Mid-air, seven Sky Ninja dropped a payload of bombs. Seeing the Konoha ninja closing in from all sides, they promptly initiated a retreat.
Suddenly, one of the Sky Ninja let out a piercing shriek. He abruptly swerved mid-flight, crashing directly into his comrade.
Boom!
A deafening explosion ripped through the sky as the two went down in a fiery blaze.
Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu!
Yamanaka Inoichi dispelled his hand seals. Just as he was about to target the remaining enemies, shadows stretched rapidly across the ground below, completely ensnaring three of the airborne shinobi in an inescapable bind.
Anchored by Nara Shikaku, the shadow tendrils climbed up the three trapped ninjas' throats and mercilessly choked the life out of them in an instant.
Realizing escape was impossible against the relentless assault, the last two Sky Ninja hurled every explosive tag they had left, converting all their remaining chakra into a final, desperate Wind Style jutsu. The gale-force winds propelled the barrage of tags, scattering them into a chaotic, deadly formation across the sky.
At that exact moment, a single senbon cloned itself into dozens mid-flight, perfectly pinning the tags out of the air. Simultaneously, a flurry of kunai and shuriken launched from the ground, forcefully detonating the explosives at a safe distance before they could deal any damage.
Shikaku turned around, his expression grim. "Inoichi, something is wrong!"
Inoichi gave a heavy nod. These Sky Ninja were merely a distraction—suicide pawns meant to tie them down. Which meant the real target was...
"We need to reinforce the Hokage!"
Several blades of wind spiraled violently between the assassin's fingers. The compressed gales erupted outward, transforming into an invisible, shredding storm that hurtled straight toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But in the next split second, Hiruzen vanished from his spot.
Three figures leapt from the sky in his wake, their kunai slashing downward in perfect, crescent-like arcs.
Konoha-Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!
Clang!
Blades met in a shower of sparks.
Boom!
The explosive tags plastered to "Hiruzen's" back detonated entirely. The body violently blew apart, scattering chunks of shattered earth in every direction. The roaring firelight illuminated the mangled, unrecognizable corpse of a "Sand Ninja"—a pre-prepared corpse and sealing scroll Hiruzen had masterfully used to stage the end of this assassination attempt.
The real Hiruzen seamlessly emerged from the dirt nearby.
Suddenly, a ferocious gust of wind blasted from behind him. A towering, burly man—his physical speed exponentially boosted by his roaring chakra—closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
Smash!
A single, devastating kick turned Hiruzen into a pile of mangled mud.
Earth Style: Earth Replacement!
The moment the mud clone collapsed, the very ground surged upward. A massive wall of earth chakra instantly materialized, fully encapsulating the rooftop.
Simultaneously, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air. From the shadows, an adamantine staff shot outward, violently expanding in size as it thrust straight toward the attacker.
Shinnō didn't bother blocking it; he simply sidestepped the lethal thrust.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. Shinnō... he wasn't trying to fight head-on.
"Your target is Yakumo?" Hiruzen's voice was low and commanding.
Shinnō merely flashed a dark grin. Instead of answering, he scattered a handful of explosive tags into the air. This only confirmed Hiruzen's suspicion—the man wasn't here to kill him. He was here to stall and draw the Hokage's attention away from the Kurama compound. His true prey was Kurama Yakumo!
Boom!
Amidst the chain of explosions, the Adamantine Staff pierced through the flames, continuously extending. Shinnō avoided the strikes with effortless agility.
But in the next heartbeat, the elevated earthen platform liquefied into a churning torrent of mud under Hiruzen's masterful chakra control. The torrential mudslide surged violently toward the Hokage Monument.
Earth Style: Earth Flow River!
Caught in the massive area-of-effect jutsu, Shinnō had no room to dodge. The mud swallowed him whole, but his body instantly dissolved into a puff of smoke.
A Shadow Clone.
Hiruzen had already anticipated this. He planted his expanding staff into the ground, vaulting himself high into the air as he rushed toward the Kurama compound.
Meanwhile, at the Kurama estate.
The moment Shinnō set foot on the grounds, his instincts screamed at him. He immediately flared his chakra.
Following a deafening sonic boom, a highly pressurized stream of water—condensing a massive amount of chakra into a single, lethal point—blasted right toward him.
Boom!
Two immense chakra forces collided. The water spear violently pierced through Shinnō's chakra defense, driving deep into his arm.
Thump!
A muffled explosion rang out as the highly compressed water injected into his muscles forcefully ruptured outward. Blood sprayed everywhere.
Clutching his mangled arm, Shinnō rapidly retreated. He immediately activated the Mystical Palm Technique. Combined with his monstrous regenerative abilities, the catastrophic wound healed at a terrifyingly visible rate. In mere seconds, his arm was completely restored.
However... flames, lightning, and all manners of bizarre natural phenomena suddenly surged toward him from every conceivable angle.
Genjutsu!
Shinnō's mind immediately jumped to a terrifying Kekkei Genkai—Five Senses Manipulation! A fearsome bloodline ability capable of turning illusions into physical reality.
He didn't have time to hold back! Shinnō shut his eyes, aggressively mobilizing the chakra within his body as an aura of pure, suffocating darkness erupted from his flesh.
A moment later, within the illusory realm, he felt a faint, almost imperceptible magnetic pull.
There!
Shinnō snapped his eyes open.
In an instant, the illusion shattered into pieces!
Kurama Yakumo stood there, her face deathly pale. No matter how immense her natural talent was, she was still a child not even ten years old. Masahiko had just commandeered her mental link, using her spiritual energy to forcefully cast a reverse genjutsu on the intruder.
Shinnō had just employed a similar counter-tactic. However, his anchor was the Ido residing within Yakumo—and the dark chakra wrapped around it. The instinctive, parasitic nature of the Zero Tails' chakra to devour matching darkness had allowed Shinnō to lock onto Yakumo's exact presence and forcefully shatter the genjutsu with pure spiritual pressure.
But this wasn't exactly a victory to celebrate. Shinnō was keenly aware of the sheer number of heavy hitters in Konoha; he could only stall for so long. Every second was precious!
His expression hardened. Chakra roared to life around him in a violent shockwave.
"Sixth Gate: Gate of View, Open!"
A towering stone wall instantly materialized in front of him, completely separating him from Yakumo's house.
Crash!
Shinnō obliterated the stone wall with sheer physical force, stepping right through the rubble. Yet, as the dust settled, he caught sight of Masahiko—with Yakumo securely strapped to his back—already sprinting away toward the Hokage building.
Shinnō bolted after them. But the moment his foot hit the ground, a monstrous wave of chakra erupted directly beneath him.
'Not good!'
He forcibly halted his momentum, driving a brutal punch straight into the earth below.
Boom!
Water erupted outward, vaporizing into a thick, rolling mist. As the sunlight pierced the fog... three identical silhouettes manifested around him. Each figure gripped a blade, slashing downward in a rapid, synchronized crescent strike.
Konoha-Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!
Shinnō threw a barrage of blindingly fast punches, shattering all three phantoms in a fraction of a second.
'Fakes! All of them!'
Suddenly, a hyper-compressed, needle-thin beam of water shot upward from the ground beneath him. It was unimaginably fast, condensed into a single, razor-sharp line.
Combining Danzō's private notes with his own combat mastery, Masahiko had evolved his Perfection-level Wild Water Wave into the lethal Water Style: Water Severing Wave.
Though Shinnō desperately twisted away to avoid a fatal blow, the high-pressure beam still punched straight through his shoulder. The sweeping motion of the water laser cleaved through him as he dodged, slicing his shoulder joint cleanly open.
Body Regeneration!
Shinnō activated his forbidden jutsu once more, a profound hatred for this young Konoha ninja boiling within him.
'Him again!'
What terrified Shinnō even more was the fact that, in the short span of time since their last encounter, this boy had managed to master yet another lethal ninjutsu capable of threatening his life.
'If there is a next time...' Dense, murderous intent flashed in Shinnō's eyes.
However, Shinnō also understood this boy's calculating nature. The one fighting him right now was undoubtedly a Shadow Clone. The real body was the one carrying Kurama Yakumo away in the distance.
While he hesitated, a colossal burst of wind pressure descended upon him.
The air in the distance warped violently as a hyper-condensed sphere of wind chakra hurtled toward him with devastating momentum.
Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!
Danzō had finally made his move.
"Shinnō! As long as I am here, you shall not harm a single citizen of Konoha!"
Shinnō forcefully punched the massive wind sphere apart, his face turning an ugly shade of iron-blue. Staring at Danzō's grandiose, righteous posture, a sudden, sickening realization dawned on him.
This entire operation... from the very moment Danzō ordered the attack on the Sky Ninja squad, Shinnō had been completely played. Danzō had weaponized his greed for Yakumo's power. Even the earlier assassination attempt on Sarutobi Hiruzen had undoubtedly been orchestrated by this old bastard to draw away the Hokage's protection!
A flash of humiliation and fury burned in Shinnō's eyes.
Meanwhile, Danzō stood tall and imposing upon the rooftop, gazing down at Shinnō with the commanding presence of a true savior.
At least in this very moment... countless villagers were staring up at him, their faces filled with shock, awe, and an undeniable reverence.
Danzō's expression was stern, radiating absolute, unwavering resolve.
"Since you've chosen to come, do not expect to leave alive!"
He stood brimming with majestic confidence, looking every bit the perfect hero.