Chapter 3: The Hidden Leaf Prepares to Strike the Hidden Cloud
With a thought, Ziyun felt the power of lightning surging through his body. In the next instant, a dazzling bolt burst out from within him.
"Two Million Volts: Thunderbird!"
Ziyun couldn't be bothered to come up with a name, so he used the one Enel had already named.
The lightning erupting from his body transformed midair into a giant bird that spread its wings and soared.
"This is bad, my control isn't in place!"
Ziyun immediately realized something was wrong. His development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit wasn't stable yet. The lightning didn't flow out the way he intended through his fingertips. Electricity was discharging from all parts of his body, as if it were slipping out of control.
A thunderous rumbling echoed through the entire laboratory. Lightning spread across the facility like a massive monster had invaded.
Some ANBU stationed outside could even see the leaking lightning with their own eyes.
"What's going on? Is someone attacking the laboratory?"
The ANBU responsible for guarding the place noticed the strange disturbance. After exchanging glances, one of them with sensory ability quickly formed hand seals to probe the area.
"It looks like there's no one inside the laboratory except Ziyun..."
The sensory shinobi shook his head. It didn't seem like an intruder.
"But the commotion is way too big. What if someone capable of blocking sensory techniques broke in?"
Feeling something was off, several ANBU looked at one another and decided to go in and see what was happening.
The disturbance was simply too large. Without elite jōnin-level strength, it would be hard to cause something like this.
If anything happened to Ziyun, and the Third Raikage held them accountable, they wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Ah! An intruder, an intruder!"
"Quick, report to the Raikage!"
The moment they entered, the ANBU members were terrified.
The entire laboratory was filled with uncontrolled lightning. The horrific scene made them doubt whether they had fallen into an illusion technique.
Lightning Release on such a massive scale required at least an S-rank technique to achieve.
Anyone who could use that level of technique had to be jōnin, or even an elite jōnin.
So their first instinct was that someone had infiltrated the laboratory, and they shouted in alarm.
"Get out, now! It's dangerous! Don't come in! No one is attacking! Leave this place!"
Hearing the ANBU voices, Ziyun shouted urgently. His control over lightning wasn't refined, and accidents could happen.
But as soon as he spoke, he knew it was too late. A blazing bolt shot out of his body and ricocheted wildly. Ziyun couldn't pull it back at all.
Several ANBU were struck by the lightning and collapsed to the ground.
Then the light exploded even brighter.
Above the Hidden Cloud Village, thunder rolled through the sky. A bolt like divine wrath slammed down onto the area above Ziyun's laboratory, causing a massive explosion.
............
"Did you see that just now?"
"I saw it… that lightning… it was terrifying!"
"Anyone hit by that would probably die."
At the same time, several Hidden Leaf shinobi on a mission in the Land of Frost, a neighboring country to the Land of Lightning, saw a sudden flash. A colossal bolt crashed down within the Land of Lightning, and by their estimate, it was near the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Could it be that genius from the Hidden Cloud Village developing a new technique again?" a jōnin suddenly said.
There was no helping it. Yotsuki Ziyun's ability to create techniques had already spread to other villages and gained a reputation. Otherwise, the Hidden Leaf would never have sent people to raid the Hidden Cloud's laboratory before.
"No… that's impossible, right? That kind of technique is already close to S-rank. A ten-year-old kid could create something that terrifying?" a chunin argued, feeling it was absurd.
"But that bolt didn't look like a natural disaster at all. Could the Hidden Cloud's tailed beast be rampaging?"
"Either way, we need to report this to the Hokage."
The Hidden Leaf shinobi looked at each other, all seeing the same heaviness in one another's eyes.
............
Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage Office.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat upright in the Hokage's seat, smoking a large pipe. In his hand was a scroll containing intelligence sent back from the Hidden Cloud Village.
It was about the massive explosion caused by Ziyun.
Hiruzen was in his prime, sharp and energetic, his hair still dark, carrying the bearing of a formidable leader, worthy of the title The Professor.
Of course, that was only how it looked to those who didn't know what lay beneath.
After reading the report and thinking for a moment, Hiruzen lifted his gaze toward Danzo Shimura, also still in his prime, and the two elders, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
The Hidden Leaf's top leadership was gathered here, showing how seriously they took the incident.
"According to the intelligence, that explosion wasn't caused by a tailed beast going berserk. It was caused by Yotsuki Ziyun. If I'm not mistaken, that lightning was from Yotsuki Ziyun researching a new technique," Hiruzen said, tapping the scroll, his tone heavy.
"A new technique?" Danzo and the two elders froze.
Another new technique had been developed. From the report, it was no weaker than an S-rank technique.
All three of their brows tightened.
"If I remember correctly, Yotsuki Ziyun is only a little over ten years old. To have this kind of talent… even Tobirama-sensei couldn't do this at that age," Koharu and Homura said, their expressions complicated.
The Hidden Leaf Village had become this strong largely because of its founders.
The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, distributed the tailed beasts, and beyond that, he secured for the Hidden Leaf the most fertile land in the entire shinobi world, leaving the village an enormous foundation.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, created many S-rank forbidden techniques.
Not only that, the Ninja Academy, ANBU, the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force, these institutions were all proposed and established during Tobirama's time, and after the results spread, the other villages followed suit.
With wealth and techniques, with two great founders leaving behind such a rich legacy, the Hidden Leaf produced geniuses without end.
But now, in another village, a child was displaying talent on par with Tobirama's. The Hidden Leaf's leadership could not sit still.
"We can't allow Yotsuki Ziyun to keep developing like this. We must strangle this genius in the cradle," Danzo said, a dark glint in his eyes.
He would not hesitate to harm even his own village's talents, let alone a shinobi from another village.
"That won't be easy. After the last operation failed, the Third Raikage reinforced security," Hiruzen said, drawing on his pipe, his heart weighed down.
Last time, the Hidden Leaf had dispatched multiple jōnin, even elite jōnin, hoping to steal Yotsuki Ziyun's techniques and eliminate him, but the Third Raikage stopped them.
The intelligence said the Third Raikage nearly killed the Hidden Leaf's elite jōnin instantly, and their jōnin couldn't even break the Third Raikage's defense.
If even jōnin couldn't penetrate his defense, that level of power made even Hiruzen unsure whether he could defeat the strongest Raikage in history head-on.
Trying to move against Ziyun under that kind of protection was extraordinarily difficult.
"Then are we just going to let him grow?" Danzo snapped. "Hiruzen, don't forget, the Hidden Sand and the Land of Rain are starting to stir. War could break out. Once it does, the Hidden Leaf won't have the leisure to worry about the Hidden Cloud."
"While Yotsuki Ziyun hasn't matured, this is the best time to kill him."
Danzo spoke harshly, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes.
He had long been interested in Ziyun's techniques and wanted them for himself, but the previous raid failed, costing Danzo several Root members.
Fortunately, those members had disguised themselves as Hidden Mist shinobi, so the Hidden Cloud did not aim its spear at the Hidden Leaf.
If they didn't act again now, it would only get worse once Ziyun grew.
"Fine. But this operation must be precise. We need a single strike that guarantees death," Hiruzen finally said.
In the end, Hiruzen decided to eliminate the Hidden Cloud's genius while he was still in the cradle.
"Don't worry. I've already found the right person," Danzo said with a cold smile, an ideal candidate appearing in his mind.