The chaos and thunder of battle at Konoha's main gate had dulled their senses before—but now, the earth itself shook violently.

A massive one-eyed serpent, its entire body crimson, was crushing trees beneath its coils, sweeping forward like a ruler of the land.

And atop the serpent's massive head, members of the Uchiha clan leapt down from above, landing firmly on the ground.

At their head walked a young man in white robes, with short black hair, a handsome face, and an upright, commanding posture—like the moon shining in the heavens.

His presence made all the other Uchiha fade into the background. At his right hand, the air shimmered, and a black blade appeared—

A sword so dark it was as though a shard of the night itself had been pulled free.

"Uchiha!!"

One Suna puppet master recognized the clan crest and stiffened, his voice tinged with shock.

"What are they trying to do?"

"This barrier hasn't been breached yet… Could they really be trying to break through it alone—this barrier that would take over ten thousand ninja, striking in shifts, to destroy?"

The Sand Hidden puppet masters looked at each other, momentarily forgetting the mission they carried on their shoulders.

Outside the barrier,

Uchiha Yu's expression remained calm, his eyes indifferent to the shimmering glow of the protective seal.

He drove Dark Moon into it, and ripples spread across the barrier. A defense capable of withstanding all kinds of ninjutsu and ninja tools was easily sliced apart by Dark Moon.

Uchiha Yu refined chakra within his body, shifting Dark Moon into Wind Release mode.

Buzz—

Dark Moon began vibrating at a high frequency, emitting countless fine Wind Release chakra needles.

Wherever it pierced, Konoha's village barrier instantly dissolved, like a stain wiped clean.

This scene was witnessed by Kushina and Rin in the Uchiha squad, as well as by Maki and his Sand puppet master team inside the barrier.

Everyone was struck speechless, unable to express their shock.

"Uchiha Yu… broke Konoha's village barrier all by himself…"

Maki's eyes widened, his throat tightening as he swallowed hard.

Of course he recognized this man—now infamous across the ninja world as Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja, Uchiha Yu.

Then, the Sand puppet masters noticed that all the other Uchiha began putting on Konoha rogue ninja headbands.

One baby-faced young man's rogue headband even had two slashes on it!

This baffled Maki and the others—normally rogue headbands only had one slash. What could two mean?

But Maki quickly regained his senses, giving a low, urgent command:

"Run. Move! Leave this area and execute the mission!"

The other puppet masters hissed in response, quickly slipping into Konoha's eastern streets toward the Hokage building.

"Captain Maki… the Uchiha shouldn't attack us, right?"

"Yeah, they're already Konoha rogues. They must be here for revenge on the Leaf!"

Maki's face darkened, and he shook his head.

"When an elephant walks, it doesn't care whether it crushes a few ants beneath its feet."

As soon as he spoke, the air at the end of the street suddenly turned scorching hot—waves of fire roared toward them.

Ahead, countless Konoha Anbu appeared.

Clearly, this sector also had a stationed Konoha force.

"Fight!"

The flames lit up Maki's face as he gave the battle order.

The Sand puppet masters immediately released their puppets from scrolls, lining them up into a defensive wall.

The sea of flames washed over them but couldn't breach the puppet wall—only burning the bandages on their surfaces.

In the next moment—

From a rooftop, a slim kunoichi with long purple hair spilling from beneath a red-patterned mask leapt down, sword poised to strike Maki.

"Cough, cough… Yugao!"

Leaping over the puppet wall alongside her was Gekkō, followed by a squad of Konoha shinobi.

Gekkō's eyes were vacant, dark circles heavy under them, his skin deathly pale.

He kept coughing constantly, even in motion.

This eastern defense unit's mission was to intercept any enemy forces invading from this direction.

The battle quickly turned into a stalemate, but this was Konoha's home turf—and with the puppet masters being few in number, they soon fell into disadvantage.

Meanwhile, in the eastern district—

Uchiha Yu led his squad down familiar streets before halting to scan their surroundings.

In the group, Kushina and Rin had donned black cloaks and masks.

This was Uchiha Yu's doing—concealing their identities until it became necessary to reveal them to Konoha's ninja.

Uchiha Yu turned to Nonō:

"Find someone. His chakra is pitch black—darker and more twisted than Yin Release chakra."

"Yes, sir."

Nonō nodded, her face serious as she activated her Byakugan to survey the area.

After scanning, she reported in a low voice:

"Captain, that 10-man Sand puppet squad we saw earlier is now engaged with over 40 Konoha ninja. Also, about a hundred Konoha shinobi are stationed in a district one kilometer from here."

"Can you see the situation at the shelter?"

Uchiha Yu asked.

Even if Shinno's disguise was flawless, if turmoil broke out inside the Hidden Leaf Village, he would inevitably be gathered and placed in the shelter.

"Sorry, it's too far."

Nonō replied.

As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed ahead. In her sight, the Sand's puppet masters were gradually losing to the Leaf shinobi, suffering heavy casualties—though the Leaf ninja had also paid with many lives.

"I see."

Uchiha Yu nodded slightly, then looked up toward the Root base's direction, a faint and subtle feeling flickering in his heart.

He gripped Dark Moon and casually slashed toward a shadowy corner beneath the eaves of a nearby building.

A black gale sliced through.

Bang—

Black smoke puffed up. The Uchiha looked up to see their captain had effortlessly destroyed a surveillance camera.

…

Meanwhile—

The Leaf's defensive line had completely collapsed, with the remaining shinobi retreating to the perimeter of the Root base.

The combined forces of the three great villages totaled nearly thirty thousand.

At the highest building atop the Root base's perimeter—

Hiruzen Sarutobi panted heavily, scanning the three Kage standing with an overwhelming mass of shinobi at their backs.

His heart sank to the bottom.

In truth, the Leaf had no one left to fight. The fall of the border defenses had already foreshadowed the village's fate.

In the first three Great Ninja Wars, the Leaf's defensive lines had been unbreakable—because they had the Sannin, Fugaku, Hiashi… and other elite shinobi.

Now…

Hiruzen's expression grew dim. He raised his head toward the sky, lost in thought, lamenting:

"Was I truly wrong?"

Suddenly, an ANBU operative appeared with a shunshin, speaking gravely:

"Lord Hokage, the Barrier Corps reports—the eastern barrier has been destroyed. The intruders are Uchiha Yu leading other Uchiha."

"Yu… chiha… Yu…" Hiruzen clenched his fists, his face twisting in rage, teeth grinding.

He hadn't expected the Uchiha to strike at such a time.

But thinking on it, it made sense—this was indeed the best time for them to return and trample the Leaf.

Hiruzen turned toward the Root base, despair in his eyes.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, give up your resistance," Ōnoki said coldly, brows drawn tight. "Once, the Leaf was powerful beyond measure. But in your hands, its talent has withered, and it is leaderless. You have become the greatest joke of all."

"Old man, you might as well release the Nine-Tails—let me see how it compares to the Eight-Tails!" the Raikage rumbled.

Rasa simply stared coldly at Hiruzen.

Inwardly, he sighed.

Indeed—following Ōnoki's advice and striking the Leaf now was the wisest choice.

°°°

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