Naruto: From Spy to Hokage

...

Swoosh!

A tri-pronged kunai traced a lightning-like arc through the air, shooting toward the lead Iwa Shinobi.

The piercing sound of cutting wind and palpable sense of deadly danger made the target instinctively step aside, turning his head toward the direction the kunai came from.

In the next moment, a golden streak appeared like a zigzagging line, like a dancing solar flare, crossing his field of vision.

His combat skills, honed through countless battlefields and bloodshed, now seemed as slow as a rehabilitation patient's movements. Compared to the young man with golden hair before him, it was like watching footage in slow motion.

In his eyes, which were quickly changing from fierce to terrified, the young man's hand, moving with extremely fast Body Flicker technique and rapid reactions, somehow caught up to and gripped the thrown tri-pronged kunai, slightly tilting its blade.

At this moment, the Iwa shinobi could no longer stop his momentum.

Their forms crossed paths.

Blood sprayed into the air from the unnamed Iwa shinobi's neck, scattering in a crimson arc.

After just a brief pause.

Namikaze Minato, stepping across the wall, continued to tread on the cracking stones, chakra like visible flames exploding from his feet, sending debris flying.

The golden figure vanished again.

The most basic Body Flicker technique in this Civilian Shinobi's hands exhibited functionality far beyond its original design parameters.

Even though it was a basic jutsu that allowed ordinary shinobis to cover dozens of meters in a second, in his hands it was further enhanced. Yet its application had shifted from combat zones such as vast forests and plains to narrow, closed and crowded corridors.

The resulting effect was tens or even hundreds of times more powerful then before!

Whoosh!

All the Konoha Shinobi who bravely rushed to the breached outer wall in the Hokage Tower's, trying to use their martial prowess to stop these infiltrators from entering restricted areas, seemed to share the same illusion.

Flashes of gold, swifter than wind or lightning, leaped between them at speeds their eyes couldn't track.

Brief but lethal encounters left the vanguard of shinobis dead before they could even react, falling into death the instant their eyes caught that golden gleam.

"Damn it!"

Only the last Iwa Shinobi to enter the breach showed any reaction, cursing as the first bloom of blood appeared, though his hands had already formed seals the moment he burst in.

"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"

The golden streak paused briefly just before the ground turned to stone walls, his airborne form spinning like a shuriken as his feet struck the earthen barrier that suddenly appeared between them.

The wind chakra-infused tri-pronged kunai embedded deeply in the wall, leaving a hole that penetrated the entire barrier but couldn't completely break through.

Under his mask, Namikaze Minato's brows furrowed slightly.

The Shinobi Captain felt cold sweat running down his back as he looked at the wind chakra kunai that had cut his cheek.

However, as an Shinobi brave enough to lead a suicide squad into Konoha for a mission, how could he lack courage?

Even under the immense pressure of life and death, his hands maintained steady, methodical hand seals.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Before Minato could get around the wall, the ground beneath his feet had already turned to soft mud from the sudden infusion of chakra.

The next instant, dozens of stone pillars erupted without warning from the ground, shooting up one after another toward him, piercing straight through from the third floor to the fourth.

The golden-haired figure leaped back repeatedly, but the space was too narrow for him to continue maneuvering.

"Get back!"

Unable to interfere in time, the experienced Jōnin standing guard at the Archive Room entrance waved his hand, dispersing all the administrative personnel gathered nearby.

These people working on paperwork in the Hokage Tower were mostly Chūnin level, and due to their long absence from the battlefield, they could only be a hindrance here, especially for a high-speed shinobi like Minato.

In this tiny window of opportunity, the Iwa Shinobi immediately charged recklessly toward the Archive Room's entrance, while simultaneously tearing open his outer garments to reveal explosion seals covering his entire body like tadpoles.

His eyes were filled with fanatical determination.

"Die!"

However, just as he was about to channel all his chakra into the explosive seal vest, Sawara Kiri suddenly turned his head, those azure eyes glancing toward the breach.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

A roar erupted.

A dragon made entirely of flame, like a brushstroke painting in scarlet, surged through the breach they had blown in the outer wall with unstoppable force, pouring into the hallway.

The intense blast and high temperature merged together, supported by vigorous chakra, crashed against the walls reinforced with multiple sealing barriers, rolling down both ends of the corridor.

In an instant, it engulfed the Iwa Shinobi who was about to detonate his seals.

The fire chakra, refined to the extreme and reaching thousands of degrees, ignited everything - body and clothing - the moment it made contact.

The broken seals naturally lost their effect, crumbling into black ash.

The Iwa Shinobi watched this scene with unwilling eyes, his entire body writhing in agony from the high temperature as he slumped against the Archive Room's door, gradually burning into a charred skeleton.

Sawara Kiri quietly observed this scene, the diverted flames controlled with extremely precise chakra manipulation, contained between him and the earthen wall opposite.

The raging flames also died down significantly within seconds after burning the target to death.

Whoosh—

Several figures wearing Konoha combat uniforms, but bearing the Uchiha clan's red and white fan crest on their vests, appeared in the center of the hallway through the breach in the Hokage Tower's wall.

The leader was a tall, aloof-looking female shinobi with long black hair tied in a high ponytail.

In her eye sockets, two black tomoe were embedded in red pupils, slowly rotating with the flow of Yin chakra, sweeping across everyone's faces like cold blades.

"Everyone present here..."

"Don't move!"

With just this command, everyone - Sawara Kiri, Namikaze Minato, the Guard Jōnin... everyone present froze.

Because everyone saw the armbands on their shoulders.

The Konoha Military Police Force. To be particular, Uchiha Police Force.

A founding clan, with the Hokage's special authority!

They killed those whom ANBU couldn't kill, they controlled those whom ANBU couldn't control!

The current power and influence of the Uchiha clan was evident.

The lead female shinobi spoke with a cold voice and indifferent gaze, freely scanning everyone present with her Sharingan.

Though she appeared to be around the same age as Sawara Kiri and the others, her actions were cautious and experienced.

Even with the enemy confirmed dead, she hadn't lowered her guard one bit, searching for any suspicious traces among the crowd.

However, just as the stern female shinobi turned her head, and her red pupils reflected Sawara Kiri's image...

The young woman's steps faltered.

Her eyes, originally cold as ice, revealed a trace of surprise, and her previously cool and solemn face couldn't help but show slight panic.

Like someone caught in an embarrassing situation by someone they deeply cared about.

She almost couldn't maintain her professional expression, and blurted out "Kiri?"

...