The walls of Uzumaki Village collapsed with a tremendous roar.
Cloud ninja poured through the gaps in the walls.
The large river, Rago River, running through Uzumaki Village, had barricades at the village's edges—water could pass, but boats could not without permission.
The Mist ninja destroyed the barricades and leapt into the village from the river.
On the southern bank of the village lived ordinary villagers, merchants, and laborers.
Cloud and Mist ninja set fire to every building, dragging villagers out of their homes and slaughtering them one by one.
Through this bloody display, they sent a message to the Uzumaki clan: if they couldn't obtain the top-level sealing techniques, they would not stop tonight.
Knowing the crucial intelligence and with no support from Konoha, the Cloud and Mist ninja acted with complete recklessness.
Yoru lowered his telescope and glanced toward Danzo.
Danzo's area remained completely calm.
Three squad captains and two assistant advisors were silent, still as dead trees, waiting for Danzo's orders.
Yoru was puzzled—shouldn't Konoha have acted immediately to rescue Uzumaki Kushina?
The numbers of Cloud and Mist ninja were enough for a local war with Konoha. Delay meant Kushina could be captured or killed.
At that moment, a barrier suddenly appeared inside Uzumaki Village!
The Four Purple Flame Formation!
On the northern bank, a rectangular Four Purple Flame Formation rose, surrounding most of the area.
Its dark purple glow, illuminated by surrounding fires, looked almost solid.
The Uzumaki clan excelled not only in sealing techniques but also in barrier jutsu—or rather, barrier jutsu was a specialized form of sealing.
A reckless Cloud ninja leaped into midair, holding his ninja sword inverted, and struck at the barrier with all his strength.
The ninja's impatience proved fatal; his body collided with the barrier and was instantly incinerated.
The Four Purple Flame Formation's temperature was extreme; any living thing hitting it would be rapidly carbonized by the purple flames.
Witnessing this, the Mist ninja unleashed a combined water-style attack.
Using the village's central river as a water source, the water jutsu consumed very little chakra.
Torrents of water crashed toward the Four Purple Flame Formation.
Waves were burned by the barrier, generating even more water vapor.
The mist rose high, instantly enveloping Uzumaki Village entirely.
Judging from the scale of the mist, the Four Purple Flame Formation held immense energy and extraordinary resilience.
Yoru thought: no wonder Danzo remained so calm; he must know Uzumaki Village's trump card.
The Four Purple Flame Formation could hold for a while.
Normally, if they could just hold out and wait for Konoha's reinforcements, the crisis in Uzumaki Village could be reversed.
But now, normal reasoning could not be applied.
It was uncertain whether the Uzumaki clan, upon realizing Konoha's true stance, would fall into despair.
Unfortunately, the villagers outside the barrier were doomed.
The Cloud and Mist ninja's slaughter moved from the outskirts toward the village center.
Where there was fire, there was death.
The spear heron flew overhead but didn't know how to retaliate—its attacks would only accelerate the villagers' deaths.
The Spirit Turtle opened its huge mouth, blowing fierce winds that dispersed the lingering mist over the village.
With the mist cleared somewhat, Yoru could see more clearly.
Through his telescope, he saw representatives of the Cloud and Mist ninja negotiating with the Uzumaki clan inside the Four Purple Flame Formation.
Inside the formation was the village leader, also head of the Uzumaki clan, gritting his teeth and saying each word deliberately:
"Konoha and Uzumaki Village! You will pay double for this!"
The Mist Village representative, Fuguki Suikazan, wielding the samehada sword, replied:
"Konoha may seek revenge on us, but whether Uzumaki Village survives depends entirely on your choice.
Let's make a deal: hand over your secret sealing techniques, and we'll leave immediately.
No tricks—if I can seal that enormous Spirit Turtle with your techniques, then the deal is done.
You'd better hurry, or all the villagers of Uzumaki Village will be killed.
If you refuse, I'll have to obtain your techniques from your corpses.
Such a tiny village dares to covet the Three-Tails of our village—what's next, the Two-Tails of Cloud Village?
Do you think you're Hashirama Senju, trying to collect all the tailed beasts?"
Nearby, Uzumaki Yuka listened to the argument and looked up at the sky.
The area enclosed by the Four Purple Flame Formation was vast, without a top.
If the situation became critical, she would use the Long Spear White Heron to escort Princess Kushina out.
Watching the villagers being slaughtered outside, Yuka felt her heart tighten in pain.
Among the dead were women selling breakfast, men pushing carts, and elderly ladies sunning themselves at street corners.
The vibrant people from her memories were dying one by one.
To apply pressure, the Cloud and Mist ninja deliberately drove villagers to the edge of the barrier, killing them there.
Thick blood flowed on the ground, turning into black-gray vapor when it touched the Four Purple Flame Formation.
All civilians hated the ninja; when a ninja killed, they were as cruel as beasts.
Ninja training focused on the art of killing—both the ability and the mindset.
Yuka closed her eyes in pain, but the screams never stopped.
The Uzumaki clan didn't want to abandon the villagers outside, but the enemy had appeared too suddenly and in overwhelming numbers.
Recon ninja stationed at the outskirts had been revealed by a spy to the Mist and Cloud ninja.
The enemy targeted each recon team precisely, attacking simultaneously.
Only when the walls were breached did Uzumaki Village realize it was under attack.
The number of Mist and Cloud ninja was staggering—perhaps prepared for a potential conflict with Konoha.
All they could do was hope Konoha discovered the ninja early, and that reinforcements would arrive in time.
Which spy had leaked Uzumaki Village's perimeter defenses? That remained unknown.
On the mountaintop, Yoru saw a bit of chaos below.
An Anbu squad, accompanied by two Uzumaki ninja, entered the barrier.
One Uzumaki ran excitedly toward Danzo:
"Lord Danzo! Konoha indeed knew in advance about the Mist and Cloud ninja ambush!
Please lead Konoha ninja to rescue our village immediately!"
He was so excited he hadn't expected Konoha to be so close to Uzumaki Village.
The other Uzumaki ninja was sweating profusely.
He nervously looked at the barrier, recognizing it as a stealth barrier.
Why wouldn't Konoha enter directly and instead position a stealth barrier?
Yoru roughly guessed Danzo's intentions. He took a kunai from his pouch.
Should he show his skills in front of the leader?
After thinking it over, he decided against it.
If he entered Danzo's sight, it could be disastrous.
Captain Yomi personally struck, instantly killing one Uzumaki ninja.
Almost simultaneously, the Black Chimp Captain killed another sneaky Uzumaki ninja who had been surveying the stealth barrier.
From start to finish, Danzo didn't move his eyes.
His eyes remained fixed on Uzumaki Village.