Boom! Roar!!
Deafening explosions went off one after another, like the drumbeats of death, pounding on everyone's heart.
Konoha was plunged into an unprecedented conflagration and chaos.
The Air Raid
Flames shot up from multiple districts, and thick black smoke, like monstrous serpents, coiled and writhed toward the sky, completely dyeing the light of dawn a desperate, dark red!
The wind whipped up by the explosives raged through the narrow streets, carrying with it scorching flames, ash, thick smoke, and debris!
Countless houses shook violently under the combined assault of wind and fire. Doors and windows were savagely ripped off and carried away by the violent airflow. Roofs were completely torn off and disintegrated in mid-air!
Burning beams, furniture, and even residents' possessions rained down like fire, crashing into the terrified, scattering crowds!
"Help me!"
"Run fast!!"
"My child! My child!"
Shrieks of distress, screams of despair, the thunderous collapse of buildings...
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!"
"All ninja, assemble immediately! Intercept the enemy! Evacuate the civilians!"
Ninja yelled hoarsely, organizing a counter-attack, but their voices were quickly swallowed by the louder blasts.
"They're above us!"
An Anbu ninja appeared at the edge of a rooftop, staring intently at the figures that darted nimbly through the low altitude like vultures. He roared: "Shoot them down!"
With that, he quickly reached for his waist pouch, pulled out several kunai, and hurled them.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The kunai sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, shooting accurately towards the nearest Sky Ninja!
Other nearby ninja followed suit. In an instant, a dense torrent of kunai and shuriken rained toward the sky!
However, when these ninja tools reached the low-to-mid altitude of the Sky Ninja, their upward momentum was exhausted, and their speed noticeably slowed.
The Sky Ninja deftly controlled their flying tools, easily dodging the utterly unthreatening long-range attack with a simple side-step or flip.
Immediately after, the Sky Ninja aimed their strangely shaped, slightly bulky ninja tools at the gathering Konoha ninja below.
"What is that?" a Konoha Chūnin blurted out in surprise.
But the only response they received was a cold command.
"Fire!" the Sky Ninja Captain ordered icily.
The Sky Ninja did not hesitate. They raised the weapon in their hands—the Kunai Gun—pointed the dark muzzle downward, and pulled the trigger!
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
A rapid, hair-raising burst of sound instantly exploded!
The next moment, countless kunai shot madly from the muzzle, shrieking through the air, showering down upon the Konoha ninja below!
The barrage was many times denser, faster, and more powerful than Konoha's earlier attack.
"Urgh, ah!!"
"Watch out!!"
The terrifying rate of fire and density of firepower, completely different from traditional kunai throwing, instantly created absolute suppression. Most of the Konoha ninja below had no time to react.
Konoha ninja who failed to dodge were instantly pierced and torn apart by the high-velocity kunai. Blood splashed into the air. Before they could even finish their screams, they tumbled off the rooftop!
"It's a ninja tool that fires continuous kunai! Find cover!"
The Anbu ninja reacted, letting out a roar, while instinctively raising his short sword in his right hand, desperately swinging to block.
Cling! Clang! Clang!
Sharp, piercing metallic clashes and sparks erupted wildly in front of him!
The tremendous impact traveled through the blade, splitting the skin of his hand and leaving his arm numb!
But more kunai penetrated his defense, leaving countless deep wounds on his body. Blood instantly stained his clothes!
"Cough!" He coughed up blood. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he looked up at the sky and formed hand signs.
But the next moment, several inconspicuous black dots dropped from the air.
Boom!!
An explosion loud enough to tear eardrums suddenly erupted!
The scorching firelight, like a red lotus, instantly swelled and bloomed. The shockwave and flames spread outwards, completely engulfing him and the several surrounding ninja who couldn't escape in time.
Thick black smoke billowed high into the sky. The searing heat twisted the air itself. Fleeing civilians screamed in terror.
The Commercial District Incident
Compared to the earth-shattering battle in the village center, the outer commercial district, though currently shrouded in panic, was not yet the target of the Sky Ninja raid.
However, the continuous roar of explosions, the towering flames and smoke in the distance, and the chilling Chakra fluctuations had already thrown the villagers here into a frenzy.
"Quick! Hurry! Don't stop! Don't grab anything! Retreat toward the shelter!"
Ebisu, wearing his signature sunglasses, stood on a rooftop, frantically directing the chaotic flow of people below.
He struggled to keep his voice steady, but his clenched fists and the sweat on his brow betrayed his internal anxiety.
"This way! Elders and children first! Keep up with the group!"
"Medical Team! We have injured here! We need stretchers!"
On the street below, several young Konoha Genin and Chūnin were doing their utmost to maintain order.
They shouted, guiding the frantic crowds along the designated evacuation route toward the nearest underground shelter.
Some supported elders who struggled to walk, others held crying children. Many kept looking back at the hellish scene in the distance, their faces etched with fear and worry.
Panic spread through the crowd like a plague. People occasionally fell due to trampling or shoving. Cries, screams, and urgent shouts mixed together, fraying nerves.
"Hold on! We're almost there!" a young Genin encouraged an elderly woman he helped up, though his own voice slightly trembled.
Just then, several figures stumbled out of the surrounding alleyways and partially open shop doors.
Their gait was extremely strange. Their bodies were stiff, their steps unsteady, their heads bowed, and their arms hung limply at their sides, as if they were drunk or sleepwalking.
"Hey!" a young Chūnin guiding the crowd noticed them and instinctively shouted, "Hurry up and join the group! It's dangerous here!"
The figures seemed not to hear, continuing to stagger toward the scattering crowds and the ninja.
Their movements were slow and bizarre, completely out of place among the frantic people.
"What's wrong?"
Several Konoha ninja also noticed the anomaly. Driven by duty and instinct, they instinctively hurried towards the nearest figure to check the situation.
Hearing the commotion on the street, Ebisu, standing on the rooftop, frowned.
As an experienced Special Jōnin, he instinctively sensed something was wrong. His gaze locked onto one of the swaying middle-aged men, who lifted his head slightly.
In that instant, Ebisu's pupils sharply contracted.
The man's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth were all oozing a thick, purplish-black liquid—it was definitely not normal blood!
An icy chill shot up Ebisu's spine!
"Something's wrong!" Ebisu leaned out abruptly, roaring hysterically down at the street: "Don't go near them! Get away from there!"
The young ninja who had gone to investigate below were startled by the sudden roar. Their movements froze, and they instinctively tried to back away.
However, it was already too late.
The moment Ebisu's warning was still echoing in the air.
Pchhh! Pchhh-pchhh!!
The bodies of the "civilians" whose orifices were leaking purplish-black pus violently swelled, taking on a purplish-black sheen. The blood vessels beneath their skin grotesquely bulged like writhing earthworms!
Their forms lost all resemblance to human shape in the blink of an eye, transforming into giant, pulsating flesh-orbs covered in purplish-black veins, beating like a monstrous heart.
Terror filled the eyes of the nearest Konoha ninja.
The next moment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
A deafening series of explosions erupted from the center of the street!
The purplish-black flesh-orbs, swollen to their limit, violently burst!
The powerful explosion carried purplish-black pus, fragments of bone, and internal organs that splashed outwards!
The young ninja caught directly in the blast were instantly torn apart by the close-range explosion, unable to even complete their screams!
The horrifying shockwave immediately followed, smashing into the surrounding crowds of evacuating civilians, violently tossing dozens of people into the air. The sound of shattering bones was deafening!
The wooden doors and windows of the shops and izakaya (pubs) along the street were instantly shredded. The glass windows of the ninja tool shops shattered, and the shelves in the general stores were knocked down!
The explosion's fire ignited the scattered wood chips and fabric, and the flames rapidly spread!
Pat-a... Pat-a...
A brief, brutal rain of blood seemed to fall from the sky. Nauseating fragments and droplets scattered from above.
By the time the flying filth subsided and the billowing smoke slowly settled, the once-bustling commercial street was, in an instant, a bloody mess and consumed by raging flames.
"Cough! Cough!"
In the ruins, Ebisu sat slumped against a half-collapsed wall, coughing. Every cough brought with it a tearing pain throughout his body, and bright-red blood spilled from his mouth.
He was not at the explosion's epicenter. By retreating in time and using solid cover, he was lucky not to be instantly obliterated, but the explosion's shockwave still left him severely injured.
His signature sunglasses were gone, revealing eyes filled with pain and fury. His vest was tattered, and his body was covered in multiple charred burns.
"Damn it, what... what was that?" He struggled, trying to support his body with trembling arms.
Several other Konoha ninja, equally lucky to survive, were also lying in the blood and rubble, moaning in pain, struggling to get up.
Swish! Swish!
Several extremely faint but sharp whistles, piercing the air, shot out from the dissipating smoke and fog surrounding them!
The arrows, compressed by Chakra, moved too fast for the nerves to register!
Pchhh!
The sound of a blade tearing through flesh rang out.
"Ugh!" The struggling Ebisu groaned. An arrow pierced his shoulder, pinning him firmly to the shattered wall behind him. Blood flowed down the shaft.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the few other surviving ninja who were also struggling, simultaneously and accurately pinned to the ground or the ruins by the same invisible arrows.
"Wha-what's going on?"
Ebisu used his last ounce of strength to raise his head, gazing toward the direction the arrows came from.
From the swirling dust and fog, a figure slowly stepped out.
He wore a black cloak with red clouds and held a longbow in his hand. It was none other than En Oyashiro.
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