"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 174: The Uchiha Attack (Part 1)
As dusk gradually deepened, Sakumo—who should have gone home from work—remained in his office instead.
Beneath his Hokage ceremonial cloak, Sakumo was fully armed, clearly in a battle-ready stance.
He had never witnessed the Nine-Tails' power firsthand, but he had seen the One-Tail's destructive force during the war.
Such creatures weren't something ordinary shinobi could defeat. Throughout the entire ninja world, only the legendary Sage of Six Paths, the God of Shinobi Hashirama, and his rival Madara Uchiha could overcome them.
If such a monster appeared in Konoha Village—
However...
Sakumo recalled a rumor that circulated throughout the ninja world.
The Uchiha clan could control the Nine-Tails.
"Terrible news, Lord Sakumo!"
An ANBU member suddenly burst in before Sakumo.
"What happened?!"
The moment he saw the ANBU, Sakumo immediately assumed something had gone wrong with the Nine-Tails.
"An intruder has breached the barrier! Base D has already fallen to the enemy, and Lord Jiraiya has gone ahead to investigate!"
"At a time like this?!"
Sakumo was shocked, but quickly steadied himself: "How many intruders are there? Which hidden village are they from?"
"Just one person! Identity unknown!"
One person?
At the base location.
Jiraiya stared grimly at the Konoha shinobi corpses scattered across the ground.
"Lord Jiraiya, the enemy appears to possess immortality and can transfer any damage they receive to others!"
After sacrificing twelve shinobi lives, the Konoha ninja who had rushed to the scene finally figured out the strange enemy's abilities and reported all known intelligence to Jiraiya.
"An immortal body that can transfer damage—when did the ninja world gain so many troublesome beings?"
Having recently battled Hanzō's reanimated corpse, Jiraiya felt his luck had been abysmal lately.
"What's wrong? Is this all the strength Konoha's shinobi possess? Come on, give me more—let me feel greater pain!"
Seeing the Leaf shinobi hesitate to advance, Hidan laughed maniacally, wildly swinging his triple-bladed scythe.
"Is that so? I really have been underestimated."
Though Jiraiya didn't understand how Hidan transferred damage, he decided to test the enemy personally.
Warning the nearby shinobi not to interfere, Jiraiya launched the first attack: "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Feeling the ground beneath his feet suddenly turn treacherously soft, Hidan quickly flung his scythe, embedding it in a tree trunk, then used the chain to escape the swamp's range.
"It's not over yet—Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya spat a fireball along Hidan's escape route.
"Tch, nothing but cheap tricks!"
Releasing the chain, Hidan dropped to the ground and charged toward where his scythe was embedded.
With two attacks failing to expose any weakness, Jiraiya decided to use even bolder tactics to probe for information.
Just as Konoha's attention was focused entirely on Hidan, Setsuna appeared at Konoha's main gate with his army.
"Who are you?!"
The two chūnin guarding the gate didn't even have time to question him before a sudden slash cut them in half at the waist—along with the gatehouse behind them.
"Hmph, attack!"
Setsuna waved his hand lightly, and the corpses under his command immediately charged through Konoha's gates.
Stepping on the bisected corpse beneath his feet, Setsuna's face beneath the mask twisted with madness.
"Konoha Village, I've returned! Kekekeke!"
His laughter cut off abruptly as Setsuna tilted his head to dodge a shuriken shot from the shadows, then activated his dōjutsu to sever the attacker's arm.
A corpse that had once been a Konoha shinobi seized the moment of the enemy's screams to drive a kunai deep, sending them to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
"Though I'd love to carve up your Hokage Rock, squabbling with dead stone clearly goes against the Uchiha clan's honor. Besides, letting you watch your beloved Konoha Village become ruins with your own eyes—now that's truly exhilarating."
No longer watching the distant battle, Setsuna followed White Zetsu's guidance toward Orochimaru's research facility.
Almost simultaneously, Sakumo received reports that Konoha's main gate was under attack.
With the gate also being assaulted, Sakumo could no longer remain seated—especially after hearing that the enemy included former Konoha comrades, which deeply disturbed him.
Pushing open the window, Sakumo leaped down and raced toward the gate.
"That flash of lightning—I see, so Konoha is under attack."
The commotion outside drew Sasori's attention, making him set aside the puppet components in his hands.
Pulling back the curtains, he saw a lightning-fast silhouette streak past, but Sasori still recognized Sakumo's identity.
This was an excellent opportunity. Though he didn't know who was attacking Konoha, Sakumo being drawn away worked perfectly in his favor.
"Let the enemy witness your power, strongest Kazekage in history..."
Sakumo quickly arrived at the most chaotic part of the battlefield.
With a single slash, he sent the head of a Rain shinobi flying—but surprisingly little blood flowed from the wound.
"Fourth Hokage, sir!"
The rescued shinobi was about to express gratitude, but upon looking up, realized it was their own Hokage.
"Don't lose focus—concentrate on the enemy!"
Sakumo's expression was grave, and he quickly noticed Konoha shinobi mixed among the enemy ranks.
"Why, Kazuya? Why did you betray Konoha?"
Knocking a weapon from an enemy's hand, Sakumo pierced the opponent's shoulder with his ninja blade and demanded answers.
"Lord Sakumo, they're no longer living! Someone with an unknown identity is controlling their corpses!" Another Konoha shinobi fighting the corpses urgently shared his discovery.
"Controlling corpses—such techniques... could this be Sunagakure?!"
In Sakumo's understanding, only Sunagakure's puppet techniques could achieve this.
Skilled puppeteers could even control living people.
As if to confirm Sakumo's suspicion, several poison needles suddenly shot from the shadows.
Drawing his ninja blade, he deflected the needles with a backhand strike, then instantly appeared at the enemy's ambush position.
His chakra-coated blade stabbed down viciously, but didn't pierce through the enemy as Sakumo had expected.
Using Hiruko's hardened back armor, Sasori blocked Sakumo's attack and swung his tail to strike back.
Every mechanism in Hiruko's body contained lethal poison—aside from Tsunade and Chiyo, no one could neutralize it.
However, Sasori's attack was far too slow for Sakumo; before the tail could reach him, Sakumo had already returned to his original position using Lightning Body Flicker.
Warily studying Hiruko, Sakumo began analyzing his opponent's abilities.
This short figure was undoubtedly a puppet—both its exceptional defensive power and the distinctive sounds it made while moving proved this point.
But Sakumo hadn't detected the chakra strings puppeteers used to control their puppets, and considering the opponent's posture...
I see—the real body must be hidden beneath the puppet itself.
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