Border Standoff, Ōnoki's Dust Release Warning!

The canyon wind carried coarse sand and grit, lashing their faces with stinging force.

Yoru's group had entered the Land of Earth less than ten miles ago when the previously deathly silent canyon suddenly changed.

"Rumble—!"

The steep cliffs around them and the hard, dry ground beneath their feet began to shake violently without warning.

Countless powerful chakra fluctuations erupted like geysers, instantly sealing off every route of retreat.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Amid synchronized shouts, thick stone walls rose from the ground while sharp stone spears pointed toward the sky.

Immediately afterward, hundreds upon thousands of Hidden Stone border troops in brown flak jackets burst from the earth as though divine soldiers descending from the heavens.

They occupied every high point around the canyon, surrounding the thousand-strong group from above.

"Everyone, stay alert!"

Fugaku's nerves instantly tightened, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly in his eyes.

Over a thousand Uchiha Clan members immediately formed a circle back-to-back, protecting the elderly, weak, women, and children in the center as their ninja blades were drawn in unison.

The atmosphere in the canyon instantly dropped below freezing, the air thick with the scent of gunpowder.

"Leaf Village scum! How dare you invade the Land of Earth in force!"

A Hidden Stone commander with a scar across his left cheek stood atop a cliff and roared himself hoarse.

The veins bulged on the hand gripping his kunai, but when he got a clear look at the crowd below, his voice suddenly cracked.

"Wait... those are Sharingan? And the fan crest on their backs!"

"That's the Uchiha Clan? Their entire clan has mobilized?!"

The Hidden Stone ranks immediately erupted into chaos, and quite a few young ninja backed away in fright.

The Uchiha Clan's fearsome reputation had been built atop mountains of corpses and seas of blood from other ninja villages.

Yet what terrified them even more came next.

"C-Captain! Look at that blond man at the front of the Uchiha!"

A sensory ninja pointed downward, his voice trembling like a leaf.

The scarred commander focused his gaze and felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull, stopping even his breath.

Golden spiky hair, blue eyes, and that unmistakable presence.

"Y-Yellow Flash?!"

"It's Leaf Village's Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!"

The moment that name was spoken, it was like a heavy bomb had been dropped into the Hidden Stone forces.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Hidden Stone's higher-ups had issued an ironclad order: "If you encounter the Yellow Flash, you may abandon your mission and flee immediately!"

And now, this god of slaughter had brought the ninja world's foremost clan to their doorstep?

"Quick! Send the village a highest-level red alert immediately!"

The scarred commander broke out in cold sweat as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Leaf Village has launched a full-scale war! Request support from Lord Tsuchikage!"

Watching the Hidden Stone troops descend into chaos, Yoru helplessly dug at his ear.

"Hey, scarface on the cliff, are you done howling yet?"

Yoru's voice, infused with chakra, rang clearly through the entire canyon.

"We're not here to fight. Hurry up and have that old man Ōnoki get out here to receive his guests."

The Hidden Stone ninja were even more shocked and enraged by those words.

How arrogant! An Uchiha brat actually dared to call the Tsuchikage by name!

Yet intimidated by the reputations of the Yellow Flash and the Uchiha, not a single one dared to make the first move.

Meanwhile, in the Tsuchikage's office in Hidden Stone Village.

"Crash!"

An exquisite purple clay teacup was smashed viciously onto the floor, scattering tea everywhere.

"What did you say?! The entire Uchiha Clan and Minato Namikaze have come attacking?!"

The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, sprang up from his broad office chair.

His signature large red nose twitched in fury, while his silver-white beard stirred without wind.

"Has that old monkey Hiruzen Sarutobi had his brain flattened by the Nine-Tails?"

Ōnoki paced anxiously back and forth across the office.

"Leaf Village was just crippled by that fox, and instead of recovering and rebuilding, he dares to bite back at me?"

An Anbu beside him knelt on one knee and reported nervously.

"Lord Tsuchikage, the frontline commander requests reinforcements. The enemy is too powerful!"

"Reinforcements, my ass! I'll go myself!"

A vicious gleam flashed in Ōnoki's eyes.

His hands flew through seals as he barked, "Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique!"

In an instant, his small, stooped body became as light as a feather, floating directly into the air.

"They dare cause trouble on Hidden Stone's territory? Today, I'll turn every last one of them into scraps!"

With a whoosh, Ōnoki shot through the window like a cannonball, racing toward the border.

At the border canyon, the standoff continued.

Minato shielded Kushina and Naruto behind him, already gripping a specially made Flying Raijin kunai.

"Yoru, something's not right."

Minato lowered his voice. "Hidden Stone's reinforcements could arrive at any time. We can't stay trapped here."

"What's the rush? Isn't the main host here already?"

Yoru looked up at the distant sky, a playful curve lifting at the corner of his mouth.

The moment he finished speaking, a terrifying pressure like Mount Tai crashing down descended from the sky!

"Leaf Village brats, you've got some nerve!"

An aged yet domineering roar exploded over the canyon, shaking loose rubble from the cliffs.

The Hidden Stone ninja immediately burst into deafening cheers.

"It's Lord Tsuchikage! Lord Tsuchikage is here!"

In midair, Ōnoki floated with his hands clasped behind his back.

He looked down at the Uchiha Clan below, his gaze sharp as blades.

However, when he truly saw the formation below, the expression on his old face suddenly froze.

What kind of damned army was this?

There were not only combatants in the group, but also heavily pregnant women, wailing infants, and bags upon bags of pots, pans, and household goods?

Even the Fourth Hokage was wearing a Leaf Village Hospital patient gown!

Were they here to fight, or fleeing from famine?

Ōnoki was suspicious by nature, and his mind began calculating at high speed.

"There must be something fishy going on!"

A shrewd, cold glint flashed through Ōnoki's eyes as he convinced himself he had seen through everything.

"Putting women and children in front as meat shields, pretending to defect to win sympathy, all so you can break apart Hidden Stone Village from within?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, this self-inflicted injury scheme of yours is far too clumsy!"

Hearing Ōnoki's wildly imaginative analysis, Fugaku nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Lord Tsuchikage! You misunderstand!"

Fugaku stepped forward and loudly explained.

"Our Uchiha Clan has completely severed ties with Leaf Village. This time, we sincerely wish to seek refuge..."

"Silence! You won't fool me!"

Ōnoki did not listen to a word of explanation, his temper flaring at once.

"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"

He stopped wasting words and slammed his hands together before his chest.

"Buzz—!"

A heart-palpitating chakra fluctuation instantly gathered in Ōnoki's palms.

Blinding white light illuminated the entire canyon as a translucent cube-shaped barrier rapidly formed in his hands.

At the center of the cube, a sphere of light radiating destruction swelled wildly.

"That is... Kekkei Tōta?!"

Minato's pupils shrank sharply as he recognized the technique at once.

It was the ultimate killing move that stood above Kekkei Genkai, combining the three natures of wind, fire, and earth!

It could completely strip apart and disintegrate all matter within its barrier at the molecular level!

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

Ōnoki roared, thrusting both hands forward.

The enormous translucent cubic barrier shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bow, instantly locking onto and enclosing Yoru, Minato, Fugaku, and the others below!

The shadow of death engulfed the hearts of every Uchiha Clan member in an instant.

"Get back!"

Fugaku's eyes nearly split open as he instinctively tried to shove aside the clansmen around him.

But Dust Release locked on far too quickly. There was no time to escape the barrier's range!

Minato gritted his teeth, about to forcefully exhaust his chakra to activate Flying Raijin and move everyone.

At that critical moment.

A hand firmly pressed down on the back of Minato's hand as it formed seals.

"Yoru?" Minato turned in astonishment.

Uchiha Yoru showed no intention of retreating. Instead, he took a large step forward.

Facing the Dust Release's white light that could destroy everything, he even wore a faint, carefree smile.

"Old man, you're nearly eighty, aren't you? And you still have such a bad temper."

Yoru raised his head and looked directly at Ōnoki in the air, his voice lazy.

"Getting angry damages the liver. Be careful not to throw out your back again in a moment."

Ōnoki was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes widened, and the chakra output from his hands intensified further.

"You arrogant brat who doesn't know death! Turn to ash for me!"

Just as the Dust Release beam was about to blast down.

Yoru's left hand suddenly reached into his robes.

He pulled out a massive scroll over half a person tall, stained with dark red blood.

Without any flashy movements.

Yoru exerted force with one hand and hurled the heavy bloodstained scroll viciously at Ōnoki in midair like a discus!

The scroll spun rapidly through the air, bringing with it a pungent stench of blood.

Yoru stood where he was without even assuming a defensive stance, merely watching the old man in the sky with an ambiguous smile.

"Lord Tsuchikage, your meeting gift has arrived."

Absolute confidence permeated Yoru's words.

"Take a look before you make your move. It won't be too late!"