Chapter 132: A Small Mistake Can Lead to a Huge Error
"Enemies in the sky?"
The shinobi Shikaku had rushed over arrived in a hurry, then instinctively looked up, confusion written all over their faces. The sky was empty. They could not see a single person, nor anything suspicious.
Still, when they saw the commander in chief's serious expression, their own expressions tightened as well. In a moment like this, Shikaku would not be joking.
Even so, some of them hesitated.
Shikaku was known more as a support type shinobi. Compared to legendary figures like Orochimaru or the Fourth Hokage, he did not carry the same weight in their minds yet. A few of them clearly held back their trust.
Shikaku kept his face calm, as if he had not noticed at all, but he saw everything. He understood their doubts. If the one issuing orders were Orochimaru or the Fourth Hokage, nobody would question a thing.
But he did not need admiration.
He only needed execution.
"As planned," Shikaku said evenly, "the Fire Release team will attack first with Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. I will mark the target zone with Great Fireball Technique. You will launch in the direction of my fireball, nothing else."
He took a deep breath and kept his eyes on the sky.
He had witnessed countless battles and participated in multiple wars, but this was the first time he had faced a battlefield like this.
The enemy could come from any direction.
Now, even the sky had become a front line that had to be defended.
He had already decided that when he got back, he would force his son to play war games with him. Shikaku had long sensed the shift in warfare after Heavenly Demon struck Kumogakure, but he never imagined Konoha would be forced to swallow the lesson so soon.
The Fire Release shinobi exchanged puzzled looks at the order, but none of them argued. They moved into their assigned positions and steadied their breathing.
Right after that, Shikaku placed the Wind Release team and the Lightning Release team, then called over the observation squad, a unit centered around Hyuga shinobi.
"Hyuga Hanako," Shikaku said sharply, "I want real time tracking. Report its exact position and flight path continuously."
The most terrifying part of Heavenly Demon was not just the strength of the attack. It was the height.
From that altitude, most defenses were meaningless.
After the attack on Kumogakure, the major villages all acted like they did not care, but in truth, they had been quietly studying how to deal with this nightmare.
The problem was that only Kumogakure truly understood what had happened.
Everyone else could only feel their way forward, cautious and half blind.
Even so, one conclusion was nearly universal.
Heavenly Demon attacked from the air.
So if they wanted any chance of countering him, they had to find him first.
Konoha had an advantage here. The Hyuga and the Uchiha were both clans built around ocular jutsu.
For this war, Shikaku had specifically brought members of the Hyuga branch family to deal with Heavenly Demon's possible appearance.
"Have the sealing team ready," Shikaku ordered, voice low but firm. "If interception fails, we minimize the damage. No hesitation."
He listened as Hanako continuously corrected the enemy's position and trajectory, her reports coming fast and steady.
It was quick, and it was high.
Even if Wind Release accelerated the attack, there was no guarantee they could hit accurately.
A backup plan was mandatory. Without backups, you only got one outcome, defeat, and tears after the fact.
After calculating the timing in his head, Shikaku formed seals and fired a Great Fireball Technique into the air, marking the route.
At his command, more than a dozen fire dragons roared upward in a single surge.
A powerful wind rose from below, catching the flames and driving them faster, hotter, more violent.
Within that formation, faint flashes of lightning flickered, easy to miss unless you were watching for them.
High above, on the hot air balloon, Kenichi stared down at the approaching firestorm and scratched his head.
"That is… quite the welcome party."
Before any true anti aircraft weapons existed, Konoha had already built anti aircraft ninjutsu.
And the tactic was annoyingly clean.
The fire dragons formed a surrounding net, forcing the balloon into the center. No matter which direction they tried to break through, they would be struck.
Worse, Kenichi's Sharingan, rotating slowly, caught what most eyes would miss.
Lightning hidden under the fire, waiting to bite.
Fire fueled by wind. Wind amplifying the flames. Then a concealed killing move inside the chaos.
If you were careless, you would be trapped and cut apart without even understanding how.
Kenichi found himself genuinely curious.
Who was commanding Konoha right now, and how had they come up with something this precise?
Still, curiosity did not change reality.
If anything, it helped him confirm Konoha's location.
"Sasori," Kenichi said calmly, "get ready. Drop it on my signal."
He remained standing at the edge of the balloon's basket as the first wave closed in.
"That is good thinking," Kenichi muttered, eyes narrowing as a second wave of fire dragons surged behind the first. Lightning patterns flickered at the corners of his eyes. "If all we had were balloons, we would not survive this without real strength."
Konoha's response was impressive.
But being attacked by ninjutsu was always part of the expectation.
In the shinobi world, the most practical air defense was still ninjutsu. Kenichi had planned for this from the beginning.
He drew in the moisture from the air in a single ruthless pull, gathering a massive amount of Sage Chakra.
A torrent of water formed above, then crashed down like a waterfall from the sky.
The flood smashed through the fire dragons attacking from the left front, tearing open a path and forcing the hot air balloon through toward its predetermined position.
Below, Shikaku watched the sudden waterfall appear in the sky, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
People called Heavenly Demon a terrifying enemy, but how strong was he truly?
Nobody knew.
All the world knew was that Heavenly Demon had dismantled the Eight Tails Gyuki's Tailed Beast Ball.
Now, Shikaku finally had a clearer sense of it.
"The sealing team will move," Shikaku said, gaze sharp.
At the same time, a dark shadow cut through the falling water and dropped straight down at terrifying speed.
Shikaku did not waste a breath.
Based on Hanako's live reports, he instantly calculated the impact point.
"Sealing team," he barked, "barrier formation. One kilometer northwest, now!"
Hanako blinked, her voice carrying a note of confusion despite her discipline.
"That thing… it looks like a metal block. Like a chunk of iron."
A metal block?
Not a ninjutsu?
In that instant, Shikaku felt something go cold in his chest.
Konoha had witnessed Heavenly Demon bombing Kumogakure and severely injuring the Eight Tails, but because of the Tailed Beast Ball and the clash of Lightning Release, they had never clearly seen the method of attack.
They had assumed it was ninjutsu.
After all, only ninjutsu could create that kind of destruction. So Konoha's entire preparation had been built around countering ninjutsu.
And now, one small difference had turned into a fatal error.
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