Chapter 106: Leveling Mountains and Filling the Sea

Afterward, carrying the ten suns with them, the two traversed a spatial rift and arrived in the vicinity of Earth.

Both Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha possessed the power to control the suns. Together, they arranged the ten suns and the single moon in a symmetrical orbit around Earth. Due to the shifting gravitational forces and the sudden presence of ten suns in Earth's immediate vicinity, the planet was profoundly affected. Most noticeably, it ceased its orbit around the original sun.

The other celestial bodies of the solar system were thrown into disarray as well. Originally, numerous minor planets and asteroids orbited the central star. With the sun now gone and its gravitational pull vanished, these small bodies were flung outward into the void, transformed into rogue celestial objects destined to drift toward unknown galaxies.

Countless other minor bodies, unable to withstand the violent, sudden shifts in gravitational forces, imploded and shattered in place, blooming into brilliant sparks like a grand display of fireworks across the dark expanse of space.

***

Back on Earth, humanity stood utterly dumbfounded. People stared blankly at the sky, convinced that the end of days had arrived.

The leaders of the world's nations urgently convened emergency summits. They dispatched envoys to contact Orochimaru, desperate to know if this cataclysm was his doing. If it was, they needed to know what was expected of them; if it was not, they had to figure out how to survive it.

Yet, unable to locate the War Castle, they could only route their messages through the Snake Organization. In the end, they could do nothing but watch the celestial transformation unfold in anxious helplessness.

"Look!"

Cries of astonishment echoed across the globe. Through telescopes and with the naked eye, people had witnessed those two colossal hammers shattering the sun, fracturing it into ten smaller, dimmer spheres of light.

"Are we to live without a sun from now on?" someone cried out in despair.

But before long, the ten dim, fractured suns suddenly materialized in Earth's immediate orbit. In that instant, searing heat and blinding radiance washed over the planet.

Ninety-one percent of the planet was plunged into perpetual daylight, leaving a mere nine percent in shadow. The natural rhythm of day and night was shattered.

The leaders of the Five Great Nations contacted one another, hastily ordering their scholars and scientists to calculate the environmental impact. The final, consolidated conclusion was staggering: from this day forward, a full day-night cycle would last seventy-two hours, within which night would last for only three.

As the suns rotated, the massive characters etched into their fiery surfaces became clearly visible. People all over the world gazed up at the words Orochimaru had carved.

By piecing together reports from across the globe, the world leaders compiled the ten characters and single punctuation mark, which read: "Behold the ten suns; all conflict yields to peace."

They could only offer bitter smiles. Even the most foolish among them now understood that this was the work of one of Earth's own. And on this planet, only Orochimaru possessed the power to orchestrate such a feat.

At that moment, the remaining minor celestial bodies in the solar system began to detonate. The brilliant bursts of light, seen from Earth, looked like a spectacular display of fireworks spanning the entire dome of the heavens—a magnificent celebration of this grand cosmic shift.

***

Once Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha had stabilized the gravitational fluctuations and cleared the debris from shattering the sun, they returned to Earth. Kimimaro hovered above the forest canopy to receive them. Even he was deeply shaken by the scale of this transformation.

To split the sun into ten and drag them to orbit Earth—only Lord Orochimaru could conceive and execute such an impossible feat.

Orochimaru gave Kimimaro a brief nod, and the three of them drifted slowly over the forest.

Madara Uchiha asked, "Shall I depart now?" He was referring to the task Orochimaru had entrusted to him.

Orochimaru nodded. "You may also deal with Black Zetsu while you are at it."

Black Zetsu had schemed against Madara for centuries, and Madara was not one to show mercy. Yet, since his resurrection, Madara had made no move against him, which was rather peculiar.

Madara looked at Orochimaru and said impassively, "Leave Black Zetsu be. Do not touch him, and do not let your people touch him either. I will wait until he resurrects Kaguya before I pay him a visit."

It was a truly merciless design. Black Zetsu had spent millennia plotting to free his mother. To allow him to succeed, only for Madara to descend at the moment of triumph and snatch it away, was a cruelty designed to inflict absolute despair.

Orochimaru nodded in agreement. He had always intended to leave Black Zetsu to Madara. However, curious about how Madara planned to deal with both the creation and the goddess, he voiced his question.

Madara replied indifferently, "It is simple. I intend to seal his mother away again, right before his eyes."

Orochimaru paused, startled, before bursting into laughter. After a thousand years of painstaking schemes and tribulations, Black Zetsu would finally achieve his dream, only to watch his mother be sealed away once more moments later. The sheer psychological collapse would be spectacular.

With that, Madara departed. Kimimaro stepped forward and asked, "Lord Orochimaru, what are my orders?"

Orochimaru turned toward the west, where one of the suns was dipping below the horizon. Kimimaro followed his gaze.

Raising a hand, Orochimaru pointed toward the sunset. "The same task as Madara. He has taken the east; you shall take the west."

In truth, Kimimaro was deeply curious about Madara's assignment. Unlike Kabuto Yakushi, he was not privy to the inner workings of Orochimaru's grand designs and remained in the dark about many details. He had harbored a quiet resentment, feeling as though Madara had usurped a duty that should have been his.

Now that his own opportunity had come, he felt a surge of quiet satisfaction. "What are the specifics of my task?" he asked.

Orochimaru lowered his hand, his gaze growing distant as he watched the setting sun. "Level the earth. Where there are mountains, flatten them. Where there are seas, fill them."

With a sweep of his sleeve, a holographic projection of the newly altered Earth materialized between them. The globe was dotted with numerous red markers, all interconnected by thin, glowing red lines.

"I need to ensure," Orochimaru said, "that along these coordinates and lines, not a single mountain remains standing."

Kimimaro silently committed the map to memory, his heart hammering with shock. What was Lord Orochimaru planning? Levelling mountains and filling oceans? Looking closely, the network of red lines spanned almost the entire surface of the globe.

***

Three months later, Madara Uchiha and Kimimaro returned, their tasks completed.

Now, the two of them sat in a quiet teahouse with Orochimaru, enjoying a rare moment of silence.

Indeed, only a teahouse could offer such peace. Everywhere else, the public squares and streets were deafening with heated debates over the "levelling of mountains and filling of seas."

When Madara and Kimimaro set to work, they targeted towering peaks that pierced the clouds and vast, sprawling bodies of water. Every strike had been earth-shattering; it was impossible not to cause a global sensation.

To escape the noise, they had sought refuge here.

Madara took a slow sip of his tea, his face expressionless. "What comes next? What is my role?" He set the teacup down on the table. "I need to know the next phase of your plan."

Orochimaru picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, and took a small sip. "For now, we simply wait."

"Oh?" Madara murmured, raising an eyebrow.

Kimimaro sat listlessly beside them, suddenly drained of energy now that there was no further work to occupy him.

Orochimaru explained, "The foundation has been laid. All that remains is to wait."

Madara remained unconvinced. He stared at Orochimaru with an expressionless gaze, waiting for a proper explanation.

Orochimaru set his cup down. "While you two were reshaping the geography of the world, I was not idle. I modified the blueprints of the War Castles, transforming them into Mobile Castles. I have distributed these plans to the various nations, with a strict mandate that construction must be completed within six months. From that point onward, the entire population will live within these moving fortresses."

The world boasted a massive population, historically settled in fixed locations and divided by geopolitical borders. Forcing humanity onto Mobile Castles would shatter these boundaries entirely.

A large population posed no obstacle; the larger nations could simply construct multiple fortresses. In six months, every city on Earth would become a living, breathing, moving entity.

Madara spoke up. "So, you had us level the mountains and fill the seas simply to pave the way for these fortresses to travel?"

"Precisely," Orochimaru replied with a nod. "And the Mobile Castles themselves are but a means to fortify the Earth."