"Hey, you in the courtyard. With snow falling this heavily, aren't you cold?"
As Fugaku disappeared into the distance, the White Zetsu closest to Hayashi finally spoke.
It had been holding itself back for a long time. Now that it was face to face with Konoha's Lightning Flash, its curiosity could no longer be contained.
A White Zetsu standing nearby immediately warned it.
"An, before Fugaku left, he specifically ordered us not to speak with Konoha's Lightning Flash."
"So what?" another White Zetsu replied before An could answer. "We're not looking into his eyes. Nothing's going to happen just because we talk."
"Exactly."
"Boss isn't here."
"Neither is Ban."
"You're just San. Why do you talk more than anyone else?"
The remaining White Zetsu joined in one after another. They were all surprisingly talkative.
Unable to argue against the group, San reluctantly fell silent.
Wearing a smug expression, An turned back toward Hayashi.
"Hey, do you know what the urge to poop feels like?"
The moment the question was asked, every White Zetsu present focused their attention on Hayashi. Even San looked curious.
Hayashi glanced at the six chatterboxes in front of him before nodding.
"Of course."
Then he pointed behind them.
"If you turn around, you'll find out."
"Oh."
The six White Zetsu obediently turned around.
Including San.
Standing directly behind each of them was a Shadow Clone of Hayashi.
"This."
The six Shadow Clones raised their hands simultaneously.
"Is the urge."
Konoha Secret Taijutsu Technique:
Thousand Years of Death!
The six White Zetsu shuddered violently.
Before they could react, Hayashi's Sharingan began to spin.
A powerful genjutsu instantly seized control of all six.
With their minds captured, the sealing barrier maintaining the confinement automatically collapsed.
Hayashi stepped forward.
His figure blurred.
Heavenly Foot of Pain!
The ground trembled violently.
Boom!
With a single kick, the barrier surrounding the courtyard shattered.
Hayashi briefly examined the black rods scattered across the area.
"Black receivers created through Yin-Yang Release..."
Taking out a sealing scroll, he stored them away.
"Where's the original body?"
The Hayashi standing in the courtyard asked.
Because he was not the original either.
From the beginning, this had clearly been a trap.
There was no reason for the real Hayashi to personally walk into it.
A Shadow Clone was more than enough to test the enemy's preparations.
"The original should be chasing Fugaku," one of the clones answered.
"Then proceed according to plan."
Hayashi nodded.
"Disperse."
The seven clones vanished in different directions.
...
Since Fugaku had chosen to launch an attack, he naturally came prepared.
He knew perfectly well that he was no match for Konoha as a whole.
However, was Hayashi capable of protecting everything at once?
Not necessarily.
After all, Hayashi had once invaded Kirigakure alone and succeeded.
But circumstances mattered.
A battlefield inside a hidden village was completely different.
Konoha was packed with civilians.
The Chunin Exams had attracted shinobi, merchants, and visitors from numerous villages.
As long as enough destruction was caused, the damage alone would become a burden Konoha could not quickly recover from.
Fugaku's objective had never been to kill Hayashi.
Nor was it necessarily to assassinate the Third Hokage.
Eliminating powerful shinobi such as the Sannin or Minato would certainly be a bonus.
But success did not depend on that.
His true goal was to weaken Konoha's overall strength and prepare for the future Eye of the Moon Plan.
If enough shinobi died and the village suffered severe losses, the mission would already be a success.
And if he could use his identity to create distrust between Hayashi, Konoha, and the Uchiha Clan, the outcome would be even more favorable.
The next moment, Fugaku completed a sequence of hand seals.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Explosive tags hidden throughout the village by White Zetsu detonated simultaneously.
Smoke and dust erupted in every direction.
The night sky shook with continuous explosions.
...
"What happened?"
Hearing the blasts, the Third Hokage stepped onto the balcony of the Hokage Building.
An ANBU operative appeared instantly before him.
"Hokage-sama, hostile forces have launched an attack inside the village."
"An attack?" Hiruzen frowned. "Why didn't the Barrier Team detect the intruders beforehand?"
Konoha's barrier system had originally been established by Mito Uzumaki.
Later, Hayashi, Kushina, and Minato further improved it.
Under normal circumstances, infiltrating Konoha without triggering the barrier should have been nearly impossible.
The ANBU operative shook his head.
"The attackers didn't enter from outside."
"What do you mean?"
"Hayashi-sama reported that the person leading the attack is Fugaku."
"What?!"
Hiruzen's eyes widened.
He naturally knew Fugaku.
After the death of Uchiha Yama, the former Uchiha prodigy had remained unusually quiet.
Hiruzen had even ordered secret observation for a period of time and found nothing suspicious.
Could Fugaku have somehow discovered the truth behind Uchiha Yama's death?
The thought crossed his mind briefly.
Only a handful of people in Konoha knew the full story.
How had Fugaku learned it?
"Besides Fugaku, are there other Uchiha involved?" Hiruzen asked.
The scale of the operation was too large for a single person.
The ANBU operative answered immediately.
"Currently unknown. However, Hayashi-sama stated that he can confirm Fugaku is the only Uchiha involved."
"I see."
Hiruzen nodded.
Regardless of how many enemies there were, protecting civilians came first.
"Pass down my orders."
"All shinobi are to prioritize civilian evacuation and protection."
"Also, gather every shinobi under the age of fifteen."
"They are forbidden from participating in combat."
"Understood!"
The ANBU vanished immediately.
Hiruzen then summoned Enma.
Removing his ceremonial robes, he equipped black battle armor and prepared to head toward the conflict.
Just as he reached the doorway, another figure entered the office.
Danzo.
"Danzo."
Hiruzen looked at him.
"You arrived at the right time. Deploy Root immediately. Fugaku has been confirmed as one of the attackers, but there are likely more enemies."
Danzo's expression darkened.
"Of course there are."
"He was once the Uchiha Clan's heir."
"If you expect me to believe no other Uchiha are involved, I won't."
Hiruzen frowned.
"Hayashi said Fugaku is the only one."
"And I trust Hayashi."
Danzo responded immediately.
"I trust Kagami's son as well."
"I don't believe he would ever betray the village."
His eyes narrowed.
"But the rest of the Uchiha are another matter."
"Have you forgotten the Second Hokage's warnings?"
Hiruzen interrupted him.
"This is not Tobirama-sama's era."
"But vigilance is still necessary."
Danzo's voice turned colder.
"What if the Uchiha Clan is secretly cooperating with Fugaku?"
Hiruzen remained silent.
Danzo continued.
"I propose that every Uchiha shinobi, excluding Hayashi, be isolated from this battle."
"That isn't appropriate."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"We still don't know the enemy's numbers. We may need every available shinobi."
"Which is exactly why they shouldn't be allowed near the battlefield."
Danzo folded his arms.
"Before coming here, I already ordered Root to carry out the operation."
"You..."
Surprisingly, Hiruzen felt a measure of relief after hearing that Root had already mobilized.
At the very least, manpower had been dispatched.
"Fine. We'll leave it as it is for now."
Without wasting another second, Hiruzen grabbed his staff and leaped from the Hokage Building alongside several ANBU.
Danzo remained behind.
Standing atop the building, he silently observed the village below.
His gaze lingered on the smoke rising from multiple directions.
No one could tell what he was thinking.
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