A deafening roar shook the land as the explosion tore through the night. The blinding light swallowed the sky, momentarily turning the darkness into day. Its brilliance illuminated the world around them, casting flickering shadows across the trees, the rocks, and the three figures standing on the outskirts of destruction.
Renjiro's red locs whipped violently in the forceful winds generated by the blast, the heat grazing his face despite the distance. His Sharingan spun wildly, desperately analyzing the fiery remnants of the border station as a massive cloud of smoke and debris surged upward, billowing into the sky like an angry beast.
He blinked, trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the destruction.
The base—once a well-fortified outpost—was reduced to ruins.
The wooden walls, the stone structures, everything that had once stood tall in its place was now nothing but scattered wreckage, burning embers, and twisted remnants of what had been. Flames licked at the wreckage, their hungry tongues devouring the remains, turning them to ash.
The acrid stench of charred wood, scorched earth, and burnt flesh hung thick in the air, a suffocating reminder of the devastation that had just unfolded.
Renjiro's throat felt dry.
"What the hell just happened?"
The words left his lips before he even realized he was speaking.
Beside him, Minato—his face calm, almost too calm in the wake of the explosion—shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's the Hokage," he replied simply.
Being the Senior of the two, he had experienced the Hokage's power on more instances than Renjiro.
Renjiro's eyebrow twitched.
He turned back to the smouldering wreckage, his mind racing.
'Of course, I knew this was his doing. My issue is… why? Why would he destroy the base?'
The thought gnawed at him, but he didn't voice it aloud.
The wind carried the echoes of the explosion through the trees, making the leaves tremble as if even nature itself feared what had just occurred. The very air was charged, saturated with the remnants of the immense chakra Hiruzen had unleashed.
The earth beneath them was scarred, deep cracks spreading from the epicenter of the blast. Chunks of rock and shattered wood lay scattered across the terrain, some pieces still smouldering from the residual heat.
Further ahead, in what remained of the base's perimeter, bodies lay sprawled. Some groaned, struggling to move before eventually becoming still, while others…
Did not move at all.
Renjiro's stomach tightened at the sight.
The shinobi who had reinforced the barrier—who had once held the upper hand—were now nothing more than casualties of their own overconfidence. Some were half-buried beneath the wreckage, limbs limp and lifeless, while others had been sent flying by the sheer force of the explosion, their gear scorched, their faces contorted in shock.
He exhaled slowly.
'This is the power of a Kage…'
He knew, of course, that Hiruzen Sarutobi was not called "The Professor" for nothing. He had read about the Third Hokage's capabilities, had even witnessed glimpses of it before, but—this?
This was something else.
There was no hesitation in Hiruzen's destruction. No wasted movement.
It was absolute.
Renjiro narrowed his eyes, his mind dissecting the details of what had just happened, or rather what he thought had happened.
The analytical part of his mind burned to understand it, to break it down, to replicate it. But his gut told him that even if he studied for years, he might never reach this level of mastery.
The barrier that once held them had shattered like glass under Hiruzen's technique. But it wasn't just about breaking free. No, the explosion had been strategic.
"He didn't just destroy the barrier. He wiped out their entire stronghold in one move, we'll two to be specific"
It was so decisive that their enemies didn't even have the chance to counter.
Minato let out a small sigh beside him. "You should close your mouth before bugs fly in."
Renjiro snapped his mouth shut, not even realizing he had been staring in disbelief.
Minato chuckled lightly. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"
Renjiro grunted, not bothering to deny it.
"Tch."
"I knew he was powerful, but this is ridiculous."
The faint crunch of footsteps against the debris drew their attention.
Hiruzen emerged from the lingering dust cloud. His face was grim, his posture relaxed, yet there was something dark in his expression—something that told Renjiro this wasn't a man who hesitated to end lives when necessary.
Despite being the epicenter of the destruction, there was not a single scratch on him. Not a single strand of his greying hair was out of place.
The Third Hokage surveyed the wreckage, his piercing gaze scanning the battlefield as if making a final assessment.
Renjiro hesitated before speaking, keeping his tone polite.
"...What exactly just happened?"
Hiruzen exhaled slowly, then glanced back at the carnage with an almost amused look.
"I might have overdone it," he said.
Renjiro blinked.
'Overdone it? You think?'
That was the understatement of the century.
Hiruzen turned serious again. "We know the plan regarding Kumo, but I was hoping at least one of them would survive so we could extract more information." He gestured toward the bodies, his voice carrying a note of dissatisfaction. "Unfortunately, it seems I miscalculated."
Renjiro nodded in agreement, his thoughts racing.
'If even one of them had survived, we could've interrogated them or used a Yamanaka technique to extract their memories. That way, we'd know if those Kumo shinobi were bluffing or telling the truth about Kiri.'
He frowned.
Now, they had only their guesses to work with.
Or so he thought—
Until Minato spoke up.
"Actually," Minato said, his voice as calm as ever, "I took care of that already."
Renjiro and Hiruzen both turned toward him.
Minato took a step to the side, revealing a motionless body lying next to him.
It was one of the enemy Jonin—unconscious, but alive.
Renjiro's Sharingan flared instinctively, scanning the man. His chakra was still present, though faint. He was alive, but only barely.
Renjiro's eyes flicked back up to Minato, his mind rapidly piecing things together.
'When he teleported me out of the base, he must've taken one of them with him.'
Renjiro almost had to hold himself back from reacting.
His first instinct was that this was an opportunity to read the enemy's mind—but then, just as quickly, he realized—he shouldn't reveal that he knew how.
Not yet.
'I can't afford to expose my mastery of the Yamanaka clan's memory reading technique so soon.'
Instead, he remained silent, waiting to see what the Hokage and Minato would do next.
Minato then turned toward Hiruzen. "Do you want to handle it, or should I?"
Renjiro's brow furrowed. "Handle what?"
Minato glanced at him, his expression unreadable.
Hiruzen, however, gave a small smirk.
"We're going to read his memories," the Hokage said simply.
Renjiro felt a flicker of surprise.
"You know the Yamanaka technique?" he asked, his voice betraying the curiosity he had been suppressing.
Both Minato and Hiruzen nodded.
Renjiro's lips parted slightly, though he quickly masked his expression.
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