Patrick Star!
[TU] 10: Chapter 10: The Operation Begins, Art Is…
Patrick Star!
[TU] Over the next two days, all of Konoha was shrouded beneath the oppressive calm before a storm.
Even the Genin patrolling the streets unconsciously softened their footsteps.
Drinkers in the taverns no longer dared laugh loudly, and even the wind blowing past Konoha’s main gate carried an air of tense anticipation.
The Uchiha Clan completely sealed off the boundaries of their compound.
Even the ordinary clansmen who normally ran shops and small businesses along the streets withdrew deep into the compound.
Overnight, every storefront was locked up, leaving only rows of empty doors creaking in the wind.
Any shinobi with even a little sensory ability could tell that countless hidden presences lurked outside the Uchiha compound’s walls.
ANBU and Root shinobi surrounded the maple covered district like a pack of hunting wolves, watching it twenty four hours a day.
Not even a single insect could enter or leave without escaping their notice.
The sun gradually sank behind Hokage Rock as a silver moon climbed into the sky.
Cold moonlight spread across Konoha’s streets, covering the Hokage Building’s spire, the compound walls, and every blade of grass with a pale white veil.
At first glance, the entire village looked peaceful and quiet, no different from countless ordinary nights before.
As the night deepened, the Hour of the Boar passed, and the Hour of the Rat drew near.
One by one, Konoha’s lights went out.
The villagers hugged their heaters and drifted into dreams, while even the shinobi on night watch couldn’t help yawning as they leaned against the walls.
Most homes inside the Uchiha compound had also gone dark.
Ordinary clansmen, looking forward to the upcoming ancestral ceremony, had long since fallen asleep.
Yet within that deathly silent night, eyes suddenly opened inside one seemingly dark courtyard after another.
There were elite clansmen who had followed Fugaku for many years, the loyal subordinates left behind by Shinsuke’s father, and even Uchiha Setsuna, who had always opposed Fugaku and advocated taking a hard line against Konoha, opened his eyes at that very same moment alongside the clansmen under his command.
Scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated in the darkness.
There was no trace of sleep in their eyes.
Only the resolve to risk everything.
The night reached its darkest point during the Hour of the Ox.
All of Konoha had fallen completely silent, and even the wind had stopped.
Only the Root and ANBU shinobi outside the Uchiha compound continued their silent patrols, their eyes scanning every inch of the walls beneath their masks.
They never realized that the true storm had already gathered beneath their very noses.
At the very instant when even breathing seemed to stop…
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion erupted without warning, shaking the entirety of Hokage Rock.
Towering flames ripped apart the night sky, staining half the heavens blood red.
Then came the second explosion.
The third.
One after another, endless blasts rolled like thunder, sweeping from Hokage Rock toward the residential district before crashing into Konoha’s administrative center.
The earth shook violently.
Buildings collapsed with thunderous crashes.
Sleeping villagers awoke screaming.
In a single instant, all of Konoha was violently torn from peaceful slumber and thrown into a sea of raging flames.
The thunderous explosions continued to echo through the valley.
Hokage Rock, which had stood as Konoha’s symbol of glory for decades, completely shattered within the towering inferno.
The stone head of the First Hokage was the first to explode.
Under the chain detonation of one hundred thousand Explosive Tags, the once solid granite crumbled as easily as dried mud.
Countless boulders, carrying enough force to destroy everything in their path, cascaded down toward Konoha below.
Next came the stone faces of the Second and Third Hokage.
Half the mountainside, along with the Hokage monument carved over decades, collapsed under the endless explosions.
Gigantic boulders weighing several tons thundered down from cliffs hundreds of feet high like gigantic beasts that had broken free of their chains.
Boom!!!
The largest boulder crashed straight into the busiest commercial street below.
A three story ninja tool shop was instantly reduced to dust.
Wooden buildings collapsed in waves under the impact, while flying fragments of stone swept across storefronts, street lamps, and the panicked crowd like a barrage of bullets.
The falling rocks smashed into the ground, leaving behind one bottomless crater after another.
The stone paved streets split apart into a giant web of cracks as scorching dust mixed with the acrid smoke of Explosive Tags, spreading across the entire village.
Panic swept through Konoha like a sudden plague.
Villagers who had been peacefully asleep only moments earlier were thrown from their tatami mats by the shockwaves.
Before they could even react, collapsing beams and falling rocks buried them beneath the ruins.
Women’s screams.
Children’s cries.
The agonized wails of the wounded.
Together with the thunderous crashes of collapsing buildings, they blended into a chaotic symphony beneath the blazing flames.
A mother carrying her infant ran desperately out of a half collapsed wooden house.
Looking at the home that had been flattened by falling boulders, she collapsed onto the ground and burst into tears.
A Genin on night patrol had his face cut open by flying stone fragments.
His hand trembled uncontrollably as he gripped his kunai.
Staring at the sea of fire and the collapsing buildings, he couldn’t even tell which direction he should run.
Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi was hurled violently against his desk.
The urgent reports from the border scattered across the floor, while his half burned pipe rolled away.
Almost entirely on instinct, he smashed through the window and leaped outside.
When he finally looked up and saw the scene before him, the Hokage who had ruled Konoha for decades suddenly shrank his pupils, and every trace of color drained from his face.
The Hokage Rock he had protected his entire life…
Was gone.
More than half the mountainside had collapsed.
The stone faces of every Hokage had shattered into countless pieces, while half the village below was swallowed by flames and thick smoke.
The cries of the people and the endless explosions crashed into his ears with the wind.
“Lord Hokage!!” ANBU shinobi rushed toward him in a panic.
“Hokage Rock has suffered a chain explosion!
Half the commercial district and residential area have been destroyed by falling rocks!
The casualties are still unknown!
Explosive Tags are continuing to detonate throughout the administrative district!
What should we do?!” Hiruzen’s chest rose and fell violently as chakra surged uncontrollably throughout his body.
He understood everything in an instant.
This wasn’t an accident.
It was the Uchiha.
The very Uchiha whom he believed had been trapped inside their compound and rendered powerless had prepared this devastating gift for him.
Yet as he looked at the village consumed by flames…
At the fleeing civilians…
At the explosions still spreading through the administrative district…
He couldn’t spare even a fraction of his attention for the Uchiha.
“Pass down my orders!” He gritted his teeth, his voice filled with towering fury.
“All remaining ANBU and Security Force members are to evacuate the civilians immediately, extinguish the fires, and rescue the wounded!
Kakashi’s unit is to return at once!
All sensory shinobi are to locate every remaining Explosive Tag immediately!
Move!!” The moment the order left his mouth, another deafening explosion erupted behind the Hokage Building.
The entire structure shook violently, and countless cracks instantly spread across its walls.
Gritting his teeth, Hiruzen could only lead the ANBU at his side and charge toward the administrative district, where the explosions were at their fiercest.