The night was as black as ink.
The full moon was like a plate.
Konoha's nights were always as peaceful and tranquil as ever.
Even though the thrilling first stage of the Chunin Exams had just been held during the day, the night remained incredibly calm.
Such nights were also very common.
Like the night of the Nine-Tails Rampage that year.
Or like the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre that year.
At midnight.
Most of Konoha's Shinobi had already fallen asleep.
Only the Konoha's Military Police Force did not rest like the others but continued to patrol every corner as usual.
Especially now that they knew about the theft of the Scroll of Seals,
No one could slack off.
And at this moment,
Besides the Military Police Force, those still active included the Konoha's Anbu.
In the southwest of Konoha,
Outside a small building,
Four figures wearing masks and carrying straight knives were currently hiding in the darkness.
They seemed to be simultaneously watching a certain direction in the dark.
Passing Konoha Military Police's members,
Just glanced at them and walked past in silence.
They naturally knew,
That these few were the ones Hiruzen had sent to monitor the Amegakure's Shinobi.
Therefore,
There was no need to interfere.
And at this moment,
At midnight,
It happened to be time for the Anbu shift change.
From the forest in the distance, four figures immediately walked over, approaching this side.
In the darkness,
Their figures carrying straight knives and wearing masks could be vaguely seen.
The four knife-carrying figures near the house immediately exchanged glances, then simultaneously leaped out.
They gathered together,
Entered the forest, and also walked towards the opposite side.
And at this moment,
In the darkness opposite, an Anbu's member coming for the shift change saw them approaching,
Immediately frowned and said in a somewhat irritated low voice:
"Tsk... what's going on?"
"Didn't Hokage-sama say not to leave the surveillance point even for a shift change...?"
"Why did you come over?"
"So impatient?"
The four slowly approached, preparing to hand over the shift as usual.
However,
Just at this moment,
A bland voice suddenly came from among the four approaching figures, saying:
"Because time is almost up... let's do it."
"Hmm?"
Hearing the words "let's do it",
The several Anbu's members coming for the shift change were momentarily stunned.
'Huh?'
'What does that mean...?'
However,
Before they could react,
Among the four approaching figures ahead,
Suddenly, three figures simultaneously leaped!
At extreme speed, they directly surrounded the four Anbu coming for the shift change!!
At the same time,
They almost instantly drew the blades from their backs!
Under the moonlight,
The blade light was cold and piercing!
"-?!"
Seeing this, the four Anbu's members' expressions changed drastically, their hearts shocked!
'Enemy attack?!?'
They subconsciously wanted to draw the blades from their backs to fight back, but the moment their hands reached behind them!
The opponent's blades had already swung out!!
Fast!
Too fast!
Like a flash of lightning!
Their Chakra instantly attached on the front of their blades!
At an incredibly terrifying speed, tracing a trajectory like a crescent moon in the air, they slashed down directly!
At this moment, the four Anbu's members were all horrified. Only one gritted his teeth and drew his blade, trying to block the incoming slash!
The other three were also panicked, trying to escape using the Body Replacement Technique!
But,
Just as they all began to move, suddenly-
The Chakra slashes swung by the three figures instantly fell like a violent storm, fiercely!!
Three blades swung down, yet countless blade lights lit up, instantly surrounding them from all directions!!
Falling like countless raindrops!!!
Shink shink shink!!
The clear sound of blade humming, accompanied by the bleak cold wind sweeping past!
In an instant,
Crimson blood splashed up!
The four Konoha's Anbu all widened their eyes, pupils contracted, and fell with disbelief...
Their hearts were filled with fear and despair!
'What was this swordsmanship...?!'
'How could it be this fast, and to such an unbelievable degree...?!'
'Who exactly... are these people...?'
The leading Anbu taking over the shift, the moment he fell, still squeezed out a desperate sentence from his mouth-
"Who are you...? What... power is this...?"
As his words faded,
Before his consciousness faded,
He only heard a youth's voice coming from among the three figures surrounding them.
In his still somewhat youthful voice, he said:
"This is the ultimate swordsmanship our teacher taught us..."
"Esumi Toki Shigure Style - Wild Lights Crescent."
"..."
However, as the voice faded,
The four Konoha's Anbu were already unable to think.
As their blood flowed, their consciousness also began to slowly fade.
And at this moment,
From the darkness,
The voice that had just given the order slowly walked into the moonlight.
He took off the mask on his face.
This was a delicate and handsome face, with a gentle smile.
His brown hair was fluffy and loose. Beneath his black-rimmed glasses, a pair of blazing golden eyes flickered slightly.
Although at this moment,
He was wearing a Konoha's Anbu uniform, it was clearly somewhat ill-fitting.
It was Kyo.
And the three who had just drawn their blades to attack,
Were naturally his three students brought from Amegakure.
At this moment,
After also removing their masks, the expressions on their three faces were extremely calm.
Kyo naturally knew why.
The three of them,
Had almost grown up as children during the war-torn years in Amegakure.
In their memories, they had long been accustomed to all kinds of fighting and death.
Therefore,
Such a small scene naturally posed no problem.
Kyo looked at the straight blades in their hands, his mind stirring slightly.
He didn't expect these three's swordsmanship talent was really not bad.
Back in Amegakure,
When Kyo gave them the basic swordsmanship scroll from the system,
He didn't expect them to master it.
He just intended to deal with their request.
Unexpectedly,
Not only did they master it,
They also cleverly infused Chakra into the swordsmanship, forming even more powerful Chakra Slashes.
'As expected of the children from Amegakure,'
'They really did have something to them.'
Kyo marveled inwardly.
Originally,
Kyo hadn't planned to bring them along, intending to start directly on his own.
Unexpectedly,
After dealing with the four Anbu watching the house, these three kids also realized what was happening.
Then,
They earnestly expressed their desire to help.
Helpless,
Kyo could only arrange for them to act together.
And now, the Anbu uniforms and masks the four of them were wearing,
Were naturally obtained from the four watching the house whom Kyo had dealt with before leaving.
Just enough to fool the Konoha's Military Police Force and the group of Anbu's members coming for the shift change.
Fortunately, their skills were also pretty good,
Under the cover of the uniforms and masks, they successfully deceived those four Anbu's members and killed them.
And at this moment, one of the black-haired boys spoke:
"Sensei,"
"What do we do next...?"
His tone was still grave.
Like a soldier preparing to participate in a war.
Hearing this,
Kyo looked over, shook his head, and said with a light smile:
"No need."
"Next, you will temporarily continue to disguise yourselves as Konoha's Anbu and monitor our house."
"Then, quietly wait for my orders."
"...Yes."
The three students immediately responded with lowered heads.
From the moment those four Anbu's members started monitoring, they had keenly realized this was not a game.
It's a war brewing a storm.
Therefore,
They naturally wouldn't disobey orders.
And at this moment,
Kyo raised his eyes, used Shunpo, and disappeared from the spot.
The three Amegakure students exchanged glances,
Then returned to their house, pretending to be Anbu's members, and began monitoring.
...
A moment later
On the other side, Kyo's figure rapidly flashed across the sky,
In an instant,
He arrived before Konoha's landmark structure.
The Hokage Rock.
Looking at this huge and magnificent structure before him, a smile curled at the corner of Kyo's mouth.
Under the moonlight,
He slightly raised his right hand,
A black curse-like pattern immediately appeared on his palm.
Then,
Kyo pressed his palm against the ground, slightly raised his head, looked at the Hokage Rock above, his eyes flickering slightly, and said with a light smile:
"Well then, next is the real showtime."
"Summoning Technique-"
"Menos [Gillian]!"