"Undercover in Konoha: I Was the Real Hokage All Along!"

Konoha, under wartime martial law, was cloaked in deep silence and shadows. Only a few homes still had their lights on.

Nearly all of the village's electricity had been redirected to critical facilities, like the Hokage Tower and the ninja weapon manufacturing plants. Even the once-bustling gambling halls and red-light districts were void of their usual glitter and noise.

Under the pale, dim moonlight, shadowy figures occasionally darted across rooftops. They wore dark-gray combat uniforms and animal-faced masks—clearly ANBU—scanning their surroundings with vigilance.

On the streets below, the only figures in sight were a rare few civilians just now returning home from late-night shifts.

War wasn't only fought on the front lines with blades, blood, and fire.

Victory and sacrifice were just as dependent on logistics, supply chains, and—crucially—intelligence.

And right now, inside an unmarked building on the village outskirts...

Three full Iwagakure infiltration teams gathered around a pitch-black wooden table, quietly listening to the operation briefing delivered by the man at the center.

It didn't take long. Their objectives were clear and concise.

Finally, the man disguised as 'Kojima' solemnly asked:

"Understood?"

"Yes."

Even whispered, the conviction in their eyes made their resolve obvious.

"Good."

"Then… begin the mission."

One by one, the Iwagakure shinobi—faces now masked, headbands removed, all identifying symbols stripped away—turned toward a corner of the room where a Doton-style underground tunnel had been constructed.

They filed in with calm, unshakable determination.

'Kojima'—or rather, the infamous intelligence agent known across the Five Great Nations as "Ash Soiled, Master of a Thousand Faces"—stood silently as he watched them disappear into the tunnel.

He knew.

Most of them… would die. Just like the team that had launched a failed attack that morning.

Pointless deaths, at first glance.

But this mission was necessary.

They had to retrieve the intel on Tsunade's team's S-rank mission.

Why?

Because the Third Tsuchikage himself was currently holding the front lines against Kumogakure forces in a bitter war of attrition.

If the Leaf succeeded in assassinating him, the entire front would collapse. Iwagakure and the Land of Earth would plunge into chaos.

They knew it.

And Konoha knew it too.

Ash Soiled stared into the dark and took a step forward, willingly walking toward hell.

Outside the Sealed Records Room.

A boy, maybe twelve or thirteen, let out a long yawn and rubbed his eyes, mumbling sleepily:

"Sensei… isn't it time to switch shifts yet?"

"Quiet,"

His superior said gruffly.

He was a grizzled Jōnin in his thirties, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he leaned against the wall beside the sealed room's entrance.

Still, looking at the boy—who could've been the same age as his son—he relented a little.

"Almost there. Just hang in a bit longer."

"Sheesh..." the genin muttered, chin in hand as he gazed out the window. "I can't believe this is only a C-rank mission. Are we gonna be stuck with this kind of boring stuff forever?"

"Hey, Shūichi!" a girl beside him scolded. "Don't talk like that while we're on duty!"

"Fiiine~"

Shūichi turned away, still grumbling, back to the recently repaired window.

And right then—

A kunai burst from the darkness outside and stabbed straight into his neck.

"Schlick—"

Blood sprayed across the floor as the blade was withdrawn.

"Shūichi!"

The girl's voice trembled with panic.

But the veteran Jōnin had already leapt into action. He grabbed the arm reaching from the shadows, yanked it hard—

Pop!

The limb came free—an arm-shaped bomb already primed with a burning fuse.

In a flash, the Jōnin hurled it back out the window and formed a rapid sequence of hand signs:

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

Despite the dry conditions, he skillfully conjured a swirling dome of water to shield himself and the two young ninja, proving his prowess as a water-style specialist.

Then—

BOOM!

A violent blast outside shook the entire Hokage Tower.

Lights flared across the night as startled staff leapt from their desks and rushed to the windows.

The shadows outside were suddenly aglow with fire.

And in the chaos, four black-clad figures darted through the breach in the window, charging straight for the sealed records room.

But—

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

More than a dozen shinobi—some in ANBU gear, others wearing the red-and-white Uchiha crest of the Konoha Police Force—burst through the outer wall and surrounded the attackers.

Uchiha Yayoi stood at the vanguard, her crimson two-tomoe Sharingan locked coldly on the intruders.

She had suspected earlier—when examining the corpses from the failed morning attack—that the real threat had yet to reveal itself.

She just hadn't expected them to make another move so soon.

But the four Iwa shinobi didn't flinch in the face of being outnumbered.

The one in the lead sneered as he tore open his black cloak, revealing a vest covered in explosive tags.

Yayoi's eyes narrowed.

BOOM!

A massive blast echoed through the building, but not on their floor.

Everyone instinctively looked up.

The fourth floor.

The Hokage's office.

A decoy? A diversion?!

Was their true target the Hokage's office from the very beginning?!

That realization hit everyone at once.

"Move! Capture these four—now!"

Yayoi didn't hesitate. She issued orders while dashing toward the lead attacker.

Her Sharingan flared—

"Genjutsu: Sharingan Illusion!"

The man froze mid-step, momentarily stunned as confusion flickered in his eyes.

But his comrades were ready.

One of them shoved him forward, pouring chakra into the explosive vest.

BOOM!

The detonation tore his body apart. Blood mist and fragmented limbs exploded outward like a barrage of shuriken, shredding stone and steel alike. The blast left a gaping hole in the corridor and the outer wall.

Yayoi tumbled away from the shockwave, rolling hard before she managed to brace against a wall—half her uniform now soaked in blood.

Damn it…

The tomoe in her Sharingan spun faster with each breath of fury.

The remaining three Iwa shinobi pushed forward, riding the explosion's momentum. Bleeding and battered, they launched a desperate charge toward a group of young, inexperienced Chūnin—intending to kill as many as they could before they fell.

They had known from the beginning—none of them would make it back.

But if they could take even one future Konoha soldier with them…

It would be worth it.

Fourth Floor.

Two elite squads, led by Ash Soiled, slipped through the newly blasted breach and stormed into the Hokage's office with surgical precision.