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Twilight.
The setting sun dyed the sky orange-red.
Above the sea of trees, two thousand figures moved quickly.
Nearly a day of forced march had exhausted this elite unit.
But the news of Kumogakure's invasion kept them all pushing forward.
Yet the closer they got to Konoha, the stronger their worry grew.
It was too quiet.
There was no sound of battle as expected.
No rising flames.
They couldn't even sense any chakra waves from a fight.
Just then, the team's speed suddenly slowed.
The shinobi at the very front stopped all at once on a giant treetop.
"What is that?"
"A wall... such a tall wall..."
"When did the village build such a high wall?"
Shouts began to spread.
Kakashi, after a few leaps, arrived at the front of the team and looked up.
On the outskirts of the village, a towering earthen wall stood between heaven and earth.
It surrounded the entire village of Konoha.
The light of the setting sun spilled onto the wall, casting large shadows and giving people a sense of mental pressure.
When did Konoha get such a city wall?
"Keep moving!" Holding back the shock in his heart, Kakashi gave the order.
The two thousand strong unit started again, rushing toward the high wall with endless confusion and worry.
When they finally reached the base of the wall, everyone stopped, stunned by the sight before them.
Outside the wall was a destroyed land.
Giant craters.
Charred grooves.
Broken trees.
And the unpleasant smell of blood mixed with gunpowder.
All of these spoke of the intensity of the battle that had taken place not long ago.
But none of this was what shocked them the most.
People!
Thousands of people!
Thousands of people, all disarmed, divided into square groups, kneeling on the ground.
The same expression hung on all their faces.
Numb, empty.
And guarding them were shinobi in Konoha uniforms.
Only their numbers were much smaller, less than a third of the prisoners.
What exactly was going on?
"Kakashi!"
Minato appeared on the wall, then instantly arrived in front of Kakashi.
"Sensei! Here..." Kakashi eagerly wanted to ask.
"You've worked hard. The battle is over." Minato interrupted him, rubbing his brow tiredly.
"Over?"
Kakashi and the Konoha shinobi who had arrived behind him exchanged glances, their gazes sweeping back and forth between Konoha and Kumogakure.
This was over?
Hard to understand.
"Yes, it's over!" Minato explained right away. "It was the daimyo who did it."
"The daimyo?"
"Hmm, he alone defeated Kumogakure's main force and held down the Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki."
Minato's story was calm, but to Kakashi and the others, it was nothing short of a thunderclap.
One person?
Defeated thousands of Kumogakure shinobi?
Held down the Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki?
Are you kidding?
Kakashi stood frozen on the spot.
He remembered the new daimyo who had emerged victorious in the court struggles and risen to the throne with lightning speed.
Wasn't he just an ordinary person?
To have such terrifying power?
After hearing this news, everyone fell silent.
At the same time, in Konoha village, at the interrogation department, in the dark, damp room, only a solitary lamp swayed.
The air was mixed with the smell of blood and disinfectant.
Mabui was tightly bound by chakra seal chains, her white hair soaked with sweat, clinging to her bloodless cheeks.
Her delicate figure was covered in whip marks, a shocking sight.
Yet she still clenched her teeth, refusing to say anything.
Ibiki Morino stood in front of her, his face empty of any expression.
But those who knew him knew this was a sign his patience was running out.
In the observation room next door.
"This woman has real backbone!" Tsunade's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
"Besides directly destroying her brain, Ibiki has used every method he can." Nara Shikaku looked worried.
Hiruzen's expression was serious, and he remained silent.
How did Kumogakure manage to secretly send thousands of troops to Konoha's doorstep?
Unless this question was cleared up, Konoha would never have peace!
Just as everyone was at a loss, the door to the observation room was pushed open.
Shin walked in, followed by two Anbu.
"Daimyo-sama."
Everyone quickly rose and bowed.
Shin waved his hand casually, his gaze falling on the one-way glass.
Looking at Mabui in the interrogation room, he asked, "No results yet?"
"Yes, my lord." Nara Shikaku lowered his head in shame. "The other party's will is very firm. We..."
Shin didn't speak, just watched quietly.
Mabui. This name, this skin color, instantly triggered his memories from his previous life.
The secretary of the Fourth Raikage of Hidden Cloud Village.
It seemed she knew a very special jutsu.
What was it called again?
Heavenly Transfer. Yes, it was the Heavenly Transfer Jutsu!
A super long-distance summoning ninjutsu that could instantly send objects at the speed of light to any location in the shinobi world.
However, this jutsu had a fatal flaw.
It could not send living beings.
Because that terrifying speed and the energy impact during the sending process were enough to tear any living thing into pieces.
Since it couldn't send living people, then how did the Kumogakure army get here?
Memories kept forming in Shin's mind.
This shouldn't be absolute.
The limitations of a jutsu often also point to the direction of a breakthrough.
If it couldn't send living people, then was it possible to set up a device that could receive living people?
A large-scale space-time ninjutsu formation?
This guess was bold, but it was the most reasonable explanation at the moment.
The Raikage dared to put the entire Land of Lightning on the gambling table, so he must have his trump card.
A smile began to appear on Shin's face.
Whether it was or not, he would know if he tried.
He whispered a few words to one of the Anbu behind him.
The Anbu bowed and left to carry out the order.
The next moment, that Anbu reappeared beside Ibiki and whispered a few words to him.
Ibiki's expression changed from serious to shocked, and finally to sudden understanding.
So that's it!
He looked at Mabui, who was already in a half-conscious state on the torture rack, and said slowly, "I know!"
In the observation room, Tsunade and the others were completely confused.
"What did the daimyo tell Ibiki?"
"I don't know, but judging by Ibiki's expression, there must have been a breakthrough." Nara Shikaku stared hard at the interrogation room.
Inside the interrogation room, Ibiki walked up to Mabui and used a clean cloth to wipe the blood from her face.
The movement was gentle, but it made Mabui tremble.
"Your will is admirable." Ibiki's voice was calm. "But what holds up your will is your loyalty to Kumogakure, your respect for the Raikage, your pride in this operation, isn't it?"
Mabui didn't speak, just glared at him hatefully.
"I know you, Mabui." Ibiki smiled. "The Fourth Raikage's secretary, and also the only person with the Heavenly Transfer Jutsu in Hidden Cloud Village."
His words made Mabui clearly stiffen.
Ibiki sharply caught this detail and continued to apply pressure.
"A great jutsu that can instantly send supplies thousands of miles away."
"But it cannot send living people."
"So I'm very curious..." Ibiki leaned down and continued, staring into Mabui's eyes. "How exactly did you three thousand people get here?"
Mabui still didn't speak.
Ibiki shrugged. "Actually, even if you don't say it, I can guess!"
"Since your secret jutsu belongs to space ninjutsu!"
"Then developing another space ninjutsu that can send people should also be possible."
"At the very least, you are one of the main people behind it."
Mabui's originally scattered consciousness recovered slightly, and her eyes became much more lively.
But she still didn't speak.
Ibiki didn't care and continued, "But to send thousands of people over, the scale of the formation must be huge."
"The amount of chakra required must also be huge."
"..."
As Ibiki kept guessing, Mabui's eyes slowly widened.
No!
Impossible!
This was the highest rank secret of Hidden Cloud Village!
Looking at Mabui's slowly crumbling defenses, Ibiki smiled.
He straightened up and said, word by word.
"It seems that the formation that the Raikage and his suicide squad risked their lives to sneak in and set up did not serve its intended purpose."
"What a pathetic failure."
Mabui let out a scoff. "So what if you guessed correctly? Do you know what the jutsu formula is?"
"Hmph, I won't say!"
"It doesn't matter!" Ibiki shook his head. "For such an important jutsu, Kumogakure will definitely make backups!"
"And you all will definitely hand over the jutsu to us!"
"I wonder if the lives of the Raikage and the Eight-Tails are worth this jutsu!"
"Oh! Right!"
"And the three thousand Kumogakure shinobi..."
Looking at the increasingly broken Mabui, Ibiki revealed a cruel smile.