Shin'nosuke Sarutobi was genuinely terrified. Many of his deepest secrets felt completely exposed to Akainu Uchiha, as if he were a naked man with nowhere to hide.
He even felt it was highly possible that Akainu Uchiha had been silently observing him while he was doing those things! Otherwise, how could Akainu Uchiha know so much?
You see... the "secrets" Akainu Uchiha mentioned were things Shin'nosuke Sarutobi had never told anyone, not his wife, not the Old Man (Hiruzen), and certainly not any of his subordinates.
"Akainu Uchiha! You..."
But before Shin'nosuke Sarutobi could even get a full sentence out, a suffocating sense of impending death instantly washed over him. Why? Because a lava projectile the size of a human head suddenly shot toward him!
He quickly shut up, gripping his ninja blade's hilt tightly as a layer of azure chakra enveloped the blade.
"Hmph!!!"
Shin'nosuke Sarutobi brought his blade down, splitting the rapidly approaching lava projectile in two. Just as he prepared to swing again, the feel of his sword felt off. He glanced down, his pupils constricting slightly.
His ninja blade...
It was broken!
Even with chakra coating it, it couldn't withstand the terrifying heat of Akainu Uchiha's Lava Release?
He immediately looked forward, only to find Akainu Uchiha wasn't charging. Instead, he was half-crouching, one hand slightly lowered, fingers lightly touching the ground—it seemed he had already performed the hand signs in that brief moment.
"Lava Release..."
"Volcanic Swamp."
A strange "gurgling" sound filled the air. To the horrified gazes of Shin'nosuke Sarutobi and the Anbu shinobi, the ground centered beneath Akainu Uchiha's feet began to rapidly melt into lava from an unknown source of intense heat!
In the blink of an eye, even though Shin'nosuke Sarutobi was a good twenty meters away from Akainu Uchiha, he noticed a faint reddish glow appearing on the ground beneath his feet.
"This is bad! Fall back!!!"
The moment Shin'nosuke Sarutobi decisively gave the order, he quickly retreated with his Anbu subordinates. But one Anbu was half a step too slow. He did retreat, but when his feet landed on the ground, the shinobi suddenly lost his balance, his face paling drastically.
"Ah! Hiss!!!"
An indescribable pain shot up from his ankles, making him quickly grab onto the wall while frantically looking down.
"My feet... they're gone..."
In his vision, both of his feet had vanished at some point! Light smoke was still rising from his severed ankles, carrying a pungent, burnt-meat smell!
"Captain Shin'nosuke! I..."
The Anbu shinobi panicked.
However, Shin'nosuke Sarutobi no longer had time to worry about his subordinate's injuries because he realized that Akainu Uchiha's terrifying Lava Release was rapidly destroying this secret research base! The horrifying temperature of the lava wasn't just melting the ground; it was melting the surrounding walls too.
The walls on both sides of the passage had huge holes melted through them. Even the metal on the walls was burning with fierce flames. Even from a distance, Shin'nosuke Sarutobi and the others were sweating profusely from the intense heat.
The temperature here was simply too high!!!
"Captain Shin'nosuke! The lava is acting strangely!" One Anbu shinobi sharply noticed something amiss—the bubbling lava ahead seemed to be surging upward, as if something terrifying was about to erupt.
He was right.
The next second.
—Boom!!!
A horrifying torrent of lava erupted upward like a volcanic explosion, instantly melting everything above it.
To the stunned gaze of the Anbu shinobi, the secret research base was violently blasted open by the lava, forming an enormous hole! From outside the base, one could see a pillar of crimson lava suddenly erupting from the dense forest and shooting skyward!
Only when it reached a hundred meters in the air did the lava turn into a cascade of "rain," scattering and falling in all directions below.
But these falling lava projectiles weren't harmless raindrops! When a fist-sized lump of lava landed, the indescribable impact was like an exploding paper bomb, blasting a huge hole in the top of the secret research base! It shattered the rocks above the base, exposing the building's structure.
And there were hundreds upon hundreds of these powerful lava projectiles...
It was now just past eight in the evening, the time when Konoha's nightlife was just beginning. Many villagers had just finished dinner and were considering taking a stroll to digest.
But then they suddenly saw...
A very noticeable pillar of crimson light shooting up into the sky from outside the village. Then, that pillar of light scattered like fireworks. It seemed to illuminate almost half of Konoha Village with its faint glow.
"What's that?" A civilian looked out into the distance, puzzled. "Is someone setting off fireworks outside the village? What huge fireworks..."
Someone nearby offered a different opinion: "Do fireworks look like that? It looks more like a volcanic eruption, doesn't it?"
"Are you kidding? Where would Konoha get a volcano nearby?"
"It must be fireworks! But is there some kind of festival recently? Why haven't I heard about it? If it's not a big day, there's no need for such huge fireworks, right? And they're setting them off outside the village, what's that about?!"
Besides the civilians who couldn't use ninjutsu, many shinobi in the village also noticed the strange sight in the distance.
Inside the Uchiha clan compound, Uchiha Mikoto's beautiful eyes showed a hint of surprise as she spoke to her husband beside her: "Fugaku, that looks like... lava, doesn't it? It's just like a volcano suddenly erupting."
"...Hmm."
Fugaku looked out at the night sky, his face slightly grave as he nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be Akainu. With Akainu's personality, he wouldn't cause such a huge commotion for no reason. He might have encountered a strong enemy outside the village."
"Whew, I need to head out. You stay here and take care of Sasuke."
Fugaku had already turned back into the house, preparing to put on his Police Force combat uniform. He explained as he changed, "Although Akainu and I have many disagreements, there's one thing I admire about him. He can always see what 'evil' a person has committed, and he's never once been wrong, never once wrongly accused anyone."
"Over the years, neither the Fourth Hokage nor the Third Hokage could ever get the better of him, precisely because they couldn't find any excuse to act against Akainu Uchiha."
"After Akainu kills someone, he throws the body to us, and we then pass the body to the Yamanaka clan. The Yamanaka clan always discovers some horrifyingly evil secrets on the bodies."
Uchiha Mikoto, hearing this, hesitated. "So, that means he might currently be fighting against those who commit evil?"
"Yes."
Fugaku had already changed into his Police Force attire, his expression calm. "Regardless, he's a member of the Police Force. As the captain of the Police Force, I must take people to support him."