"Whoosh——!"

The trident-shaped shuriken sliced through the air, drawing a thunderbolt-like line as it shot toward the dead soldier charging at the front.

The piercing sound of the wind and the palpable sense of impending death instinctively made the opponent veer off their steps and turn to look in the direction from which the shuriken had been thrown.

In the next moment, a golden flash, like a leaping flare, suddenly appeared in the center of his vision, forming a zigzag line.

Having been sharpened by countless battles and bloodshed, the soldier’s skills now felt as cumbersome and slow as a rehabilitation patient compared to the young man with golden hair before him, who seemed to move in slow motion.

In the gradually changing expression of fierceness to fear in his eyes, the young man, utilizing an almost instantaneous body flicker technique and rapid reflexes, surprisingly arrived first, grabbing the flying shuriken with a reverse grip, slightly tilting the blade.

At this moment, the Iwagakure dead soldier could no longer stop his steps.

Their bodies intersected.

Blood sprayed into the air from the unnamed Iwagakure dead soldier’s neck, splattering in a crimson arc.

It was merely a fleeting pause.

Konoha's Wave Wind Water Gate stepped over the wall, continuing to tread on the cracked bricks, chakra erupting from his feet like flames, sending debris flying.

The golden figure vanished once more.

The most basic body flicker technique erupted in the hands of this commoner’s son, exceeding its original design capabilities.

Even the most ordinary ninja could use this technique to traverse several meters in a second, but in his hands, it was further enhanced, its application shifting from vast battlefields like forests and plains to narrow, congested corridors.

The effects were enhanced tenfold, a hundredfold!

Wind.

A fierce wind!

All the Konoha ninjas, bravely rushing toward the breach in the Hokage building's outer wall, trying to block this group of invading dead soldiers with their martial prowess, seemed to share the same illusion in their eyes.

Faster than fire and thunder, a flickering golden light leaped between them at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

The brief but deadly intersection left the few dead soldiers at the forefront without even a moment to react; almost as soon as their eyes caught that flash of gold, they had already stepped into death.

"Damn it!"

Only the last Iwagakure dead soldier to rush into the breach reacted. As the first blood-red flower bloomed, he cursed, but his hands had already formed seals in the instant he charged in.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Return!"

Before the sweeping golden light could rise from the ground to become a wall, the airborne figure spun rapidly like a shuriken, and with a 'bang,' his feet landed on the suddenly obstructing earthen wall between the two.

The shuriken, infused with wind release chakra, deeply pierced the wall, leaving a hole that penetrated the entire structure, yet it did not completely break through.

Beneath the mask of Wave Wind Water Gate, his brow furrowed slightly.

The team leader of the dead soldiers looked at the wind release chakra shuriken that had cut a wound on his cheek, cold sweat pouring down his back.

However, as a dead soldier daring enough to lead a squad into Konoha to carry out a mission, how could he lack courage?

Even under the heavy pressure of life and death, his hands continued to form seals methodically.

"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Spear!"

Before Wave Wind Water Gate could circle around the wall, the ground beneath him suddenly turned into soft mud, infused with chakra.

In the next moment, dozens of rock pillars rose from the ground without warning, each one stabbing toward him, piercing straight from the third floor to the fourth.

The golden-haired figure leaped back repeatedly; the narrow gaps were not sufficient for him to maneuver further.

"Get back!"

Without time to interfere, the seasoned jonin stationed at the door of the sealing room waved his hand, dispersing the staff gathered around him.

Most of these personnel responsible for paperwork in the Hokage building were of Chunin level, and having been away from the battlefield for a long time, they could only act as a hindrance in this situation, especially for a high-speed ninja like Wave Wind Water Gate.

In this insignificant gap, the Iwagakure dead soldier rushed toward the sealing room's door without regard for his safety, simultaneously tearing off his outer clothing to reveal the explosive seals that spread across his body like tadpoles.

In the depths of his eyes, there was fervor.

"Die!"

However, just as all his chakra was about to flood into the explosive seal vest, Satohara Mizu suddenly turned his head, his deep blue eyes tilting to look outside the breach.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

A roar erupted.

A red dragon-shaped flame, outlined like an ink wash painting, surged in an unstoppable wave from the breach they had created, pouring into the corridor.

The intense impact and high temperature merged into one, slamming against the wall enhanced with multiple sealing barriers, rolling and dispersing toward both ends of the corridor.

In an instant, it completely engulfed the Iwagakure dead soldier who was about to detonate the seal.

Refined to the extreme, the fire release chakra reached several thousand degrees; the moment it touched human flesh and clothing, everything ignited.

The destroyed seal naturally lost its efficacy, crumbling into a pile of black ash.

The Iwagakure dead soldier looked on in unwillingness as his entire being was consumed by the excruciating heat, pressed against the sealing room's door, gradually being burned into a charred skeleton.

Satohara Mizu quietly watched this scene, the dispersed fire release, under his precise chakra control, confined within the space between him and the earthen wall opposite him.

The blazing flames, after incinerating their target, extinguished significantly within seconds.

"Whoosh——"

Several figures dressed in Konoha battle uniforms, with the Uchiha red-and-white fan crest on their vests, appeared in the corridor's center through the breach in the Hokage's outer wall.

Leading them was a tall, expressionless female ninja with long black hair tied in a high ponytail.

In her eye sockets, two black tomoe embedded in her crimson pupils spun slowly with the operation of yin release chakra, sweeping over everyone like a cold blade.

"Everyone present."

"Don't move!"

With just this one command, the movements of everyone present, be it Satohara Mizu, Wave Wind Water Gate, or the guarding jonin, froze.

Because everyone present saw the armbands on their shoulders.

Uchiha Security Team.

The Uchiha clan, wielding the power of the village and its shadows!

They kill those whom the Anbu cannot, and they manage those whom the Anbu cannot control!

The current power of the Uchiha clan is evident.

The leading female ninja's voice was cold and hard, her gaze indifferent, recklessly sweeping across everyone present with her Sharingan.

Though she seemed to be of similar age to Satohara Mizu and the others, her actions were cautious and seasoned.

Even after confirming the complete annihilation of the enemy, she did not let down her guard, searching for any signs of suspicion in the crowd.

However, just as the decisive female ninja turned her head, Satohara Mizu's figure reflected in her red pupils...

The girl hesitated in her steps.

The originally ice-cold gaze revealed a hint of surprise, and her once stern face could not help but show a trace of panic.

It was as if someone she cared about had seen her in an embarrassing moment.

Even her expression, which had been in work mode, almost broke, and she blurted out:

"Mizu?"