The Light of a "Volcanic Eruption" Illuminates Konoha

Sarutobi Shinosuke was genuinely terrified. So many secrets buried deep in his heart seemed completely exposed before Uchiha Chisen, as if he were a naked man with nothing to hide.

It was as though Uchiha Chisen had been silently watching him from the shadows while he committed those acts!

He even felt that such a possibility was very likely.

Otherwise, how could Uchiha Chisen know so much?

After all...

Shinosuke had never told anyone about the "secrets" Uchiha Chisen spoke of—not his wife, not the old man, and certainly not any of his subordinates.

"Uchiha Chisen! You..."

But before Shinosuke could finish a single sentence, an intense, suffocating sense of death surged into his heart.

Because a magma projectile the size of a human head suddenly shot toward him!

He decisively shut his mouth, gripping the hilt of his Ninja Sword with both hands. A layer of azure Chakra clung to the blade.

"Hah!!!"

Shinosuke swung downward, splitting the rapidly approaching magma projectile in two.

Just as he was about to swing again, he suddenly realized something felt wrong.

He glanced down, and his pupils contracted.

His Ninja Sword...

Had broken!

Even with Chakra coating the Ninja Sword, it still could not withstand the terrifying heat of Uchiha Chisen's Lava Release magma?

He immediately looked ahead, only to find that Uchiha Chisen had not charged over. Instead, he was half-crouched on the ground, one hand lowered slightly, his fingertips gently touching the floor—as though he had already formed the hand seals in that brief instant.

"Lava Release..."

"Lava Swamp."

A strange gurgling sound reached their ears. Before Shinosuke and the horrified Anbu Ninjas, the ground centered beneath Uchiha Chisen's feet was rapidly melted by an unknown source of extreme heat, transforming into magma!

In the blink of an eye, despite the more than twenty meters between Shinosuke and Uchiha Chisen, he discovered that the ground beneath his feet was already glowing with a faint crimson light.

"Not good! Fall back!!!"

The instant Shinosuke gave the order, he swiftly retreated with the Anbu Ninjas beside him.

But one Anbu was half a beat too slow.

He did retreat, but when his feet landed on the ground, the Anbu Ninja suddenly lost his balance, his expression changing drastically.

"Ah! Hiss!!!"

An indescribable agony shot up from his ankles. He hurriedly braced himself against the wall and frantically lowered his head.

"My feet... they're gone..."

In his field of vision, both of his feet had vanished at some point! Faint smoke rose from the severed ends of his ankles, carrying the pungent stench of charred meat!

"Captain Shinosuke! I..."

The Anbu Ninja panicked.

However...

Shinosuke no longer had the attention to spare for his subordinate's injuries, because he discovered that Uchiha Chisen's terrifying Lava Release was rapidly destroying this Secret Research Base!

The horrifying heat of the magma was no longer just melting the ground beneath their feet—it was even melting the surrounding walls.

Huge holes had already been melted into the walls on both sides of the corridor.

Even the metal embedded in the walls was burning with raging flames.

Despite the distance between them, Shinosuke and the others were drenched in sweat from the heat.

The temperature here was far too high!!!

"Captain Shinosuke! The magma is acting strangely!" One Anbu Ninja sharply noticed the abnormality. The magma bubbling incessantly ahead of them appeared to be constantly swelling upward, as if something terrifying was about to burst forth.

He was right.

The next second.

—BOOM!!!

A terrifying Magma Torrent erupted upward like a volcanic explosion, instantly melting everything above it.

Under the horrified gazes of the Anbu Ninjas, the Secret Research Base was forcibly blasted open by the magma, leaving behind an enormous hole!

From outside the base, one could see a crimson column of magma violently burst from the earth amid the Dense Forest and shoot into the sky!

Only after reaching a height of a hundred meters did the magma turn into a rain shower that scattered and fell in every direction.

But the falling magma projectiles were not harmless raindrops!

When a fist-sized lump of magma fell—

Its indescribable impact instantly blasted a huge hole into the ground above the Secret Research Base, like an Exploding Tag detonating! It blew apart the rocks above the base, exposing the outer layer of the structure.

And there were more than a few of these powerful magma projectiles...

As far as the eye could see.

There were over several hundred!

It was now past eight o'clock at night, just as Konoha's nightlife was beginning.

Many Konoha civilians had only recently finished dinner and were planning to take a walk outside to help digest their food.

But then they suddenly saw...

A striking crimson beam of light rising into the sky outside the village.

Then, like fireworks, that beam of light scattered apart.

It seemed to cast a faint glow over more than half of Konoha.

"What's that?" A civilian looked into the distance in confusion. "Is someone setting off fireworks outside the village? Those are huge fireworks..."

Someone beside him had a different opinion. "Do fireworks look like that? It looks more like a volcanic eruption, doesn't it?"

"What are you talking about? Where would there be a volcano near Konoha?"

"It's fireworks, right? But is there some kind of festival recently? How come I haven't heard anything? There's no need to set off such huge fireworks unless it's a big occasion, right? And they're actually being set off outside the village—what's going on here?!"

"..."

Besides the civilians who could not use ninjutsu, many ninjas in the village also saw the strange sight in the distance.

Within the Uchiha Clan compound.

A trace of surprise flashed through Uchiha Mikoto's beautiful eyes as she said to her husband beside her, "Fugaku, that looks like... magma, doesn't it? It's just like a volcano suddenly erupting."

"...Mm."

Fugaku gazed at the distant night sky and nodded slightly, his expression dark. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be Chisen. With Chisen's personality, he would not make such a huge commotion for no reason. He may have encountered a powerful enemy outside the village."

"Whew. I need to head out. Stay home and look after Sasuke."

Fugaku had already turned back into the house, preparing to put on the combat uniform of the Konoha Military Police Force.

As he did, he explained, "Although Chisen and I have many disagreements, there is one thing I admire about him. He can always see through the evil someone has committed, and he has never been wrong—not once has he falsely accused anyone."

"Over the years, neither the Fourth Hokage nor the Third Hokage has been able to do anything to him, because they could never find any excuse to act against Uchiha Chisen."

"After Chisen kills someone, he throws the body to us, and we hand it over to the Yamanaka Clan. The Yamanaka Clan always finds horrifying criminal secrets in those corpses."

Uchiha Mikoto hesitated upon hearing this. "So that means he may be fighting someone evil right now?"

"Mm."

Fugaku had already changed into the Konoha Military Police Force uniform. His expression was steady as he said, "No matter what, he is still a member of the Konoha Military Police Force. As Captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, I have to lead people there to support him."