Barehandedly Pushing Open Seven Gates, the Asura Enters the Inner Court!

Dong!

A deep, heavy bell echoed from the highest point of the Uchiha Inner Courtyard.

The sound passed through the mountain, swept across the Outer Court and Myriad City, and rapidly spread throughout Konoha.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

One peal followed another.

The streets, which had been bustling moments ago, quickly fell silent.

Customers in the shops stopped talking. Ninjas carrying out missions looked up toward the Uchiha District. Even the students at the Ninja Academy ran to the windows.

"Is that the Uchiha's bell?"

"Isn't today outside training time?"

"Of course not! The Uchiha only rings the bell three times for their routine morning training. It would never last this long!"

The bell continued to ring.

When the eighth peal sounded, some people's expressions had already changed.

An elderly ninja set down his wine cup, his voice heavy.

"When an Uchiha elder passed away, they rang it eight times at most."

"It's already gone beyond that."

"Could something major have happened to the Uchiha?"

The twelfth peal.

The fifteenth peal.

Only when the eighteenth peal spread throughout Konoha did the entire village erupt.

"Eighteen peals!"

"The Uchiha's bell actually rang eighteen times!"

"That's never happened before!"

"Could the Uchiha clan head have broken through?"

"Or has another new powerhouse appeared at the Shrine?"

The discussion quickly spread from Myriad City to every corner of the village.

Ordinary villagers did not know what eighteen peals represented, but they understood that the Uchiha would never ring such a massive bell without reason.

Ninjas from shinobi clans were even more astonished and suspicious.

Every move the Uchiha made now was enough to affect Konoha, and even the entire Shinobi World.

Inside the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly rose from his seat.

He hurried to the window and stared intently toward the Uchiha District.