The shinobi stopped in their tracks, their feet weighing heavily on this land that felt both familiar and strange.
Especially the shinobi from the various clans.
Their gazes swept over the ruined walls, the softly sobbing clanspeople, and the bloodstains that had yet to dry on the walls. Their nerves, which had eased slightly with the withdrawal, instantly tightened again, and uncontrollable fury surged from their chests.
"Bastard! Dongfang Mao, that bastard!" Someone roared first, and then more furious shouts erupted like rolling thunder.
"What does he take Konoha for?!"
"War with Great Yan! We have to go to war with Great Yan!"
"Blood for blood! Make them pay!"
Furious roars echoed through every street in Konoha. Shinobi drew their ninja blades and raised them overhead, the cold sunlight reflected on the steel matching the fury burning in their eyes.
Some punched nearby trees, snapping trunks as thick as a bowl's rim clean in two; others rushed toward the attacked areas with bloodshot eyes, desperate to see what horrors had taken place.
All of Konoha was like a powder keg into which a spark had fallen, ready to explode at any moment. Calls for war swept over everything like a tidal wave, drowning out pain and exhaustion until they became the village's only refrain.
Sarutobi Hiruzen walked silently at the front. Listening to the deafening roars and watching the furious crowds before him, he held his aged face taut and clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palms. His anger was no less fierce than anyone else's.
At the same time, however, deep worry coiled around his heart like a venomous snake.
He understood Konoha's current situation better than anyone. Throughout this period of relentless warfare, the village had lost far more than half its