The morning of the Chūnin Exams felt different in Konoha.
Crowds gathered early. Vendors sold food and banners. Children pointed at visiting shinobi from other villages.
But in the shadows, teams moved with silent purpose.
High above the arena, Mali stood on a rooftop with his closest warriors. His red eyes surveyed the scene below.
"Orochimaru will start soon," he said calmly.
Daigo nodded beside him. "Our people are in position."
"And the Raikage's teams?"
"Ready for extraction. They know which clans to target."
Mali watched the crowd below. "Today, we finish what should have ended twelve years ago."
In the arena, the Chūnin Exam preliminaries began normally.
Genin fought. Judges scored. The audience cheered.
Then the air changed.
Orochimaru appeared in the stands, his pale face twisted in a cold smile.
"Sarutobi-sensei," he called out. "It's time for our reunion."
The Third Hokage stood slowly. "Orochimaru. I should have stopped you years ago."
"You should have. But you were always too soft."
Orochimaru's hands moved in rapid seals. A purple barrier formed around them, cutting them off from the rest of the arena.
Screams echoed as people realized what was happening.
Mali's voice cut through his radio. "Now."
Across Konoha, Uchiha warriors moved like shadows.
The Sarutobi compound was first.
Mali himself led the assault, his team flowing through the buildings with deadly precision.
"Where is the clan head?" he asked a trembling Sarutobi chunin.
"P-please, we have children here—"
"Your clan chose their side long ago," Mali replied. "Today, you face the consequences."
At the Shimura compound, Minato's team struck simultaneously.
But their target was different.
"Danzo!" Minato called out as he appeared in the main hall.
The old war hawk emerged from the shadows, his bandaged arm already unwrapping.
"The Fourth Hokage. Risen from the dead to betray his own village."
"This village betrayed itself," Minato replied. "And you were the poison at its heart."
Danzo's Sharingan eyes opened along his arm. "Then die again, traitor."
Meanwhile, Mali found what he was looking for.
The surviving members of Konoha's Uchiha clan.
They stood in a small courtyard behind the old police headquarters. Fugaku at their head. Itachi beside him.
"Mali," Fugaku said quietly. "You've returned."
"I never left. I simply stopped pretending this village mattered."
Itachi stepped forward, his Sharingan already active. "You're destroying everything we built here."
"I'm destroying the cage they built around us," Mali corrected.
The battle was swift.
Itachi was skilled, but Mali had trained for years beyond the village's limits. His taijutsu flowed like water, his Sharingan seeing patterns Itachi couldn't match.
When Itachi fell, unconscious but alive, Mali stood over him.
"You chose loyalty to strangers over loyalty to blood."
Fugaku dropped to his knees.
"Please," the former clan head said. "Take us with you. We see now that this village will never accept us. We want to leave. We want to join your land."
Mali looked down at him without sympathy.
"No."
"What?"
"You had twelve years to make this choice. You waited until defeat forced your hand."
Mali turned away. "If you want to join us, leave this village yourself. Today. Walk away from everything you've served. Prove you can stand without their approval."
"And if we do?"
"Then maybe you'll be worthy of what we've built. But not today."
The Raikage's teams moved through the village like a storm.
Hyuga compound—two young branch family members taken.
Nara headquarters—the clan heir vanished from his own shadow jutsu.
Yamanaka flower shop—their most promising daughter disappeared between customers.
Inuzuka kennels—a boy and his ninken seized in broad daylight.
Each operation was clean, professional, unstoppable.
Back at Danzo's stronghold, the battle raged.
The old manipulator fought with decades of stolen jutsu and forbidden techniques.
But Minato was faster.
And when Danzo activated Izanagi, rewriting his death into illusion, Minato was ready.
"You can cheat death once," Minato said as Danzo materialized behind him. "But not forever."
The Rasengan found its mark.
Danzo fell, his body crumbling as the stolen Sharingan eyes closed forever.
As the sun began to set, the various teams regrouped at the village gates.
Mali counted his warriors. All present.
The Raikage's extraction teams reported success. Multiple clan members secured.
Minato arrived last, blood on his yellow cloak but his eyes clear.
"Danzo?" Mali asked.
"Gone. For real this time."
They left a single scroll at the Hokage's office.
"Your children are safe. Their return requires: 1 million ryo per person, plus one exclusive clan technique each. You have seven days to decide their worth."
As they prepared to leave Konoha forever, a sound echoed from the arena.
The purple barrier fell.
Orochimaru stood over the Third Hokage's still form.
"Finally," the snake whispered. "The old fool is dead."
Mali watched from the distance without emotion.
"Justice comes in many forms," he said quietly.
Then he turned his back on the village that had never been home.
His team followed him into the forest, toward the hidden land they had built with their own hands.
Behind them, Konoha burned.