A thick darkness enveloped the sky over Wufang City, and the faint scent of blood lingered in the air. Though Sarutobi Hiruzen and his team had entered the barrier at dawn, within Wufang City, it was still night.
"This... what the hell is going on here?"
Nara Shikaku observed the eerie surroundings in astonishment. Under Hiruzen's leadership, the team had just passed through the barrier covering Wufang City and now stood outside the city gate. The massive, closed gate loomed ahead.
But outside the city, there was nothing but desolation. Though it should have been a season of flourishing vegetation, all plant life within the barrier had withered and died.
"Buzz..."
The sound of flapping wings filled the air as a swarm of parasitic insects emerged from Shibi Aburame's body, scattering in all directions. Some of the insects crawled through the cracks in the city gate, while two Hyuga Clan shinobi activated their Byakugan to scan the city's interior.
Then, suddenly—
"This...?"
"Something's wrong!"
The Hyuga shinobi, who had just been scanning the city, stiffened. Their expressions darkened with shock.
"What is it? What happened?" Hiruzen asked calmly, his sharp gaze unwavering despite the evident distress in his subordinates.
"There's no sign of anyone. The city is completely empty—there's no trace of human life!" one of the Hyuga ninjas reported, his voice heavy with disbelief.
Moments later, Shibi, who had been monitoring the progress of his insects, lowered his head slightly. Even though his eyes were hidden behind his dark glasses, his astonishment was clear.
"The insects that entered the city… were all killed."
His words made the entire group tense.
"We shouldn't waste time. Let's go in and investigate," Choza Akimichi suggested.
But Hiruzen shook his head and stepped forward.
"The more unusual the situation, the more cautious we must be."
"It's clear that something unexpected has happened inside the city. We'll use Shadow Clones to investigate first."
Hiruzen quickly formed hand seals, creating three Shadow Clones. Under his command, they swiftly approached the city walls, leaping over them and vanishing into the city.
"We'll wait a moment," Hiruzen said. "Shibi, start breeding new parasites. Send them underground to investigate."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a surge of memories flooded his mind.
One of the Shadow Clones had been destroyed.
The scene before it was wiped out replayed in Hiruzen's consciousness.
The Shadow Clone had entered the city and headed directly for the Daimyō's Mansion. Along the way, the streets were covered in scars—blood splattered across the ground, walls, and buildings. Yet, there was no sign of human life. The traces were fresh, some blood had yet to dry.
It was evident that the city's inhabitants had only recently vanished.
Before the Shadow Clone could investigate further, an unknown force struck.
And in an instant, it was gone.
"The enemy is that strong?"
"My Shadow Clone didn't even register the attack before it was destroyed. How is that possible?!"
Suspicious and cautious, Hiruzen formed hand seals once again. This time, he reinforced his Shadow Clones with a sealing technique—a method taught to the Second Hokage by Uzumaki Mito. Having learned it from his teacher, Hiruzen now applied the Four Symbols Seal to each clone.
The moment a Shadow Clone was destroyed, the seal would activate, trapping anything within its range.
With this safeguard in place, Hiruzen sent three more Shadow Clones into the city.
Unlike before, these clones traveled in a coordinated formation, keeping hundreds of meters apart as they advanced toward the Daimyō's Mansion.
This time, the enemy did not attack immediately.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the mansion, the leading Shadow Clone concealed itself and observed.
The mansion was heavily guarded—but the ones standing watch were no longer human.
All the guards were Demons.
"A rat has slipped in!"
At the gate, a guard with long black bangs and lifeless, pale eyes frowned. He drew his blade in an instant.
"The Demon Blood Art—Slash!"
With a sudden burst of speed, the Demon swung his sword three times. His attacks moved so fast that they sliced through the air like water dragon bullets, each carrying the force of a B-rank ninjutsu.
"The Earth Style: Earth Flow Wave!"
Just as the slashes were about to hit, a mudslide erupted from the shadows. The sword strikes were swallowed by the rushing earth, vanishing without a trace. But the mudslide didn't stop there—it surged toward the mansion's gates.
The Demon guards hadn't anticipated such an attack from the shadows. Most were engulfed instantly. Only one, an Upper-Rank Demon, reacted in time—leaping onto the courtyard wall just before the mudslide destroyed it.
"The Fire Style: Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A wave of searing flames erupted, engulfing the mudslide and the Demons trapped inside.
The liquid earth hardened under the heat, forming a porcelain-like shell. The Demons, now encased in stone, stood frozen—completely immobilized.
Only the Upper-Rank Demon had managed to escape.
"This guy is strong!"
The Demon's pupils shrank as he witnessed the devastation. He had assumed the intruder was weak—but in mere moments, the entire Daimyō's Mansion guard had been neutralized.
The Demons stationed there were powerful—far from ordinary. In recent days, they had been given free reign to devour the city's inhabitants, vastly increasing their strength.
And yet, this unknown opponent had wiped them out effortlessly.
The Demon landed on the ground and swung his sword toward one of his petrified comrades.
The stone body crumbled into dust.
The Demon's eyes widened.
"They can't regenerate?! What did he do?"
He had never imagined that a ninja's techniques could actually kill them. Even the massive White Snake that attacked the Daimyō's Mansion days ago had failed to break their defenses.
But this new intruder…
He had the means to kill them.
"The Daimyō's Mansion has been completely overrun by Demons. Asuma's intelligence was correct."
"I haven't found any survivors along the way. This must be your doing!"
"Disgusting creatures!"
A voice filled with righteous fury rang out from the darkness.
Hiruzen's Shadow Clone stepped forward, his expression cold and murderous.
"Old man?"
"Hehehehe… HAHAHAHA!"
The Demon laughed mockingly, gripping his sword tightly.
"Did you get tired of life, old man?"
"You must be from Konoha, huh?"
"Sending a half-dead relic like you… What a joke!"
Though his words dripped with mockery, Hiruzen could tell—the Demon was already tense.
He was trying to provoke him.
"Yeah, I'm old, and my only role is to pave the way for the younger generation."
"Of course, if the enemy is too weak, then I, the explorer, will simply wipe you all out!"
With a faint smile, Sarutobi Hiruzen swiftly pulled out three shuriken and hurled them toward his opponent. As they flew, he quickly formed hand seals, causing the shuriken to multiply into a storm of blades, filling the night sky.
"Extend the Blade—Sever!"
Beneath the moonlight, flashes of white steel cut through the air with terrifying speed, slicing each shuriken apart before they could reach their target.
Just as the Upper-Rank Demon smirked, about to mock the apparent futility of the attack—
Hiruzen appeared in front of him in an instant.
A solid kick slammed into his abdomen.
"How did he close the distance so fast?! This old man—!"
The Demon's thoughts barely registered before—
Flash!
A sharp, cold gleam filled his vision.
His entire perspective shifted, and for a brief moment, he was looking at the sky from an unnatural angle.
At some point, his sword had been snatched away.
At some point, his head had been severed.
"Man-eating demons… you should know your place."
The final words Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke echoed in the Demon's ears as the last thing he saw was the flash of a blade.
Using the Demon's own weapon against him, Hiruzen stood over the headless corpse.
But something was off.
Despite the decapitation, the body remained intact.
"The regeneration hasn't stopped... which means he's still alive," Hiruzen muttered. Without hesitation, he tossed the sword aside, pulled a sealing scroll from his pocket, and prepared to seal the body.
But then—
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
On instinct, Hiruzen rolled to the side just in time—
A massive, razor-sharp spike shot up from the ground where he had just been standing.
Had he reacted even a second later, it would have impaled him.
"Who's there?" Hiruzen growled, eyes scanning the darkness. But his hands never stopped moving—he had already unfurled the sealing scroll, revealing intricate curse marks drawn onto its surface.
His senses were on high alert.
He quickly formed hand seals, pressing his palm onto the scroll while simultaneously keeping an eye on his surroundings.
At that very moment, his remaining Shadow Clones revealed themselves.
The three clones formed a triangular formation, encircling the Demon's body at the center.
Previously, only the first Shadow Clone had actively engaged in combat while the others had concealed themselves. Now, with their positions revealed, the clones moved swiftly to complete the sealing process.
But in that short period of time—
The Demon's head had already begun regenerating.
Without wasting a second, the three Shadow Clones released the seal from their scrolls.
A pale green light flashed, rapidly forming a triangular barrier that closed in around the Demon's body.
"Fuinjutsu—Binding Seal!"
Just as the green light enveloped the Upper-Rank Demon—
BOOM!
Suddenly, massive spikes—each nearly seven or eight meters long—erupted violently from the ground, forming a jagged cage around the Demon's body.
"What the hell is this?"
The three Shadow Clones immediately leapt back to avoid the unexpected attack.
But before they could react—
The ground beneath them collapsed.
Out of nowhere, countless spikes shot up from below, impaling two of the clones instantly.
Only one managed to evade in time.
And in that fleeting moment, he caught a glimpse of something monstrous.
Beneath the city, something was moving.
Something massive.
A creature was writhing beneath the earth.
What Hiruzen had seen wasn't its full form—only a tiny fraction of its body.
The "spikes" that had just emerged?
They weren't spikes at all.
They were teeth.
The Daimyō's Mansion was now missing an entire corner of its foundation. The ground had caved in, swallowed by the monstrous entity lurking below.
At the same time, the Upper-Rank Demon's body—still unfinished in its regeneration—was devoured by the underground creature.
And the moment it did—
Hiruzen felt it.
A dark, suffocating energy spread through the air.
The creature was growing stronger.
Before Hiruzen could analyze the situation further—
Countless fleshy tendrils burst from the creature's body, lunging toward him at terrifying speed.
There were too many to count.
Swinging his arm, Hiruzen unleashed a sharp burst of wind chakra, slicing through several of the appendages—
But within moments, they regrew as if nothing had happened.
"This thing can regenerate too?" Hiruzen muttered, preparing another jutsu.
But before he could react—
The tendrils surged toward him from all directions.
In an instant, he realized—
There was no way to dodge them all.
Just as the mass of writhing flesh was about to engulf him—
A cold, familiar voice spoke from behind.
"As expected of Lord Sarutobi."
"Even a Shadow Clone can force out the Primordial Demon…"
"This saves me the trouble."
Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly.
That voice…
It was him.
Turning his head sharply, he saw a familiar figure emerging from the shadows.
A man with pale skin, serpentine eyes, and a twisted smirk.
Orochimaru.
And from his words—it was clear.
He knew exactly what this creature was.
Before Hiruzen could demand answers—
The mass of fleshy tendrils surged forward, engulfing him completely.
The Shadow Clone disintegrated into a puff of white smoke.
And Orochimaru simply stood there—watching.
A chilling grin curled across his lips.
(End of Chapter)