The forest behind Konoha Village had been invaded once again. This kind of incident occurred multiple times every year. And those were just the ones that were discovered—many more went unnoticed!
The back mountain forest was vast and held many of Konoha's secrets. Even for ordinary Konoha shinobi, it was considered a restricted area, let alone for outsiders.
The Anbu ninjas were nearly all mobilized, spreading out through the forest in a carpet-style search. This invasion was clearly serious; otherwise, the White Fang would never have ordered such a large-scale deployment.
No one knew how many enemies had infiltrated.
The night was dark, the moonlight hazy, the wind howling, and the temperature slightly chilly.
Haruto Saito sped through the forest, his senses fully activated as he searched for the enemy.
At the same time, he was also heading toward the residence of Uzumaki Mito.
Mito had recently changed her secluded dwelling, though it was still within the back mountain forest. The exact location was known to the Konoha Anbu.
Before long, Haruto was still rushing through the forest, now just two kilometers away from Mito's residence.
Boom!
A sudden explosion erupted in the northwest, flames soaring into the sky!
Haruto's feet trembled as he leaped onto a tree branch, looking in the direction of the commotion. About half a kilometer away, a battle had broken out. However, the dense forest obstructed his view, preventing him from discerning who among the Anbu had encountered the enemy.
No time to waste!
Without activating his Byakugan to investigate, Haruto dropped from the tree and continued toward Mito's residence.
The journey was smooth, and he encountered no enemies along the way.
Deep in the forest stood an ancient, towering tree with a massive trunk. At its base, a treehouse had been carved out, complete with doors and windows, through which a dim light glowed. By the time Haruto arrived, the area surrounding the treehouse had already been tightly secured. The original guards assigned to Mito, along with the newly arrived Anbu reinforcements, formed a defensive perimeter of over twenty shinobi.
Though unseen on the surface, they were all lurking in the shadows.
Haruto ran straight to the treehouse door before coming to a stop. He turned, scanning the surrounding darkness, then quickly formed a hand seal.
"Secret Technique: Marking Scar Jutsu!"
This was an S-rank sensory jutsu that Haruto had learned from Hidden Rain's elite sensory ninja, Yin Yi. Instantly, he sensed every presence within a five-kilometer radius—but the chakra consumption was immense.
Haruto detected a total of thirty-seven chakra signatures. However, he couldn't immediately distinguish which, if any, belonged to the enemy. It was possible that all of them were Konoha shinobi.
He wasn't yet familiar with the chakra signatures of the Anbu.
But that didn't matter—he could deduce the enemy's presence through chakra fluctuations.
Enemy shinobi would exhibit irregular chakra patterns—they were already exposed and would be actively hiding from the Anbu.
The reason Haruto waited until now to use his sensory jutsu was due to Anbu protocol: in collective operations like this, capturing the enemy alive was a priority. If possible, the enemy had to be taken prisoner—Konoha needed to know why they were here.
However, the White Fang had issued a kill-on-sight order.
Any outsider within a one-kilometer radius of Mito's residence was to be eliminated. No surrenders. No prisoners.
This was why Haruto activated his sensory jutsu only upon arrival. He needed to confirm whether there were enemies within the one-kilometer range of the treehouse. If there were, he would kill them immediately.
Seconds ticked by.
After five seconds, Haruto noticed something unusual—a chakra signature had suddenly burrowed underground and remained completely still. A Konoha Anbu wouldn't do something like that.
South—about 800 meters away!
Haruto lowered his hands, his body flickering toward the south.
He disappeared into the foliage.
Just as he left, the treehouse door suddenly creaked open. Tsunade peeked out, glancing around before muttering in annoyance, "That brat—he came all the way here and didn't even bother saying hello."
She had sensed Haruto's presence from inside the house, which was why she had opened the door to check.
She pulled back inside and shut the door again.
Inside the treehouse, which had two levels, the first floor featured a large wooden bed. Uzumaki Mito sat on it, wrapped in a blanket, while little Uzumaki Kushina sat beside her. Normally, Kushina slept on the second floor, but due to the chaos outside, she had come down to stay with Mito.
"Tsunade Auntie, are there enemies out there?" Kushina asked, looking a bit worried.
"Not enemies, just a bad person—a very, very bad person," Tsunade replied with a smirk.
"It's Haruto Saito, isn't it?" Mito chuckled warmly. "Why didn't he come inside?"
"No idea. He seemed to have sensed something and ran off."
"Oh, definitely a bad guy," Kushina mumbled.
"You're still holding a grudge, huh?" Mito patted Kushina's small head and pulled the blanket over her. "Alright, go to sleep. You have school in the morning."
"I can't sleep. There are bad guys outside." Kushina clung to Mito's arm, her eyes blinking.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen." Mito reassured her.
She showed no sign of concern—nor did she have reason to. Given her strength, it was difficult for anyone in the shinobi world to pose a threat to her. She didn't need protection, but it was still Anbu's duty to guard her. Anyone disturbing her seclusion deserved death.
More importantly, Mito herself must not take action—her current condition had to remain a secret from the outside world.
This was why the White Fang had ordered that any intruder within a kilometer of Mito's residence be eliminated without question. No matter who it was or why they came—kill first, ask questions later.
Tsunade stood by the window, peering outside, her expression showing no concern.
Eight hundred meters wasn't far.
Haruto moved swiftly. When he was a hundred meters away, he clasped his hands together again and reactivated the Marking Scar Jutsu. Unlike the Byakugan, this technique could detect life energy even underground. Though its depth penetration wasn't exceptional, it was enough.
The enemy was still there!
Hidden three meters underground, completely still, suppressing their presence. Without the Marking Scar Jutsu, it would have been nearly impossible to find them.
Closing the remaining distance in an instant, Haruto leapt high into the air, gripping the Mountain Crusher Blade in his hands. He flipped midair and then came crashing down with a devastating strike!
Whoosh—BOOM!
The sheer force of the blade cleaved through the air, producing a deafening shockwave. The terrifying power of the attack pierced the ground, blasting downward toward the hidden enemy.
The impact was earth-shattering, sending dust and debris flying!
The underground enemy shifted positions instantly, moving several meters to the side. A moment later, the ground ahead of Haruto exploded as a figure shot out, flipping in the air and landing more than ten meters away—only to immediately spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Haruto saw the figure and his expression darkened.
No mistake! This was definitely an enemy!
But this guy was a peak-level Jonin—
A near-Kage-level opponent!
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