Before the battle

Before the two greatest shinobi met here, this place was merely one of many forest corners of the Land of Fire, without a special name. A wide and calm river slowly carried its waters across the gentle plain, bypassing rocky shores overgrown with dense forest. Ancient trees formed a solid wall around the riverbed, and the air was filled only with birdsong and the rustling of leaves. Nothing in this idyllic landscape foretold that in just a few hours the river's course would be changed forever, and where the forest once stood would form a deep depression, split by the power of two gods.