Over the next two days, all of Konoha was steeped in the oppressive calm before a storm.
Even the genin patrolling the streets subconsciously lightened their footsteps.
Patrons in the taverns no longer dared to laugh or speak loudly.
Even the sound of the wind sweeping past Konoha’s gates carried a palpable, hair-trigger tension.
The Uchiha clan had completely locked down their compound’s borders.
Even the ordinary clan members who usually ran shops and small businesses along the streets had all retreated deep into the compound.
The storefronts facing the street were locked overnight, leaving only empty wooden boards creaking in the wind.
Any ninja with the slightest sensory ability could detect the countless dormant presences hiding outside the walls of the Uchiha compound—Anbu and Root operatives, like a pack of hunting wolves, staring fixedly at this red-maple-covered land twenty-four hours a day.
Not even a flying insect could slip in or out without escaping their eyes.
The setting sun slowly sank behind the Hokage Monument, and a silver, plate-like moon climbed into the sky.
The cold moonlight blanketed Konoha’s streets and alleys, draping a thin veil of pale white over the spire of the Hokage building, the walls of the clan compound, and every blade of grass and tree along the streets.
At first glance, the entire village seemed peaceful and serene, no different from countless other nights.
The night grew deeper.
Late evening passed, and midnight approached.
Konoha’s lights extinguished one by one.
The villagers fell into deep slumber clutching their heaters, and even the ninja on rotation couldn’t help but lean against the walls and yawn.
Most of the courtyards in the Uchiha compound had also gone dark.
The ordinary clan members, holding onto their anticipation for the ancestral festival, had long since fallen asleep.
But in this dead-silent night, inside the seemingly darkened courtyards, pairs of eyes suddenly snapped open.
There were the clan elites who had followed Fugaku for years, the fiercely loyal subordinates left behind by Kain’s father, and even Uchiha Setsuna—who usually clashed with Fugaku and always advocated for a hardline stance against Konoha—opened his eyes at the exact same moment along with his followers.
Crimson three-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun in the darkness, devoid of any sleepiness, holding only a do-or-die resolve.
The night sank into its darkest hour.
The entire village of Konoha fell completely silent; even the wind had stopped.
Only outside the Uchiha compound were the Root and Anbu ninja still silently patrolling.
The eyes behind their masks vigilantly swept over every inch of the wall, completely unaware that a true storm had long been gathering right under their noses.
In this moment where even breathing seemed to come to a halt…
“BOOM!!!” A deafening explosion suddenly blasted out, and the entire Hokage Monument trembled violently!
Soaring flames tore through the night sky, dyeing half the heavens blood-red!
Immediately after, a second blast, then a third…
The continuous explosions rolled like thunder, crushing their way from the Hokage Monument down to the residential districts, before slamming ruthlessly into the Hokage administrative area!
The earth trembled madly, and buildings collapsed with a crash.
Sleeping villagers jolted awake screaming.
In an instant, the entire village of Konoha was violently dragged from its peaceful slumber into a monstrous sea of fire!
The deafening roar still echoed through the valley.
The entire Hokage Monument, which bore decades of Konoha’s glory, had already completely shattered amidst the towering flames.
The majestic carved head of the First Hokage’s statue was the first to blow apart.
Under the chain-reaction impact of a hundred thousand explosive tags, the hard granite proved as brittle as dried mud.
Countless boulders, carrying apocalyptic force, cascaded madly toward Konoha village at the foot of the mountain.
Next were the statues of the Second and Third Hokage.
Half the mountainside, along with the Hokage reliefs carved over decades, collapsed with a crash amidst the ceaseless explosions.
Giant boulders weighing several tons fell like out-of-control beasts, smashing down ruthlessly from the hundred-meter-high cliff.
“RUMBLE!!” The largest boulder smashed straight into the most prosperous commercial street at the foot of the mountain.
A three-story ninja tool shop was instantly crushed into powder.
The wooden structures collapsed in swaths under the impact, and flying stone fragments swept across the storefronts, streetlamps, and the panicking crowds like a dense hail of bullets.
The falling rubble smashed bottomless craters into the ground.
The bluestone-paved streets instantly fractured into spiderweb patterns.
Boiling dust mixed with the gunpowder stench of explosive tags swept over the entire village like a tidal wave.
Panic swallowed the entire village of Konoha like a sudden plague.
Villagers who had been fast asleep a second ago were shaken off their tatami mats.
Before they could even react, they were buried underneath collapsing roof beams and falling rubble.
The screams of women, the wailing of children, and the agonized cries of the injured mixed with the roaring collapse of buildings, erupting into a cacophony amidst the flames.
A mother clutching her infant ran frantically from a half-collapsed wooden house.
Looking at her home flattened by rubble, she collapsed to the ground and wept bitterly.
A genin on night watch, his face bloodied by flying stone fragments, couldn’t stop his hand from trembling as he gripped his kunai.
Staring at the sky full of flames and collapsing buildings, he didn’t even know where to run next.
Inside the Hokage building, Hiruzen Sarutobi was thrown violently against his desk by the shockwave.
The urgent border reports in his hands scattered all over the floor, and his half-burnt pipe rolled away.
Operating almost entirely on instinct, he shattered the window and leaped out.
When he looked up and saw the scene before him, the Hokage, who had led Konoha for decades, felt his pupils shrink, and all the color instantly drained from his face.
The Hokage Monument he had guarded his entire life was gone.
More than half the cliff face had collapsed.
The statues of the past Hokage had shattered into a sky full of flying rocks.
Half the village at the foot of the mountain was sinking into a sea of fire and dust.
The cries and explosions rode the wind, slamming ruthlessly into his ears.
“Lord Hokage!!” An Anbu ninja rushed to his side like a madman, his voice filled with panic.
“Chain explosions at the Hokage Monument!
Half the commercial street and residential area have been crushed by falling rocks!
Casualties are unknown!
And explosive tags are still going off in the administrative district!
What should we do?!” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s chest heaved violently, his chakra surging uncontrollably.
He understood in an instant—this was no accident.
It was the Uchiha!
It was an earth-shattering gift prepared for him by the very Uchiha he thought were trapped in their compound, unable to stir up trouble!
But looking down at the village engulfed in flames, at the panicking villagers, and at the ceaseless explosions still spreading through the administrative district, he couldn’t spare a single ounce of attention for the Uchiha.
“Pass down my orders!” he gritted his teeth, his voice brimming with monstrous fury.
“All remaining Anbu and Military Police forces are to immediately evacuate the villagers, put out the fires, and treat the wounded!
Kakashi’s squad is to return and provide backup at once!
All sensory ninja, locate the remaining explosive tags immediately!
Hurry!!” Just as the order was given, another deafening explosion blasted from the rear flank of the Hokage building.
The entire structure trembled violently, and dense cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the walls.
Gritting his teeth, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to lead the Anbu beside him and charge toward the administrative district where the explosions were thickest.