Konoha Village.
Thanks to the Iwa-nin's hard work, the reconstruction of the village was beginning to take shape. The new buildings stood strong, though much interior work remained before they could be inhabited.
In one district, Tamao was riding on Danzo's back, driving members of the Sarutobi clan to carry bricks
Looking up suddenly, he froze — a massive fortress was descending from the distant sky.
His eyes went wide. "Holy crap! Where'd that giant plane come from?!"
"Uh… what's a plane?" someone beside him asked, utterly confused.
Tamao's nerves suddenly twitched, but he didn't stop to think.
He leapt off Danzo's back and sprinted straight toward the Hokage Building.
Something big was about to happen—he could feel it!
---
Construction site.
Ruins and debris lay scattered everywhere.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and Asuma set down the bricks in their hands. Along with the rest of the Edo Tensei Sarutobi clan, they all looked up sharply toward the sky.
A vast, pitch-black shadow blotted out the sunset, plunging Konoha into premature night.
When they saw the massive floating fortress overhead, every soul on the ground froze in shock.
"How… how could it appear again!?"
Waves of dread crashed through Hiruzen's heart.
He immediately recalled the Second Great Ninja War — the sudden rise of that mysterious village once known as Soragakure, the Village of the Sky.
But the Edo Tensei shinobi around him had all been sealed from speaking; they could only stare in silent awe.
On the other side, the Iwa-nin forces were in an uproar. They dropped their tools and, under Onoki's command, quickly regrouped toward the Hokage Building.
Inside, Tsunade and the others were moved by Onoki's swift action.
Even without knowing what enemy they were facing, the Iwa-nin didn't retreat.
Instead, they positioned themselves in front of the Hokage Building, forming the first defensive line.
"Konoha really never gets a break," Onoki muttered gravely, his eyes fixed on the dark silhouette in the sky. "One disaster after another."
"Tsuchikage-sama!" Tsunade's voice rang out from a window of the Hokage Building.
"Please fly up and scout the enemy's position. I'll organize the defenses down here!"
Onoki looked back at her and snorted. "Hmph! Bossy as ever… fine, fine."
He knew full well that before leaving Konoha, Uchiha Yu had entrusted Tsunade with command of the village.
Gathering his thoughts, Onoki's body blurred into motion and shot upward, soaring into the sky at incredible speed.
Below, nearly all of Konoha's civilians were hiding inside half-repaired buildings, peering through windows at the colossal shape slowly approaching from above.
The mood was heavy.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Iwa-nin, Konoha had been gradually recovering from the ravages of war. Many villagers who had never fled were finally beginning to overcome their fear and even join in rebuilding their homes.
But now, seeing this strange phenomenon unfold in the skies once again, that old terror began to stir within them.
---
Inside the Hokage Building.
Tsunade remained calm under pressure, quickly organizing the thousand shinobi Uchiha Yu had left her to coordinate with the Iwa-nin in constructing defensive perimeters around the building.
She also pulled Rasa, the clan heads of Kirigakure, and several elite jonin aside to form the strongest battle unit she could assemble.
Once Onoki returned with information about the approaching enemy, this would be the team to shift the tide of battle.
---
High above the clouds.
As Onoki rose higher and higher through the looming shadow, the pressure on his heart grew heavier — the thing above him felt like a meteor hanging over his head.
Then, he finally saw it clearly.
The underside of the flying fortress was covered in plant roots and soil, stretching endlessly like the bottom of an uprooted mountain.
"This thing… was just dug straight out of the earth!?" he muttered, eyes wide in disbelief.
Ōnoki was stunned.
He couldn't even imagine what kind of devastation would happen if this thing were to fall from the sky—his two days of hard rebuilding work in Konoha would be completely pulverized.
As Ōnoki circled under the fortress and finally flew up to its surface, he froze again. His old face lit up with delight as he shouted,
"Uchiha Yu?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Yu turned his head toward it. He wasn't surprised at Ōnoki's arrival.
After all, in the entire shinobi world, there were only a handful of people capable of flight—and within Konoha right now, only Ōnoki could do that.
"No need to panic," Yu said calmly. "This is what I brought back from my trip. Go ahead and evacuate the area."
As he spoke, he cast a glance toward the base of the Hokage Building, where clusters of shinobi looked like tiny black dots forming defensive lines.
Seeing that the Iwa-nin hadn't abandoned Konoha filled Yu with a sense of quiet satisfaction. Clearly, that old man Ōnoki had fully committed to investing in him.
Ōnoki scanned the sky fortress with awe, scalp tingling. "So that's how it is… All right, we'll talk later. I'll go inform them first."
Suppressing his curiosity, he rose into the air again—only to notice something that made him pause in astonishment. Behind Yu, near the massive serpent, countless shinobi wearing strange golden flight gear began to rise into the air.
"They're the spoils of this campaign," Yu explained.
Ōnoki quickly counted—there were at least a thousand of them. He knew exactly what it meant for Yu to command so many shinobi capable of flight.
His old eyes widened further. Once again, Uchiha Yu had managed to shock him.
Moments ago, Ōnoki had been the only one soaring in the sky. Now, when he dove back toward the ground, a dense swarm of airborne shinobi followed right behind him.
The sight was magnificent—
as if an entire aerial army were charging toward the earth alongside him.
"Prepare to engage!!"
Tsunade gave the order as she and the Uchiha stood watching the sky.
Ōnoki dropped rapidly and shouted, "Hold your fire! They're allies!"
At his words, Tsunade blinked in surprise, visibly confused. Ōnoki hurried to explain.
"These shinobi—and that fortress up there—are all… brought back by Uchiha Yu."
Tsunade's golden eyes widened in disbelief. The Uchiha around her collectively exhaled in relief.
Inside the royal fortress, Yu looked down over Konoha from above. After two full days of reconstruction by Iwa-nin, the village had recovered roughly sixty percent of its original state before the war.
Just then, a notification echoed in his mind—
Mission complete. Reward granted.
[Reward]: Mask × 1.
Yu guessed this was because he had brought the royal fortress back from the ruins of the Sky Ninja Village to Konoha, fulfilling the mission's progress.
Focusing his mind, he opened his storage space. Near the green medicine lay a plain, unadorned white mask.
Injecting chakra into it, he examined its properties.
Mask:
When worn and combined with the Transformation Technique, no one can see through the user's true face by any means.
Yu's eyes lit up.
With this mask…
he could sneak into what remained of Konoha—
together with Tsunade.
°°°
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