Late at night.
Konoha lay unnaturally quiet, as if every household had already sunk into deep sleep.
But beneath that stillness—
Death was already moving.
Teams of Root shinobi leapt across rooftops, their figures slicing through the darkness with terrifying speed. Their movements were sharp, ruthless, and utterly silent.
They were discovered almost instantly.
ANBU units guarding the perimeter reacted at once.
"Who goes there?!"
"Halt immediately!"
"Any further movement will be treated as an invasion!"
The ANBU squad leader—his voice tense—shouted the warning.
It was useless.
The Root operatives didn't answer.
The moment they saw the ANBU blocking their path, they attacked without hesitation.
Shuriken, kunai, senbon—
Steel flashed through the air.
Fire Release, Wind Release, Lightning Release followed in rapid succession, overwhelming force unleashed without restraint.
Caught completely off guard, the ANBU never imagined these people would act so decisively.
They were annihilated.
Even as the survivors tried to fight back, it made no difference.
In less than five minutes, the entire ANBU team was wiped out.
"Since we've been exposed, there's no need to hide anymore."
"Target the Hokage Building."
"Delay them as long as possible."
"Kill."
The Root captain's expression was numb, his voice devoid of emotion.
He vaulted to the edge of the Hokage Building, took a deep breath, and spat out a massive Fireball Technique.
Boom!
The flames slammed into the structure, exploding violently.
Around him, the other Root operatives followed suit, forming seals with practiced precision and unleashing ninjutsu one after another.
Almost instantly—
The Hokage Building was engulfed in chaos.
At that moment, a figure leapt down from the fifth floor.
Yamanaka Inoichi.
Landing lightly, he swept his gaze across the masked figures below and instantly understood.
Root.
All of them.
Recalling Sarutobi Hiruzen's instructions and Nara Shikaku's arrangements, Inoichi didn't waste a single word.
His hands formed seals at lightning speed.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
Boom!
A violent gale erupted, slamming into the Root operatives.
Several were sent flying, blood spraying from their mouths as they crashed into the ground.
But before Inoichi could even exhale—
More Root units arrived.
They didn't spare a glance for their injured comrades, charging straight toward him instead.
Inoichi frowned.
Looking at the densely packed enemies, he immediately understood—
Staying here was pointless.
As a commander, he needed to grasp the overall situation.
The priority was information.
His hands moved again.
"Mind Technique: Chaos Transfer!"
Whoosh!
Countless thin, black chakra threads shot out into the darkness, instantly linking to multiple Root shinobi.
In the blink of an eye, those Root operatives lost control.
They turned on one another, attacking wildly.
Five seconds later—
All of them were dead.
Inoichi stepped forward, placing his hand on the forehead of one of the corpses.
"Mind Reading Technique."
But the moment he activated it, dense black sealing runes surfaced across the corpse's body.
Inoichi's expression remained calm.
"So that's it… the Root's Tongue Curse Seal."
"The Hokage was right."
"Danzo really is plotting something."
"But what, exactly…?"
There was too little information.
Far too little.
Contacting the Hokage immediately would only make him look incompetent.
"…Forget it."
"For now, the situation is still under control."
"I'll observe."
Straightening, Inoichi leapt to the highest rooftop of the Hokage Building.
From there, he saw it clearly.
Across Konoha—
Key departments were being attacked.
Flames rose into the night sky.
His brow furrowed deeply.
What was Danzo trying to do?
Even if he seized these locations, without the title of Hokage, what would it accomplish?
It made no sense.
Still, he didn't hesitate.
"Tanuki."
"Relay my orders."
"Mobilize all ANBU to suppress Root."
"Activate the Sealing Division, Interrogation and Torture Division."
"Notify the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance and the Sarutobi clan."
"All available personnel are to be deployed."
"No matter what Danzo's goal is—"
"We cannot allow him to succeed."
Behind him, an ANBU wearing a tanuki mask stiffened, then vanished in a blur.
Afterward, Inoichi let out a long sigh.
His head throbbed.
He hated this.
Strategy wasn't his strength.
Normally, Nara Shikaku handled things like this—he only needed to follow instructions and act.
But now—
Shikaku wasn't here.
And he had to make decisions alone.
Which terrified him.
Root was already in motion.
Yet he still didn't understand their true objective.
What was he supposed to do?
After a long moment of hesitation, Inoichi made his decision.
He would contact the Hokage.
Even if it was humiliating, it was better than letting something catastrophic happen.
He moved quickly, wrote a brief report of the night's events, and used a summoning technique to send it out.
About ten minutes later, a reply arrived.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's letter was short.
Be prepared.
Unless the situation becomes completely unmanageable, do not panic.
He even added an explanation.
The Five Kage Summit was at a critical stage. Final agreements would take at least another day or two.
Unless something truly catastrophic occurred in Konoha, the Hokage could not leave.
If he withdrew prematurely—
Other villages would laugh.
Inoichi stared at the letter.
"…Unbelievable."
The corners of his mouth twitched as he forced a bitter smile.
Headache or not, he had no choice.
The Hokage had spoken.
So he could only endure.
From that moment on, Inoichi threw himself fully into suppressing Root's movements.
And yet—
The more he fought, the more something felt off.
These Root operatives were acting strangely.
They were fighting fiercely—
But without any clear objective.
As if the fighting itself was the goal.
He reported this immediately.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen and Nara Shikaku were equally puzzled.
They discussed it at length, yet still couldn't determine Danzo's true intention.
Shikaku felt uneasy.
Deeply uneasy.
Instinct told him that what Inoichi was seeing might only be a smokescreen.
He suggested returning personally.
But without concrete evidence, Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected it.
After all—
No matter how worried he was—
Face still mattered.
All the Kage were present at this summit.
Unless absolutely necessary—
He would not allow himself to become a laughingstock.
Shikaku could only sigh.
And return to rest.
Meanwhile—
Konoha burned on in silence.
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