Inside the Hokage's office in Konoha.
A shinobi from the Intel Division was currently briefing the Third Hokage on the latest developments from the front lines.
"At present, the conflict with the Hidden Rain is essentially over. Both sides have entered a state of silence. Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of the Rain, is prepared to surrender. We expect them to send envoys to Konoha in the near future."
This was good news. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, took a puff of his pipe and nodded. "We will accept the ceasefire. Inform the frontline command: maintain a strict defensive posture and do not attempt further incursions. If Hanzo's envoys arrive, let them pass."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"As for the Hidden Sand, Lady Tsunade is currently in command. Although we remain outnumbered, the tide has shifted. The theater of war has moved from the Land of Fire into the Land of Rivers, and we are steadily approaching the border of the Land of Wind."
"Excellent..." The situation was finally stabilizing. The Sand was being squeezed between Konoha and the pressure from the Hidden Stone to the north. Their military potential was nearly dry.
Konoha's grand strategy was to resolve the war in a sequence: West, then North, then East. The Hidden Sand was the first domino.
Currently, the northern line faced the heaviest pressure from the combined might of the Cloud and Stone, while the eastern front against the Mist remained in a total stalemate. Hiruzen was just weighing whether to redeploy troops to crush the Sand once and for all when...
THOOM...
A dull explosion—not a sharp crack, but a low-frequency thrum that felt like a subterranean growl—vibrated through the floor. In times of peace, it might have been ignored. In a world war, it was an alarm.
Hiruzen practically teleported to his feet. "What was that?"
Four Anbu guards flickered into existence before him instantly.
"Hokage-sama!" The intel shinobi pointed toward a shelf of monitoring scrolls.
One specific scroll, standing upright, had spontaneously combusted. It crumbled into ash in seconds, the heat so intense that the two scrolls beside it—though not even touching it—began to char.
Hiruzen's eyes darted to the numerical code beneath the shelf. He didn't hesitate.
"The Barrier! Sector 59!"
…
Rewind to several minutes earlier.
"Alright. Let's back up. Then let's back up some more," Kushina ordered. "The effective range of this formula is still a total mystery. We need to prioritize our own safety."
"Understood, Kushina-sensei." Hagoromo didn't need to be told twice. He had no intention of being a "close-up observer" for an experimental S-rank jutsu. Having been granted a second life, he was quite fond of keeping it.
The two retreated until they were standing on the surface of a nearby lake, roughly three hundred meters away from the scroll. This was the limit; any further and the chakra connection between Kushina and the formula would snap.
"Are you ready? I'm starting!" Kushina's hands were poised.
Hagoromo nodded, his eyes fixed on the target.
Speedy hand signs were the bare minimum for a Jonin. Kushina's hands blurred, the sequence beginning and ending in a heartbeat.
Hagoromo didn't even blink. He saw a spherical black curtain erupt from the center of the scroll. It expanded with terrifying, silent speed.
Shit! Run! Judging by that expansion rate, they were about to be swallowed. But before he could bolt, Kushina grabbed his collar.
"Calm down. It's already over."
In the time it took Hagoromo to gasp, the black sphere had expanded to a two-hundred-meter diameter. It held for a heartbeat, and then—everything caught within that radius was violently sucked back into a singular point at the center.
Then, the void vanished like a popped soap bubble.
It was gone. No residue, no lingering chakra—nothing. Except for the fact that a perfect hemispherical crater had been carved out of the earth where the scroll once lay.
The roar of rushing water filled the air as the lake began to drain into the massive new pit.
"Experiment successful," Hagoromo said steadily, acting as if he hadn't just tried to flee for his life.
"Yes, the sealing worked," Kushina whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "But we are in massive trouble."
She wasn't exaggerating.
They had chosen the very edge of the village perimeter to avoid collateral damage, placing the scroll right against the Barrier. But the Reverse Four Symbols Seal was too efficient. It didn't just seal an object; it annihilated the space itself.
Not only had the target and the scroll vanished, but a significant chunk of Konoha's protective dome had been deleted along with them.
In the empty air above the crater, a section of the translucent barrier was now visible, looking like a piece of glass with a jagged, giant hole punched through it.
Kushina and Hagoromo stood on the water, speechless.
From a chemical standpoint, shinobi are organic matter. Organic matter is insoluble in water—and also insoluble in gasoline.Therefore, shinobi can stand on the surface of a lake.
Then, the Third Hokage arrived, flanked by four Anbu. He didn't look happy.