Chapter 250: Audience Assembled, Judgment Of Truth
Outside the Uchiha Compound, far from the noisy and bloody battlefield, at the top of a massive ancient tree with lush branches sufficient to overlook the chaotic scene of the entire Uchiha Compound, space slightly distorted.
Obito, wearing an orange tiger-patterned mask, quietly appeared, his scarlet single eye peering through the hole in the mask, coldly watching the clan territory below that had turned into hell.
Firelight soared to the skies, ninjutsu exploded, roars and screams unending, especially that towering emerald green Susanoo emanating a heart-palpitating power, making the scene filled with surreal absurdity and cruelty.
The tree trunk beside him wriggled like a living creature, and the black-and-white pitcher plant Zetsu slowly emerged.
“The agreed-upon clan extermination turned into a massive brawl?” White Zetsu’s half body exaggeratedly waved its arms, tone carrying the excitement of watching the fun without minding the trouble: “Whoa~ It’s completely messed up!”
“Obito! The plan has completely failed! That Shura guy actually brought so many people to crash the party! Now forget about exterminating the clan, we can’t even get those Sharingan from the Uchiha we worked hard to kill!”
“That woman’s power…” Black Zetsu’s gloomy half added in a hoarse voice, gaze vigilantly scanning the distant figure standing unyielding on the high wall: “More troublesome than we anticipated. And that ‘Shura’ by her side… immeasurably deep.”
Obito remained silent, his brows tightly furrowed under the mask.
His gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield to Shimura Danzō, who stood beside the Third Hokage with a face so grim it seemed water would drip from it.
“The time and place of the clan extermination… how did he know?” Obito’s voice was low and filled with doubt, as if asking Zetsu or muttering to himself.
“Itachi coming to find me today was a last-minute decision, and we chose to act tonight to avoid prolonged delays. Yet Shura was able to ambush precisely… unless…” A chill flashed in his single eye.
“Unless the news leaked from within the Konoha High Council. Or even… something went wrong on Danzō’s side.” He thought of Danzō’s greedy nature and the possibility that Root was not monolithic.
After all, this clan extermination operation was pushed by Danzō himself, and his Root had been circling like vultures outside the Uchiha Compound, ready to harvest the spoils, those precious Sharingan.
It was hard to guarantee that no one inside leaked the wind, or… that Shura intercepted the intelligence through some unknown means.
White Zetsu tilted its head: “So what do we do now? The plan is totally screwed! If Shura really takes these surviving Uchiha back to the Land of Stars, won’t it be even harder to deal with later? He already has that Uchiha Hikari under him, and now with so many more Sharingan…”
Obito’s gaze once again warily glanced at the two figures on the distant high wall.
Even with Kamui, he had no confidence in gaining any advantage in front of these two.
“It’s come to this, impossible to stop now.” Obito’s voice returned to its usual coldness, as if the tragedy before his eyes was merely a play unrelated to him: “However, watching Konoha being torn apart by the Uchiha they drove to rebellion themselves and the mysterious Star Ninja allied together… this theater has its own flavor.”
He let out a low, ambiguous laugh, his figure slowly merging into the Kamui vortex and disappearing.
Zetsu also silently sank into the tree trunk, as if it had never appeared.
…………
At the same time, in the core area of Konohagakure, a silent raid was unfolding.
Just as nearly all of Konoha’s elite forces were drawn to the massive vortex of the Uchiha Compound, Kisame Hoshigaki-led Star Ninja Third Squad, like the sharpest dagger, silently tore open the weak link in Konoha’s defenses, thrusting straight into the heavily guarded Root Base under the shadow of Hokage Rock!
“Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!” Kisame grinned ferociously as he formed hand seals, massive water flow like a bursting flood instantly smashing the defensive structures at the Root Base entrance and the unprepared garrison ninja.
“Enemy attack! Star Ninja!” The shrill alarm had just sounded when it was drowned by fiercer attacks.
Miyoshi Jin’s Blood Dragon Eye manipulated blood into blades, Ida Tasuke’s figure moved like a ghost, senbon in hand precisely embedding into enemies’ throats, other Star Ninja Anbu members using various means in perfect coordination.
The Root Base garrison mostly consisted of non-combat researchers, intelligence analysts, and a few guards; before Kisame’s elite Anbu squad of wolves and tigers, they were utterly no match!
Resistance was quickly crushed, the passage littered with Root members’ corpses strewn about.
“Clear the battlefield! All documents, files, experiment materials—take everything! Not a single piece of paper left behind!” Kisame shouldered the restless Samehada, ordering in a hoarse voice.
The Star Ninja immediately sprang into action like efficient machines, swiftly raiding laboratories and archives, plundering everything of value.
Countless dark secrets, experiment data, and forbidden jutsu materials accumulated by Root over the years were packed into special sealing scrolls.
Kisame himself strode toward the living quarters deep in the base.
Kisame looked around; it was unusually quiet here, the empty corridor seemingly devoid of people.
He stopped, speaking lowly: “By order of Lord Shura, here to extract.”
The voice echoed in the empty corridor.
Moments later, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows on one side.
It was Kabuto Yakushi.
He pushed up his glasses, not expecting Lord Shura’s operation to be so swift and direct, actually seizing this opportunity to send men to assault the Root lair for his extraction!
“Captain Kisame?” Kabuto cautiously confirmed.
“Mm. Time is tight, come with me.” Kisame was concise.
He pushed up his glasses, lenses reflecting cold light, carefully sizing up Kisame before him and the astonishingly efficient Star Ninja Anbu behind him who were looting the base.
For this man, formerly of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who defected to the Land of Stars and was appointed Anbu Commander by Shura, Kabuto had long heard.
After confirming the identity, he quickly weighed his options in his mind.
Danzō was paranoid by nature; with Root Base suffering such a heavy blow, as a key personnel yet unscathed, he would inevitably face reckoning afterward.
Taking advantage of the current chaos to leave with the Star Ninja was undoubtedly the only and best choice.
“I’ll go with you.” Kabuto made his decision, voice calm.
At that moment, footsteps came from the other end of the passage.
Ida Tasuke, wearing a white bird mask, and two Star Ninja Anbu escorted an unconscious boy over.
“Head Captain, target ‘Tonō Sukesuke’ has been successfully captured.” Ida Tasuke reported concisely.
Kisame grinned, revealing shark-like fangs: “Good. Mission complete, withdraw!”
The group withdrew as swiftly as they came, carrying massive seized documents and two key personnel, quickly evacuating the now-wrecked Root Base.
En route, they encountered a few waves of Konoha patrol ninja rushing to support upon hearing the news, but before Kisame’s elite Anbu, these sporadic resistances were like mantises trying to stop a chariot, quickly crushed.
They fought their way through, ultimately smoothly reaching the Uchiha main battlefield and rendezvousing successfully with the main force.
By now, the Uchiha Compound had thoroughly become a meat grinder battlefield.
The surviving Uchiha clansmen, with Star Ninja support, erupted with astonishing combat power, engaging in fierce slaughter with former fellow villagers, the Konoha ninja.
Hatred, anger, despair, desire to survive…
Various emotions intertwined, making every clash even bloodier.
Shisui Uchiha’s complete body emerald green Susanoo descended like a war god, its massive chakra spiral sword stirring destructive storms with every swing, forcing the Konoha Anbu and large numbers of ninja attempting to organize and advance into repeated retreats with heavy casualties!
Its existence greatly shifted the situation on the local battlefield.
Itachi Uchiha’s eyes continuously bled from the corners, the excessive use of Mangekyo bringing enormous burden.
He arduously dodged the aftershocks of Susanoo attacks while coping with attacks from all directions, indiscriminate of friend or foe!
Konoha’s Anbu and Root saw him as a traitor accomplice, while Uchiha clansmen hated him to the bone!
He was like an isolated island on the battlefield, battered by waves of hatred from both sides.
‘Must preserve myself… for Sasuke… must survive…’ This thought sustained Itachi; he gritted his teeth, using superb Body Flicker Technique and illusion techniques to arduously break free from the entanglement, his figure leaping a few times, disengaging from the fray in a wretched state, temporarily going into hiding, confusion and pain nearly overflowing from his eyes.
On the other side, Kushina Uzumaki, Natsuhi, and others also successfully broke through the encirclement, escorting defectors like Hizashi Hyuga, Neji from the Hyuga Branch Family to the main battlefield, rendezvousing with Shura and Uchiha Hikari.
“Lord, Hyuga Branch Family survivors delivered. Mission complete.” Kushina slightly bowed in report, the adamantine sealing chains behind her slowly retracting.
Almost simultaneously, Shikaku Nara, Hiashi Hyuga, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Tsume Inuzuka, and other clan heads and elite jonin from Konoha’s major ninja clans, led large support troops and finally arrived at the edge of this bloody battlefield!
When they saw the scene before them, all were shocked beyond measure!
The Uchiha’s miserable state, Star Ninja’s intervention, Hyuga Branch Family’s defection, and that terrifying Susanoo…
Menma hovered in the air, the white three-eyed fox mask overlooking the increasingly gathered “audience” below, representing nearly all of Konoha’s top forces.
He knew that this “Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall” theater, directed by the Konoha High Council yet thoroughly disrupted by him, had finally reached its climax.
He slightly turned his head, gaze seeming to pierce space, glancing at Minato and Kushina hiding in the distant shadows unwilling to join the battle, and Orochimaru silently manipulating the First and Second Hokage through reanimation jutsu.
Those trump cards sufficient to utterly overturn the battle situation were not yet the time to play them all.
Like playing Landlord, impossible to throw down a pair of aces right at the start.
He gently nodded to Uchiha Hikari beside him.
Uchiha Hikari understood, scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan flowing with light.
In an instant, a clear and calm voice resounded in every Star Ninja member’s mind, an instant command link established through the engraved chakra network!
Under Uchiha Hikari’s command, the Star Ninja’s actions instantly became more coordinated and orderly, offense and defense switching like a single entity.
Menma then slowly floated forward a distance, looking down from above like a deity judging all beings.
His voice transmitted through the mask was not loud, yet carried a deep penetrating power, clearly overriding the battlefield clamor and reaching every present person’s ears:
“Audience, seems everyone is here.”
His gaze slowly swept over the ashen-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi, the sinister-eyed Shimura Danzō, and all the Konoha ninja with faces of shock, doubt, anger, ultimately fixing on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“Then, let us begin, Third Hokage-sama.”
Under the mask, the corners of his mouth seemed to curve in a cold arc.
“Please, in front of all the Konoha ninja clans, explain to everyone properly…”
“How you and the elder Shimura Danzō by your side meticulously planned to utterly exterminate one of Konoha’s founding families, the Uchiha Clan, which contributed greatly to Konoha?”
These words caused an uproar!
The entire battlefield seemed to have the mute button pressed.
Even the whistling ninjutsu and clashing weapons seemed to weaken in this moment.
All gazes, whether Uchiha, Hyuga Branch Family survivors, Star Ninja, or the just-arrived Konoha clan heads and jonin…
All uniformly turned, with endless shock, suspicion, and scrutiny, focusing on the Third Hokage known as the “Professor of Ninja,” Hiruzen Sarutobi!
The moment of truth’s judgment had finally arrived.
