The Flying Raijin marker to which they would now teleport within the palace had also taken months of meticulous preparation to set in place.
It had to be hidden from both Ryusei's extraordinary sensing abilities and the numerous physical inspections conducted by his underworld hired goons after secretly taking control of the Daimyo's palace.
The marker wasn't positioned right near the Daimyo himself, but as close as possible and deep inside the palace structure, and it was also carefully constructed over time to be small enough to escape even the most precise detection, and entirely devoid of chakra emissions.
It had been placed by one of their oldest civilian informants, a loyal spy who had served in the palace for decades without ever drawing suspicion.
After all, Ryusei's clone could monitor chakra activity, yes, but could he track every sound, every whisper, every servant moving through those vast marble halls?
He could read signatures, sense new arrivals and potential intruders, and measure sudden fluctuations, but these were long-term staff members, familiar presences that blended into the palace's daily rhythm.
The reason Hiruzen himself had to be physically present, despite the four highest-ranking operatives already gathered, two from ANBU and two from ROOT, the top of both organizations beneath him and Danzo, was simple. He trusted no one completely.
By now, Hiruzen understood better than anyone that Ryusei's power, intellect, and rate of growth were beyond what any ordinary shinobi could predict.
Underestimating him again could doom them all.
Even when the other two elders had quietly objected to his involvement, arguing that his presence was not optimal for various reasons, Hiruzen ignored them all and trusted his instincts this time around.
He was determined to oversee the mission personally.
There was no shame in a Hokage leading an operation to rescue the Daimyo from traitors, especially not one that could later be publicized to strengthen his image across the village and the entire Fire Country.
If this mission succeeded, Ryusei would be branded a conspirator and enemy of the state, and Hiruzen's name would rise again as the protector of both the Daimyo and the Leaf.
And then, in a single instant, the seal flared to life.
A surge of light and spatial distortion engulfed them, and all six vanished from the sealed chamber, leaving only Yoji Aburame behind.
His task was simple but critical: to unleash his insects at the precise moment, a few seconds after their disappearance.
That timing would ensure the swarm's assault coincided perfectly with their arrival in the palace, splitting Ryusei's attention between the sudden deaths of his Senju allies and the chaos within the Daimyo's residence.
The next heartbeat stretched into a blur of silence, and then, deep within the grand palace of the Fire Daimyo, six figures materialized at once.
Hiruzen, Enma, Shinsuke, Hisamichi, Tatsuma, and Gakuya now stood in the heart of enemy-occupied ground.
All were cloaked and masked, their presence concealed to the limit.
For a brief moment, none spoke.
Then Hiruzen exhaled slowly and removed his cloak, letting it fall soundlessly to the polished floor.
The faint light from the chandeliers glinted off the armor beneath his robes.
He stood tall and unmoving, no longer a hidden infiltrator, but the Hokage himself, the living symbol of the Leaf, standing in full view even in enemy territory, reading to get more glory.
Shinsuke was the first to move.
Closing his eyes briefly, he extended his chakra senses, far sharper than the others'.
Within moments, he opened them again and spoke in a quiet, clipped tone about the positions of those six Senju that were within this specific palace.
Hisamichi gave a short nod. "Then we strike fast."
"The underworld thugs?" Enma asked flatly, his deep voice low.
"Leave them," Hiruzen said coldly, glancing toward Tatsuma.
"Tatsuma, eliminate them with your swarm—quietly. No survivors."
Tatsuma gave a small nod, already releasing a silent wave of black insects from under his sleeves.
The swarm slithered along the walls like a dark mist, disappearing into the palace corridors.
At the same time, Hiruzen created four shadow clones and dispatched them to erect a barrier around the area, ensuring the rest of the palace remained untouched by the coming battle.
The clones moved swiftly to prearranged locations where sealing arrays had already been inscribed by their inside agents.
Now all that remained was to charge them with chakra and activate the formation, expanding it into a wide, protective barrier.
The others didn't waste a moment.
In perfect sync, they scattered using body flicker, their movements sharp, soundless, and blindingly fast.
Their target was clear: the Daimyo's quarters. Every second mattered.
By the time the first muffled screams and cracking sounds echoed faintly from the northern hall, where Yoji's insects had begun their silent massacre, the Leaf's elite strike team was already closing in on the Daimyo's location.
They did not doubt that the six Senju operatives, whether inside the main palace or in the nearby royal residences across the capital, would be dead within moments, silently devoured by the unseen nano-insects.
The mission's true objective was not killing, but extraction.
Rescuing the Daimyo came first. Everything else was secondary.
At that very moment, near the Daimyo's and the Court's main chamber, one of Ryusei's clones snapped its eyes open.
For months, it had remained still, its body motionless, conserving chakra to sustain itself over the long term.
To save energy, it operated mostly on a subconscious sensory field, an automatic net that spanned the main palace and several nearby estates, registering disturbances while keeping every other function dormant.
Periodically, it replenished its chakra reserves through a Katsuyu fragment linked directly to the main body.
Now, the calm was shattered.
The clone's sensory net screamed with signals; several Senju life signatures were vanishing almost simultaneously.
In the same instant, it detected the intruders. Their chakra was faint but deliberate, masked, trained, and coordinated.
The clone rose to its feet in a flash, hands already moving through signs.
A small slug fragment materialized on the floor, pulsing with stored chakra.
The clone pressed its hand against it, drawing the energy in to restore its reserves to as much as possible.
"Call the main body," it ordered sharply. "Tell him the palace is under attack. Now."
The slug hesitated for a heartbeat, its tone uncharacteristically grave when it finally spoke.
"The main body and Tsunade-sama are already engaged," it said. "They're facing very powerful and… strange opponents. They can't come now."
The clone froze, realization cutting through its composure.
So the timing was no accident.
Whoever had planned this had waited for the exact moment Ryusei's main body was occupied on another front.
Katsuyu's voice vibrated softly through the chamber, calm but weighted with urgency. "Your main body has already been prepared for this, as soon as he was attacked," she said. "He then summoned and then sent back another fragment ahead of time to inform the main me in the Shikkotsu Forest. If this place came under attack as well now, the order was clear: secure the Daimyo if possible, and if not, eliminate him. Then retreat immediately, taking at least Pakura and your uncle with you, through reverse summoning to the Slug Forest, which would be organized by me."
The clone clenched its fist slowly, processing her words.
It wasn't surprised.
The real Ryusei always planned several layers ahead, anticipating outcomes most would never consider.
He obviously understood they would never attack him without securing this place first.
"So it's already in motion," the clone said quietly. "Then we follow it. Save what we can."