After a long moment, once Danzo's temper had cooled, the Root operative bowed and asked, respectfully:
"My lord, what are our next steps?"
Danzo paused, a hard glint flashing in his eyes.
"At this juncture, Root should surface as well. Deploy every Root shinobi to the battlefield."
"Yes!"
The operative rose to depart when Danzo's voice cut in again:
"And send several Root operatives to Homura and Koharu. Have them temporarily assume control of the Military Police Force."
At that, the Root ninja's usually blank face showed a rare flicker of hesitation.
"Homura-dono and Koharu-dono may not—"
"Tell them the breach of the village gate is a burden they cannot shoulder—unless it's together with me."
Danzo's tone went glacial. He said no more.
The Root operative nodded once and vanished.
"This chaos may prove an opportunity for me after all."
His murmur drifted through the shadowed underground room.
—
Rumble—rumble—
Great booms rolled across Konoha's sky.
The village had fully entered war footing.
Civilians streamed to the rear. Shocked by the sudden fighting, they stared wide-eyed as rank upon rank of dark figures flitted over rooftops.
In peacetime, most never saw many shinobi at once—Konoha had always felt like it had few. But now, seeing the dense tide of movement, panic gave way to a fragile calm.
Number one among the Five Great Villages, backed by a full shinobi academy, and sitting in the prosperous Land of Fire—
Konoha's headcount was simply the largest.
Most were chūnin and genin, but in a war, those were the true main force.
With the Mist breaking through the village gate, all the clans that had been waiting and watching sprang up like cats with their tails stepped on.
When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.
Everyone knew the saying. Hyūga, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka—great and small clans alike—mobilized at once.
Hyūga teams opened their Byakugan (White Eye) across half the village, mapping nearly every moving piece in real time.
Yamanaka specialists used their hijutsu (secret arts) to collate Hyūga sighting data and push fresh intel directly to Leaf squads near each hostile cell from the Mist, Sand, and Sound.
The Nara, besides their raw intellect, wielded hijutsu that struck from the dark yet hit hard.
Vast carpets of kikaichū swarmed out from around the Hokage's offices, spreading in all directions.
Smaller clans—when they exploded into motion—proved terrifying as well.
First to suffer was Isobu in the village center.
Before, even eight Akimichi giants couldn't truly harm the Three-Tails; at best they muscled him away from the heart of Konoha.
Now, with reinforcements flooding in, ninjutsu, hijutsu—and even fūinjutsu (sealing techniques)—came down like rain on Isobu's shell.
Explosions hammered him. Isobu bellowed and spewed torrents—thick water cannons and Suiton (Water Release) blasts—
But the Akimichi braced and met them. With so many at their backs, Choza's line gritted their teeth, swallowed injury, and kept the Three-Tails ringed in the center.
Gurgle—gurgle—
Then, a drift of bubbles floated down from the sky.
High over Konoha, they were transparent and sneaky; with Isobu's chakra as the brightest lure around, even sensory-nin sensed them only faintly.
By the time they came into clear view—
Boom!
One bubble popped midair—and then, like a chain reaction, bubbles began to burst in waves. Each carried the punch of a paper bomb.
At the pattern's heart, Utakata sat inside a larger bubble, pouring everything into Shabon no Jutsu (Soap Bubble Technique).
Bubbles surged in a flood, all streaking toward one Akimichi.
The rolling detonations caught him before he could guard, blasting him to the ground.
His Chō Baika no Jutsu (Super Multi-Size Technique) snapped off, exposing the Three-Tails inside the ring.
"Courting death!"
Choza's face darkened. A colossal palm swatted up at the floating Utakata.
Utakata flicked his flute, tapping the bubble beneath him—
It popped. He dropped like a stone, and Choza's blow whooshed through empty air.
Still falling, Utakata snapped his flute and cast a string of tiny bubbles into the sky.
He danced across them as stepping stones—light, quick—and punched through the Akimichi cordon,
Arrowing straight for Isobu.
Sensing the familiar chakra, Isobu flicked a glance at the small black speck and let Utakata touch down atop his head.
"Use the opening I made. Head for the village gate."
"With a tailed beast posted there, the Leaf won't be taking it back anytime soon."
Utakata panted, crouched on Isobu's crown, and said it plainly.
"Brat—are you giving me orders?"
The snarl that filled his head dripped violence.
"I wouldn't dare. This is Yuto-dono's plan. Why else do you think he let you out?"
At the name "Yuto," Isobu's murderous edge wilted at once.
Still, yielding so easily would be unworthy of a tailed beast.
He growled on, viciously:
"Saiken—I recall it granted you leave to use its power."
"I've already used tailed-beast transformation twice—one full form. I can't call it again so soon. My body won't hold."
Exhaustion creased Utakata's face. Bijūka (tailed-beast transformation) corroded the flesh by nature. Without the Six-Tails' chakra constantly mending him, he'd have collapsed already.
"Pathetic body," Isobu snorted. His senses told him the boy wasn't lying.
He heaved—his bulk slammed left and knocked Choza back two steps.
Seizing the gap Utakata opened, Isobu began to move.
Faces hardened across the Leaf line; hands flashed to stop him—
But a behemoth like a tailed beast could not be checked without an equal or the right terrain.
Just as Konoha squads braced to throw everything in, they noticed Isobu was angling toward Konoha's outer edge.
Instinctively, their attacks slowed.
After all, the whole point had been to drive the Three-Tails out of the center. If he was going on his own—
Why stop him?
"The Three-Tails is heading for the village gate!"
A Hyūga shouted from the ranks.
There was a beat of surprise—and then everyone grasped the intent behind his movement.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810