Once the plan was set, all that remained was to wait.
Genji led Terumi Mei around the village, arranging personnel and positions, while Hoshiyomi and the others stayed at the base, quietly waiting for the turmoil to end.
The Kaguya clan celebrated wildly, fantasizing about taking control of Kirigakure.
Hōzuki Mangetsu and his group worked tirelessly on preparations for capturing the Three-Tails.
Three different factions, without prior coordination, all eagerly awaited the great event to come tomorrow night.
...
As all sides rushed about, time silently slipped into the following evening.
Inside the Kaguya clan compound, the Kaguya members were singing and dancing in celebration of their soon-to-come "victory."
At the clan head's residence at the top of the compound, the Kaguya clan head gulped down wine, eagerly waiting for nightfall.
As the sun finally dipped beneath the horizon, taking the last rays of light with it, the Kaguya clan head slammed down his bowl and shouted to the dancing clansmen:
"Everyone! Pick up your weapons! The time has come for the Kaguya clan to rise and rule!"
Hearing their leader's declaration, the clansmen erupted into cheers, grabbing their weapons and chanting praises for their clan head.
Basking in their support, the Kaguya clan head suddenly remembered something. He turned to his trusted aide:
"Right, it's time to let Kimimaro out. We've fed him all these years—he should finally make himself useful to the clan."
The aide nodded and hurried toward the dungeon.
But before long, he rushed back in a panic.
Seeing the expression on the man's face—like he'd just lost his mother—the clan head froze, yanked him forward, and growled:
"You idiot! Everyone's celebrating—what's with that face? Didn't I tell you to bring Kimimaro? Where is he?"
The aide was drenched in sweat. Hearing the clan head's question, he stammered:
"C-Clan Head… Kimimaro… the little bastard actually escaped!"
"Bullshit! He's just a kid. The shackles on him were custom-made. How could he escape alone? You think the entire Kaguya clan is blind?!"
"B-But he did run! When I went to the dungeon, the whole wall had a square hole cut through it!
His shackles were sliced apart and left on the floor… Kimimaro is truly gone!"
The Kaguya clan head's eyes widened. This was completely beyond anything he expected.
But when he looked at the cheering clansmen, even he knew he couldn't crush their morale now.
"Forget it. That brat was locked up since he was little. Even if he escaped, he can't have gone far. After we finish tonight's business, we'll just drag him back."
With a vicious snort, he dismissed the issue.
He turned, spread his arms, and shouted:
"Clansmen—move out!"
...
Midnight approached. Tonight, Kirigakure was far from peaceful.
The Kaguya clan marched with blazing torches and savage grins, striding toward the conservatives' territory.
Their weapons glinted coldly beneath the night sky, sending chills through the air.
The clansmen were ecstatic, but the clan head's aide looked uneasy.
Kimimaro's disappearance combined with tonight's operation filled him with a strange dread.
"Clan Head… are we truly moving forward? Something feels wrong. Isn't the night too quiet?
If this is a trap, wouldn't we be—"
Before he finished, the clan head smacked him hard across the face:
"Idiot! You think those Hōzuki brats dare lie to us? If we fall, they fall with us!
No matter what happens tonight, he'll come out to help."
After cursing that "idiot" of an aide, the Kaguya clan head shouted to the surrounding clansmen:
"Just ahead is the conservatives' territory! Clansmen—charge with me!"
With that, the Kaguya clan head pushed through the soldiers and rushed to the very front of the formation.
Encouraged by their clan head's show of bravado, the Kaguya clansmen quickened their pace—until one of them suddenly stepped on something strange.
BOOM!
The detonation tag's flare lit up the silent night with terrifying brightness.
The unlucky clansman who stepped on the trap was instantly blown to pieces.
The charging Kaguya group instinctively slowed down, but it was already too late.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"
A sharp female voice rang out from the forest.
Moments later, a cloud of superheated, corrosive vapor enveloped the Kaguya clansmen.
One clansman failed to dodge and staggered into the mist.
Instantly, the sickening sound of flesh dissolving filled the air.
The man screamed in agony, clawing wildly at his melting skin, tearing off chunks of bloody flesh.
In the blink of an eye, the once-smiling clansman had been reduced to a dripping skeleton.
The horrifying sight drained the color from the surrounding Kaguya faces, sending them stumbling backward in terror.
But where could they run?
Water Release: Water Surge!
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Lightning Release: Earth Flow!
From all around the forest, low chants of ninjutsu echoed.
The Kaguya, who had come expecting to launch a surprise attack, were instead caught completely off guard.
Screams erupted throughout the battlefield.
On a distant rooftop, Hoshiyomi and the others watched the chaos below.
Hoshiyomi gently shook his head. Kakashi muttered dismissively:
"With reactions that slow, the Kaguya clan is done for."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, White Zetsu curled his lips into a grin.
"Oh dear, they were discovered already? Well, it doesn't matter. Our goal is about to be achieved anyway."
With that, White Zetsu sank back into the ground with a whoosh.
The moment he disappeared underground, Hoshiyomi—still on the rooftop—smirked.
"So it really is related to White Zetsu. I want to see what exactly they're trying to pull."
"You guys keep watching. And take care of Kimimaro and Haku for me. I sensed something interesting over there—I'm going to check it out."
He vanished from sight, leaving the others exchanging glances.
...
Meanwhile, White Zetsu traveled underground, quickly arriving at the outskirts of the Hōzuki clan territory.
Hōzuki Mangetsu, Ringo Ameyuri, and the others were already waiting.
"No problem—the fighting over there has already begun. But we'll need to hurry; it looks like those Kaguya idiots won't last long."
Hōzuki Mangetsu frowned.
"As expected of a bunch of useless trash. Let's go—we're out of time."
The words had barely left his mouth before the group vanished.
What they didn't know was that shortly after they disappeared, Hoshiyomi quietly emerged from the shadows.
"So that's the plan, huh?"