Late at night.
The full moon hung high in the sky.
On the seaside cliff of Eagle's Beak, four Konoha shinobi were casually chatting as they stood watch.
Suddenly, one of them squinted toward the ocean, then pointed urgently and said, "Captain, look—what's that?"
The team leader immediately followed his line of sight.
Far across the dark ocean, several small black dots were rapidly approaching.
He stared hard, trying to identify them.
The next second, his expression changed dramatically.
"Send the signal! We're under attack!"
But no one responded.
A faint, metallic scent of blood reached his nose.
Sensing something was off, the captain turned his head instinctively.
Behind him—unnoticed—stood two figures in black cloaks and masks, already having appeared at some point.
His three comrades had been silently slaughtered, their throats slit clean.
"Kirigakure ANBU?"
The captain, Ikeda Takeshi, muttered in disbelief as his eyes locked onto the swirling, mist-like pattern on the attackers' masks.
He quickly tried to back away.
But—it was too late.
Shk!
A chilling sound echoed as a blade pierced flesh.
One of the Mist ANBU drove his kunai straight into Ikeda Takeshi's chest, striking the heart.
Pffft—
Blood spewed from Ikeda's mouth.
He gritted his teeth, trying to scream a warning.
But just as he opened his mouth, another kunai swept across his throat, silencing him forever.
Not a single warning signal was sent.
Ikeda Takeshi's entire squad was eliminated in mere seconds.
After completing their task, the two Kirigakure ANBU looked at each other and nodded silently.
Without sparing a glance at the corpses, they continued deeper into Eagle's Beak Cliff—toward the inner stronghold.
After about a few dozen meters, two more masked Mist ANBU emerged from behind a large boulder.
Clad in the same cloaks and bearing the same silent menace.
One of the newcomers caught a whiff of the blood and asked in a raspy voice, "How'd it go?"
"Smooth. The covert sentries are taken care of," replied the other in a low tone.
Naturally, the four shinobi guarding the front weren't the only sentries Konoha had stationed there. In secret, there was another covert squad monitoring the surrounding terrain.
Usually, this double-layered defense—a visible and an invisible squad—would be enough to raise the alarm in time, even during a surprise attack.
But not tonight.
Kirigakure had gone all-in.
They dispatched elite ANBU, their strength far beyond that of the two small Konoha squads. The Konoha shinobi had no time to react.
Combined with the fact that things had been quiet for days, many of them had lowered their guard.
These two factors sealed their fate.
Once the ANBU confirmed that both the visible and hidden sentries were taken out, they didn't advance any further.
Instead, they concealed themselves, waiting for the main force to arrive.
Their objective was simple: ensure the Mist's presence wasn't discovered too early.
And now that the objective was complete, there was no need to move further.
This decision was correct.
Yes, they had easily eliminated Ikeda's squad—but that didn't mean they could move freely.
The closer to the main base they got, the tighter Konoha's defenses would be.
If they had pressed forward, their presence would've been detected within minutes.
And once discovered, all surprise would be lost.
Fortunately, these were Kirigakure's elite ANBU—veterans with ample combat experience.
They didn't act impulsively, which left Konoha completely unaware of the Mist's presence.
That, in turn, set the stage for disaster.
Inside his quarters...
Uchiha Haruki was fast asleep.
Suddenly, the piercing sound of a signal whistle cut through the night.
In the blink of an eye, Haruki's eyes snapped open—his Sharingan instantly activating into three tomoe.
Grabbing the sheath beside his bed, he sprang to his feet.
BOOM—
A violent explosion shook the air.
Haruki immediately recognized the sound—detonation tags.
Then came the clamor of shouts and weapons clashing.
"Kirigakure?"
He whispered under his breath.
In the next second, he was outside.
Expanding his sensory perception, Haruki instantly detected a large number of unfamiliar chakra signatures.
With a few swift leaps, he arrived at the highest point of the outpost—and saw a massive force of Mist ninja swarming the perimeter.
Their numbers…
Far exceeded any previous assault.
At a glance, there were 500 to 600 enemy shinobi.
As the outer Konoha patrols began to fall back in disarray, Haruki didn't hesitate.
His hands flew into motion, forming seals—
Wind Release: Wings of Wind!
Chakra wings sprouted behind him, lifting him off the ground as he soared toward the battlefield.
Crossing above the intense combat below, Haruki bypassed both sides and went straight to the rear of the Kirigakure forces.
There, enemy reinforcements were still gathering.
He didn't waste time—his hands formed seals again:
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A small fireball erupted from his mouth, rapidly expanding into a blazing sphere four to five meters wide, and hurtled toward the Mist shinobi.
Feeling the wave of heat, a Mist genin looked up.
His eyes widened as he whispered, "What is that...?"
BOOM—
The fireball landed and exploded, turning the surrounding ground into a sea of flames, instantly engulfing over a dozen Mist shinobi.
Agonized screams erupted as they writhed in the inferno, looking more like demons than humans.
The sheer brutality of it stunned the surrounding Mist troops.
But Haruki didn't care.
He had one goal—to delay the Mist's advance as long as possible.
Only by doing that could the Konoha ninja inside the outpost buy time to regroup and organize a defense.
Otherwise, the entire stronghold might fall.
He redirected mid-air, locked onto another dense cluster of enemies, and unleashed another jutsu:
Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!
A fiery dragon burst from his mouth, roaring into the crowd and igniting everything in its path.
Once again, screams rang out.
Haruki didn't pause to assess damage.
Flapping his chakra wings, he soared to a new location and launched another fire attack.
Another Dragon Fire Technique—
Another firestorm.
He kept moving—strike, vanish, strike again—never lingering in one place.
The Mist shinobi couldn't get a lock on him.
His hit-and-run tactics threw the rear lines of the Mist force into chaos, slowing their momentum.
Their push stalled.