The blare of air-raid sirens tore through the night sky.
All the Jonin turned in unison toward the source of the alarm.
This was the village's highest-level alert for an attack.
Every registered Konoha shinobi had to enter a state of mobilization upon hearing it.
In the courtyard, Naruto, Izumi Uchiha, and Karin all looked toward the Hokage Building.
Worry showed on Izumi's face.
"Naruto, what happened?"
Naruto smiled but offered no explanation.
"Wait for me at home."
He vanished with Body Flicker and rushed toward the assembly point.
Above Konoha, Deidara, riding a giant bird, shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Art is Patrick Star~!"
White clay spiders rained down from the sky onto the houses below.
They exploded the moment they hit the ground, and the blasts merged into a continuous roar, jolting every sleeping villager awake.
Hundreds of puppets darted through the night sky, hurling shuriken and kunai from every angle. Many ANBU members were shot down before they could even get close.
An ANBU squad leader's expression changed drastically as he shouted at the other squad leaders.
"Move! Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
"Lightning Release: Four-Pillar Binding!!"
"Earth Release: Heaven-Sent Cover!"
The three white-robed ANBU captains formed hand seals at high speed.
A wind blade swept past, slicing off one of the wings of Deidara's mount.
Four enormous lightning pillars rose from four directions, enclosing the entire blast zone. An electric net interwove between them, instantly trapping every clay bomb within.
The spiders Deidara had thrown went inert one after another.
He gritted his teeth, his face full of unwillingness.
Lightning Release was the natural counter to his clay explosives.
In the anime, he had been able to capture Gaara single-handedly in Sunagakure only because part of Hidden Sand Village's upper ranks had been deeply dissatisfied