The killing intent poured out, unmasked and unrestrained.
Wind Style: Vacuum Wave
The staff was already thrust into the ground.
Kama formed seals with lightning speed, spitting out a terrifying blade of wind that could slice through stone and metal. Just as Yakumo reached out to restrain Hotaru, who was struggling to stand, Kama unleashed his lethal attack. The wind blade aimed for Yakumo and the fatigued Fujika, who sat on a bench unable to rise and face the oncoming danger.
The Nine-Tails' jinchuriki wasn't to be killed, but the lives of the others were irrelevant.
That was the instruction Madara Uchiha had given him before the mission.
From the outset, Kama's targets had been those close to Uchiha Sougen: Uchiha Fujika, Kurama Yakumo, and Tsuchigumo Hotaru. Fujika was Sougen's sister, and Yakumo and Hotaru were his only two disciples.
Killing them might deal a heavy blow to Sougen. This was Kama's assignment from Obito Uchiha.
Even if Sougen was too cold-hearted to be affected, removing a few of Konoha's prodigies wouldn't be wasted effort. Seeing the potential of these young shinobi, Kama's bloodlust had swelled uncontrollably.
He couldn't wait any longer for Hiruko to lure more Konoha elites to the main gate of the village. These dangerous seedlings had to be uprooted now!
"Huh?"
Kama let out a voice of stunned disbelief.
The wind blade passed right through the girls without drawing a single drop of blood. It was as if he'd sliced through an illusory bubble. When the wind dissipated, everything was unchanged.
"A genjutsu? When did this happen?"
Kama's eyes widened in disbelief.
He subtly attempted to disrupt his chakra flow to break the illusion. The scene in front of him shifted momentarily, then stabilized, leaving him uncertain if what he was seeing was real or not.
But then—
In the next second, his entire world flipped upside down. The scenery disappeared, and he found himself staring at rough, uneven rock walls. He looked down, realizing he was in a square pit, his body immobilized and bound by dark, snake-like ropes.
"When?"
Kama was shocked.
Not only had his sight been deceived, but his sense of touch, too. No, it wasn't just those; even his hearing and sense of smell had been altered under the illusion's influence.
"What… is this?"
At that moment, someone appeared from within the rock wall using Earth-Style to stealthily approach. It was Kama himself.
"Take your time processing this. Let me help you get rid of these things."
This "Kama" raised his hand, producing a wind blade as thin as paper, and sliced through the dark snakes binding the real Kama. The broken pieces dissolved into ink, soaking his clothes and darkening the ground below.
Then—
With a pop, the Earth-Style clone of Kama disappeared in a puff of smoke.
With the clone's dissolution, memories poured into Kama's mind. From the clone's perspective, he saw himself releasing the Vacuum Wave and unintentionally veering off to strike an empty area. Then, he'd just stood there, allowing the ink-like ropes to bind him.
Thankfully, the shadow clone that had been observing had intervened.
With a Earth Style: Underground Move Core jutsu, the clone had buried Kama underground. Either the distance or the rock layer severed the genjutsu's hold, allowing Kama to break free, after which the clone arrived to help him out of the restraints.
"Kurama Yakumo!"
Thinking of her name, Kama vanished into the rock wall using Earth Style, just as multiple Narutos peered over the edge of the pit, failing to spot him. One called out, "Yakumo, be careful. That guy got away."
Yakumo raised an eyebrow.
Immediately, she spread her mental energy to monitor the surroundings, wondering if she should ask her teacher if there were any sensory techniques she could learn. Using mental energy directly to survey was exhausting and limited in scope.
Fortunately, Naruto was helping.
With Super Beast Imitating Drawing at his disposal, he was adept at gathering intel. Naruto's real body took up his brush, drawing mice that leaped from the scroll and scattered in all directions.
Meanwhile, hiding underground, Kama felt a heavy sense of dread.
He'd nearly been outsmarted.
If not for keeping a shadow clone on standby, he might have been captured by these kids. That damned Kurama clan's kekkei genkai was terrifying! Comparing his memory of both scenes, his heart shivered.
When had he been ensnared? When had the genjutsu taken effect? Unable to pinpoint the cause, he had no way to prepare.
This genjutsu was irrationally powerful. He couldn't risk approaching that girl again. Only ranged attacks, or using shadow clones and traps, would be safe. But with this distance, taking out these kids would be much harder.
"Just a group of kids, yet surprisingly tough!"
Kama felt the vast divide between true geniuses and himself.
Once called a genius, he now felt as ordinary as a roadside weed compared to them.
"If that's the case, then I won't hold back."
Kama used Earth Style to create a hollow space directly beneath Ichiraku Ramen, with fresh air flowing in. He created several more shadow clones as backups and stood ready in his hidden chamber.
Then— He began gathering energy.
Preparing to use the forbidden jutsu of the Tsuchigumo clan, he intended to completely wipe out the kids on the surface. At this point, he didn't even care about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. After all, he and that elusive guy claiming to be Uchiha Madara were only allies of convenience. If the situation allowed, he'd give the guy some face to maintain this fragile alliance.
But now, he couldn't afford to worry about any of that.
Killing these brats was the priority.
However, he underestimated the youth above him. A small snake, barely the width of a thumb, found a hidden ventilation shaft near the corner of the wall, slithering down until it reached the underground space where Homma was hiding. Homma also sensed something was wrong due to the blocked airflow in the shaft.
"What's that? Damn it!"
Homma saw the ink-colored snake slithering into the underground chamber. His nearby shadow clone immediately threw a shuriken, destroying the snake. As ink dripped down, Homma realized he couldn't keep charging up any longer. Waiting might allow the enemy to strike first or let the brats escape his range of attack.
In the next instant,
"Explode for me!!"
Homma let out an angry roar.
Forbidden Jutsu: Wrathful Heaven.
Released!
A blinding white light easily obliterated the rocky ceiling above and erased everything within a twenty-meter radius from the center, wiping out buildings, furniture, plants—leaving nothing behind. The famous Ichiraku Ramen Shop, a tourist hotspot in Konoha, turned into a barren pit, its foundation destroyed.
"That was close! Good thing you warned us, Hotaru; if we'd stayed down there, we'd be goners…"
Naruto wiped off his cold sweat.
He was genuinely terrified.
If it weren't for Hotaru's warning about Homma's likely mastery of the Tsuchigumo clan's forbidden jutsu, Wrathful Heaven—known to erase even large islands from existence—he wouldn't have taken precautions. With his ink, he quickly painted a large bird that carried everyone into the air, including two stunned chunin.
And this decision proved wise. If they hadn't taken flight, they would've been done for!
Even the man assigned to protect the young shinobi was shocked by Hotaru's foresight. Initially, he'd held back, hoping they could gain experience from the encounter. But the burst of Wrathful Heaven's power nearly stopped his heart.
No more risks like that!
If something happened to these kids… he couldn't imagine what Uchiha Ranshan would do. These days, Sougen's power was unfathomable, and he couldn't predict the consequences of Sougen's wrath. It might mean the world's end.
That wasn't even an exaggeration.
And indeed, the man Sougen entrusted to protect Naruto and his friends was none other than Uchiha Ranshan.
Despite his years of paperwork, Ranshan had never neglected his training and had even gathered trusted comrades.
"Kurama, Gekkou, Muta, come with me!"
Ranshan dashed toward Homma, who was standing at the bottom of the pit.
Following him were Kurenai Yuhi, Hayate Gekkou, and Muta Aburame, all young elite jounin of the Konoha Police Force.
Kurenai and Hayate had joined the Police Force after a mission to the Daimyo's palace with Sougen, gaining immense growth in strength and choosing to train within the Police Force afterward.
Kurenai became a jounin quickly, while Hayate earned the rank of full jounin soon after.
…
The white light that shot into the sky wasn't just seen by Uchiha Ranshan, who was lurking nearby; in fact, it was visible throughout most of Konoha. Sougen, waiting in his office for Yamanaka Haiichi's mind-reading results, Jue, observing Shisui and Obito's clash, and Hiruho, standing at Konoha's main gate, all saw it.
"Natural energy fluctuations?"
Sougen turned sharply and saw the pure white light rising above the buildings in the distance.
"What's that?"
Kabuto also saw it. He pushed up his glasses, surprise momentarily showing on his face. "Could that be Dust Release?" Having witnessed Onoki use Dust Release while on a mission in Iwagakure, Kabuto was familiar with its destructive power.
But he quickly shook off the thought. "No, there's no way that old man Onoki would stir up trouble here now… it's probably a rogue from the Twelve Guardian Ninja." Though he'd never seen Wrathful Heaven in action, Kabuto had discussed it with Rikushi.
After all, there were only a few ways to harness natural energy in the shinobi world.
Using elimination, the answer wasn't hard to deduce.
"Guardian Ninja… is it Homma? That's the Tsuchigumo clan's Wrathful Heaven—this powerful?" Kabuto adjusted his glasses again. Homma had clearly allied himself with Hiruho, as evidenced when Kakashi and his team stumbled into the monster nest during their pursuit of Homma.
He was genuinely shocked at Wrathful Heaven's devastating power.
Even though classified documents did mention its strength, the wording was so grandiose it seemed exaggerated.
"This isn't even the jutsu at full power," Sougen said softly. "Given enough time, the caster could destroy all of Konoha."
"What? That terrifying?"
Images flooded Kabuto's mind. If this jutsu could be cast from a hidden corner, it could potentially destroy Konoha…
"Though Wrathful Heaven's destruction is indeed formidable, it has its flaws. To unleash a strike strong enough to wipe out Konoha, the caster must spend considerable time gathering energy, during which they can't move freely. The more energy gathered, the harder it becomes to ignore the power buildup. Back then, Rikushi destroyed a town where the Cloud Village had stationed troops, with the help of Leaf shinobi as protectors."
Tsunade, seemingly aware of Kabuto's thoughts, spoke up, clarifying for him, Shizune, and Yamanaka Haiichi, who was reading the memory of a crow.
Having experienced the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, Tsunade knew the truth behind many so-called secrets. She was well aware of the alliance the Third Hokage had with Rikushi.
"Haiichi, have you retrieved any results?"
Sougen urged.
He could hardly sit here waiting any longer!
The flash of white light just now seemed to have come from where Tofuka and Naruto were.
"I got it, I got it!"
Haiichi exclaimed excitedly.
"It took a while since I don't usually read animal memories…" Seeing Sougen's steady gaze, Haiichi quickly cleared his throat and continued, "In this crow's memory, I 'saw' that Shisui is still in the Barrier Corps building, fighting a man with an orange, spiral-patterned mask and a Sharingan. There's also a strange figure resembling a pitcher plant with an odd face, probably another synthetic creature similar to those monsters."
"Good."
Sougen took a deep breath.
So, they had finally arrived!
Now, the positions of Hiruho, Homma, Uchiha Obito, and Jue were confirmed. With Akatsuki taking no action, no other hidden pawns seemed to be at play, meaning they could go all out!
There was no need to remain in the Hokage Building, guarding against hidden traps!
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