Five…
Hyūga Shinn felt a surge of foreboding rise in his chest.
The rogue ninja Sarutobi Kanosuke's greatest ability was well known — his true body plus four Shadow Clones executing the Five Nature Grand Barrage.
Four clones kicked four Shimura clan shinobi flying, while Yako's true body leapt high into the air.
"Die, Daimyō!"
Seeing Kanosuke seemingly targeting the Land of Grass Daimyō, Hyūga Shinn immediately shouted, "Get the Daimyō out of here!"
Protecting the Daimyō took priority.
Two Guardian Ninja rushed into the carriage and lifted the overweight nobleman.
They smashed through the carriage wall.
Two more formed a rear guard.
The six moved smoothly, following established contingency protocols as they escorted the Daimyō away.
Meanwhile, Hyūga Shinn leapt skyward to intercept the incoming Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
"Rotation!"
A sphere of spinning blue chakra erupted around him.
Red flames crashed against the rotating barrier.
Inside the spinning defense, Shinn saw only deadly streaks of blue and red light.
Blue — his Rotation.
Red — the fire technique.
If he had been even slightly weaker, that attack alone might have killed him.
Fortunately, Rotation held.
Kanosuke came from the Sarutobi clan — a master of Fire Release. Shinn had believed he might die in flames today.
He landed, breathing heavily from overexertion.
'So this is the pressure of Sarutobi Kanosuke…'
A terrifying rogue ninja rarely seen in a decade.
He had stolen the Third Hokage's Five Nature Grand Barrage and slaughtered half of Root in front of Danzo himself.
Shinn looked up.
Kanosuke now stood between him and the four Shimura Guardian Ninja.
Those four had been kicked dozens of meters away. One already couldn't stand.
Shinn felt irritation.
Why were these Shimura shinobi so weak? What kind of trash had they sent?
Jōnin who didn't feel like jōnin.
Tokubetsu jōnin who didn't feel like tokubetsu jōnin.
He glanced back and saw the Daimyō successfully escaping.
Relief washed over him.
Nobles scattered in panic.
Then a realization struck him.
Kanosuke stood with his back to the fleeing Daimyō — facing only the Shimura clan.
…He wasn't here to assassinate the Daimyō.
He was hunting Shimura.
Sarutobi Seidō landed beside Shinn.
"I'll hold him off," Shinn said. "You retreat."
Seidō shook his head.
"The clan hasn't confirmed whether this rogue truly comes from the Sarutobi lineage. This is a perfect chance to gather intel."
Shinn thought silently: If he really is Sarutobi, maybe you'll be spared. I won't.
Kanosuke stood beside his four clones.
Across from them, four Shimura shinobi regrouped — one down, three forming a battle unit.
"Spread out!" Shimura Hyōya shouted. "Kanosuke uses large-scale techniques!"
Too late.
The air exploded into color.
Even scattered apart, there was no escaping five massive ninjutsu.
Each one reached elite jōnin-level magnitude.
Yako released the Ten Seal and unleashed chakra he had deliberately stockpiled.
Anger burned inside him — Hyōya had only yielded ordinary jōnin-level chakra.
And so the Five Nature Grand Barrage reached unprecedented scale.
Each attack stretched dozens of meters in a wide fan.
Earth Release: Flying Gravel.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Lightning Release: Thunder Lance.
The five techniques collided at their far edges—
A secondary explosion erupted.
Sarutobi Seidō's eyes shone with awe.
"It's coming! The elemental clash explosion!"
Even alone, the five techniques were powerful.
But the true devastation came when their elemental energies collided and detonated.
Five techniques combining into something far greater than their sum.
An explosion over a hundred meters wide swallowed the four Shimura shinobi instantly.
Hyōya attempted a Body Flicker.
Too slow.
The blast consumed him.
Shockwaves slammed into Hyūga Shinn. He raised his arms against the raging winds, Byakugan peering through the gaps.
All four Shimura shinobi — jōnin and tokubetsu jōnin alike — vanished within the explosion.
When the smoke cleared, a massive crater scarred the earth.
Shinn murmured, "Even a Tailed Beast Bomb might not surpass that…"
Seidō swallowed.
"During the First Shinobi War, the Third Hokage fought the Four-Tails.
He suppressed it completely.
The fully transformed Four-Tails wasn't a match for the Third's Five Nature Grand Barrage.
The beast's Tailed Beast Bomb only matched it evenly.
With enough chakra… this technique has no upper limit."
Shinn nodded repeatedly.
The Third Hokage during the First War had been a battlefield weapon — a legend.
No village had found a counter to simultaneous five-element assaults.
All had fallen beneath the final explosion.
Seidō felt deeply conflicted.
Why would such a powerful Sarutobi shinobi defect?
If he returned, the clan would undoubtedly nurture him.
Given time, his chakra might rival a Tailed Beast — true Kage-level.
The Sarutobi clan desperately lacked such powerhouses.
Even the heir lacked true Kage-level strength.
Yako assessed the battlefield.
All four Shimura shinobi were dead.
Satisfied.
He turned toward Sarutobi Seidō and vanished in a flash, reappearing before him.
Seidō began forming hand seals — too slow.
A single punch sent him flying.
Yako glanced toward Hyūga Shinn.
Shinn lowered his guard.
He understood.
He wasn't Kanosuke's opponent.
"You are Sarutobi," Yako said to the fallen Seidō. "I will spare you.
Every Sarutobi shinobi gets one chance.
But next time — if you interfere — I won't care about clan ties."
His voice turned colder.
"Sarutobi Seidō. If you see me again, don't move.
Even former kin will die if they stand in my way."
He paused.
"Deliver a message to Shimura Danzo.
If he continues investigating Lord Madara…
I will kill every Shimura shinobi who leaves Konoha.
Every single one."
Yako almost felt moved by his own generosity toward the Sarutobi clan.
Stir the waters.
Release smoke screens.
Let Konoha's leadership chase the wrong trail.
His body sank into the earth and vanished.
Hyūga Shinn and Sarutobi Seidō both released deep breaths.
"I truly owe you," Shinn said quietly. "If not for your surname, I'd be dead."
Seidō smiled bitterly.
"I think I finally understand the Uchiha.
When Madara became a rogue… did the Uchiha feel like this?"
Shinn said nothing.
The deepest wounds a village suffers…
Always come from rogue shinobi.
And now, both the Sarutobi and Shimura clans would have to face the storm that followed.