In the Root underground command center, the only sound in the cold air was the low hum of equipment running.
On the gigantic light screen, two glaring red dots were moving unhurriedly along the pre-planned route towards the core area of Konoha Village.
Naruto watched all of this calmly, his arms crossed.
"Zero."
"Here, Political Commissar-sama." Zero's figure emerged from the shadows, bowing respectfully.
"Judging by their attire, they belong to the same organization. Both of their headbands have clear scratches, indicating this might be an organization that specifically recruits rogue Ninja." Naruto analyzed slowly, "Their purpose, their scale, their leader... these are all unknown variables. I need data."
He paused, his gaze still fixed on the light screen.
"Initiate Level Two population clearance. Evacuate all civilians from routes three to seven. I don't want to see any non-combat personnel in their line of sight."
"Yes!"
"Let them in." Naruto added, "I want them to speak."
He switched to another communication channel, his voice becoming even colder.
"Utsusemi."
A clear and steady response came from the other end of the channel: "Utsusemi in position."
"Proceed to Sniper Position One, lock onto target 'Samehada'. Maintain silence until I give the order, and do not make any unnecessary movements. However, if there is any sign of them harming civilians, open fire decisively."
"Received."
With the orders given, the command center fell into absolute silence once more. Naruto, like a statue, closed his eyes to rest, patiently waiting for his prey to step into his carefully laid trap... The moment he stepped into Konoha Village, Kisame Hoshigaki felt an unprecedented strangeness.
The streets were deserted, the doors and windows of shops on both sides were tightly shut, some even had wooden signs hanging that read "Temporarily Closed". The entire Village was as silent as a massive graveyard, with only the wailing of the wind blowing through the empty streets.
"Heh..." Kisame bared his shark-like teeth, his laughter dry and grating, "Itachi-sensei, your hometown is truly 'welcoming', not even a dog came out to greet us. This discipline is even stronger than our Hidden Mist Village, which practices the Blood Mist policy."
Uchiha Itachi did not speak, his face hidden in the shadow of his straw hat showed no expression. He merely walked slowly, each step placed in the middle of the street, as if measuring something.
Kisame, carrying Samehada wrapped in layers of bandages, followed behind Itachi, observing his surroundings with interest. He could feel that beneath this deathly silence, there was an unsettling order, an extremely cold order that did not belong to the Ninja style.
Itachi stopped in front of a familiar dango shop. The shop door was locked, and a wooden sign hung on it, with elegant handwriting that read: "Visiting hometown, temporarily closed."
"What's wrong?" Kisame leaned closer, his tone full of teasing, "Didn't get your favorite three-colored dango, or did this familiar sign remind you of some first love with a ponytail, so you're unhappy?"
Itachi still ignored his idle chatter.
However, his heart was far from as calm as his exterior. The Sharingan hidden beneath his straw hat had already activated, rapidly scanning every corner of the surroundings.
There were no Chakra fluctuations, no killing intent, not even the slightest sense of being spied upon.
But his intuition was screaming at him.
He felt like an insect walking into a transparent spider web; although he couldn't see anything, he could clearly feel that from the very first step he took into this Village, he had already been entangled by countless invisible threads.
"It seems this is no longer the Konoha I remember." Itachi murmured in his heart.
Suddenly, Chakra fluctuations appeared in his Sharingan.
Two figures appeared at the end of the street, slowly walking towards them.
Asuma Sarutobi held a cigarette in his mouth, looking cynical. Kurenai Yuhi followed beside him, her expression wary.
"You two, you look very unfamiliar." Asuma stopped ten meters away, blowing out a smoke ring, "Is there something you need in Konoha? The Village is currently undergoing a big clean-up, so it's not convenient to receive outside guests."
Kisame laughed: "Big clean-up? You swept everyone away? Your Konoha's clean-up is really thorough."
Itachi slowly raised his head, revealing his face from beneath his straw hat. His scarlet eyes calmly gazed at Asuma and Yuhi.
"Uchiha... Itachi!" Yuhi's pupils suddenly contracted.
The relaxed expression on Asuma's face vanished instantly, and he gripped the hilt of his Chakra blade at his waist: "What a rare guest. The one beside you must be Kisame Hoshigaki, formerly of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
"Oh? It seems your intelligence work is quite good." Kisame took Samehada off his shoulder and slammed it heavily onto the ground, emitting a dull thud, "Since you know our identities, you two shouldn't block our way, should you? My companion, who didn't get his three-colored dango, is quite irritable right now. He's going to eat three-colored dango no matter what today."
"Don't misunderstand," Itachi's voice was flat, "We are just looking for something, not interested in you."
"Looking for something?" Yuhi snorted, her hands already forming a sign, "What are you looking for? The Nine-Tailed?"
Itachi's gaze remained unchanged.
Yuhi no longer hesitated and activated her Genjutsu.
"Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
The surrounding scenery instantly distorted, and thick vines burst from the ground, wrapping around Itachi and Kisame. However, Itachi merely looked at her calmly, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan gently rotating.
The next second, Yuhi let out a muffled grunt, finding herself instead bound by the Genjutsu's vines, unable to move.
"Your Genjutsu is ineffective against me." Itachi stated the fact, as he gripped a kunai and lunged at Yuhi.
Yuhi steeled herself and bit her lip, thus breaking free from the Genjutsu, but was still kicked away by Uchiha Itachi.
"Bastard!" Asuma roared, his Chakra blade unsheathed, infused with Wind Release Chakra, transforming into a cyan stream of light that charged towards Kisame. "Wind Release: Verdant Mountain Violent Wind!"
Kisame grinned ferociously, raising Samehada. The massive blade clashed with the Chakra blade, emitting a harsh metallic scraping sound. The countless barbs on Samehada opened, greedily devouring Asuma's Wind Release Chakra.
Asuma felt his Chakra rapidly draining, his heart filled with dread, and he hastily retreated.
Just then, a figure appeared in front of Asuma and Yuhi with a Body Flicker.
"Yo, you two, long time no see."
Kakashi Hatake, his iconic Sharingan in his left eye already revealed, was facing Uchiha Itachi.
"Kakashi..." Itachi's tone finally showed a hint of fluctuation.
"Itachi, and Kisame." Kakashi's stance was very subtle; he both protected his companions behind him and maintained an absolutely safe distance from Itachi, "Your visit to Konoha was not approved by Hokage-sama."
"Even Copy Ninja Kakashi has come. I heard about your fight with Zabuza." Kisame's smile grew even more sinister, "It seems we are very popular. Perfect, we'll take care of you all at once, it'll save us trouble!"
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