Under the cover of night, a suicide squad of thirty Mist shinobi appeared near Konoha without anyone noticing.
They split into ten three-man teams. Most were chunin and genin. Only two were jonin—and even those had been forcibly promoted. Yagura wasn't willing to waste real elites. Just like the old Sunagakure, the current Mist was starving for talent. Without the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, training new top-tier shinobi wasn't easy.
"Sooner or later I'll get every one of those swords back," Yagura had told himself. "They belong to the Mist. Sunagakure won't keep them forever. And Samehada… and the Exploding Blade…"
He didn't have the confidence to take the swords from Sand yet. But Fuguki and Jinpachi were different. Just two missing-nin. Even in its current sorry state, the Mist could still handle traitors.
"Track Fuguki Suikazan and Jinpachi Munashi. If you find them, kill them on sight and bring back Samehada and the Exploding Blade. No mercy."
A Leaf ninja was doing his usual patrol when a figure suddenly burst out of a puddle beside him. Before he could react—
Shlick!
A blade punched straight through his heart.
The Leaf ninja's eyes widened. He turned his head.
"Mist ninja—?"
"Enemy attack!"
He never finished the shout. Another Mist shinobi appeared and slapped a ball of water straight into his face, forcing it down his throat, nose, and ears. The Leaf ninja made no sound at all.
The same scene played out in several places at once.
Until—
"Enemy attack!"
A voice roared across the area. A young Leaf genin in a bright green jumpsuit and matching vest stood there, thick eyebrows like they'd been drawn on with a marker, short black hair shining with energy. Might Guy.
Three Mist ninja attacked at the same time—one chunin, two genin. They thought it would be easy.
They were wrong.
The green-clad genin's reaction speed was insane.
"Who the hell are you? I'm a Konoha shinobi! This is Konoha territory!"
The three Mist ninja sneered.
"We're here to kill Konoha dogs!"
They rushed him again, this time going all out.
The next second, all three froze in disbelief.
Might Guy let out a wild shout and exploded into motion. None of them understood what happened. They just felt heavy fists and a kick slam into them in rapid succession.
One punch. Two punches. One kick.
A chunin and two genin dropped dead in an instant.
"How is this possible?!"
"That speed—!"
"That power—!"
"This is still a fucking genin?!"
The three Mist ninja collapsed in unwilling shock.
"Konoha is shameless…"
"Hiding a monster like this and dressing him up as a genin? Typical."
"No wonder they could pull off that stunt of controlling our Anbu to attack their own people."
"Completely without limits."
Might Guy killed the three Mist ninja with three punches and one kick, then spun around and bellowed toward the village at the top of his lungs.
"Enemy attack!"
"Mist ninja are invading!"
"Everyone—get ready! They're here!"
Hundreds of Leaf shinobi poured out of the village at once.
The remaining Mist suicide squad realized they couldn't keep killing quietly anymore. But they had never planned to retreat. They were dead men walking. This mission was a one-way trip.
Now that they'd been spotted, they stopped hiding. They stepped out into the open, faces twisted with hatred.
"Shameless Konoha! You betrayed the alliance!"
"You killed your own people and framed us!"
"Despicable to the core!"
"You're going to pay for it!"
One Mist ninja charged straight at a full Leaf squad by himself.
The moment the Leaf ninja tried to surround him—
BOOM!
"Explosive tags—detonate!"
The blast tore the Mist ninja to pieces and killed two Leaf shinobi instantly. Several more were badly wounded.
The surviving Leaf ninja's eyes went wide.
"They're suicide bombers?!"
"They hid explosive tags inside their bodies?!"
"Human bombs?!"
"Be careful!"
Another Mist ninja rushed forward with a savage grin, eyes burning with the will to die.
"Die, you Konoha bastards!"
"Traitors to your allies!"
"Explosive tags—detonate!"
The Leaf forces looked grim. These Mist ninja were completely insane. On paper they were outnumbered and outclassed, but their suicide tactics made the Leaf hesitate. No one wanted to pay a heavy price just to wipe them out cleanly.
"Damn it, have these Mist bastards lost their minds?!"
"They'd rather die than let us live?!"
"Why do they hate us this much?"
One Leaf ninja muttered the thought that had been growing in everyone's head.
"…Was it really us? Did Danzo actually control our Anbu to attack our own squad just so we could blame the Mist and break the alliance?"
It was the only thing that explained this level of hatred.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Explosions ripped through the area one after another, leaving deep craters in the ground.
Only the three Mist ninja Might Guy had killed still had intact bodies. The rest had been blown to nothing.
The suicide squad's madness had cost Konoha dearly—dozens dead, dozens more wounded.
The huge commotion drew civilians and other shinobi. The dying words the Mist ninja had screamed spread like wildfire through the village.
"Probably true…"
"Why else would they hate us this much?"
"They'd rather die than stop trying to hurt us."
"Elder Danzo… how could he do something like that?"
"Even if it was to pull Konoha out of the war… even if it was 'for the village'… this is too far."
"And he got innocent Leaf ninja killed—including Lord Minato's student."