Naruto hung up the tactical communicator. Its metal casing clicked shut. He grabbed the keys from the table. Hinata stood nearby and did not try to stop him again. She pushed the reheated fried eggs to the edge of the table. Naruto picked up the plate and swallowed the eggs in two bites. The carbohydrates and protein quickly turned to energy, replenishing what his body had burned through. He grabbed the jacket draped over the back of his chair.
"Have the Sealing Corps assemble as planned." Naruto tossed the words to Minato, pushed open the blast door, and strode into the cool morning air. Minato wasted no words. He turned into a yellow flash and followed.
Outside Warehouse Three, Seventh Industrial District.
A shrill air-raid siren tore through Konoha's morning. Shikamaru stood at the perimeter, directing ANBU to establish three cordons. Red and blue warning lights flashed wildly, throwing the frightened workers' faces in and out of shadow.
Sasuke stood at the front in matte-black Power Armor. The servomotors beneath its plating hummed like a beast lurking in the dark. His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on the center of the warehouse, crimson power swirling in his eyes as he tried to see through the strange zone.
The Medical Team rushed two Genin out on stretchers.
Naruto landed, his combat boots thudding against the concrete. He looked at the stretchers. The two boys had been bursting with life the day before. Now their hair was white, their skin covered in brown age spots, their muscles badly wasted. Even breathing seemed labored and rattling. Some unknown force had drained the life out of them.
In the center of the warehouse, purple-gold mist rolled across the surface of a container holding Dragon Vein materials. It probed and writhed outward like a living thing,