“Fugaku!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a step forward, the gravel beneath his feet crushed to dust.
His voice was as raspy as if it had been rubbed repeatedly with sandpaper, carrying a suppressed, extreme fury: “Tell me!
What on earth is going on?!
Blowing up the Hokage Rock, stealing the scroll of seals, turning Konoha upside down…
is your Uchiha clan planning a full-scale rebellion?!”
“Rebellion?” Shin sneered, his voice transmitting through the barrier.
It carried the clear crispness unique to a youth, yet was tempered with a bone-chilling coldness.
“Hokage-sama, you are mistaken.
This is merely a small return gift.”
“It is only polite to reciprocate — you used my Uchiha clansmen for human experiments and gouged out our eyes.
Why shouldn’t we give you a little feedback?”
“Shin, do not make such baseless accusations.” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I can’t be bothered to play this game of playing dumb with you.” Shin raised an eyebrow, his tone light, yet it exploded in everyone’s ears like another explosive tag.
“By the way, as a reminder, I’ve already packaged the map of all nodal points for Konoha’s Village-wide defense barrier and sent someone to deliver it to the Fourth Raikage Ay.
I expect it won’t be long before the Kumogakure army comes to pay you a visit.”
“Uchiha Xia Yin!
You’re looking for death!”
Itachi’s eyes instantly turned red, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan fixed intently on Shin.
His Chakra surged uncontrollably, causing even the gravel beneath his feet to tremble slightly.
But Shin didn’t even lift an eyelid.
The disdain in his voice was like a poison-tipped blade, stabbing straight into his heart: “When I am speaking to your master, since when does a dog get to butt in?”
He turned back to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi, the crimson in his eyes growing more intense: “Hiruzen Sarutobi, our time is long.
When I return, I will cut off the heads of your entire Sarutobi clan and pile them into an unprecedented landscape to properly sacrifice to my Uchiha clansmen who died in vain.”
Just then, the captain of the Sealing Team rushed to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s side, his face pale and his voice trembling: “Hokage-sama!
It’s the Uchiha’s Flame Sun Array!”
“It’s a death array powered by a massive amount of Chakra materials, anchored to the sealing nodes beneath the clan grounds!
Even if we concentrate all the sealing Ninjas in the Village, it will take at least twelve hours to break through!”
Itachi’s expression changed instantly, the Mangekyo in his eyes spinning wildly.
He clenched his fists, only one thought remaining in his mind — use the Susanoo and the Totsuka Blade to cleave through this damned barrier.
But just as his fingertips were about to exert power, the image of Shisui before his death and Danzo’s eye embedded with the Kotoamatsukami flashed through his mind.
His shoulders suddenly slumped, and he finally lowered his eyes slowly.
Within his clenched fists, his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.
In the deathly silence of the confrontation, an Anbu Ninja suddenly stumbled through the crowd.
His mask was half-crooked, he was covered in dirt, and his voice was cracked beyond recognition: “Hokage-sama!
Urgent report!
Urgent report from the border!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped his head around, his heart suddenly tightening.
“The Fourth Raikage Ay has led two thousand elite Ninjas, bypassed our border patrols, and launched a surprise attack on three towns in the northern border of the Land of Fire!”
“Provisions and armaments have been completely looted, the stationed Ninja squads have been wiped out, and the villagers have suffered heavy casualties!
They are currently pushing further into the heart of the Land of Fire!”
These words were like a thunderclap, causing the faces of everyone present to change drastically.
Hiruzen staggered back half a step, his vision momentarily darkening.
The Village had been reduced to ruins, the Uchiha were eyeing them greedily from within the barrier, and now Kumogakure had attacked from the rear.
Beset by enemies on both sides, the Konoha he had guarded his entire life had fallen into an unprecedented desperate situation overnight.
“Where’s Kakashi?!
Where’s his division?!” He roared through gritted teeth, his voice full of despair.
“Captain Kakashi and his men have already clashed with the Kumogakure vanguard.
The enemy has Killer Bee assisting them, and we can’t hold them back!
Requesting reinforcements!”
At the very moment chaos broke out outside the barrier, several clouds of white smoke from Reverse Summoning Jutsu suddenly erupted in the open space inside the barrier.
Uchiha Kai, Tōka, Yakumi, and the others instantly appeared within the white smoke.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they all knelt on one knee, their voices loud and certain: “Young Master Shin, Patriarch!
All tasks are complete!
The scroll of seals, live samples of Hashirama cells, and all experimental data have been obtained!
Zero casualties for the entire team!”
Fugaku’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense the whole way, finally landed heavily.
He looked at these elites of the clan, a flash of burning warmth in his eyes.
Shin nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally landing on Danzo Shimura, whose face was livid outside the barrier.
He raised his hand and slowly held up the scroll in his hand, which bore the seal of the Root.
Across the surging flames of the barrier, he waved it at Danzo, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“Lord Danzo, have you been searching all night for the Hashirama cell experimental data you’ve treasured in your underground lab for over a decade, along with the compatibility records for the Sharingan on your arm?”
He waved the scroll in his hand as if taunting an exasperated dog: “No need to look, it’s right here with me.
Oh, by the way, I also took those dozens of Sharingan in your cold storage.
After all, Uchiha property should naturally return to Uchiha hands, don’t you agree?”
Having said that, he didn’t look again at Danzo’s bloodshot lone eye outside the barrier.
He turned and nodded to Fugaku, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable command: “Pass down the order.
All personnel are to enter the teleportation gate in the predetermined order.
Elites will cover the rear, the elderly, weak, women, and children go first.
Move!”
The clansmen already lined up at the entrance of the Naka Shrine did not hesitate for a moment, moving in an orderly fashion toward the underground secret chamber.
Crimson Sharingan glowed in the firelight; there was no reluctance, no hesitation, only the determination to escape this cage.
Outside the barrier, Danzo looked at the scroll in Shin’s hand.
Blood rushed to his head instantly, veins bulged on his bandaged arm, and the Sharingan embedded in his arm throbbed wildly.
Before he could recover from that suffocating rage, another Root Ninja came crawling and scrambling over, falling to his knees with a thud, his voice full of sobbing: “Lord Danzo!
It’s terrible!
The underground laboratory has been ransacked!”
“The live samples of Hashirama cells, all experimental data, and all stockpiled Sharingan samples are gone!
More than half of the laboratory was collapsed by explosive tags, and all the brothers left behind are dead!”
“Useless!
A bunch of useless trash!!”
Danzo went completely mad.
He roared as he drew the short sword from his waist, his lone eye filled with crazed bloodshot veins, his Chakra surging uncontrollably: “Attack!
Give me a full-scale attack!
Break this barrier!
I will tear these Uchiha scum into ten thousand pieces!!”