Where was the Hidden Leaf? It sat at the very center of the Shinobi World—the hub of wealth, the pinnacle of population, and the undisputed first Great Nation. Konoha was the strongest, for without that overwhelming power and status, it would have been dismantled and destroyed long ago.
Because of its prosperity, every other village—including the other Four Great Nations—constantly coveted Konoha's riches, itching for any opportunity to challenge its supremacy.
Aside from the village's early days, when the "First Generation Cheat Duo" (Hashirama and Madara) suppressed the entire world so thoroughly that no one dared to breathe, Konoha had known very little peace. Even during the intervals between Great Wars, incursions and provocations from every direction were constant and unrelenting.
Consequently, the Hidden Leaf possessed the most extensive combat experience in history. Through a cycle of endless war, they had pruned away flashy, impractical Bloodline Limits and Secret Techniques. Even powerful Bloodlines that were difficult to inherit had faded into obscurity. Those that remained—the clans and techniques that survived—were purely utilitarian.
This was especially true of Konoha's reconnaissance capabilities. With the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Hyuga's Byakugan, the Inuzuka's ninken, the Aburame's Kikaichu, and the Yamanaka's Mind-Transfer techniques, nearly half of the village's clans possessed a massive advantage in scouting and intelligence gathering.
It was these ninjas who ensured Konoha almost always maintained information hegemony. In war, Konoha's enemies often found themselves in the position of a punching bag, purely because they were losing the intelligence war and were forced into a reactive stance.
Whenever they thought of these top-tier techniques, the other four Kage felt a pang of envy, resentment, and bitter jealousy.
The standard template for a ninja was a "glass cannon"—high offense, low defense. Therefore, the law of "to be detected is to be destroyed" applied to the Shinobi World even more strictly than it did to Earth. To survive against Konoha's absolute scouting superiority, the Iwa chose to dig deep and develop massive battalion-scale jutsus; the Kumo built mountain fortresses and focused on stubborn, defensive attrition; and the Kiri developed the Hidden Mist Jutsu.
The most pathetic was the Suna. Having nothing to start with, they had to struggle to develop Puppetry, copied the Kumo's fortresses, and learned battalion jutsus from the Iwa.
In short, the Four Great Nations each had their own tricks and hidden aces, but they were all full of grievances. If they could have stood toe-to-toe with Konoha in a fair fight, none of them would have bothered with such convoluted workarounds.
The Sky Ninja had no prior reputation, which simply meant they had never been significant enough to get involved in the Great Villages' squabbles. In truth, they were beginners—ignorant of the true hierarchy—who had blundered into a fight with the Leaf.
But the Sky Ninja were incredibly lucky. They started the game with flight rigs. Flying in the sky meant no one could touch them, and no one could track them. Flight left no footprints, and scents were instantly scattered by the wind. Even the Byakugan struggled to track targets moving at such speeds. They held every initiative: they could strike whenever they wanted and leave whenever they pleased. Once they were out of Konoha's sight, they could simply fly home.
...Of course, it wasn't actually that simple. If it were, the Kazekage or Tsuchikage would have leveled Konoha years ago. Those two masters, whenever they crossed paths with a Leaf ninja, would meticulously scrub themselves afterward, terrified of carrying a single Aburame bug or a trace of Inuzuka scent that would lead the Leaf back to their door.
After the previous battle, the Aburame of the Giant Insect Squad had released swarms of female bugs that had latched onto the Aerial Fortress and even the individual Sky Ninjas.
Finding their hiding spot was a foregone conclusion. It had taken exactly seventeen days since the initial raid for Konoha to lock onto the Sky Ninja Village.
Dozens of Leaf ninjas were now lying in wait near the Sky Ninja base, monitoring the three fortresses and the personnel coming and going. The Sky Ninja remained blissfully unaware, confidently drafting plans to destroy Konoha—a textbook display of "The Frog in the Well."
Just as the Sky Ninja finalized their assault plan, the Third Hokage was convening a war council of his own. Every Jonin and Tokubetsu Jonin in the village was present, discussing how to cleanly excise the Sky Ninja from the map. Hiruzen Sarutobi never wanted to see them again; a village where everyone could fly was too much of a nuisance to be allowed to exist.
Following the tip from the Anbu (who was likely Minato Namikaze), Nara Shikato, the Grand Strategist, drafted the operation.
After repeated confirmation by intelligence ninjas, they established that the Sky Ninja's three Aerial Fortresses consistently hovered at an altitude of fifty meters during transit. Even the damaged fortress, currently undergoing frantic repairs, refused to lower its altitude, with its crew laboriously hauling stones up and down.
In the previous engagement, the fortress had spiraled down to near ground level after being hit. Once control was regained, it had immediately spiked its altitude to avoid being shot down. From this, the Leaf deduced that the fortresses could change height rapidly, but preferred a "cruising altitude" of fifty meters when not in active combat.
Between the Sky Ninja base and Konoha lay two hundred kilometers of rolling hills—none of which exceeded fifty meters in height. The Sky Ninja's chosen altitude likely wasn't a coincidence; it was the minimum height needed to clear the terrain.
Nara Shikato made a bold gamble: the fortresses would stay at fifty meters during their approach to Konoha and only rise higher once they neared the village walls.
Konoha could choose an advantageous hill—roughly forty meters high—and use it as a jumping-off point. A measly ten-meter gap wasn't just for the Sannin; every Jonin in the village could clear it, and even most Chunin could give it a fair shot.
The Hokage finalized the plan. To minimize variables, he hand-picked a team of Elite Jonin for the boarding action. The Giant Insect Squad would handle any individual fliers, while the remaining ninjas would secure the perimeter.
They mobilized three thousand ninjas to surround the Sky Ninja's current position. The objective: total annihilation. Not one Sky Ninja was to escape.
Aburame Tetsumaru led the Giant Insect Squad and over 1.7 million flying insects to their designated position. They were still forty kilometers from the ambush point, but the swarm made too much noise to fly the rest of the way.
The command was given for the bugs to land. They covered the remaining distance on their fragile legs. After an entire night of grueling "marching," they reached the ambush site just before dawn and slipped into hiding.
The ambush point was barely six or seven hundred meters from the Aerial Fortresses. Had the Leaf not been so unfamiliar with Sky Ninja technology, they might have crawled directly beneath the hulls. But fearing unknown traps or sensing arrays, they kept a respectful distance.
The risk of such a close-proximity ambush was necessary. Shikato feared the fortresses might gain altitude during flight or split into three separate routes, which would collapse the entire operation. At six hundred meters, the Leaf high-command—the Hokage and the Sannin—possessed the burst speed to sprint across the gap and leap onto the decks before the fortresses could react.
Of course, the Hokage facing a swarm of enemies alone was a last resort. The loss of the Second Hokage ten years prior was still a fresh wound. If Hiruzen Sarutobi fell here, the resulting political vacuum and power struggle would cost Konoha far more than any damage the Sky Ninja could ever inflict.
Hours later, in the ink-black window before dawn, the lights on the Aerial Fortresses suddenly died. They began to move.
Watching the massive stone silhouettes glide toward the ambush site at exactly fifty meters, Nara Shikato let out a long, shaky breath. The weight on his chest finally lifted. As Konoha's Grand Strategist, this was the first time he had drafted a major operation based almost entirely on intuition and guesswork. The pressure had been immense.
"Luck is on our side." "Finally." "Time for a slaughter."
Whispers of excitement crackled through Tetsumaru's communication snails. Even though everyone tried to keep their voices down, the sheer volume of ninjas checking in drew the Hokage's ire.
"SILENCE!" Hiruzen's voice boomed through the network. "No one speaks until the battle begins without my express permission."
The network went dead. The sudden silence left the Hokage with zero feedback, which made him look slightly awkward for a moment. He cleared his throat and continued: "Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru—each of you pick a fortress from left to right."
"The moment my jutsu fires, move. The other Jonin will follow in your wake."
"Giant Insect Squad, wait for the conclusion of my jutsu before launching your assault. Do not be hasty."
"Everyone... get ready."
Oh, the Hokage is stepping up, Tetsumaru thought. Let's see the difference between a 'Professor' and a 'Shinobi Legend.'
As the lead fortress closed to within two hundred meters, Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands blurred through a sequence of seals.
Forbidden Jutsu: Multi-Shadow Clone!
The Hokage manifested four clones. Together with the original, they stood in a line.
Fire Style: Fire Dragon!Water Style: Water Dragon!Wind Style: Wind Dragon!Earth Style: Dust Dragon!Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon!
The five versions of Hiruzen Sarutobi extended their right hands, pressing their palms together in a circle. They roared in unison:
"Combo Ninjutsu: Great Five-Element Rising Dragon Strike!"
Five elemental dragons wove together, screaming as they merged into a single, titanic sphere of raw chakra. The light it emitted was blinding, turning the pre-dawn hills into a landscape as bright as high noon. The Konoha ninjas watched, awestruck.
Amidst the panicked screams from the lead fortress, the five Hokages hoisted the sphere. Its edges were no longer smooth; arcs of lightning crackled and hissed as the energy reached critical instability.
"Sky Ninja! Feel the wrath of the Leaf!"
The sphere collapsed into a concentrated beam of light—a pillar that connected heaven and earth. It punched through the lead Aerial Fortress as if it were made of paper, carving a sixty-meter-wide hole straight through its center.
"Holy mother of..." Tetsumaru's jaw practically hit the sand. Hiruzen's combo jutsu was significantly more terrifying than the fortress's own main cannon.
At forty-two years old, Hiruzen Sarutobi was in his absolute prime. This display far exceeded Tetsumaru's expectations. In terms of pure destructive power, it could likely shatter the Third Raikage's defense; in terms of range and versatility, it dwarfed the Tsuchikage's Particle Style.
This "Five-Element Combo" was nothing like the "Five-Element Great Combo Blast" from Tetsumaru's memories. There were no flashy tricks—just pure, unadulterated speed, range, and a scale of power that was frankly absurd.
Cold sweat drenched Tetsumaru's back. The pride he had cultivated after clashing with the Kazekage was pulverized in an instant.
Elder Shiki, you old liar, he thought bitterly. You said you looked down on the Hokage's elemental jutsus. You were full of crap!
Or... are you a hidden powerhouse too?
Just wait. I'm coming for you when I get home.
"Summoning Jutsu!" "Summoning Jutsu!" "Summoning Jutsu!"
Gamabunta, Manda, and Katsuyu erupted onto the battlefield. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade stood atop their respective guardians.
Jiraiya roared, "Jump, Bunta!"
Gamabunta grumbled around his pipe, "Tch. Every time you call, it's a pain in the ass."
Manda eyed the massive pillar of light and hissed a low, lethal threat, "Orochimaru... you owe me a hundred sacrifices for this. Otherwise, find yourself another snake."
Tsunade knelt, placing a hand on her summon's back. "I'm counting on you, Katsuyu-neesan."
"It is my pleasure, Lady Tsunade."
The three gargantuan summons launched—one bound, one coil-spring, one sticky extension—catapulting their masters onto the Aerial Fortresses. Over forty Leaf Jonin followed suit, flickering and leaping onto the decks in a silver blur.
The fortress that had been core-punched began a slow, terminal descent. The other two tried to gain altitude, but it was too late. Combat erupted on the decks, the sound of steel and battle cries echoing through the clouds.
The Leaf Jonin, who had been frustrated by these "birds" for nearly three weeks, held nothing back. It was a massacre. The Sky Ninja, experiencing the true depth of Konoha's elite for the first time, realized with their lives why the Leaf occupied the richest soil in the world.
Buckling under the pressure, the Sky Ninjas deployed their rigs and took to the sky, hoping to regroup. Once they had distance, their confidence returned. "Konoha ninjas! This is just the beginning! Now you feel the terror of the Sky Ninja!"
Tetsumaru let out a long breath, steadying his nerves. "Giant Insect Squad... begin the assault."
Over a million flying insects rose from the earth and the hidden pits, a black tide sweeping toward the airborne ninjas.
The pre-dawn world was a void. Looking down from the sky, there was nothing to see. But the Sky Ninjas heard it—the deafening, rhythmic drone of a million wings. Some shrieked in terror, frantically banking back toward the fortresses. Others simply turned and fled into the dark.
The majority, however, were confused, demanding to know what was happening or cursing those who were retreating.
Among them were the veterans of the first raid. They screamed a desperate warning: "The bugs! The Leaf's bugs are here!"
"Bugs? What about them?"
"If they touch you, you fall!"
"Wh—AAAAAAUGH!"
The swarm crested the altitude of the fliers. Death had arrived.