Chapter 158: Shocked Kumogakure Ninja
The moment the Kumogakure shinobi stepped onto the mountain platform, their eyes widened—and their minds went blank.
For a long, stunned heartbeat, not one of them could comprehend what they were seeing.
The village… was gone.
The sprawling streets and stone-paved plazas of Kumogakure had vanished without a trace. The proud wooden homes and training grounds carved into the mountain cliffs—obliterated. All that remained was a sea of rubble and ash, a silent wasteland beneath the morning sun.
And at the center of it all… a vast crater.
Smoke curled lazily upward from its depths, carrying with it a stench so vile that even the most battle-hardened shinobi flinched. It was a smell they knew all too well—the acrid, greasy stench of burning flesh.
A dark premonition rippled through the group.
The lead jōnin swallowed hard. "No… this can't be—"
They rushed forward, boots scraping across cracked stone, and stopped at the crater's edge. What they saw inside made several of the younger shinobi recoil in horror.
Charred bodies—hundreds of them—lay piled within the pit. Some were twisted beyond recognition, others still faintly burning in the residual flames. The sheer scale of death froze them where they stood.
A chūnin screamed, stumbling backward, barely saved from tumbling into the pit by a comrade's quick grab.
The stench hit them again, stronger this time, forcing bile up their throats. One of the chūnin gagged violently, dropping to his knees and dry-heaving into the dirt.
Far above them, hidden among the ridges of the surrounding cliffs, Konoha's sentries noticed the commotion.
"Looks like we've got visitors," murmured a Leaf jōnin with a faint smirk.
Another, a Hyūga, activated his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulging as his vision swept across the ruins below. "Ten jōnin… several dozen chūnin. They came from the valley."
The sensory-nin beside him nodded grimly. "Too many for us to handle alone."
Without hesitation, the Hyūga turned and leapt down the slope to the camp, moving swiftly toward the main tent.
Moments later, he was kneeling outside a sleeping figure. "Advisor Hiashi," he whispered urgently. "We've detected enemy forces—ten Cloud jōnin and a number of chūnin."
Hyūga Hiashi stirred, rubbing his temples as he sat up. "Ten jōnin?" he repeated, his voice still thick with sleep. After a brief pause, his expression hardened. "Don't wake the Hokage. I'll handle this."
He rose, fastening his flak jacket and stepping into the early light. "We'll do as Hokage-sama commanded—no survivors."
Within minutes, twenty elite Konoha jōnin were assembled around him, silent and grim. Hiashi surveyed them with cold precision.
"Double their strength. They have ten jōnin; we strike with twenty. Make it clean."
The group nodded once, their chakra signatures flaring briefly before vanishing as they melted into the shadows.
From the cliffs, they descended silently, encircling the Cloud shinobi who were still frozen before the crater.
Down below, the Kumogakure survivors were too dazed to sense the danger creeping toward them. Their attention was locked on the pit, on the horror that had been their home.
Then—
A flicker of chakra.
Dozens of Konoha hands blurred through seals in perfect synchronization.
"—Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
"—Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
"—Lightning Release: Thunder Fang!"
The combined assault came down like a storm. Explosions tore through the ruins, light and flame engulfing the Cloud shinobi before they could even shout.
Only a handful of the jōnin managed to react, flickering away with substitution jutsu. But it made no difference.
The Konoha force had already closed the trap.
A second wave of ninjutsu roared to life—wind and flame intertwining, shattering the last resistance. Screams echoed for a moment, then faded beneath the roar of fire.
When the smoke cleared, nothing remained but scorched ground and the smell of burnt chakra.
Hiashi gave a curt nod. "Throw the bodies into the pit."
The Konoha jōnin obeyed without a word, tossing the corpses into the crater and igniting them once more with a volley of Fire Release.
Soon, the flames were burning high again, and the reek of blood and ash filled the morning air.
Satisfied, Hiashi activated his Byakugan for one last sweep. "No more enemies nearby," he reported calmly. "Let's return."
The group withdrew silently, vanishing back into the mountains.
By afternoon, the camp had awakened. The surviving Leaf ninjas, weary but disciplined, began preparing food from the supplies they'd brought.
Hiashi personally carried a tray of freshly cooked rice and grilled fish to the Hokage's tent—only to be stopped by Uchiha Yashiro, who stood at the entrance like a silent shadow.
"Advisor Hiashi," Yashiro said politely, "Hokage-sama is still resting. I'll deliver the food."
Hiashi's smile was strained. "Very well. Then I'll trouble you, Yashiro."
He turned and walked away, concealing his irritation.
Inside the tent, Uchiha Fugaku sat awake, eyes glowing faintly crimson in the dim light. The Eternal Mangekyō reflected the faint blue of the translucent panel floating before him—visible only to him.
"Clan Leader," Yashiro said, placing the food on the table. "Advisor Hiashi brought your meal."
"Leave it," Fugaku replied absently, his gaze fixed on the glowing symbols hovering before him.
Yashiro bowed and stepped out, leaving the Hokage alone once more.
Fugaku leaned back slightly, chopsticks idle in his hand. The upgraded system's new interface shimmered faintly—now displaying tabs labeled Shop, Missions, and more.
But most were grayed out, still locked.
"Interesting," he murmured, tapping the translucent icon. "Let's see what else you're hiding."
The Eternal Mangekyō glinted with quiet anticipation as he began exploring the newly awakened system that might soon reshape the entire shinobi world.
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