The first feather touched Naruto's shoulder, weightless as a snowflake. But the sensation was scorching.
It wasn't matter. It was chakra. A sticky, saccharine, lulling web that instantly began to enmesh his consciousness, trying to slow his thoughts, weigh down his eyelids, and extinguish his will.
Genjutsu. Mass scale. A-Rank.
Around him, the world plunged into slumber. Spectators in the stands, lords, even some weak Chunin—all hung their heads like marionettes whose strings had been cut.
Naruto closed his eyes.
Inside him, in the center of his Dantian, the white core of Qi rotated. It was dense, ordered, and completely autonomous.
He didn't bother forming a hand seal or shouting "Kai!"
He simply directed a pulse of Qi to his brain.
It was like a steel blade shearing through silk. The foreign chakra slid off his mental shield, finding not a single crack to latch onto.
Naruto opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and cold. He stood, the only waking island in a sea of sleeping bodies.
"War," he stated.
Explosions thundered along Konoha's perimeter. Pillars of smoke rose above the walls. The screams of civilians mixed with the clash of steel.
Naruto instantly assessed the situation.
Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō had vanished.
On the roof of the main box, purple flames flared. The Sound Four, shedding their disguises, erected the Four Violet Flames Formation, trapping the Third Hokage with Orochimaru.
The thing I must protect first, the thought flashed through his mind.
Naruto formed a seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Only one clone appeared.
But this clone was different. There was not a shadow of doubt in his eyes. He knew his task before it was even spoken.
"Ichiraku," the original said strictly. "Protect them. At any cost. Kill anyone who comes closer than five meters."
The clone nodded and vanished with a Body Flicker, speeding toward the city.
***
Konoha. Ramen Street.
Chaos flooded the streets. A squad of Sand and Sound shinobi had breached the outer wall, smashing shops and setting houses on fire.
Teuchi stood before the entrance of his noodle shop, clutching a heavy meat cleaver. Behind him, pale with fear, Ayame hid.
"Don't come out, daughter!" the old man shouted. "I won't let them..."
Two Sound shinobi landed in front of the entrance.
"Look at this," one sneered, twirling a kunai. "The old man decided to play hero. And the girl isn't bad. Shall we take her with us?"
He stepped forward, raising his weapon. Teuchi swung the cleaver, but the shinobi was faster. A kick knocked the weapon from the chef's hands; a second blow sent the old man to the ground.
"Dad!" Ayame screamed, rushing toward him.
The enemy grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to her feet.
"Hush, doll. You'll be useful to us..."
Whoosh.
The sound of sliced air.
The Sound shinobi didn't even have time to realize what happened.
A black shadow fell from the roof.
CRACK.
The sound of breaking neck vertebrae was dry and sharp. The enemy holding Ayame went limp and collapsed like a sack, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.
Ayame recoiled, pressing her hands to her mouth.
Standing before her was Naruto.
But this wasn't the Naruto who usually ordered ramen. This Naruto wasn't smiling. His eyes were dark voids filled with icy resolve.
The second Sound shinobi stepped back, drawing a sword.
"Who the hell are y—"
Naruto didn't let him finish.
A dash.
He ducked under the sword swing. A knee to the gut—the sound of ribs cracking. He intercepted the arm holding the sword. And, using the enemy's momentum, Naruto drove the man's own blade into his throat.
The enemy wheezed and slid to the ground.
Silence.
The Naruto clone straightened up, shaking blood from his hand. He turned to Ayame and Teuchi.
For a second, something warm and human flickered in his gaze.
"Are you alright?"
Teuchi, sitting on the ground, stared at him with wide eyes. Ayame was trembling, looking at the corpses at her feet.
"Naruto..." she whispered. "You... you killed them."
"I protected you," the Clone answered simply. "Lock the doors. Barricade yourselves. Hide in the basement. You won't make it to the shelter right now. I will be outside. No one will enter."
He turned his back to them, taking a position outside.
Ayame looked at his broad back clad in black. In that moment, she didn't see the boy she fed noodles to. She saw a wall that separated them from death.
***
At the same time, near the stadium's northern gate, Anko Mitarashi was hacking her way through Sound squads.
She was in pain. As soon as the barrier flared over the Kage box, the Cursed Seal on her neck howled with renewed vigor, resonating with its master's active chakra.
Endure! she ordered herself, taking the head off another enemy.
She clutched her neck. The layer of dense, cool energy Naruto had applied almost a month ago was bursting at the seams, but it held. This "blockade" was the only thing allowing her to remain conscious and moving, rather than writhing in convulsions.
"I'm coming for you, Orochimaru," she rasped, staring at the purple glow on the roof. "It ends today."
***
On the balcony, a different battle was unfolding.
Naruto, hopping onto the railing, looked around.
Sakura was on her knees, breathing heavily—she had just dispelled the genjutsu. Shikamaru was lazily stretching, having stopped pretending to sleep.
Kakashi landed nearby, followed by Guy.
"The situation is critical," Kakashi's voice was tense. "Invasion. We are surrounded."
Sasuke ran up. He had also dispelled the genjutsu with his Sharingan. His eyes burned with a thirst for action.
"Sasuke," Kakashi commanded. "A-Rank mission. Pursue Gaara. He is their Jinchūriki. If he transforms, we are all finished. We need all Jonin here; you are the only one whose speed and Chidori can stop him."
Sasuke smirked. This was his chance.
"I'll do it. I'll bring you his head."
"Hold on."
Naruto's voice cracked like a whip.
Everyone turned.
"Gaara is a monster, Sasuke. You don't know what you're messing with. Your Seal is still unstable. You go out there, and you die."
"Shut up!" Birds chirped in Sasuke's hand. The Chidori flared with bright light. He aimed the technique at Naruto. "Don't you dare order me around! Do you think you're better than me?! I am an Uchiha! I don't need your protection!"
Naruto didn't even flinch. He looked at the sparking hand with indifference.
"Your new technique is useless if you lose control of the Seal," he said calmly. "You want to kill Gaara? Go ahead, but I warned you. Want to waste time arguing with me? Be my guest. But while we chat, the enemy is acting."
He pointed a finger at the roof where the purple barrier burned.
"The Hokage is trapped. That Barrier is supreme Fūinjutsu. Neither Kakashi-sensei nor Guy-sensei can break it from the outside without exhausting themselves."
Naruto clenched his fist.
"I have the chakra volume to overload it. And the knowledge in Fūinjutsu to try and find a vulnerability. I'll handle the Barrier. You—do what you want."
Sasuke stopped. The Chidori faded.
He understood the layout. Naruto was taking the strategic task—saving the leader. He, Sasuke, was left with the chase. It stung his pride, but it was... still an opportunity.
"Whatever," he hissed through his teeth. "I'm going."
He turned and bolted, disappearing through a hole in the wall.
"Sakura, Shikamaru, Pakkun!" Kakashi commanded. "After him! He can't handle it alone. He needs backup!"
"Right!" Sakura, casting a worried look at Naruto, ran after him.
Only the Jonin and Naruto remained in the arena.
"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked. "That's Orochimaru in there."
"I know." Naruto stared at the purple flame.
His Qi Sensory scanned the barrier's structure.
Four anchor points. Closed circuit. Chakra flows in a spiral, creating a wall of flame. A normal attack will burn up. But if I introduce dissonance... If I hit a node with a flow of opposite rotation...
He saw the schematic. He had read about this.
"I'll break it, Sensei. Cover me from below."
Naruto crouched, concentrating Qi in his legs for a massive jump.
"Time to remind them why the Uzumaki clan was feared."
WHOOSH!
He soared into the air, a black arrow streaking toward the roof where, inside a cage of fire, the fate of Konoha was being decided.