Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟏𝟎𝟕| "Pandemonium on earth"

CHAPTER 107 — PANDEMONIUM ON EARTH
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AMEGAKURE- 2 WEEKS

The departure.

As a little boy his father told him stories of a time when humanity would give back what they'd taken from earth until all balance was restored. He spoke of a day where sky would meet land, oceans would become land and land would fold in on itself leaving behind a sea of dust and fire. Fire would rain from the skies and water would freeze to ice. He said that when that day arrived, humanity lost all chance of hope. Revitalisation and preservation would be an impossible endeavour and the only possible deed that could be committed was to repent and spend your last moments with loved ones. Mercy was paradoxical, as they would only wish to wipe every human off the face of the planet and start anew.

In a way, it was ironic. Humans, who fought for survival, who sought an improved quality of life through wicked mediums, humans who killed humans, who slaughtered and massacred and stolen from each other, humans who created infinite cycles of grief and death and desperation would learn what it meant to truly be helpless in the presence of beings much greater than they were.

He knew that the departure was nearing, he felt it in the way the winds stilled in fright, he saw it in the way the leaves halted its rustling, he heard it in the eery silence that plagued the earth as they awaited the disease soon to terminate crops, land, vegetation, animals and soon, humans themselves. Silence itself spoke volumes.

"You see it, don't you?" Konan asked complacently, an indistinguishable look on her face (though, she was known for her stoicism) as she gazed into the distance.

Aito refrained from saying that you could see quite about anything from the bird's eye view of Pain's tower, and instead looked up at the sky. "It's only the beginning."

Nuclear Fallout. Or seemingly. Its aftermath the result of increased radioactivity after the storm subsided, the causes unknown. As white as snow, it drifted in large masses, sure to engender soil infertility and other crop issues. Though, once the energy was released into the atmosphere, it could kill cells or cause cell mutations, both in which were major risk factors that Ame civilians were already complaining about. But this was only the beginning of it, Amegakure was lucky to be located near southern territory, unlike the Fire, Earth or Lightning Lands that would feel the heat of its retribution.

"Why is this happening?" Kisame asked, crossing his arms. "I thought the storm's disappearance would result in more good than harm."

"You really think that ending the storm will stop the Oogami?" Aito chuckled at his naivety. "If anything, it helped them. The dispersion of the stones was its own mechanism of protection, the Oogami aren't able to touch the stones- but the Fate Wheels could. Once the stones have been returned, only then the Oogami are able to wield it."

"What?" Naomi's eyes widened. The poor woman appeared dishevelled and restless, endless nights spent working and searching for her husband in fear worst has come to worst. "Are you saying that either way, we'd lose?"

"Yahiko used to speak of a time where the world would reach a stalemate." Konan murmured, gazing at the fallout drifting to the ground and covering her Village in its trap. "I believe, this is what he spoke of. That you must lose and lose and lose in order to win no matter the loss. Fighting the inevitability of fate would only result in more loss than accounted for and the only thing that can be achieved is to preserve what you already have and retreat. We know nothing of the Oogami's true power, but the actions they've committed already depicts what they're capable of doing. Are we willing to risk millions of lives in a battle we know we are going to lose?"