In the air, seven Sky Ninja threw a round of bombs. Seeing the Konoha Ninja surrounding them, they intended to retreat.
Suddenly, one of the Sky Ninja let out a sharp scream and crashed into the companion beside him.
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out.
The two of them exploded and fell together.
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Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu!
Inoichi Yamanaka retracted his technique. Just as he was about to use it on the other targets, he saw shadows spreading beneath his feet, controlling three of them—
On the ground, with Shikaku Nara as the center, the shadows completely controlled the three people.
The shadows climbed up their necks and directly strangled all three to death!
Seeing another attack coming... the remaining two knew they couldn't escape. They threw down all their exploding tags and converted all their Chakra into Wind Release Ninjutsu.
The violent winds provided propulsion.
exploding tags showered down, forming several unpredictable points in the air.
At this moment, a senbon transformed into dozens of senbon in mid-air, piercing through the exploding tags one by one.
Simultaneously.
On the ground, Kunai and shuriken were thrown continuously, detonating and shattering all the exploding tags.
Shikaku looked back, his expression grave: "Inoichi, something's wrong!"
Inoichi Yamanaka nodded solemnly.
These Sky Ninja were just a harassment; they weren't the main force at all.
Then the target is... "Support Hokage-sama!"
...Several Wind Blades swirled between the person's fingers.
A violent gale blew out, turning into bursts of invisible storms that tore at each other, rapidly killing toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But in the next second—
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly disappeared from his spot.
Immediately after, three figures leaped out from the air, Kunai in hand like crescent moons, slashing down.
Konoha Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!
Clang!
Kunai and blades were unsheathed.
Boom!
The exploding tag behind "Hiruzen Sarutobi" burned out completely. The body exploded, turning into chunks of earth that splashed outward.
The firelight illuminated the "Sand Ninja's" body, leaving behind a shattered, blurred corpse.
In that instant, he used a pre-prepared sealing scroll and a corpse to put a full stop to the "assassination."
Hiruzen Sarutobi emerged from the ground.
Suddenly—
An air current rapidly approached from behind.
A burly man, extremely fast under the stimulation of Chakra, arrived before his eyes in the blink of an eye.
Thump!
A kick.
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned into mud.
Earth Release: Earth Substitution!
The moment the Earth Substitution collapsed, the ground rose.
Earth Release Chakra formed a massive earth wall, covering the entire rooftop.
At the same time... a sharp sound rang out.
From the shadows, a staff grew from small to large, thrusting toward him with extreme speed.
Shinno didn't take it head-on, flashing aside to avoid it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
Shinno... he didn't seem to intend to clash head-on with him.
"Is your target Yakumo?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was low.
Shinno smiled slightly and didn't answer, but instead—
Threw out several exploding tags.
This further made Hiruzen Sarutobi understand that the opponent's goal wasn't to kill him, but to delay and attract attention.
His real target was Yakumo Kurama!
Boom!
Amidst the bursts of explosions, an adamantine staff pierced through the flames and blasts, continuously extending.
Shinno didn't resist, quickly avoiding the adamantine staff.
But in the next moment, the entire elevated earth platform turned into a rolling mud flow. Under the control of Chakra, the mud flow surged toward the mountain where the Hokage Rock was located.
Earth Release: Earth Flow River!
Under the large-scale Earth Release, Shinno had nowhere to hide. He was hit by the mud flow and turned into a fading image.
It was a Shadow Clone.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had long expected this. The adamantine staff in his hand kept extending, propping him up as he sped into the distance... Meanwhile, at the Kurama residence.
As soon as Shinno stepped in here, he immediately felt something was wrong.
He immediately surged his Chakra—
After a powerful air blast, before him, a high-speed stream of water condensed a large amount of Chakra into a single point at its tip.
Boom!
The two Chakras collided.
The water spear forcibly pierced through the Chakra protection and stabbed into his arm.
Immediately following... Thump!
A dull sound.
The water flow injected into his muscles and exploded, spraying everywhere. Blood immediately gushed out.
Shinno clutched his arm and quickly retreated.
He activated the Chakra Scalpel, which, combined with his regenerative abilities, rapidly healed the wound on his arm. In just a moment, it was completely restored.
However.
Flames, lightning... all sorts of natural phenomena surged toward him from all directions.
It was Genjutsu!
Shinno thought of a terrifying Bloodline Limit—
Five Senses Control!
A terrifying Bloodline Limit that could turn illusion into reality.
No time to worry about anything else!
Shinno closed his eyes, mobilizing the Chakra within his body as a dark aura emerged from him.
A moment later... in the illusion, a faint, indistinct attraction came from a certain direction.
Over there!
Shinno opened his eyes.
In an instant, the illusion collapsed!
Yakumo Kurama's face was pale.
No matter how high her talent, she was still just a child not even ten years old.
Masahiko had previously used Yakumo's mental connection to forcibly release a reverse Genjutsu using mental power.
Shinno was now using a similar method.
The difference was—
What he was connected to was the Ido inside Yakumo, and the dark Chakra on it.
The instinct of the Zero-Tails' Chakra to devour each other allowed Shinno to sense Yakumo and forcibly break the illusion with mental power.
But this wasn't something to be particularly happy about.
Shinno knew very well that Konoha had many capable people; he could only delay them for a while.
Time was precious!
His attitude was determined. Chakra surged, and instantly—
Gate of View, Open!
A large stone wall appeared in front, separating him from Yakumo Kurama's home.
Boom!
A loud bang.
Shinno passed directly through the stone wall.
However.
When he reached the other side of the stone wall, he saw Masahiko carrying Yakumo on his back, heading toward the Hokage Building.
Shinno immediately gave chase.
But, just as he took a step, a powerful Chakra aura suddenly erupted from below.
Not good!
His figure paused, and he punched downward.
Boom!
Water splashed.
The rolling flood turned into a patch of mist. Under the sunlight... three figures were reflected around him.
Each held a blade, slashing down rapidly from above like crescent moons.
Konoha Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!
Shinno's fists flew out rapidly. In just an instant, all three shadows in front of him were punched.
The result... they were all fakes!
Suddenly, a small jet of water shot out from below.
It was extremely fast, condensed into a line.
Combining the notes Danzo gave him with Masahiko's own insights, he had mastered the Water Severing Wave technique on top of the perfect-level Water Wave.
Although Shinno avoided his vital points, his shoulder was still pierced by the Water Severing Wave. In the process of avoiding the water jet, he was further sliced, with more than half of his shoulder joint cut open.
Body Regeneration!
Shinno used the forbidden technique again, hating the young Ninja before him even more.
It was him again!
What horrified him even more was—
After not seeing this person for a short while, he had actually quickly mastered another Ninjutsu capable of threatening him.
If there was a next time... a strong killing intent flashed in his eyes.
But on the other hand, Shinno also knew this person's character well.
The one below was definitely a Shadow Clone; the real body should be the one in the distance taking Yakumo Kurama away.
Just as he was hesitating, a massive wind pressure struck.
The air in the distance distorted as concentrated Wind Release Chakra formed a giant wind ball, approaching from afar.
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
Danzo made his move.
"Shinno, with me here, don't even think about hurting Konoha's people!"
Shinno dispersed the Vacuum Great Sphere with a punch, his face ashen.
Looking at Danzo's self-righteous posture, he suddenly realized—
From the moment Danzo launched the attack on the Sky Ninja squad, he had been used by Danzo.
The other party had exploited his greed for Yakumo... including the previous attack targeting Hiruzen Sarutobi, it must have also been deliberately orchestrated by Danzo.
A flash of shame and anger crossed Shinno's eyes.
And at this moment, Danzo stood proudly on the rooftop, looking down at Shinno nearby, like a true Hero.
At least in this moment... many villagers were looking at him with surprise, and even some reverence.
Danzo's face was solemn, filled with determination.
"Since you've come, don't even think about leaving!"
He was high-spirited, acting just like a Hero.