The Operation Begins: Art Is Patrick Star!

For the next two days, all of Konoha was shrouded in the oppressive stillness before a storm.

Even the Genin patrolling the streets unconsciously softened their footsteps. Drinkers in taverns no longer dared to laugh and talk loudly. Even the wind sweeping past Konoha's gates carried a taut, sword-drawn tension.

The Uchiha Clan completely sealed off the boundaries of their district. Even ordinary clan members who usually ran shops and small businesses along the streets withdrew deep into the clan district. The storefronts facing the roads were locked overnight, leaving only empty doors creaking in the wind.

Any ninja with even a little sensory ability could detect countless dormant presences hidden outside the walls of the Uchiha Clan District—Anbu, Root, like a pack of wolves on the hunt. They watched this clan district blanketed in red maples around the clock. Not even a flying insect could enter or leave without escaping their notice.

The sun gradually sank behind Hokage Rock, and a silver-disc moon climbed into the sky.

Cold moonlight spread over Konoha's streets and alleys, draping the spires of the Hokage Building, the walls of the clan district, and every blade of grass and tree along the roads in a thin veil of pale white.

At first glance, the entire village looked quiet and peaceful, no different from countless other nights.

The night grew deeper. The hour of the boar had passed, and midnight was drawing near.

One by one, Konoha's lights went out. Villagers hugged their braziers and drifted into dreams. Even the ninja on watch couldn't help leaning against walls and yawning.

Most of the courtyards in the Uchiha Clan District had gone dark as well. Ordinary clan members, looking forward to the ancestral rites, had long since fallen asleep.

Yet in this deathly silent night, eyes suddenly opened inside courtyards that appeared to have extinguished their lights.

There were clan elites who had followed Fugaku for years, diehard subordinates left behind by Natsu's father, and even Uchiha Setsuna, who usually clashed fiercely with Fugaku and had always advocated taking a hard line against Konoha. At the same moment, he and the clan members under his command opened their eyes.

Scarlet Three Tomoe slowly turned in the darkness. There wasn't the slightest trace of sleepiness—only the resolve to stake everything on a final gamble.

The night sank into its darkest hour. Konoha fell completely silent, and even the wind stopped.

Only the Root and Anbu ninja outside the Uchiha Clan District continued their silent patrols. Beneath their masks, watchful eyes swept over every inch of the walls, never noticing that the true storm had long been gathering right beneath their noses.

At that instant, when even breathing seemed to have stopped.

"Boom—!!!"

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted, and the entire Hokage Rock jolted violently! Towering flames tore through the night, dyeing half the sky blood-red!

Then came the second, the third... endless explosions rolled like thunder, crushing their way from Hokage Rock to the residential district before slamming fiercely into the Hokage Administrative District!

The earth shook wildly. Houses collapsed with thunderous crashes. Sleeping villagers awoke screaming, and in an instant, all of Konoha was violently dragged from peaceful slumber into a raging sea of flames!

The deafening roar still echoed through the valley, but Hokage Rock, which had carried Konoha's glory for decades, had already completely fractured amid the towering fire.

The stern stone head of the First Hokage was the first to explode. The hard granite, battered by the chain blasts of a hundred thousand Explosive Tags, shattered as easily as sun-dried mud. Countless fragments of rock, carrying earth-destroying force, poured down toward Konoha below.

Then came the stone statues of the Second and Third Hokage. Half the mountain, along with the Hokage reliefs carved there for decades, collapsed amid the unceasing explosions. Massive boulders weighing tons fell savagely from cliffs a hundred meters high like rampaging beasts out of control.

"Rumble—!!"

The largest boulder plunged straight into the busiest commercial street below. A three-story ninja tool shop was instantly pulverized. Wooden buildings collapsed in rows beneath the impact, while flying stone fragments swept across street-facing shops, lampposts, and panicked crowds like a barrage of bullets.

The debris slammed into the ground, blasting one bottomless crater after another. Streets paved with bluestone instantly cracked into webs, while scorching dust mixed with the pungent smoke of Explosive Tags swept through the entire village.

Panic, like a sudden plague, instantly devoured all of Konoha.

Villagers who had been asleep a moment earlier were thrown from their tatami mats by the tremors. Before they could react, falling beams and debris buried them beneath the ruins.

Women's screams, children's wails, and the groans of the injured mixed with the thunderous collapse of house after house, exploding into a chaotic din amid the flames.

A mother clutching an infant ran madly from a half-collapsed wooden house. Seeing her home flattened by debris, she crumpled to the ground and burst into wordless sobs;

A Genin on night watch had his face sliced bloody by flying stone chips. His hand holding a Kunai shook uncontrollably. Looking at the flames filling the sky and the collapsing houses, he didn't even know where to run next.

Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi was slammed hard into his desk by the blast. The urgent border reports in his hand scattered across the floor, and his half-burned pipe rolled away.

He nearly smashed through the window and leaped out on instinct. When he looked up and saw the scene before him, the pupils of the Hokage who had led Konoha for decades abruptly contracted, and all color drained from his face.

The Hokage Rock he had guarded his entire life was gone.

More than half the cliff had collapsed. The stone statues of the Hokage throughout the ages had shattered into rubble filling the sky. Half the village below was engulfed in flames and smoke, while cries and explosions slammed into his ears on the wind.

"Lord Hokage!!"

An Anbu ninja rushed to his side like a madman, his voice filled with panic. "Chain explosions at Hokage Rock! Half the commercial district and residential area have been destroyed by falling debris! Casualties unknown! Explosive Tags are still detonating throughout the Administrative District! What do we do?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest rose and fell violently, and chakra surged uncontrollably through his body.

He understood in an instant—this wasn't an accident. It was the Uchiha!

It was the Uchiha he had thought were trapped inside their clan district, incapable of stirring up any trouble, presenting him with a heaven-shaking gift!

But as he looked at the village below engulfed in flames, at the villagers fleeing in blind panic, and at the continuing explosions spreading through the Administrative District, he couldn't spare even a fraction of his attention for the Uchiha.

"Relay my orders!" He gritted his teeth, his voice overflowing with towering rage. "All remaining Anbu and Police Force personnel, evacuate the villagers immediately, put out the fires, and treat the wounded! Kakashi Squad, return and provide support at once! All sensory ninja, immediately locate the remaining Explosive Tags! Move!!"

The instant the order was given, another deafening explosion erupted behind and to the side of the Hokage Building. The entire structure shuddered violently, and dense cracks instantly spread across its walls.

Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and could only lead the Anbu beside him toward the Administrative District, where the explosions were most concentrated.