Kakashi glanced sideways at Guy. "Then what do you think it was?"
Guy's face was unusually serious. "I think… it might've been the Nine-Tails."
He didn't yet know that Naruto was Kakashi's student.
Kakashi said nothing. Of course, he knew that wasn't true.
Guy crossed his arms, brows furrowing. "Kakashi, I'm telling you—it has to be the jinchūriki. Who else could unleash that kind of destruction?"
The explosion had reshaped the entire terrain behind Konoha. Mountains split. Valleys collapsed. Only something like a Tailed Beast Bomb could do that.
If Guy knew what kind of monsters Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha once were, he might've understood there were humans who could. But those legends had long passed into myth.
As the two spoke, the sound of a cane tapping against the stone floor echoed across the rooftop.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, approached slowly, flanked by ANBU. His expression was solemn.
"Kakashi," he began, "how's Naruto's condition?"
Even the Hokage suspected it was the boy's doing. After all, jinchūriki losing control wasn't rare among the Five Great Nations. Very few hosts ever reached true balance with their beasts.
But Kakashi shook his head. "Lord Hokage… I don't believe it was Naruto."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. He'd expected Kakashi to defend his student—but hearing it aloud still made him uneasy.
He respected Kakashi's judgment deeply, but the evidence… it all pointed one way.
Still, the old man couldn't forget how much faith he'd placed in the boy.
From the moment he assigned Naruto to Team 7, he had already envisioned the next generation of leaders.
In his mind, the next Hokage would come from one of two people—Naruto Uzumaki or Sasuke Uchiha.
Both represented different hopes for Konoha's future:
Naruto, the will of fire reborn; Sasuke, the redemption of a fallen clan.
That was why Hiruzen needed to believe neither of them had done this.
But the destruction at the rear mountains… was something only a tailed beast could accomplish.
He turned to Kakashi with a firm, almost disappointed look.
"Kakashi, you do understand the seriousness of this incident."
Kakashi's reply came calm, unwavering.
"Yes, Lord Hokage. But tell me this—if it were Naruto, who stopped him?"
That question hung in the air like a kunai at the throat.
"Who in the village," Kakashi continued, "besides you, could suppress a fully rampaging Nine-Tails? If he had really lost control, the entire village would already be in ruins. Yet after that single explosion—silence."
Hiruzen froze.
Kakashi's reasoning was sharp—and irrefutable. If it had been Naruto, the situation wouldn't have ended in one blast. There'd have been waves of destruction, not stillness.
And just like that, the Hokage had his answer—and an excuse to protect the boy.
"...Very well," Hiruzen said at last, exhaling smoke from his pipe. "I'll order ANBU to investigate. In the meantime, raise the alert level across the village."
He gave Kakashi a knowing look. "Good work."
With that, he led the gathered jōnin toward the blast site.
When the Third Hokage and his escort reached the rear mountains, even the old war veteran fell silent.
The sight before them was… unreal.
A crater hundreds of meters wide yawned before them, its depths still smoldering with faint golden sparks. The ground was cracked like shattered glass. Trees had been reduced to dust.
"This level of devastation…" Hiruzen murmured. "…only a Tailed Beast Bomb could do this. Or perhaps… one of them."
He didn't say the names aloud.
But everyone there knew who he meant — Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
The two titans of the past — the gods of the shinobi world.
For a long moment, the Hokage said nothing, staring into the pit with his pipe trembling slightly in his hand.
Kakashi's earlier argument still held: there was no trace of the Nine-Tails' chakra anywhere. Normally, the area would have been drenched in the beast's residual energy.
But here, there was nothing.
It couldn't have been Naruto.
Which made the truth far more terrifying.
If a human had done this — a twelve-year-old, no less — then Konoha was housing power on par with the gods of legend.
Hiruzen's face darkened.
If such a power belonged to Konoha, it could be protected. Controlled.
But if it came from outside the village… then the entire shinobi world might be on the verge of another era of chaos.
He turned to his gathered shinobi. Asuma, Kurenai, Guy, Kakashi—each of them stared at the crater in stunned silence.
Even Guy's usual confidence had vanished.
"Even if I opened the Seventh Gate," he muttered, "I couldn't come close to this…"
Kakashi said nothing. Even seeing it twice, his chest tightened with unease.
He still couldn't believe Arata had survived the blast.
The boy's strength wasn't just talent anymore—it was something beyond human.
Hiruzen exhaled slowly. "I don't know if this was one of our own… or an intruder. But if it's someone inside the village, I'd rather that than the alternative."
Kurenai frowned. "You'd rather such power belonged to Konoha?"
Hiruzen nodded grimly. "If they're one of us, we can guide them. If they're not…" His gaze darkened. "Then the shinobi world is about to meet another being that can stand beside the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara."
The entire group fell silent.
After a long pause, the Hokage turned to his ANBU guards.
"Seal off this area. Increase surveillance. And from this moment forward, tonight's events are classified. If anyone asks…"
He took a deep drag from his pipe.
"…tell them ANBU were conducting a secret jutsu experiment."
The masked shinobi bowed silently. "Understood."
"Good," said Hiruzen. He turned toward Kakashi. "You—come with me."
Kakashi nodded and followed as the Hokage disappeared into the night with the rest of the squad.
Back in the village, rumors spread fast. The explosion had terrified civilians, but once they heard it was "an ANBU experiment gone wrong," most returned to bed relieved.
But not everyone was fooled.
Deep beneath Konoha, in the shadowed halls of Root, an old man sat in silence.
A single eye glinted beneath the dim light as Danzo Shimura leaned forward, gripping his cane.
"Was it the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?" he asked, his voice cold.
A kneeling Root operative replied, "No, Lord Danzo. There was no trace of the Nine-Tails' chakra. But the destruction was consistent with a Tailed Beast Bomb."
Danzo frowned. "Not the Nine-Tails?"
"No, sir. We're certain."
Danzo slowly rose to his feet, his expression tightening into something dangerous.
"Then who was it? And what kind of power can match a tailed beast?"
His voice dropped to a growl.
"Hiruzen… what are you hiding from me?"
He turned toward the darkened corridor, his bandaged eye glinting faintly.
"Don't tell me you've been creating your own weapon behind my back…"
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