Leaping atop a building, Ye Zi made no effort to evade the Konoha shinobi closing in from all directions. North, south, east, and west... There were dozens of figures surrounded him, their intent to capture or kill unmistakable.
This was precisely what Ye Zi wanted.
The crowd's voices rose, their anger palpable. "How dare you attack our village!"
"Unforgivable!"
"Die, you monster!"
Dozens of Konoha shinobi hurled their most potent jutsu at Ye Zi, a dazzling array of elemental attacks surging toward him. Shuriken and kunai flew like a deadly storm, gleaming with malice as they rained down.
But Ye Zi was faster.
With a single flash of motion, he vanished, appearing high above the battlefield, well beyond the reach of their attacks. Below him, the ground erupted with the failed convergence of elemental techniques and weapons, the resulting explosion rocking the residential district.
From his elevated perch, Ye Zi surveyed the destruction.
The buildings of Konoha, meticulously planned and lovingly built, now stood scarred. Though the civilians had been evacuated, their homes were collateral damage in this desperate defense.
"Up there!" someone shouted, pointing to Ye Zi's new position in the sky.
The shinobi quickly regrouped, redirecting their attacks upward. But Ye Zi was ready.
As the shinobi readied their second wave, a massive stone pillar erupted from the ground. Rising with startling speed, it carried Ye Zi aloft, providing him with a vantage point to oversee the chaos. Perched atop the column, he performed a series of hand seals. His serpent-like eyes gleamed with lethal intent.
Below him, the earth and stone began to tremble. The rooftops twisted and contorted, their surfaces morphing unnaturally as if coming alive.
"What's happening?" The shinobi shouted in alarm, leaping from the rooftops to avoid the unstable surfaces.
As they did, massive tree roots shot upward from the writhing buildings, snaring the shinobi midair. Like serpents, the roots wrapped around their legs and hoisted them high above the ground.
"This... this is Mokuton!" a seasoned shinobi gasped, recognizing the Wood Release jutsu. "The power of the First Hokage!"
One shinobi managed to slice through the roots binding him with a chakra-infused blade. But before he could land, more roots surged from the earth, binding him tighter than before.
"Damn it!"
"Let me go!"
The Konoha shinobi struggled in vain as their formation crumbled.
The houses continued their grotesque transformation. Stones and wood interwove unnaturally, neither merging nor clashing but coexisting in a surreal blend of Mokuton and the surrounding rock. Tree branches wove through stone walls like tendrils, while boulders reshaped themselves to complement the wood's movements.
From his elevated position, Ye Zi shifted his gaze from the captured shinobi to the horizon. In the distance, ten plumes of smoke rose from different parts of Konoha. Faintly, the sounds of distant battles reached his ears, the clashes caused by Orochimaru's Edo Tensei forces and summoned beasts, as well as Sasori and Shin's assault.
The summoned beasts rampaged freely, crushing buildings and drawing Konoha's forces into chaotic skirmishes. However, the true threat lay in the Edo Tensei corps. With only twenty reanimated shinobi, their unending chakra and immortality turned them into relentless killing machines.
Ye Zi's enhanced sensory abilities pinpointed each combat zone. His expression darkened as his senses collided with another powerful force.
He turned his gaze toward the Hokage Rock. Specifically, to the area below it.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was there, and their sensory abilities clashed in an unseen but undeniable battle.
The invisible confrontation was like two blades crossing paths, cold and calculating. Though no words or emotions could be conveyed through their senses, both men knew one truth:
When they finally met face to face, there would be no room for anything but fury.
Pain and fury are directly proportional—so surely, there will be anger!
Atop the Hokage Office, Minato stood in his iconic red and white cloak, his sharp eyes fixed on the distant stone pillar. His azure gaze burned with a palpable, almost tangible rage.
Surrounding him stood dozens of masked Anbu operatives, with Shikaku Nara positioned at the forefront of the group.
"Shikaku, I'll leave the strategic response to you," Minato said, his jaw clenched as he continued to glare at the far-off figure of Ye Zi atop the pillar. His fury was barely contained.
Shikaku nodded gravely, his expression matching the tension in the air. "Leave it to me. Once the orders are dispatched, I'll join the battle."
Ye Zi's unexpected assault on Konoha had caught everyone off guard. His presence in the village suggested that the squad sent to intercept him earlier had likely met a grim fate.
Currently, the reanimated Edo Tensei shinobi wreaking havoc across the village needed to be dealt with swiftly. Shikaku's top priority was to deploy the sealing teams to assist in neutralizing the immortal adversaries.
However, just as the gathered forces began preparing to disperse, they all froze in place.
In the distance, something horrifying was happening.
For Ye Zi, while locking eyes with Minato from afar, had initiated a deadly strike on the nearly one hundred Konoha shinobi ensnared in his grasp.
The scene unfolding was brutal and horrifyingly grand.
It was a calculated display of devastation...
A message to Minato. A declaration of war. A demonstration of Ye Zi's wrath and power.
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Currently on Chapter 471 - Kimimaro's Strength