The technological advancements in the Shinobi world might seem a bit skewed, but they're not particularly underdeveloped. The existence of shinobi has somewhat stifled progress in fields like weapon development and long-distance communication. However, in other areas, things are pretty advanced.
Household appliances like refrigerators and washing machines have long been standard in Konoha, and there are even cinemas now in double digits.
Additionally, Sougen had already set up a monitoring system. Though cameras don't cover every corner, crucial locations are well-equipped with surveillance equipment. In the original timeline, such a useful tool was woefully underused, only being implemented once during the Chūnin Exams, a real waste in Sougen's opinion.
While Hiruzen Sarutobi could use his telescope jutsu to keep an eye on the village, he was, after all, the Hokage and couldn't realistically watch through his crystal ball nonstop, 24/7.
Moreover, the telescope jutsu's range of vision is limited, so it's impossible for Sarutobi alone to monitor the entire village.
At the Hokage Tower, in the surveillance room:
"Ameyuki – he's calling himself Ameyuki."
The lip-reading expert stationed in front of the monitor grit his teeth in frustration. Since the cameras didn't record audio, a lip-reading expert was always on hand in the monitoring room. But—Ameyuki had the nerve to raise his collar and wrap his face with bandages!
"Damn it!" The expert cursed Ameyuki thoroughly in his mind for depriving him of an opportunity to showcase his skills in front of the Hokage's aide.
The name "Ameyuki" had been relayed by a gate guard over the radio.
"The rogue ninja, Ameyuki?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, questioning, "This can't be right, can it? The person on the monitor looks like a dwarf, nothing like the wanted Ameyuki."
"...But that's what he claimed," murmured the communications officer with a headset.
"All right, Kabuto, no need to dwell on minor details," Sougen interjected.
Looking at the childlike figure on the monitor, he felt a strange sense of relief – finally, a direct confrontation. It's always better to face an opponent than to worry about a hidden, scheming adversary.
Recently, Sougen had been wondering when Ameyuki would launch an attack. Whether he would target the Konoha ninja didn't matter; Kakashi and Mangetsu had never given up tracking Ameyuki anyway.
After escorting Tsunade back to the village, they hadn't had even two days of rest before being dispatched again and were still out in the field.
"Whether he's the real Ameyuki or not, we'll have plenty of time to question him once we capture him," Sougen said, pondering who to send to deal with Ameyuki at the village gate.
"Lord Hokage's Aide! Look at the monitor!" the lip-reading expert shouted suddenly, his eyes locked on the screen.
Everyone turned to see it.
The screen showed Ameyuki casually eliminating a team of elite ANBU members, followed by a swarm of monstrous creatures flooding the monitor. And then – "pop!" – the screen flickered into static. The camera had likely been destroyed.
In the last moment before the feed cut out, a feather floated down, and a flash of fire briefly lit up the screen.
"Look up!" cried one of the surveillance personnel near the window.
Sougen instantly used his teleportation jutsu to move beside the window, where he saw strange, monstrous birds circling in the sky above Konoha, their feathers drifting down like snowflakes. The sound of explosions was already echoing from the main gate.
"Damn it! What a troublesome situation!"
The situation had just gotten complicated.
If the only enemy was Ameyuki, they'd just need to eliminate him, and if no one else could handle it, Sougen would do it himself.
However, Ameyuki had shown up with a whole army.
In the skies, there were monstrous birds. On the ground, two-headed blue-scaled snakes slithered. Leaping between rooftops were monstrous dogs the size of calves… This wasn't the only screen in the surveillance room; while there was only one camera at the main gate, other cameras in the village still functioned.
Right now, every monitor close to the gate showed waves of monsters that looked like a tsunami sweeping in, threatening to engulf the village.
Bringing his gaze back indoors, Sougen understood that the situation had escalated.
This wasn't just a minor incident but a potential village-wide catastrophe.
"Enact a Level-One lockdown order! Inform the Police Department to prioritize protecting the villagers, especially evacuating children, women, and the elderly to shelters. Get the ANBU and the Jōnin units to focus on safeguarding the villagers as well. And be on alert: there may be hidden enemies among the monsters aiming to stir up more chaos."
Sougen issued orders swiftly.
"To authorize a Level-One lockdown, the Hokage needs to sign off," Kabuto reminded him.
"Urgency calls for authority," Sougen replied.
"Yes, I understand."
"But you're right; send someone to contact the Hokage and get him to retroactively sign. Inform the Hokage of my actions and request his directives. Without the Hokage's order, I technically can't command the ANBU... Damn it, there's a mountain of problems to sort out! Why are you all standing here staring? Move!"
With that shout, the staff in the monitoring room sprang into action, dispersing through doors and windows to begin their tasks. As Hokage's aide and acting head of the village, Sougen needed more than just Kabuto as his assistant; he had a whole team.
There was no need for extra coordination; his team intuitively fell into their roles based on past experience. Some began drafting the lockdown order, some contacted the Police Department, and others went to find Jōnin squad leader Shikaku Nara. In the face of such a crisis, they remained calm and orderly, executing their tasks efficiently.
In moments, the monitoring room was nearly empty, leaving only Sougen and Kabuto.
"Kabuto, find Shisui and have him check on the Barrier Team. We haven't received any messages from them, which suggests something may have happened. If it were just Ameyuki, a former Konoha shinobi, it'd make sense that he could enter undetected."
But with this many monsters, the silence from the Barrier Team was suspicious. Something was wrong.
And this wasn't the only problem; Sougen had plenty on his mind. Ameyuki and his army were indeed formidable, but they weren't the only threat.
The biggest danger was whether Uchiha Obito would decide to show up.
Sougen had heard from Orochimaru that the Akatsuki organization wasn't planning anything major at the moment. However, trusting Orochimaru completely was reckless, especially since the Akatsuki's trajectory was already distorted.
For one, Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame Hoshigaki's fates had all changed. Orochimaru remained in the Akatsuki, but Itachi and Kisame had nothing to do with it.
Therefore, Sougen knew he needed to stay vigilant against unpredictable risks.
"Tell Shisui, if there's really trouble with the Barrier Squad, to find Uzumaki Naruto as quickly as possible and ensure the safety of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." Sougen added a new command, emphasizing contacting the Barrier Squad not only to confirm their situation but because they could use the village-wide barrier to locate specific individuals swiftly.
Of course, this required the target to be outside the smaller clan-specific barriers within the village.
For instance, the lands of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans were shielded by their own barriers, which the Barrier Squad's village-wide barrier couldn't penetrate.
Cold sweat dripped down Yakumo's forehead.
It was... it was a bomb. The feathers falling from above would explode. The moment she saw them drifting down like snow, she sensed something was off. The feathers definitely posed a threat. Though she didn't have a Sharingan to detect their changes, her innate, powerful mental energy allowed her to sense the chakra within them.
Then, she threw a shuriken upward.
It collided with a feather.
There was a sudden burst of flames, followed by a deafening explosion.
But—
Even though the slow descent of the feathers made it unlikely she'd get hurt, this gifted young girl still felt fear. What unnerved her was the increasing number of strange birds in the sky, with feathers drifting down like a relentless winter snowfall.
"This many...!"
Yakumo took a sharp breath.
She felt the pressure.
Illusions were her strength, and she didn't know how to handle an aerial bombing. No matter her extraordinary talent, she was still a student at the ninja academy. Despite witnessing battle under Sougen's guidance, she lacked sufficient combat experience.
"Yakumo, Fujika, should we… do something?"
Hotaru was just as flustered. With their minimal battle experience, it would've been strange not to panic.
"I don't know!"
Fujika looked uncertain. "Maybe... we're supposed to block the feathers somehow?"
The street was already in chaos, with people running in all directions, searching for places to hide. Luckily, since it was midday, the streets were mostly empty except for people lined up at the ramen shop. Soon, the street was left with just Yakumo, Fujika, Hotaru, Naruto, and Sasuke, along with two unknown Chunin also waiting for ramen.
As the street cleared, Naruto and Sasuke noticed the three girls and quickly ran over.
"Fujika, Yakumo, Hotaru, what are you doing here?"
"Naruto, you idiot! Now isn't the time for that! Think about how to stop those feathers; we can't let them fall!" Fujika glared at the slowly descending feathers, sweat beading on her forehead.
Yet, she stayed in place, pulling a kunai from her ninja pouch and flinging it upward, detonating one of the feathers before it reached the ground.
Thank goodness—
She had brought her ninja pouch, or she'd have been even more helpless.
"Hey, you kids, take cover now. Leave this to us."
The two Chunin reacted quickly, throwing shuriken to intercept the feathers while urging the young ninja-to-be to leave. They noticed the girls tossing shuriken, but without forehead protectors, they knew these kids were still academy students.
Seeing this, they immediately felt a responsibility to protect them.
However—
These academy students didn't listen at all.
"I'll handle those creatures in the sky!" Naruto ignored the Chunin and made the hand sign for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
In an instant, he created an army, with hundreds of clones spreading across nearby streets and rooftops. The sight stunned the Chunin, veterans themselves, who could tell these were no illusions but solid clones.
At the very least—
They could hear the footsteps of the clones nearby.
"Wow, so much chakra!" Sasuke muttered, retracting his shuriken, knowing Naruto likely had a plan for dealing with the airborne creatures.
"What... what are you going to do?" Fujika asked wide-eyed as she saw clones of Naruto running in all directions.
Yakumo and Hotaru stopped tossing shuriken, too, looking at the real Naruto with curiosity. Unlike Sasuke, they weren't so sure of Naruto, but their shuriken supply was almost exhausted.
"You'll see soon enough."
As he spoke, hundreds of Narutos took out scrolls and ink.
Then—
They began painting.
Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll
Small, dark sparrows emerged from the scrolls and took flight, rising skyward like a black tide. They collided with the falling feathers, triggering a series of explosions, with bright bursts of flames filling the sky. Not a single feather made it through.
"What the... is this... even real?"
The two Chunin were speechless, jaws dropping in disbelief.
Were they joking? Ninja academy students were this strong?
In the next moment—
"Wait, he's... he's the Nine-Tails...," one of them muttered as he recognized Naruto.
"Oh! Right, that explains it!"
The Chunin's whispered exchange didn't escape the kids' ears, but nobody had time to dwell on it. Handling the present crisis was far more urgent. Yet they still weren't sure how to proceed.
Relying on his vast chakra reserves and the skill he had honed in the art of the Super Beast Scroll, Naruto managed to stave off the first wave of bombardment. His shadow clones would likely hold off the attacks as long as their chakra lasted.
But—
Pure defense was a losing strategy! They needed a way to counterattack.
Feed the author—vote now or the story starves 😭"
Want 2 chapters a day? You know what to do!