of the Land of Earth grew silent. The remaining people... beings, driven by instinct, walked out of the city into the wilderness to begin an even larger round of slaughter.
On the rooftops, crows looked down upon the crowd. Their piercing cries rang through the sky. The feast of death had begun.
Within a month, the tide of deformations that had inexplicably erupted from the capital of the Land of Earth swept through the entire country. Wherever it passed, no one was spared… civilians, samurai, merchants, nobles, or Ninjas.
The entire country could not organize any meaningful defense, forcing survivors from all over to converge toward Iwagakure.
By the time the news spread and was received by the other great nations, the Land of Earth had already completely fallen.
It became the first victim of this viral disaster sweeping across the continent.