Paper Release Out of Control, Hidden Leaf Seals the Streets

Konoha, 12:41 PM.

Outside the Uzumaki Estate, on East Third Street.

Sunlight streamed down from between the rooftops, turning the stone path white.

The vendor selling dumplings had just opened the steamer, and before the steam had dissipated, a piece of white paper drifted down from the sky and landed on the back of his hand.

He shook it twice but couldn't shake it off.

Look up.

There's more than one in the sky.

Hundreds of sheets of white paper fell from the sky, like snowflakes, but thicker and heavier than snow.

There was no wind, yet the paper adjusted its angle on its own in the air, slowly descending in a manner that defied the laws of physics.

What is that?

A housewife buying groceries stopped in her tracks.

"Paper... Ninjutsu?"

Everyone on the street was looking up.

Three seconds later, the first scream came from the alley entrance—"It's Akatsuki! Akatsuki's technique!"

The crowd resembled an anthill that had been doused with boiling water.

Pushing, trampling, and screams erupted simultaneously on East Third Street.

Two patrolling Chunin their swords and rushed towards the Uzumaki Estate, shouting a blockade order.

Uzumaki Estate, second floor.

As soon as Konan stepped onto the wooden planks of the corridor, she heard a noise outside.

Her hands braced against the window frame, her amber pupils suddenly contracting.

She recognized the Chakra fluctuations emanating from those scraps of paper.

I recognize it, but it shouldn't be here.

"It wasn't me."

Her lips moved slightly.

The main door on the first floor was kicked open from the outside.

Naruto stepped in through the door, his black short-sleeved shirt still splattered with mud from his Taijutsu training in the yard.

He didn't go upstairs; he stopped in the entryway and looked up at Konan.

"Your?"

"No."

"You recognize me?"

Konan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"... I recognize him."

Naruto didn't ask any more questions.

He turned and walked out.

Konan grabbed the ninja sandals from the windowsill and rushed downstairs.

East Third Street.

The white paper had already covered the rooftops of half the street.

Before everyone's eyes, the pieces of paper folded simultaneously—not by human hands, but by Chakra- driven automatic transformation.

One sheet becomes two folds, two folds become four folds, revealing a sharp beak, wings, and tail feathers.

Paper bird.

Twenty-seven.

They hovered three meters above the ground, their wings flapping with an eerily synchronized rhythm, like an army awaiting orders.

The patrolling Chunin raised his Kunai, his wrist trembling.

"All civilians, retreat! Notify the Anbu— "

Before he could finish speaking, the paper bird moved.

Not all of them, just the first three.

They simultaneously swooped down towards the densest crowd below, their wingtips reflecting a dazzling white light in the sunlight.

"Spread!"

The crowd didn't have time to disperse.

A golden beam slashed down from the street corner.

It wasn't a human figure—it was chains.

Golden Chakra Chains, as thick as a wrist, emerged from the cracks in the stone slabs of the ground, carrying the scorching heat characteristic of the Uzumaki Clan.

One, two, five, twelve.

The chains shot into the air like living things, precisely piercing the bodies of each paper bird and pinning them to the ground.

Twenty-seven, not one was missed.

The paper bird's wings were still fluttering, but the golden Chakra flowing on the chains began to burn the detonation technique the moment it touched the paper.

The smell of burning filled the air.

Street corner.

Naruto had one hand in his pocket, while the index and middle fingers of his other hand remained in Hand Seals position.

"... almost blew up the whole street."

His tone was as flat as if he were saying the neighbor's Matatabi.

The ninjas and civilians who had been watching were all looking at him.

Some people collapsed to the ground, some covered their mouths, and some held their children tightly in their arms.

A blue figure swept past him.

Konan leaped into the air, spread her arms, and countless white paper scraps poured out from between her fingers.

Her Paper Release covered the nailed paper birds, like a membrane wrapping around the diseased wound.

Her brows were furrowed deeply.

My fingers are trembling.

It wasn't fear—it was fighting against the residual magic within the paper bird's body.

She knew those techniques by heart; thirty years ago, she personally taught the Messenger Paper Soldier the folding logic.

But the detonation command...

Not Nagato's.

Mixed within the Chakra frequency of the detonation command was something she didn't recognize at all.

Extremely faint, like a parasite deliberately hidden beneath Nagato's magic.

Konan's pupils suddenly contracted.

But she didn't have time to think about it deeply.

"Cut off!"

She gave a low shout and her fingers clenched tightly.

The white paper covering the paper bird simultaneously shrinks and compresses, violently shredding the structure.

Twenty-seven paper birds turned to dust in the same second, falling softly from the golden chain.

Konan landed back on the ground.

Barefoot, I stepped on the scattered paper dust.

Her breathing quickened for three beats before it calmed down.

"She didn't do it!"

Someone shouted from the crowd.

"She was just helping to dismantle those birds!"

How do you know it wasn't a ruse?

"Shut up."

Naruto didn't turn around.

The sound wasn't loud, but it silenced all the noise in the entire street.

He walked up to Konan.

Konan opened her palm.

Among the powder was a thumb-sized object—dark blue, oval-shaped, with a raindrop pattern etched on its surface.

The edges were still stained with dried, dark red blood.

"Messenger Paper Soldier"

Konan's voice was hoarse.

"The standard format used by the Rain ANBU. It contains the sender's spiritual imprint."

Naruto looked down at the raindrop mark.

There was no anger in his azure eyes, only a chilling calculation.

Who posted this?

"The mark belongs to Nagato."

Konan paused for a moment.

"But there's something else mixed in with the detonation spell... I don't recognize it."

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.

The children on the street are still crying.

A four- or five-year-old boy was squatting in the corner, covering his ears with his hands, his face covered in snot.

His mother, who was standing next to him, held him tightly, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Naruto stared at the mother and child for three seconds.

His jawline gradually tightened.

"Testing the waters is acceptable."

He spoke.

The voice wasn't loud, but everyone on the street could hear it clearly.

"Using ordinary people to test the waters—that won't work."

He picked up the raindrop mark from Konan's hand and held it up to his eyes.

The deep blue oval refracted a dull light under the sunlight.

Bring your fingers together.

"Snap."

Fragments slipped through my fingers and were scattered by the wind.

He turned his head to look at Konan.

"Give him a reply."

Konan looked up.

"Three days later," Naruto's voice carried a chilling calm that sent shivers down your spine, "The border of the Land of Fire. I'll be waiting for him."

The entire street was completely silent.

The Kunai in the Chunin's hand clattered to the ground, and he forgot to pick it up.

Konan stared at Naruto's profile for five seconds.

There was no impulsiveness or bluff on that face.

There was only one thing she had seen countless times in her thirty years of war, but never on the face of a twelve-year-old boy—

Determined.

It's as if they've already planned out every step that will happen three days from now.

"... Do you know what the Six Paths of Pain are?"

She said.

"I know."

"Do you know what it means for six bodies to be deployed simultaneously?"

"I know."

"You should take the initiative to ask him out."

Naruto tilted his head.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

It wasn't a laugh—it was an impatient tone, like someone saying, "Have you finished talking nonsense?"

"Sister, do you think I let you out, shielded you from the Anbu, and took the pressure from the entire Konoha High Command for you—"

He turned and strode towards the Uzumaki Estate.

"--Is it to wait for him to come to us?"

The wind scattered the paper dust on the ground.

Konan stood still.

Those feet, clad in ninja sandals two sizes too big, stood firmly on the stone pavement.

She clenched her fists.

Three days.

She knew what to do.

(Amegakure. Tower control room. Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan circled three times before stopping. He withdrew his senses. The feedback signal from the Messenger Paper Soldier —there was no Konan's Chakra. Instead, there was a lingering, scorching golden energy that was completely unfamiliar to him. Nagato looked at the control panel and tapped the armrest three times with his thin fingers. The first tap was light. The second tap was heavy. The third tap—the metal panel of the armrest cracked.)