Destroying the Hokage Rock

A violent explosion erupted in the pitch-black night sky, and a massive mushroom cloud rose from the Hokage Monument. The impact left deep fissures running across the stone faces of the past Hokage.

Although Kakashi and Asuma had dodged in time, they were still close to the center of the blast. Kakashi's right arm was a bloody mess, his body was scorched in various places, and his mask had been blown away, revealing a handsome, composed face—though it was currently etched with gravity.

Asuma had fared slightly better; having been pushed aside by Kakashi just in time, he had only sustained a minor injury to his arm. Just as he prepared to check on Kakashi, a figure arrived before the silver-haired ninja first.

It was Feng Yao in Sage Mode.

The entity that had just been blown to pieces was merely a clone created using another great sage art from Shikkotsu Forest: Sage Art: Infinite Proliferation. He had only learned two sage arts during his time in Shikkotsu Forest, each inheriting the healing and division abilities of the Katsuyu Sage.

The effect of this sage art was to replicate his own cells to create a clone, which possessed roughly one-tenth of his own strength.

Because it was cellular replication, the advantage was that the clone would never disappear. The weakness, of course, was that the condensation time was too long, requiring ten minutes to complete the process.

Under normal circumstances, Feng Yao had not intended to use it, as the duration of his Sage Mode was limited.

Spending ten minutes to create such a low-tier combatant was clearly unwise, but the further he advanced toward the Hokage Monument, the more suspicious he became.

Although he had found ways to draw away Konoha's combat power, he hadn't seen a single jonin from start to finish.

Even if Konoha were weak, that was impossible. Out of caution, he didn't mind spending the time to delay his plan by half an hour.

He used the clone to scout the Hokage Monument and plant Explosive Tags, while he hid nearby to recover his sage chakra.

As expected, jonin had been lying in ambush for him. He had used the clone to stall for time while he recovered his chakra, and once Kakashi discovered it, he had decisively triggered the self-destruction, severely wounding the ninja.

"Kakashi, I really don't want to kill you, but I can't let you stop me either. You'd better just pass out for a while."

With that, a single hand-chop knocked Kakashi unconscious. In his current state, Kakashi was powerless to resist; his head slumped forward as he collapsed to the ground.

Seeing Feng Yao move against Kakashi, Asuma gripped his Flying Swallow blades and charged over, condensing chakra into the weapons to generate two high-powered, glowing blue blades of chakra.

"Chakra Blade: True Ichimonji."

This was one of Asuma's signature ninjutsu, capable of condensing wind-attribute chakra onto his blades, allowing him to shatter giant boulders with ease.

Watching Asuma charge, Feng Yao didn't retreat but instead stepped forward, activating Iron Body to catch the opponent's blades directly with his bare hands.

Asuma was taller and broader than Feng Yao, and his frame cast a shadow over the masked intruder.

Yet, Asuma's blades could not advance an inch. No matter how much force he exerted, the blades felt as if they were stuck in a quagmire, unable to be pulled free.

"Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning." Asuma released his Flying Swallow blades and leaped backward.

He performed hand seals and spat out a cloud of black, high-temperature ash. Once it landed, he used the flint in his molars to ignite it, and a violent explosion followed the intense heat.

"Did I get him?" Asuma muttered to himself, staring at the black smoke.

"Not quite." The words had barely faded.

Feng Yao appeared behind him. He had used Geppo to dodge the range of the ninjutsu just in time, simultaneously launching a Rankyaku from behind to ambush Asuma.

The sharp, vacuum-cutting wave tore a massive gash across Asuma's back.

Asuma's body lurched forward from the momentum, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to climb back to his feet.

In the end, he was knocked unconscious by a single hand-chop from Feng Yao.

"Sigh, finally finished. I'd better hurry up and complete the plan."

His plan was to shatter the Hokage Monument so that the debris would fall into Konoha Ninja Village; it would cause significant destruction without consuming too much of his sage chakra.

"The host is still too soft-hearted. Wouldn't it be easier to just release a large-scale sage art in a densely populated area? Why go through all this trouble? Is it to minimize casualties?"

"Oh, shut up. If it weren't for you, would I even be in Konoha? If I really killed that many people, it would be an endless blood feud—though what I'm doing now is pretty much the same thing."

Feng Yao rolled his eyes helplessly. He had said before that killing was merely a necessary means; since the raid on Konoha only required causing destruction, there was no need for wanton slaughter. However, he would definitely make the person who killed the old physician pay in blood.

He finished speaking and began to weave hand seals. The stone statues of the past Hokage were incredibly sturdy; the Explosive Tags had only cracked them slightly. He still needed to conserve sage chakra for other tasks.

"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation." Feng Yao slammed his hands into the ground, imbuing the stone statues with life force and restructuring their internal composition.

He created a focal point within the stone; as long as he struck that spot, the entire Hokage Monument would shatter in one blow.

Feng Yao climbed up from the ground and kicked hard against the surface.

Crack.

The Hokage Monument immediately split with a massive fissure, which continued to expand and extend until the entire monument was covered in a web of cracks like a spider's silk.

A deafening roar echoed once more as the statues of the past Hokage, symbols of Konoha's spirit, collapsed into ruin that night.

"What's happening! Why did the Hokage Monument suddenly collapse?"

"Was there an ambush? Damn it, who would do such a thing?"

"Find him! Make him suffer our wrath!"

The people of Konoha were shocked and enraged at the sight, falling into immediate chaos.

There were bird calls, loud roars, cries of anger, and screams of fear.

Feng Yao stood atop the ruins of the Hokage Monument, watching silently. He had met the requirements for his mission; as long as he left Konoha now, the operation would be a success.

Just as he prepared to depart—

A somewhat aged figure stood before him. The man wore a tight black combat suit and a ninja hat, with a small beard on his chin. His combat suit featured silver shoulder guards connected to a back protector, with the character for "Fire" inscribed upon it. He carried two vertical ninja tool pouches on his back, a purple sash tied around his waist, and mesh bracers on his arms and shins. His right arm was adorned with green layered armor, and his sharp, piercing eyes were locked firmly onto Feng Yao.

"Feng Yao, is this what you wanted? To retaliate against the village? Is this your own idea, or does it represent the will of the nation behind you?"

The Third Hokage shouted sternly; he had underestimated the boy, after all, Feng Yao had only been an ordinary trainee ninja when he left.

In less than half a year, he had grown so much and caused such massive losses to the village.

Hearing the Third mention other nations, Feng Yao paused for a moment.

However, he quickly realized that the old man had mistaken him for a spy from another country.

That was fine; he would play along and muddy the waters.

He spoke with feigned profundity: "Lord Hokage, there is no need to try and fish for information. Your Anbu are so powerful that they could even track my return to the Land of Fire; surely it wouldn't be difficult for them to find out who I am."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage frowned. The boy's words were cautious, refusing to reveal any intelligence, so he would have to defeat him first and hand him over to the Yamanaka Clan for interrogation to extract information.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone!"

The Third Hokage threw a single shuriken forward, which then multiplied into tens of thousands, raining down on Feng Yao from every direction.

Looking at the sky filled with shuriken, Feng Yao felt his scalp tingle.

The successive Hokage were truly formidable characters; to think one could pull so many tricks out of a single shuriken. If he got entangled here, it would be troublesome. After all, this was Konoha; if he didn't retreat in time and other Jonin arrived, he would be in deep trouble.

Thinking this to himself, he quickly formed hand seals to counter.

"Sage Art: Wind Style - Dust Storm!"

This was a Wind Style ninjutsu that utilized senjutsu chakra to create a massive sandstorm, intended to obscure the enemy's vision.

Escape.

Feng Yao made this decision the moment he faced the Third Hokage.

There was nothing shameful about running away; if one could not match the enemy or secure a victory, then one should flee.

After experiencing so much, Feng Yao had become increasingly cautious. Even if he had trump cards, as long as the odds of winning were slim, he would avoid combat whenever possible.

No one dislikes a guaranteed victory; using various means to amplify the win rate and control the situation was what he excelled at.

Only when absolutely forced into a corner would he fight to the death.