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Konoha Village at Night
Konoha lay in a peaceful stillness, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. The streets were quiet, the gentle rustle of leaves the only sound as a cool breeze drifted through the village. Unbeknownst to its inhabitants, a subtle tension had begun to take root in the air, an omen of impending danger.
In the Uchiha compound, Itachi Uchiha sat quietly in his family home, cradling his infant brother, Sasuke. His gaze lifted to the darkening sky. Clouds crept across the moon, and an unsettling chill coursed through him.
"Why...?" Itachi murmured, feeling a weight in his chest. The sense of foreboding was all too familiar—eerily reminiscent of the night when the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha.
His fists tightened, a flicker of fear flashing across his young face.
"Did the Fourth Hokage... fail?"
Suddenly, Sasuke, who had been sleeping soundly in Itachi's arms, began to wail, as if sensing the danger that lingered on the horizon.
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Elsewhere in the Village...
On a deserted street in Konoha, space warped, and a figure materialized from the shadows—a masked man. He raised the hood of his black cloak, revealing a twisted white mask, marked with swirling tendrils of wood.
"Time to begin," the masked man whispered, a dark chuckle escaping his lips, brimming with anticipation.
With a swift hand seal, his body began to pulse with raw chakra, swelling unnaturally beneath his cloak.
"Even without the Nine-Tails, I'll reduce this village to rubble!"
His crimson Sharingan eyes gleamed, cold and calculating, as they swept across Konoha. Once, these streets had witnessed the footsteps of a young boy chasing after an innocent dream, but that boy was gone—just like the peaceful village he intended to destroy.
The man slammed his hands onto the ground.
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!"
The earth trembled as a giant wooden figure erupted from beneath the ground, reducing nearby buildings to splinters. The towering wooden humanoid, over 30 meters tall, loomed ominously over Konoha, its body sprouting countless wooden arms that twisted with an overwhelming, ancient power.
Pedestrians froze, terror gripping them as they beheld the monstrosity.
"Everything... will vanish!" the masked man declared.
Five heads emerged from the wooden giant's forehead, each one gathering chakra imbued with the elements of fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth.
"Boom!"
From the mouths of the five heads, torrents of elemental energy surged forth—fire blazing, water crashing, wind howling, lightning crackling, and earth erupting—unleashing chaos upon the village. The civilians' screams were drowned out by the sheer magnitude of the attack. Whole sections of Konoha crumbled into dust within moments.
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The Hokage Residence
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, had just finished resealing the Nine-Tails into Kushina when he sensed a sudden spike in power. His expression hardened in alarm.
"What now?" Jiraiya muttered, his voice tense as the room shuddered from the distant destruction.
"It's him—the one who attacked Kushina earlier!" Minato growled, rising to his feet. His eyes flickered to Kushina, lying exhausted but alert on the bed.
"I have to go," Minato said urgently. He looked at Biwako Sarutobi, who held baby Naruto in her arms. "Lady Biwako, please take care of them."
He quickly donned his white Hokage cloak, the words "Fourth Hokage" emblazoned in bold red on the back. Kushina watched him with worried eyes.
"Be careful..." she whispered, her voice faint.
Minato turned to her with a soft smile. "I'll be back soon."
"Jiraiya-sensei, let's move!" Minato commanded, placing a hand on his mentor's shoulder.
In an instant, the two vanished in a flash.
Biwako gently laid Naruto beside Kushina, offering a comforting smile. "Don't worry. Minato is the Fourth Hokage. He'll protect the village. And Jiraiya is with him."
Kushina nodded, but unease gripped her heart. Naruto babbled softly, as if trying to reassure her.
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"What's happening?" Itachi whispered, leaping onto the roof of the Uchiha compound. His Sharingan flared to life, the red glow reflecting the chaos consuming the village. In the distance, five elemental forces—fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth—raged, tearing through Konoha with unstoppable fury.
"This isn't the Nine-Tails' power..." Itachi muttered, his heart pounding as his gaze locked onto the massive wooden figure towering in the distance.
"Madara..." Itachi clenched his fists. "How does he have Wood Style?"
He had known the masked man in the Akatsuki, but he had never seen him wielding this kind of power. Wood Release was a skill only the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had mastered.
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On top of the wooden giant, the masked man felt a presence approaching. Without hesitation, space distorted around him, and he vanished.
As the distortion faded, two figures appeared—Minato and Jiraiya.
Both men stood in stunned silence, staring at the massive wooden behemoth before them.
"Is this… Wood Release?" Jiraiya asked, his eyes wide. "This is Hashirama's Wood Human Technique!"
Minato's face was grim. "We can't let this continue. I need to move that thing out of the village."
Suddenly, the wooden giant turned its attention toward the Hokage Monument. Its five heads began gathering chakra, each element converging into a devastating firestorm of flames, wind, and lightning.
"Sensei, leave this to me!" Minato called out, brandishing a special kunai.
"Understood!" Jiraiya responded, leaping off to intercept the attack.
Minato stood his ground, quickly forming hand seals. "I won't let you destroy this village!"
As the deadly firestorm barreled toward him, Minato threw his kunai. In a flash, the roaring inferno vanished, sucked into a spatial rift created by the Flying Thunder God Technique.
At the same time, the earth and water torrents were met by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who intercepted the attacks with his own mastery of ninjutsu.
"It's not over," Itachi murmured, watching from the rooftop. His Sharingan caught a subtle distortion behind Minato—a distortion that heralded the masked man's return.
Without warning, the masked man reappeared, thrusting his hand toward Minato's back. But Minato, ever vigilant, countered with a kunai strike, only for the blade to pass harmlessly through the man's head.
"What...?"
The masked man smirked as his hand phased through Minato's arm, gripping his wrist.
"Impressive," the masked man sneered, "but this is the end."
The space around Minato began to warp, as the masked man attempted to teleport him away. But in a blur, Minato vanished, leaving the masked man grasping empty air.
"Fast as always..." the masked man muttered in frustration, his Sharingan glowing with malice. "Next time, you won't escape."
His scarlet Sharingan glowed ominously. He knew Minato had only teleported to another part of Konoha. Without wasting any time, the masked man's eye began to distort space once more as he disappeared from sight.
Meanwhile, the entire confrontation had happened so quickly that even Itachi, with his advanced Sharingan, could barely keep up. His Sharingan flickered in astonishment.
"That masked man... he's drawing the Hokage away from the village!" Itachi realized. "He's trying to leave us vulnerable!"
Indeed, Minato had been lured away by the threat, and only he possessed the ability to swiftly move the Wooden Golem out of Konoha. The masked man's real plan had been to remove the Fourth Hokage from the equation.
But Minato, the "Yellow Flash of the Leaf," wouldn't be defeated so easily. Itachi was sure of it. Still, the village was now in immediate danger.
"It doesn't matter how strong the jutsu is," Itachi murmured, his eyes locked on the Wooden Golem. "Without its caster, its movements will be slower."
As he spoke, Jiraiya had already made his move. He landed on the roof of a building, forming hand seals before slamming his palms onto the surface. "Summoning Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, a massive toad from Mount Myoboku appeared in midair, landing directly on the Wooden Golem's head.
"I've got you now!" Jiraiya yelled.
But the Golem wasn't done yet. Its enormous wooden arm shot up, meeting the toad's body with a thunderous impact.
"Thud! Thud!"
The toad let out a pained cry as the force sent it crashing to the ground. "Jiraiya! What are you doing up there!?" the toad groaned. Glancing around, its large eyes widened as it took in the wreckage of Konoha.
"What... what happened here!?"
Itachi's gaze flickered to the Golem once more. "Even though the masked man has left... why is it still reacting so quickly?" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait... that chakra...?"
His Sharingan sharpened as he sensed something familiar. "That's the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan?!"
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