Naruto: I have Ten Skill Bars - Chapter 441 440: The Attack on Konoha

After leaving Sunagakure, the closest major village was Konohagakure.

Of course, Shigure had no intention of going to Konoha to demonstrate his strength.

However, he was curious about the situation there. Konoha had suddenly announced a village lockdown, and Shigure wanted to see what was happening.

Before even reaching the village, Shigure noticed something unusual.

A vast forest had appeared around Konoha.

The trees were extremely tall and densely packed, stretching for thousands of meters around the entire perimeter of the village and forming a natural barrier.

The towering canopy blocked the sky itself.

Without even thinking, Shigure knew whose work this was.

Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release (Mokuton).

This forest completely isolated Konoha from the outside world.

It was essentially abandoning Konoha’s position as the central hub of the shinobi world.

If Konoha had not taken such measures, merchant caravans and travelers would still treat it as the most important transit point.

But with the village surrounded like this, entering Konoha had become extremely difficult.

Transporting goods was even harder.

It was no wonder Kirigakure had developed so rapidly over the past few months.

Although Konoha had sealed itself off, the Land of Water sat at the center of major sea routes.

Naturally, maritime trade had become the preferred option.

Shigure frowned slightly.

Konoha’s actions almost seemed like they were intentionally making way for Kirigakure.

Standing outside the forest, he sensed the chakra fluctuations inside the village.

Although Konoha had sealed itself off, it had also become much safer.

After all, who would provoke a village that had completely withdrawn from the outside world at such a tense moment?

Shigure smiled faintly.

Perhaps this was Tsunade’s way of avoiding the looming conflict across the shinobi world.

If another Shinobi World War broke out, Konoha’s blockade would allow it to avoid most of the chaos.

And if the war never came, then Konoha could simply remain closed for a period of time—quietly giving up its title as the strongest shinobi village and allowing Kirigakure to rise in its place.

That outcome wouldn’t be so bad either.

Shigure stayed outside Konoha for quite a while.

Hinata looked at him.

“Shigure-sama… do you want to enter Konoha?”

Hearing this, Shigure shook his head.

“No.”

“I’m just taking a look.”

With that, he turned and headed toward his next destination.

Iwagakure.

The demonstration was not over yet.

Both Iwagakure and Kumogakure still needed to be visited.

Partly to demonstrate Kirigakure’s strength—and partly to search for Uchiha Sasuke.

If Sasuke left no trace in any of the three villages, then it would be safe to assume that his disappearance was connected to Orochimaru and Uchiha Obito.

But finding those two would not be easy.

Shigure quickly set off toward Iwagakure.

Not long after he left—

Inside Konoha.

Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze were both looking toward the direction where Shigure had been.

“You’re certain that the chakra you sensed earlier belonged to Shigure?”

Minato asked.

Naruto nodded immediately.

“There’s no mistake. I know Shigure’s chakra signature very well.”

Minato frowned.

“Then why did he come here?”

“He didn’t enter the village… and he already left.”

Left?

He had only come near Konoha, then departed?

What exactly was he trying to do?

Naruto smiled slightly.

“Maybe he just came to check whether something happened to Konoha.”

“After all, we suddenly sealed the village. Shigure probably wanted to confirm the situation himself.”

Minato considered this.

“So after confirming that nothing was wrong, and that Konoha simply wanted to avoid the possibility of a Shinobi World War… he left?”

“That’s probably it.”

Naruto stretched as he spoke.

Since the village had been sealed, there were no missions to carry out.

Most of Konoha’s ninja were spending their days at home doing nothing.

Naruto began heading back.

Just then—

A sudden flash streaked across the sky.

Naruto looked up in confusion.

“Was that my imagination?”

“For a moment, I thought I saw something flash across the sky.”

Minato glanced upward as well.

“Maybe it was a meteor.”

“A meteor…?”

Naruto frowned slightly.

It didn’t quite feel like one.

Night soon fell.

Konoha looked exceptionally quiet in the evening.

Naruto lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he thought about the events of the day.

Shigure had appeared near Konoha without warning.

Had he really just come to take a look?

“Did something happen?”

At that moment, not far from Konohagakure, inside one of Orochimaru’s hidden bases—

Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara.

“The one from Kirigakure has left the village. Within a single day, he went to Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure.”

“He demonstrated his power in all three great ninja villages.”

“A demonstration?”

Madara was briefly stunned before letting out a faint laugh.

“That arrogant brat…”

“He’s been quiet for the past few months. He was probably developing some outrageous technique.”

“It seems the development is finished now.”

Obito frowned.

“That was inevitable.”

“Even the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path (Gedō Mazō) was taken by him.”

“I don’t know exactly what he’s been doing these past few months, but it must be something even more monstrous.”

Madara glanced at him.

“What? Are you scared?”

Obito sneered.

“Scared?”

“I’m not afraid of him anymore.”

“But his visit to those villages wasn’t just a show of strength.”

“Of course, part of it was to intimidate the three great villages so they wouldn’t dare start a war…”

As he spoke, Obito looked toward Uchiha Sasuke, who was standing nearby.

“But the real reason was most likely him.”

Orochimaru slowly walked over and nodded.

“Indeed.”

“I’m more inclined to believe that the Mizukage wasn’t demonstrating anything.”

“He’s searching for Sasuke.”

Madara shrugged indifferently.

“So what?”

“Do you really think he can find this place?”

Orochimaru fell silent.

Perhaps not immediately.

But over time, he couldn’t guarantee that this base would remain undiscovered forever.

In fact, the possibility of it being exposed was quite high.

Thinking of this made Orochimaru slightly uneasy.

He was already considering whether it was time to relocate to another base.

But just as that thought crossed his mind—

The ground suddenly trembled.

Orochimaru froze.

“…Did he find us this quickly?”

Everyone’s expressions stiffened.

However, after a moment, they realized something was wrong.

The disturbance wasn’t coming from directly above the base.

It was coming from the direction of Konoha.

They quickly moved outside.

Looking toward the village, they saw flames shooting into the sky.

Obito frowned.

“What’s going on?”

Logically speaking, Konoha had already sealed the village.

With no contact with the outside world, other villages should have no reason to attack it.

Yet the scene in the distance clearly showed that someone was attacking Konoha.

Who would dare do such a thing?

Konoha currently had both the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, present.

In the entire shinobi world, aside from Kirigakure, no other village would have the courage to attack Konoha.

Boom!

Another violent explosion erupted inside the village.

From the scale of the destruction, it looked as if someone intended to destroy Konoha entirely.

What exactly was happening?

The three exchanged glances before immediately rushing toward Konoha.

They wanted to see who had the audacity to attack the village.

And judging by the scale of the attack, the enemy clearly intended to annihilate Konoha.

But at that moment, Madara suddenly stopped.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the sky above Konoha.

A figure was floating high in the air.

The person hovered silently above the village, looking down at the entire Konohagakure.

(End of Chapter)

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