Chapter 115: Konoha's Blood is Still Hot
The massive purple sphere was like a fallen moon.
Dana stood on the thunder dragon, holding the purple moon, clad in his Sage Lightning Armor, a picturesque scene in the night sky.
Many of the Konoha ninja, upon seeing this, instinctively stopped in their tracks. But their awe was quickly replaced by terror.
And then, the purple moon fell.
First, an eerie silence. Then, a massive boom. The purple moon, upon contact with the ground, expanded tenfold. The high-speed rotation of the chakra tore apart all the surrounding buildings, like a black hole, sucking in everything around it—dirt, houses, and the ninja who were not fast enough to escape.
In an underground shelter, the four-year-old Kakashi was pacing frantically. As the Hokage's son, he had been taken to the shelter by the ANBU the moment the battle had begun. Though he had faith in his father, this was the first time he had experienced such a thing, and he was worried. He wanted to go out, but the ANBU had sternly forbidden it.
Just then, the entire shelter began to shake violently. The people inside cried out in alarm. The lights flickered, and a few of the children began to cry.
Kakashi clenched his fists, worried about his father.
As he was at a loss, he saw a boy about his own age, comforting the crying babies, making funny faces, as if the chaos outside had nothing to do with him.
"La la la! Look at me... a pig nose! Don't cry, don't cry."
Watching the boy's goofy antics, Kakashi suddenly realized that even here, in the shelter, as the Hokage's son, there was something he could do. He cheered up and joined in, trying to soothe the crying babies.
"My name's Obito, Obito Uchiha," the boy said. "What's your name? Look at my big mouth!"
"I'm... Kakashi Hatake. Fox eyes!"
Another boy, seeing what they were doing, ran over.
"I'll help too! My name's Might Guy! Look at me... a watermelon rind!"
In the Uchiha compound, the clan members who had not gone to fight had gathered in the main square. The old, the women, and the children were all there. They had not gone to the village's shelters. As the largest clan in Konoha, even with many of their elites out fighting, they still had enough manpower to protect their own.
Mikoto Uchiha was with her parents, waiting for news.
"Mom," she asked, "do you think big brother Kohei will come back?"
Her mother just shook her head.
A look of bitterness crossed her face. Her cousin, who had taken care of her since she was a child, had been missing for half a month. She had been filled with anxiety and grief, and now Konoha was under attack. She wondered how her best friend, Kushina, was doing. She hadn't seen her in a long time.
Just then, the ground began to tremble, and a massive explosion came from the center of the village. A strong wind blew, and sand and gravel rained down.
Several of the Uchiha ninja, realizing what had happened, immediately activated their red eyes and leaped onto the rooftops, disappearing into the night, ignoring the protests of the others.
After the wind had died down, Mikoto, when her mother wasn't looking, also jumped onto a roof and looked in the direction of the explosion.
And her face was filled with horror.
"How could this be?!"
In the center of Konoha, the smoke was slowly dissipating.
The ground was gone. In its place was a massive, deep crater, with only bare earth and the exposed underground water veins. For hundreds of meters around, all the buildings had collapsed.
From above, it looked as if nearly a third of Konoha's core had been destroyed.
Dana looked down at the ruins and silently made a calculation. This attack is still a far cry from Nagato's rice-carrying feat. The Rasengan was not a jutsu designed for wide-area destruction. Even with the enhancement of Sage Mode, he could not have leveled the entire village like Nagato had.
But it was still the most severe damage Konoha had ever sustained since its founding. No one had ever dared to do such a thing, and no one had ever succeeded.
Countless ninja lay twisted in the rubble, their groans filling the air.
Fugaku Uchiha sat up, looked at the devastation, and his Sharingan began to spin rapidly.
"Dammit! Dammit!"
With such a catastrophe, the other clans could no longer hold back. Ninja began to pour in from all directions, like a tide.
Konoha had awoken. Like an angry swarm of bees.
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!" An invisible mental attack hit him, but in Sage Mode, he only felt a slight lag before he recovered. But then, several more voices echoed.
"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"
This time, he could not ignore it. He dodged the imperceptible attacks, his thunder dragon diving down and crashing into his enemies. Several buildings were destroyed, and a large number of the Yamanaka clan were seriously injured.
But in that brief moment of hesitation, countless blades were upon him. At least seven ninja charged at him.
He took the attacks head-on with his Sage Lightning Armor. The blades shattered, and he spun around, kicking the seven of them away.
"Ninja Art: Five Senses Deprivation!"
A strange, oil-painting-like light shot towards him. He had just repelled the enemy, but he suddenly felt as if his control over his body was covered in a layer of gauze. Left was right, and his vision was a blur. The genjutsu was affecting him even in Sage Mode.
An even more brilliant light erupted from his body. A large amount of lightning chakra coursed through him, and he regained control of his body. He then formed a lightning spear in one hand and impaled his opponent on a rooftop.
"Where are you going?! Behold my burning youth!" Might Duy, his face now a mask of rage, his body wreathed in a green chakra, flew towards him with a kick.
Dana sidestepped. In his dynamic vision, every one of his movements was clear. He grabbed his right leg, and a blue light appeared in his other hand.
"Great Thunder Rasengan!"
The blow slammed into his chest, and he was sent spinning away.
"Ninja Art: Super Multi-Size Technique!"
A massive figure suddenly appeared and caught him, then drew his own, several-meter-long sword and swung it at Dana.
BOOM!
Dana raised his hands and blocked it with his armor. The ground beneath him cracked. He deflected the massive sword and then ran up its slanted blade.
The giant threw a punch, and Dana met it with his own.
A massive boom. Though their sizes were vastly different, it was the giant who was sent flying.
Two more giants arrived and caught their comrade, and the three of them surrounded him.
Six figures leaped onto their shoulders: three from the Yamanaka clan, three from the Nara clan.
In the distance, a large number of ninja with red and white eyes were approaching. And many more that he didn't recognize were swarming in.
In his senses, he could feel his old acquaintance, Orochimaru, also on his way.
Uchiha, Hyuga, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Sarutobi, Shimura, Kurama... more and more ninja, both familiar and unfamiliar, were joining the pursuit.
This is exciting!
He looked around, feeling the pressure.
"Where are you going?!"
They were in their own village, so they couldn't use large-scale jutsu, especially Fire and Water Release. So, a large number of ninja were risking their lives to engage him in close combat.
He kicked an Uchiha ninja away, then spun and stabbed a Hyuga in the throat. The man coughed up blood and died, but not before throwing two explosive tags at him.
He caught them and stuck them on the other enemies who were charging at him, then retreated.
A series of thrilling battles played out on the rooftops of Konoha. Every now and then, a body would fall.
But the brutal battle did not deter the Konoha ninja. They fought without fear of death, just to get a piece of him.
Tch. This isn't the Nine-Tails' night, is it? Konoha's blood is still hot. Such a terrifying foundation. Konoha truly is the chosen village.
Just then, in his senses, he felt a change in the Forest of Death.
The Four Violet Flames Formation had finally been dispelled.
Blue Bee was covering the retreat of the three wounded ninja towards the sea. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were in pursuit, trying to drive them away, to prevent him from returning to the battle to help Dana.
And Hiruzen and Sakumo were on their way, at top speed.
Then I'd better get out of here.
Just then, an angry roar echoed through the village.
"Burn, my youth! Eight Gates: Seventh Gate of Shock! OPEN!"
The green chakra vapor turned blue, a sign that someone had begun to burn their own life force.