The Star of Tonight Has Changed

"Wah—"

A cry tore through the tense air in the delivery room.

Minato Namikaze's fingers did not stop. Sweat covered his forehead, and his hands pressed hard against the sealing formula on Kushina Uzumaki's abdomen. Black runes twisted like living snakes, trying to break free, only to be forced back down by golden chakra.

"The baby's out. It's a boy."

Biwako Sarutobi moved quickly and efficiently. She wrapped the wrinkled newborn in a warm cloth, her movements gentle, her words fast.

Kushina lay limp on the delivery bed. Her hair clung to her cheeks, her chest rising and falling violently. She turned her head, glanced at the tiny life crying at the top of his lungs, and a tear slid from the corner of her eye.

"Minato, the seal still needs reinforcement." Biwako turned with Naruto in her arms. "Taji and I will take the child to be cleaned first. We'll leave this to you."

Minato nodded. He could not even spare a hand to wipe his sweat. The Nine-Tails' chakra was battering the seal madly; if he relaxed for even a moment, that power would run out of control.

Biwako gave Taji, the female Anbu ninja beside her, a look.

The two of them hurried toward the delivery room door.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open, revealing a deep, dark corridor outside. At the end of the corridor was the cave exit, covered in barriers of the highest level.

Biwako stepped over the threshold.

She stopped.

Taji followed behind her and nearly bumped into Biwako's back.

"What is it, Lady Biwako?" Taji asked.

Biwako said nothing. She looked to both sides of the corridor.

Two elite Anbu directly under the Hokage had originally been standing there. They were experts known as the Shadow Guard, capable of holding out for several minutes even against jonin.

Now, they lay on the ground.

There was no spray of blood. No trace of a fight.

Both their necks were twisted at an eerie angle, as if they had been snapped in an instant by an invisible giant hand.

Taji's pupils contracted. She reached for the kunai in her ninja tool pouch.

"Don't move."

An unfamiliar voice came from the shadows of the corridor.

The air began to warp.

The space between the two corpses spun like disturbed water.

A figure in a black robe stepped out from the center of the vortex. He wore an orange tiger-striped mask, exposing only one right eye. In that eye, three tomoe were slowly turning.

Biwako tightened her hold on Naruto. She took a step back, her back pressing against the doorframe.

"Who are you?" Biwako asked. "How did you get through the barrier?"

The Masked Man did not answer. He raised his foot and stepped over the Anbu corpse on the ground, the hem of his black robe sweeping across the floor with a rustling sound.

"Hand over the Nine-Tails jinchuriki." The Masked Man's voice was low, with a metallic quality to it. "Or hand me that child."

Taji drew her kunai. She stood in front of Biwako.

"Enemy attack!" Taji shouted.

Her voice echoed through the corridor, but no one answered.

The Masked Man let out a soft laugh.

"It's useless," he said. "I've already isolated this space. The Lord Hokage inside can't hear your voices."

He raised his right hand.

That hand wore a black glove, its fingertips gleaming coldly.

"If you won't hand him over, then die."

The Masked Man's figure vanished.

It was not the Body Flicker Technique.

He simply disappeared from where he stood.

The next second, Taji felt a chill at her throat.

The Masked Man appeared behind her. One hand had already clamped around her neck.

"Too slow."

With a crisp crack, Taji's body went limp.

Biwako watched Taji fall. This old woman who had lived through the Warring States period did not scream. She shielded Naruto against her chest, her other hand rapidly forming seals.

But the Masked Man was faster.

He did not use ninjutsu. He merely reached out, grabbing for the baby in Biwako's arms.

It was pure taijutsu.

Simple, direct, filled with killing intent.

That hand was only half a meter from Naruto's swaddling clothes.

Biwako could even make out the pattern on the Masked Man's glove.

Is this the end?

Biwako closed her eyes.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

A furious shout exploded above the narrow corridor.

Several streaks of red light tore through the darkness.

It was no ordinary Fire Release. They were more than a dozen shuriken, each wrapped in crimson flames, sealing off every route of the Masked Man's advance like blooming phoenix sage flowers.

The Masked Man's fingers stopped in midair.

If he kept reaching for the baby, those shuriken wreathed in scorching flames would pierce his head and arm first.

He did not dodge.

Nor did he form seals to defend.

He just stood there, letting the shuriken shoot toward him.

Pfft, pfft, pfft.

The burning shuriken passed through his body.

As if passing through an illusion.

The shuriken nailed into the stone wall behind him, bursting into a spray of sparks.

"Intangibility..."

In the shadows at the top of the cave, a figure murmured.

The instant the Masked Man's body turned intangible, the owner of that voice moved.

The dark figure plunged straight down from above like a hunting hawk.

He did not attack the Masked Man.

He knew very well that physical attacks were useless against the current Masked Man.

His target was Biwako.

The black figure landed, grabbed Biwako's shoulders with both hands, and tapped his toes against the ground.

Body Flicker Technique.

Their figures left an afterimage where they had stood, instantly retreating ten meters and putting distance between them and the Masked Man.

The Masked Man's hand grabbed empty air.

His physical form returned.

He looked at his empty palm, then slowly raised his head and looked toward the other end of the corridor.

Biwako was still shaken. She opened her eyes and saw the person standing in front of her.

It was a tall, straight-backed ninja.

He wore a black, tight-fitting combat outfit with no clan crest and carried a short blade on his back. On his face was a mask painted with an asura pattern, revealing only his eyes.

Those eyes were scarlet as blood.

Three tomoe spun wildly in his pupils, then finally linked together into a complex blade-like pattern.

Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Uchiha?"

For the first time, a trace of fluctuation entered the Masked Man's voice.

He tilted his head, his lone eye fixed hard on the asura mask before him.

"Since when does the Hidden Leaf Police Force have the right to meddle in the Hokage's direct defenses?" the Masked Man asked.

The one standing in front of Biwako was none other than Uchiha Xuanshi's Shadow Clone.

Xuanshi did not look back. With his back to Biwako, he held a kunai in a reverse grip in his right hand, while his left hand made a gesture for her to retreat.

"Take the child inside," Xuanshi said. "Tell the Fourth that the guest has arrived."

Biwako froze for a moment. She recognized those eyes. They were the symbol of the Uchiha Clan. In the minds of Konoha's higher-ups, Uchiha was synonymous with danger.

But right now, this Uchiha had saved her.

"Who are you?" Biwako asked.

"Someone who doesn't want to see a tragedy repeat itself," Xuanshi replied.

Biwako gritted her teeth. She knew staying here would only make her a burden. She tightened her hold on Naruto, turned, and rushed back into the delivery room.

The heavy wooden door closed again.

Only Xuanshi and the Masked Man remained in the corridor.

And two corpses.

The Masked Man did not give chase. He stood where he was, sizing Xuanshi up.

"Interesting," the Masked Man said. "You can see through my jutsu?"

That split-second exchange just now had been subtle.

Xuanshi had used shuriken to force the Masked Man to turn intangible. Then, in the gap when he was intangible and unable to attack, he had rescued the target.

It required extremely sharp judgment, as well as a deep understanding of space-time ninjutsu.

"Passing through objects, hiding your real body." Xuanshi spun the kunai in his hand. "A trick like that is enough after seeing it once."

The Masked Man snorted coldly.

"Arrogant brat."

He took a step forward.

"Since you know I'm Uchiha, you still dare stop me? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Xuanshi laughed.

The sound came through the mask, carrying unmistakable mockery.

"What's your name?" Xuanshi asked.

"My name is Madara Uchiha," the Masked Man answered proudly.

The air froze for a second.

Then Xuanshi sighed.

"Madara?" Xuanshi shook his head. "If you're Madara, then I'm the Sage of Six Paths."

The Masked Man's gaze instantly darkened.

A vast surge of chakra erupted from his body. It was chakra filled with ill omen and icy malice, making the temperature around them drop several degrees.

"You're courting death."

The Masked Man's figure vanished again.

This time, he was even faster than before.

A spatial ripple appeared behind Xuanshi.

A hand reached out from the void, grabbing for the back of Xuanshi's neck.

It was the opening move for sucking someone into another dimension.

Xuanshi did not look back.

It was as if the back of his head had eyes.

In the instant before the Masked Man's fingers touched the fibers of his clothing, Xuanshi's body turned into a puff of smoke.

Bang.

The Shadow Clone was dispelled?

No.

It was the Substitution Technique.

A wooden log appeared in the Masked Man's hand.

And on the side wall of the corridor, Xuanshi clung to the surface like a gecko.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball swelled in the narrow corridor, instantly swallowing the spot where the Masked Man stood.

Flames roiled, and heat waves licked the rock walls.

Firelight reflected off Xuanshi's asura mask, making those Mangekyo Sharingan look especially demonic.

The flames dispersed.

The Masked Man stood unharmed on the charred ground.

The fire had passed through his body and only scorched the floor beneath his feet.

"A boring test." The Masked Man patted nonexistent dust from his shoulder. "You think a jutsu of that level can hurt me?"

"I wasn't trying to hurt you."

Xuanshi jumped down from the wall and landed ten meters away from the Masked Man.

He pointed at the delivery room door.

"I was just stalling for time."

Just then, a shocking surge of chakra erupted inside the delivery room.

It was the Nine-Tails' chakra, but another surge of golden chakra had pinned it down completely.

Immediately after, a flash of golden light shot out through the crack in the door.

That was the ripple of Flying Thunder God.

The Masked Man's gaze changed.

His original plan had been: kill the guards, capture Biwako, use the infant to threaten Minato, force Minato to leave Kushina's side, then seize the chance to extract the Nine-Tails.

It was a chain of interlocking moves.

As long as the first step succeeded, Minato would be forced onto the back foot.

But now, the first step had broken.

Biwako was not dead. Naruto was still in Minato's arms.

Minato had not left Kushina.

"You ruined my plans." True killing intent seeped into the Masked Man's voice.

He held nothing back anymore.

Long chains slipped from his sleeves, clattering as they dragged across the ground.

"I was going to spare your life and see if the Uchiha still had any usable talent left." The Masked Man gripped the chains. "Now it seems you'd be better off dead."

Xuanshi straightened.

He did not take a defensive stance. Instead, he tucked his kunai back into his ninja tool pouch.

He folded his arms and looked at the man calling himself "Madara."

"Madara Uchiha." Xuanshi said the name, his tone full of mockery. "I've already rewritten the script for tonight's play."

"What do you mean?" the Masked Man asked.

"What I mean is..."

Xuanshi raised a finger and pointed behind the Masked Man.

"The lead role has changed hands."

The Masked Man whipped around.

At some point, a kunai had appeared at the entrance to the corridor.

It was a specially made kunai, with the four words "Sword of Shinobi Love" carved into the handle.

It was the one Xuanshi had thrown over just now, hidden in the flames while using the Great Fireball Technique as cover.

The kunai was embedded in the rock wall.

A golden flash lit up beside the kunai.

Minato Namikaze's figure appeared out of thin air.

He wore his divine robe, with the newborn Naruto in his arms, his gaze cold as ice.

"You actually dared to lay a hand on my family."

Minato looked at the Masked Man, the killing intent around him even more intense than the Nine-Tails.

"No matter who you are, you are not leaving tonight."

The Masked Man looked at Minato, then at Xuanshi standing on the other side.

A pincer attack from front and back.

"So that's how it is." The Masked Man let out a strange laugh. "An Uchiha has actually become the Hokage's dog? How ironic."

"This isn't being a dog."

Xuanshi spread his hands, the corners of his mouth beneath the Shura mask lifting slightly.

"This is a righteous two-on-one."

"And," Xuanshi added, "I told you just now. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The Masked Man's single eye narrowed.

He sensed something was wrong.

All of this was too much of a coincidence.

Why would someone from the Uchiha appear here? Why could he predict his movements so precisely? Why could he coordinate with Minato to form this kind of encirclement?

It was as if... someone had read the script in advance.

"Who exactly are you?" the Masked Man asked again.

This time, there was less arrogance in his tone and more wariness.

Xuanshi did not answer.

His figure once again turned into smoke and vanished.

It was a Shadow Clone.

The instant the Shadow Clone disappeared, the Masked Man felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet.

This was only bait?

Then where was the real body?

At that very moment, inside the Hidden Leaf Village.

In the underground chamber of Naka River Shrine, within the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The real Uchiha Xuanshi sat cross-legged before the stone tablet.

He opened his eyes.

That pair of Mangekyo Sharingan shone brightly in the darkness.

"Begin."

Xuanshi spoke to the empty chamber.

"Codename: Daybreak."

As his words fell, in the woods outside the chamber, countless pairs of scarlet eyes lit up at the same time.

Three hundred fully armed Uchiha clansmen drew their long blades in the night.

Tonight was destined to be sleepless.