Inside the Root Base.
Danzo watched the Nine-Tails wreak havoc in the village, fear showing on his face.
"So this is... the power of a tailed beast?"
Behind him, Aburame Torune knelt on one knee and reported gravely:
"Lord Danzo, the Nine-Tails is wreaking havoc in the village. Should we send Root ninja to stop it?"
Danzo did not answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the rampaging Nine-Tails.
A group of chunin rushed in front of the Nine-Tails.
A dozen or so people, holding kunai and shouting something.
Then the Nine-Tails' claw came down.
Just one swipe.
Those dozen or so people instantly became flesh and blood scattered across the ground.
Danzo narrowed his eyes.
Then his expression darkened as he said:
"Pass on my order. All Root ninja are to stay put!"
Aburame Torune froze for a moment and looked up.
"But, Lord Danzo... the people of Konoha are under attack..."
Danzo whipped his head around.
"Hm?"
Just one sound.
Yet Aburame Torune felt as though something had seized his throat, and cold sweat poured down his body.
"You... intend to disobey my orders?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Aburame Torune immediately lowered his head, his voice trembling noticeably:
"I wouldn't dare!"
"Then why aren't you passing on the order?"
"Y-yes!"
Aburame Torune stood and quickly left the room.
After a moment of silence, Danzo murmured to himself:
"Root... needs to preserve its strength."
"For Konoha's future... necessary sacrifices are inevitable."
Inside Konoha.
Flames soared into the sky.
The Nine-Tails' tail swept past, and swathes of houses collapsed as though made of paper.
Rubble flew everywhere, hurtling toward the crowds fleeing for their lives.
"Aah!!!"
Screams rose one after another.
Someone lay pinned beneath a fallen roof beam, half their body unable to move, only able to reach out in despair.
"Help... someone, help me..."
More people were running.
Running for their lives.
But the Nine-Tails' tail swept toward them again.
Boom!
Another swathe of houses collapsed, followed by another wave of screams.
"Lord Danzo!!!"
Someone screamed in despair.
"Lord Danzo said he'd protect us!"
"Lord Danzo! Where are you?!"
Yet only the Nine-Tails' roars and the crackling flames answered them.
No one came.
Those Root ninja whom they trusted, idolized, and believed would charge to the front...
Not a single one came.
Fortunately, as time passed, help finally arrived-but not from Root ninja.
Several dark figures darted across the rooftops. They were the Anbu who served directly under the Third.
They moved through the flames and ruins, pulling injured civilians out from beneath collapsed houses one by one and carrying them on their backs to safety.
"Quick! Someone's still alive over here!"
"Medical team! Where's the medical team?!"
"Take this child away. His parents are already..."
Meanwhile, figures wearing Konoha Military Police Force uniforms also rushed into the flames.
Uchiha Fugaku led the charge, his hands rapidly forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball struck a boulder hurtling toward the crowd, blasting it to pieces.
"Inabi! Take some men east!"
Fugaku shouted his orders.
"Tekka! The west is yours!"
"Yes!"
The major ninja clans, including Ino-Shika-Cho, also sprang into action.
Members of the Yamanaka Clan moved through the ruins, using their sensory abilities to search for buried survivors.
Members of the Akimichi Clan transformed into giants, using their enormous bodies to block rubble hurtling toward the civilians.
Members of the Nara Clan cast broad shadows across the ground, binding civilians who could not escape in time and forcibly dragging them out of range of the Nine-Tails' attacks.
"Go!"
"Run that way! It's safe over there!"
"Don't look back! Hurry!"
Bang!
Another tail swept past.
A flying stone struck a middle-aged man's thigh, and he screamed as he fell to the ground.
He desperately tried to get up, only to discover that his leg was broken. Jagged bone pierced his flesh, and blood pooled across the ground.
"Aah!!! It hurts so much!!!"
Lying on the ground, he looked around in despair.
"Anyone... please, come save me... I'm begging you..."
Suddenly, he remembered something, and his expression turned vicious.
"Damn it! Where are the Uchiha?!"
He shouted himself hoarse:
"Are the Konoha Military Police Force all useless?! Weren't they talking about holding some evacuation drill yesterday?!"
"Where the hell have the Uchiha gone?!"
"Come save me!!!"
Just as he finished speaking, a figure landed in front of him.
A green vest, with the Uchiha Clan's fan emblem embroidered on the back.
It was Uchiha Inabi.
He glanced down at the man's broken leg, then bent down without a word to move the stone pinning him.
The heavy stone shifted little by little.
"Don't move."
Inabi spoke in a low voice.
"Almost done."
At last, the stone was moved aside.
Inabi held out his hand.
"Come on, climb onto my back. I'll take you somewhere safe."
The man froze for a moment. Then the first thing he said was:
"Damn Uchiha! Why didn't you come save me sooner?!"
Inabi's hand stopped.
He raised his head and looked at the face twisted with pain and fear.
The man kept cursing:
"If you'd come sooner, my leg wouldn't be broken! This is all your fault!"
Inabi's gaze slowly grew cold.
He stood up and looked down at the man.
"Yesterday, Chief Fugaku asked you to take part in the evacuation drill, but you refused to cooperate."
"You said you didn't need the Uchiha, that Danzo would protect you."
He paused, then asked:
"May I ask where Danzo is now?"
The man opened his mouth, unable to speak for a moment.
But soon, his expression turned vicious again.
"I don't care! Protecting civilians is your duty as Uchiha! If you don't do it, I'll complain to Lord Hokage!"
Inabi stared at him for two seconds.
Then he smiled.
"Fine."
He nodded.
"In that case, please go complain right now."
With that, his figure flickered, and he vanished on the spot.
The man froze.
He stared blankly in the direction Inabi had disappeared, taking a long time to react.
"You... get back here!"
No one answered.
He began to panic.
"Damn Uchiha... if you won't save me, someone else will!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Help! Someone, save me! I'm a Konoha villager! Someone..."
Yet only the distant roars of the Nine-Tails and the crackling flames answered him.
No one came.
The Anbu moving through the ruins and the clan ninja desperately rescuing people were all too far away.
He tried to move, but the searing pain in his leg immediately made him give up.
Just then, the ground began to shake.
He looked up, his pupils abruptly contracting.
The Nine-Tails was moving toward him.
With every step its massive red body took, the ground trembled.
Wherever its nine wildly thrashing tails passed, everything was crushed to pieces.
He finally grew frantic.
"No... no..."
His voice began to tremble.
"Don't... don't come any closer..."
The Nine-Tails drew closer and closer.
He finally broke down.
"I was wrong! I was wrong!!!"
He shouted in every direction with all his strength:
"Come back and save me! Please! I was wrong! I shouldn't have cursed at you!"