Night spilled down like ink, staining Konoha a somber shade of darkness.
At this hour, scattered lights and people heading home late should still have dotted the streets, but tonight, the entire village was unnaturally silent.
Every household had shut its doors and windows and drawn its curtains tight. Even the ninja dogs cowered in their kennels, whimpering uneasily.
A taut, suffocating tension hung in the air.
It was not killing intent, but something deeper-a mixture of fear, suspicion, and the oppressive stillness before a storm.
Naruto Uzumaki clutched the smooth wooden amulet and raced along the corners of walls, crossing the deserted streets.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest, partly from excitement over the simple, fascinating pictures and mnemonics inside the amulet.
They were like a key that had suddenly opened a window onto something he had never imagined.
So chakra control could be practiced like playing with a water balloon?
So basic taijutsu wasn't just boring push-ups and frog jumps?
The other reason was the eerie atmosphere pervading the village.
He could not help looking up toward the northeast.
That was where the Uchiha Clan's compound stood.
Now, a pale purple, translucent barrier completely enveloped the area, like an enormous upturned bowl sealing off everything inside.
Dense black inscriptions could just be seen slowly flowing across the surface of the Barrier, emitting cold, ominous pulses of chakra.
Just a few days earlier, the atmosphere in the village had suddenly changed.
First, several older Uchiha boys and girls who had usually been fairly kind to him suddenly disappeared.
Then his father, the Fourth Hokage, and several very old-looking men announced that the Uchiha Compound was "temporarily sealed off due to unforeseen circumstances," and that no villagers were permitted to approach.
Immediately afterward, those "Anbu uncles" wearing animal masks