Nagato's plan was as dangerous as it was dramatic.
The idea was simple: cause chaos with a city-wide symphony of explosions.
He had spent an entire week preparing more than a thousand detonation talismans. After all, the Uzumaki clan might have lost their homeland, their allies, and their free time—but one thing they never lacked was chakra. And Nagato? He was swimming in it.
His detonation tags were planted with the precision of a professional artist—every alley, every street corner, every ignored flower pot. But the real fireworks were reserved for three prime targets: the Root base, the Shimura estate, and the Sarutobi compound.
Those got the deluxe package: double explosives, reinforced tags, and an extra scoop of chaos.
The other clans? They got the starter pack. A little bang here, a little decorative destruction there—just enough to get attention, but not enough to be considered a war crime.
The Uchiha shrine? Boom, but no damage to the sacred stone (just shifted slightly off-angle, like a cursed Ikea display). The Hyuga main hall? Rattled. The Akimichi food vault? Shook. The Aburame hive fields? Bugged out, literally.
Now, standing across from the Hokage building, Nagato adjusted his ANBU disguise—perfect transformation jutsu, voice-modulator jutsu, and forged ID that read, "Definitely Real ANBU – Trust Me."
The real ANBU scheduled for this shift was currently snoring blissfully in a dumpster behind Ichiraku Ramen, wrapped in a blanket made of newspaper and poor decisions.
Nagato glanced at the sky, saw the sun rising, and cracked his knuckles.
"…Time to go loud," he muttered.
He grinned under the mask.
"As a wise pyromaniac once said… Art is a blast."
He activated the first tag.
BOOM.
Then the second.
BOOM. BOOM.
And then came the chorus.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM.
All across Konoha, the explosions roared like a chakra-powered rock concert.
At the Root compound, the alarm system finally activated. Men in cloaks with blank expressions ran into walls, tripped over each other, and screamed over the sound of collapsing tunnels.
"Intruder alert!"
"Secure the archives!"
"Where's Lord Danzo?!"
"He already evacuated through the emergency trapdoor. AGAIN."
Over at the Shimura clan, panic and koi fish filled the air as a precision blast launched a statue into their ancestral pond.
"Not the koi pond! That's purebred fish!"
"That's not fish, that's Grandpa's ashes!"
"Well, now he's swimming again."
The Sarutobi estate? Utter mess. Tea sets flipped, windows shattered, and one poor cousin rolled off the porch onto his face.
"My porch!"
"My tea!"
"My spine…"
Meanwhile, the Uchiha shrine stood firm—barely.
"The sacred stone has moved," an elder announced, eyes glowing red.
"Does it say anything new?"
"No… still vague cryptic nonsense."
At the Hyuga compound, everyone had already activated their Byakugan out of pure habit.
"I see explosions everywhere," said one.
The Aburame fields descended into chaos. Beetles scattered in all directions. A few formed a tactical retreat formation, while others just curled up and cried.
"The queen beetle is distressed."
"She's demanding hazard pay."
Over at the Akimichi compound, tragedy struck in the worst way imaginable.
"Our snack pantry has been hit!"
"Call emergency delivery!"
"Deploy the backup meatballs!"
While every clan scrambled like confused chickens during a fire drill, Nagato walked calmly into the Hokage building.
No one stopped him. Why would they? He looked like an ANBU. The badge. The walk. The slightly superior attitude. All perfect.
He made his way to the scroll vault—the same one Naruto had once stumbled into when he "borrowed" a certain forbidden jutsu.
The door was sealed shut with ancient Uzumaki seals, but to Nagato, it may as well have been a sliding screen.
He placed his palm against it.
"Samsara Seal… Open."
The seals unraveled like threads, revealing the sacred vault.
Scrolls. Powerful. Forbidden. Dangerous.
Exactly what he came for.
Nagato stepped inside and activated his Rinnegan fully. Scrolls floated in front of him, unraveling without being touched.
"Reanimation Jutsu," he whispered. "Dead people make the best employees."
"Eight Gates… ooh, spicy."
"Shiki Fujin… that's definitely overkill."
"Reverse Four Symbols Seal… dramatic much?"
One by one, the jutsu were burned into his memory. The Rinnegan's power allowed him to memorize everything at lightning speed.
He didn't need to steal the scrolls. He just needed to look at them.
After less than five minutes, he was done.
He rolled the scrolls back up, closed the vault, and turned away without leaving a trace.
"Clean job," he muttered. "Uzumaki-style."
Then he vanished.
A few moments later, Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the Hokage office with an annoyed expression and a half-tied bathrobe.
"What now…" he grumbled.
An ANBU agent appeared beside him.
"Sir. Explosions at Root, Shimura, Sarutobi compounds. Other clans hit too. No fatalities. Some bruised egos."
"Hmm. Classic misdirection," Hiruzen muttered. "They were trying to lure us away from here."
"Seems like it, sir. The vault is untouched."
They checked. The scrolls were all still there. Seals unbroken. Everything looked perfect.
"Looks like they failed," Hiruzen said, letting out a long, relieved breath.
He turned to walk back to his desk, shoulders relaxing slightly.
But if he had looked closer…
If he had truly examined the seals…
He would have noticed the faintest, tiniest shift—almost undetectable—like someone had gently opened and closed them without a trace.
But he didn't.
And so, while Konoha swept up the dust, and the clans argued over who triggered what explosion…
Nagato was already long gone.
With every forbidden jutsu committed to memory.
And not a soul had noticed.