A Parting Gift for Everyone

The moment the order was given, the Root ninja surrounding the barrier sprang into action.

Countless ninjutsu bombarded the barrier wall—Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, Earth Release: Earth Flow Great River, and densely packed Explosive Tags that rained down upon the scarlet Blazing Sun Formation.

Explosions rang out one after another, smoke and dust filled the sky, and heatwaves surged.

Yet the scarlet barrier stood as if forged from bronze and cast in iron, utterly unmoved. The flame patterns along its walls instead burned ever brighter beneath the ninjutsu barrage. Quite a few Root ninja who charged too close were instantly swallowed by the rebounding flames, letting out miserable screams.

No matter how frenzied Root's attacks became, the Blazing Sun Formation remained as steady as a mountain.

A death formation that required six hours to break could not possibly be shaken by their wild bombardment in such a short time.

Standing amid the billowing smoke and dust, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the unmoving barrier, watched the Uchiha clansmen within heading toward the underground chamber, and listened to the unending emergency reports from the borders. It felt as though all the strength had been drained from his body in an instant.

He staggered and braced himself against a broken wall before barely managing to remain standing. Nothing but endless despair and regret remained in his eyes.

At last, he understood. From the very beginning, he had fallen into the trap Uchiha Natsu had laid.

That earth-shattering explosion, that Book of Seals, even Hidden Cloud's assault—all of it had been calculated step by step by that eleven-year-old boy.

And he, along with all of Konoha, had been played for fools by a child.

Inside the barrier, Natsu stood before the teleportation array, watching the last batch of clansmen enter the blue light. Then he turned toward the barrier outside, toward Uchiha Itachi, whose face had gone pale as his Mangekyō Sharingan stared fixedly at him.

A cold smile curled across Natsu's lips. He made a throat-slitting gesture at Itachi, then turned and stepped into the deep-blue teleportation light alongside Fugaku, Kei, and the others.

The light suddenly flared, then instantly contracted.

The entire Uchiha Clan District fell into complete silence.

All that remained was an empty Blazing Sun Formation still burning with fierce flames, and beyond it, a group of Konoha's higher-ups whose eyes were split with rage, yet who could do nothing at all.

The roars outside the Blazing Sun Formation came one after another. The explosive crashes of colliding ninjutsu, Danzo's frantic howls, and the sharp clatter of flying rubble blended into a single chaos. Yet the scarlet barrier wall merely rippled with fine waves beneath the ceaseless impacts, without so much as a crack appearing.

Scorching flames surged along the barrier's patterns, blocking every frenzied attack outside like an impregnable city wall and creating an absolutely safe space for the Uchiha to evacuate.

There was no panic, no crying, not even hurried footsteps.

Along the bluestone roads of the clan district, the Uchiha clansmen formed two orderly lines and headed toward the underground chamber beneath Naka Shrine. At the front were the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children.

Women carrying swaddled infants held their children protectively against their chests, their steps steady;

Elders supported by younger clansmen carried ancestral tablets tightly wrapped in brocade, their backs straight;

Even children barely old enough to have awakened a One Tomoe carried packs filled with rations on their backs, following the line ahead without a single cry or fuss.

Following close behind were the young and able-bodied ninja pushing sealed crates.

The crates contained the clan's Ninjutsu Scrolls, Secret Technique Inheritances, as well as the gold and supplies acquired from selling off their assets. Every step was firm and steady.

On either side stood the elite members of the guard under Uchiha Kei. Their Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned slowly as they vigilantly scanned their surroundings, yet none of them showed the slightest tension of impending battle—they knew that as long as the Blazing Sun Formation remained, no one outside could take even one step inside.

Even Uchiha Setsuna, who had always been at odds with Fugaku, now stood at the rear of the procession with the clansmen under his command, maintaining the order of the evacuation.

When he saw Mikoto passing by with a child in her arms, he even shifted slightly aside and nodded to the clan head's wife.

The factional struggles and ideological differences of the past had long since vanished in the face of the clan's survival.

In the underground chamber, the deep-blue light of the teleportation array flowed like a tranquil sea of stars.

Natsu stood at the entrance to the array with the clan roster in hand. His scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan swept over every figure entering the light, and each time he finished checking a group, he gave a slight nod to the clansman recording beside him.

There was not the slightest impatience on his face. Even his fingertips remained perfectly steady, as though the world-shaking chaos outside had nothing to do with him.

Fugaku stood beside him, watching one clansman after another step steadily into the teleportation array and vanish into the blue light. Complex emotions churned in his eyes.

He had guarded this clan district his entire life. From his youthful vigor to the measured forbearance he had shown after becoming clan head, every blade of grass, every brick, every tile here bore the marks of half his life.

But now, he had no thought of looking back. He merely took the roster Natsu handed him and crossed out the names of the evacuated clansmen one stroke at a time, his fingertips steady and without the slightest hesitation.

"The elderly, the weak, the women, and the children have all been teleported." Uchiha Yaoyu hurried over and reported in a low voice, "The supplies and inheritance scrolls have all been sent over as well. Nothing was left behind."

Natsu nodded slightly and looked toward the rear of the line. "Have the young ninja enter in batches. The elite will bring up the rear."

Once the order was passed down, the line remained completely orderly. Ten at a time, they entered the teleportation array in sequence. The blue light lit up and receded again and again. There were fewer and fewer people in the chamber, yet absolute silence was maintained throughout.

The attacks outside the barrier grew ever more frenzied. Danzo even acted personally, his Wind Release blades striking the barrier and bursting into flames that filled the sky. Yet the Blazing Sun Formation remained as steady as a mountain.

The ninja of the Sealing Team shook their heads wildly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, their faces pale—every second of the six hours needed to break the formation was indispensable. There was no shortcut to take.

They could only watch helplessly as the Uchiha clansmen inside the barrier completed their evacuation in calm order, without leaving them even a trace of panic.

Half an hour later, more than half the clan district had been emptied. After the last batch of ordinary clansmen entered the teleportation array, only Natsu, Fugaku, Uchiha Kei, Taoho, Yashiro, and more than twenty elite jonin assigned to cover the rear remained in the chamber.

"Young master, all clansmen have been teleported. Not one was left behind." Kei closed the roster and dropped to one knee, his voice trembling with barely contained excitement.

A pale-blue system screen quietly flashed before Natsu's eyes. The progress bar for the newbie mission steadily jumped to 100%. The notification, [Newbie mission complete. System fully unlocked. Newbie Gift Pack issued], slowly appeared across the screen.

He raised his eyes and looked one last time toward the outside of the barrier. Through the surging flames, he could clearly see Hiruzen Sarutobi's ashen face, Danzo's wildly twisted expression, and Uchiha Itachi standing at the front, his Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on this place as his entire body trembled.