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At this moment, beneath his composed exterior, countless questions surged through the Anbu's mind.
How had Sunagakure managed to plant so many Explosive Tags across Konoha without anyone in the village noticing? It was inconceivable. There were barrier detection teams, sensory-type ninja, and the Surveillance Division monitoring everything within the village. And yet…
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. His instincts screamed—danger. A prickling sensation shot through him as if his hair stood on end. Without hesitation, he attempted to evade.
This feeling… he knew it well.
As an Anbu, he had carried out Konoha's darkest missions, where death lurked behind every corner. This was the unmistakable aura of killing intent.
But—"I can't move!" he realized in shock. "A Binding Technique?!"
Blood spewed from his mouth as a cold blade pierced through his chest from behind. He stared down, wide-eyed, at the katana protruding from him.
"It's not Suna… This bloodline ability—it's you! From years ago…!"
Crack! His porcelain Anbu mask shattered as it struck the ground, revealing a face twisted in terror.
And then, nothing.
Ye Dou placed his hand over the man's chest and crushed his heart with brutal precision—ensuring he would never rise again.
Without pause, Ye Dou ripped open a sealing scroll on his hip, summoning four Wind Demon Shuriken. They burst out with a puff of chakra mist, and he immediately hurled them into the haze of smoke and ash surrounding the battlefield.
The detonation tags planted nearby had already gone off, and the entire area was clouded in thick smoke. Visibility was zero.
But not for Ye Dou.
Using his sharpened Kenbunshoku Haki—his version of enhanced perception—he locked onto the chakra signatures of the remaining Anbu.
Whssh! The spinning Wind Demon Shuriken sliced through the air with deadly precision, cleaving one Anbu clean in half.
Unlike standard shuriken, the Wind Demon Shuriken were massive and forged to be far more lethal. Even in the hands of a regular shinobi, they could slice through boulders.
In Ye Dou's hands—enhanced by his monstrous physical power and gravity-based abilities—they were unstoppable. The force of his throw could cleave even a steel-reinforced gate.
Whssh! Another target fell, his torso split open before he could react. But his final cry alerted the others.
"There's an enemy—stay alert!"
"What?!" a nearby Anbu gasped in disbelief.
Only three teams—twelve elite Anbu—had remained to guard the Hokage Building during the evacuation. Even so, this was no insignificant force. Every one of them was a seasoned shinobi, trained to serve Konoha in its darkest hours.
He couldn't believe anyone would be bold—or foolish—enough to attack the Hokage's stronghold alone.
Still, trusting his comrade's final warning, he instantly moved to take cover behind a thick tree trunk.
But it was pointless.
The Wind Demon Shuriken, reinforced with gravity-enhanced momentum, tore through both wood and flesh with ease.
CRACK! The tree collapsed under its own weight. Unfortunately, it fell directly onto the wounded shinobi.
THUD! Blood, brain matter, and fragments of shattered bone splattered across the earth. The sight was grisly.
"Qingshan!!"
A female Anbu cried out in anguish. Her voice trembled as she watched her comrade—someone clearly dear to her—die a brutal death.
Clang! She blocked Ye Dou's next strike, her grief fueling her strength.
"You killed Qingshan!" she roared.
Ye Dou's voice was emotionless. "Soon, you'll join him."
BOOM! He surged forward, and the air around him warped. A wave of crushing gravity exploded outward from his body.
The female Anbu staggered. Her limbs felt like they'd been filled with lead. The sheer pressure made it hard to breathe, let alone move.
Crack! The trunk beneath her feet splintered, unable to withstand the unnatural weight. She lost balance and plummeted toward the earth like a boulder.
Before she could recover, four kunai embedded with Explosive Tags rained down around her.
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
Each one landed with perfect spacing—forming a deadly perimeter.
A faint sizzle followed—the sound of fuses igniting.
"You will pay for this… Sand Shinobi!" she shouted defiantly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosion consumed her completely, her body torn apart by fire and steel.
Ye Dou narrowed his eyes. "I told you… I'm not from Suna."
He turned and vanished in a burst of speed, launching himself toward the Hokage Building like a cannonball.
Twelve Anbu had been stationed to defend the building. Six were now dead. The remaining six were still inside.
As Ye Dou stepped through the entrance—
"You've got guts," a voice called out. "Breaking into the Hokage Building alone… Suna ninja or not, you've signed your own death warrant!"
Without warning, the temperature around Ye Dou spiked.
He turned, just in time to see a long, flaming dragon snake toward him.
Hōton: Ryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique).
It was a straight-line attack with massive destructive power. The moment Ye Dou entered the building, the jutsu was already cast—clearly premeditated.
But Ye Dou was ready.
As the flames rushed toward him, he gripped his blade in a reverse grip and swung it with precision.
A wave of rippling purple energy erupted from the blade, colliding with the fire dragon mid-air.
Then—something incredible happened.
The fire technique, thought to be unstoppable, was pushed back.
The roaring flame twisted unnaturally in the air, then surged back in the direction it came—as if slashed in reverse.
"Wha—?!"
[Book of Seals: In Possession]
The shinobi who cast the technique stared in disbelief as his own jutsu turned on him.
His eyes widened.
And then—
CRASH!
The redirected Dragon Fire slammed into him, consuming him in an inferno.
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