Hidden Stone Village Truly Protects Its Own, Kitsuchi Leads Troops Against Leaf Village!

Rolling yellow sands blotted out the sky and sun.

The three Leaf Village Anbu watched their captain collapse to his knees like a lump of mud, and panic completely seized them.

"Captain Kakashi!"

One of them shouted anxiously, but received no response at all.

Kakashi's eyes were vacant, as though his soul had been ripped away. He could not even hold his blade.

The Anbu gritted his teeth, a flash of resolve passing through his eyes beneath the mask.

The Third Hokage had given them a death order. Even if they had to fill the gap with their lives, they had to bring the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails back!

"For Leaf Village!"

He let out a low roar and yanked the ninja blade from his back.

The two companions beside him understood at once. Forming a triangular formation, they launched a fearless surprise attack at Uchiha Yoru.

They knew they were like ants trying to topple a tree, but they had no choice.

Blades flashed, their cold gleam biting.

However.

Faced with their charge of certain death, Yoru did not even raise an eyelid.

He even had the leisure to pick his ear.

"Rumble—!!!"

Just as the three Anbu were about to close within ten meters of Yoru.

The earth suddenly let out a deafening roar!

The sandy ground beneath their feet was violently torn apart as if by a pair of invisible giant hands, instantly forming a bottomless chasm.

Immediately afterward, an enormous earthen wall—thick, solid, and more than ten meters tall—erupted from the ground like a steel fortress!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The three Anbu had no time to stop and slammed straight into the sudden wall.

The tremendous recoil left stars swimming in their vision and their organs churning. They tumbled back into the sand in wretched disarray.

"Who is it?!"

The lead Anbu clutched his chest and stared in horror at the top of the wall.

"Hahahaha! You Leaf Village trash have some nerve!"

A rough, boisterous laugh exploded from atop the wall like muffled thunder.

Kitsuchi's towering, iron-tower-like frame stood prominently at the very top of it.

With his arms folded over his chest, he looked down on the filthy and bedraggled Leaf Village Anbu below, his eyes full of disdain.

"On Hidden Stone Village territory, you dare lay hands on our most honored guests?"

Kitsuchi sneered and abruptly waved a hand.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

The sounds of rushing air came one after another.

Over a hundred fully armed ninjas of the Hidden Stone Demolition Corps descended from the sky like black raindrops.

They landed firmly around the earthen wall, instantly sealing the three Leaf Village Anbu within an ironclad encirclement.

Every one of them held specially made Explosive Clay in hand, their eyes radiating undisguised, fanatical killing intent.

At a single command from Kitsuchi, this patch of sandy ground would become a living hell.

"Kitsuchi of Hidden Stone?!"

The Leaf Village Anbu recognized him, and their voices changed pitch.

This was Ōnoki's own son, one of Hidden Stone Village's core higher-ups!

Why had he brought so many people to the border?

"What? You recognize your grandpa?"

Kitsuchi leaped down from the earthen wall. With a bang, he smashed a deep crater into the sand.

He strode over to Yoru, warmly patting him on the shoulder.

"Brother Yoru, they didn't scare you, did they? These blind dogs—I'll clean them up for you right now!"

Yoru brushed the sand from his shoulder in disgust and raised an eyebrow.

"Brother Kitsuchi, that was quite an entrance. But these small fry aren't even enough to warm me up."

Rather than getting angry at Yoru's blunt teasing, Kitsuchi burst into laughter.

"Of course! Brother Yoru is a ruthless man who can tear the Death God apart with his bare hands. How could these salted fish be worthy of dirtying your hands?!"

Kitsuchi turned to look at the trembling Leaf Village Anbu.

The smile vanished from his face in an instant, replaced by the iron-blooded killing aura of a veteran battlefield commander.

"Listen carefully, you Leaf Village pups!"

Kitsuchi's voice boomed like a great bell, every word striking the ground with force.

"The Uchiha Clan, and the Fourth Hokage's family."

He pointed to Minato and Kushina behind him, his tone utterly domineering.

"Are now the highest-ranking honored guests of Hidden Stone Village!"

"The Tsuchikage has given the order: whoever dares touch a single hair on their heads..."

Kitsuchi suddenly drew the broad-bladed sword at his waist and viciously drove it into the sand, kicking up a wave of grit.

"I, Kitsuchi, will make this clear today!"

"Whoever dares take one step forward, I'll immediately lead these hundreds of brothers and flatten your Leaf Village border defenses!"

The moment those words fell.

More than a hundred members of the Hidden Stone Demolition Corps stepped forward in unison, raising their Explosive Clay as one.

"Kill!!!"

Their earth-shaking battle cry shot into the heavens, their terrifying aura crashing down like Mount Tai.

The three Leaf Village Anbu were forced back again and again by that pressure, their legs trembling uncontrollably.

They exchanged glances, each seeing profound despair beneath the other's mask.

Fight?

With what?

That lineup could chop them into minced meat by pulling out any one of them.

Not to mention that Hidden Stone Village stood behind them!

Kitsuchi's words were clearly an official declaration from Hidden Stone Village.

They were determined to tear all pretense apart with Leaf Village and protect the Uchiha Clan to the bitter end!

"Captain..."

One Anbu looked tremblingly toward Kakashi, who was still kneeling on the ground with vacant eyes. His voice carried the hopeless quaver of a sob.

Kakashi still did not react, as though everything in this world had nothing to do with him anymore.

"Get lost."

Yoru suddenly spoke, breaking the suffocating silence.

He walked to Kitsuchi's side and coldly regarded the Anbu, who looked like stray dogs.

"Go back and tell that old fox Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"His schemes have come to nothing."

A cruel curve rose at the corner of Yoru's mouth.

"Doesn't he love pulling tricks behind people's backs?"

"Tell him to wash his neck and wait."

"This debt will be collected by us Uchiha sooner or later, when we personally come to Leaf Village—with interest."

The Anbu felt as though they had been granted amnesty.

They did not dare utter a single threat. Scrambling and crawling, they rushed to Kakashi's side and supported their already ruined captain between them.

"Brother Yoru, we're just letting them go?"

Kitsuchi watched their fleeing backs and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"At least we should've left an arm or a leg behind as interest."

"There's no point killing a few errand-running lackeys."

Yoru gazed toward Leaf Village, dangerous light flickering in his dark pupils.

"A dull blade cutting flesh hurts the most."

He turned toward Kitsuchi, and the coldness on his face instantly melted into a brilliant smile.

"Let's go, Brother Kitsuchi. Didn't that old man Ōnoki say he was throwing the grandest banquet possible?"

"I've been hungry for quite a while."