Three days later.
Konoha.
Inside the underground defense command room, a shrill telephone rang out.
The moment Nara Shikaku picked up the call, an urgent voice came through from the other end. "Report from the eastern sea. Several warships have already entered our territorial waters."
"A large number of shinobi with flying capabilities have already crossed into the Land of Fire."
"We don't know whether their target is Konoha, requesting orders."
Shikaku immediately replied, "Maintain surveillance at all times. Do not engage on your own."
"Understood!"
After hanging up, Shikaku turned his gaze toward the map pinned to the wall.
After thinking for a moment, he began issuing orders. "Inoichi, have the sensory unit push their detection to the limit. I want constant coordinates and enemy intel at all times."
"Prepare the anti-air defense system. Make sure every last enemy is wiped out before they reach Konoha."
One order after another was sent out, and Konoha began moving like a precision machine.
The well-trained shinobi forces immediately rushed to their positions with the same efficiency they showed during drills.
Once everything had been arranged, Shikaku carefully reviewed it all in his mind. Only after confirming that nothing had been overlooked did he head toward the Hokage Tower.
When he reached the Hokage's office, he quickly explained the situation.
Seeing the grave look on his face, Fugaku smiled. "There's no need to worry. After the last Deidara incident, our village's air defense capabilities were fully upgraded."
"If those enemies really came to attack Konoha, then none of them are leaving alive!"
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On the street.
Shinnō was strolling around with Yuzuru.
These past few days, with Yuzuru deliberately lowering his guard, the two had spent a great deal of time together, and their relationship had grown to the point that they looked like close friends.
As for what they were truly thinking deep down, only they themselves knew.
Suddenly, piercing alarms blared across the skies above Konoha.
At the sound of the alarm, the crowd froze for a brief moment, then began moving in an orderly manner toward the nearest underground shelters.
Before long, the streets were completely empty.
Seeing this scene, Shinnō froze on the spot.
If it had been a group of highly trained shinobi doing something like this, he would not have found it particularly surprising.
But for ordinary civilians to react this way in the face of an emergency was astonishing.
From this alone, one could see just how deep Konoha's foundations truly ran.
Shinnō suddenly began to regret things.
Had the surprise attack plan he came up with been far too reckless...?
Before he could recover, Yuzuru smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go watch a good show."
Shinnō asked in confusion, "What good show? What was that alarm just now?"
Yuzuru explained, "An enemy is about to invade the village, so we're just evacuating the civilians ahead of time."
Hearing that, Shinnō regretted it even more.
According to his plan, his subordinates had only been in motion for a little over ten minutes, yet Konoha had already received word and put effective defenses in place...
A bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
This operation probably would not go as smoothly as he had imagined.
"All right, come with me."
As soon as Yuzuru finished speaking, he condensed a mound of sand beneath his feet and took Shinnō flying out of Konoha.
Not long after, the two arrived at the Valley of the End.
This was the place where Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had once fought their great battle, and it had now been transformed into an outer defensive fortress for Konoha.
Carried along by Yuzuru, Shinnō looked down from above at the strange equipment below, things he had never seen before, and could not help asking, "What are those?"
Yuzuru answered flatly, "Anti-air cannons."
"..."
Just from the name alone, Shinnō understood what those things were for.
His heart immediately filled with alarm.
Had his identity already been exposed?
Otherwise, why would Konoha be so thoroughly prepared in advance?
But before he could probe any further, Yuzuru continued, "Back then, a shinobi with the ability to fly attacked Konoha. Since our village lacked anti-air capabilities, he caused us quite a bit of trouble."
"After that, we developed anti-air cannons specifically to defend against enemies trying to attack Konoha from the sky."
Hearing that, Shinnō quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Pretending to ask casually, he said, "Lord Yuzuru, since war is about to begin, why not send me back to the village?"
"No matter what, I'm still a doctor. If I stay in the village, I should at least be able to help treat the wounded."
But after hearing him, Yuzuru burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha... Doctor Shinnō, don't worry. There won't be any wounded in the village."
"Because there's no way the enemy can break through Konoha's outer defensive line!"
Seeing the confidence on Yuzuru's face, Shinnō's heart clenched again.
Could those ordinary-looking things really possess such terrifying power?
The two waited a little longer, and soon a dense swarm of black dots appeared in the distance.
"They're here."
As the black dots drew closer and closer, everyone finally saw what they were.
Several hundred shinobi wearing the forehead protectors of the Sky Ninja Village, each carrying strange devices on their backs, were flying toward them at astonishing speed.
"The enemy uses Wind Release to generate air currents and achieve flight."
"Everyone get ready. Fire!"
Under the direction of the sensory shinobi, the anti-air cannons below began their performance.
Amid violent explosive blasts, countless shells shot into the sky.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
After every explosion, screams rang out from the sky.
Precision aside, against such an overwhelmingly dense web of firepower, not even a fly could hope to get through.
In less than five minutes, the several hundred Sky Ninja were wiped out to the last man.
Seeing that scene, Shinnō felt like his heart was bleeding.
These shinobi were loyal guards he had painstakingly cultivated over decades!
He had originally believed that with their equipment and combat methods, there was nowhere in the shinobi world they could not destroy.
But now, his subordinates had been swatted out of the sky as easily as flies, erased in the simplest way imaginable.
Who in the world had invented such a monstrous weapon?
If something like this were applied on the battlefield, then what was even the point of training in ninjutsu anymore?
With just a bit of training, ordinary people could probably defeat an elite shinobi army, couldn't they?
While his thoughts were running wild, Yuzuru's voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. "Doctor Shinnō, are you satisfied with this performance?"
Looking into Yuzuru's pitch-black eyes, Shinnō forced a smile onto his face. "Very satisfied. Konoha's strength truly is frightening."
"I imagine whoever planned this attack is regretting it so badly their guts have turned green by now."
Hearing that, Yuzuru was in an even better mood. "Hahahahaha..."