Outside Konoha Village, a black spatial vortex appeared.
The spiraling distortion quickly settled, and several figures were spat out from within.
Ōnoki sniffed with his absurdly large nose, drawing in the moist air.
"Who wouldn't love the lush forests of the Land of Fire? The weather is favorable, the rain is steady, the soil is fertile, and so many great trees grow here.
Compared to the Land of Fire, the highlands of the Land of Earth are far too barren."
The Land of Fire occupied the most livable region on the shinobi continent, and that made people from other nations deeply envious.
The Third Raikage looked toward the distant forest and vaguely saw several faces through the gaps in the canopy.
Konoha's famous Hokage Rock.
The Third Raikage was just about to charge toward Konoha when Ōnoki stopped him.
"Wait, Raikage!" Ōnoki looked toward Uchiha Obito and Zetsu.
"For this attack on Konoha, did your Akatsuki only send the two of you?"
The Third Raikage immediately understood Ōnoki's concern.
Uchiha Obito of the Akatsuki possessed the ability to leap through space. If they fought Konoha until both sides were exhausted, Akatsuki might come in afterward and reap the benefits.
Zetsu said, "Tsuchikage, you'd better hurry. I don't know how long Yagura can hold the fox back.
We have no interest in your war. Pain already told you—what we want is the Nine-Tails. We want Konoha Village to lose the ability to protect it.
When it comes to dealing with Konoha, we have no conflict.
According to the agreement, we only need to send you outside Konoha Village at the right time. Obito hates Konoha deeply, so he volunteered to help you. You should be thanking us."
Uchiha Obito disappeared again.
When he reappeared, he brought with him one hundred elite subordinates each from Ōnoki and the Raikage.
One hundred Stone ninja.
One hundred Cloud ninja.
They were there to handle threats from the flanks for Ōnoki and the Raikage, preventing the two from being disturbed.
The Third Raikage made the first move.
Wrapped in his Lightning Release chakra cloak, he charged toward Konoha's outer wall.
On the watchtower along the wall, the guard squad saw smoke and dust suddenly erupt in the forest outside the village. Something was rushing toward them at terrifying speed.
Trees along the path collapsed and even shattered, leaving a plowed-open gap dozens of meters long.
Before the guard ninja's signal flare could rise into the sky, the entire watchtower was smashed apart.
They did not need to worry that the signal flare had failed to launch.
Because a breach over a hundred meters wide had been torn through the wall. Anyone in Konoha could see that something major had happened here.
Inside the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen swiftly turned his head and looked toward the eastern wall.
When he looked over, he happened to see shattered bricks and stones from the wall blasting outward, destroying the forest and houses beneath it.
Fortunately, the area beneath the wall was fairly remote, with poor sunlight, so not many people lived there.
Throwing off his Hokage robe to reveal the armor beneath, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately shouted, "Kari! Notify Fox!"
Yamanaka Kari ignored etiquette and rushed out the window, leaping toward the temple—the former Mask Storage Temple.
As he moved, Yamanaka Kari kept thinking.
These past few days, he had been discussing with the Hokage whether the appearance of the Church of the Three Calamities was beneficial or harmful to Konoha, and whether Konoha should truly follow Commander Fox's suggestion and completely change its attitude toward the Daimyo and the nobles.
As the captain of the Guardian Ninja, he had wanted to preserve the old system. He was familiar with the Daimyo, familiar with how the nobles operated.
If Konoha changed, the Daimyo and the nobles would certainly resist fiercely.
Yet right now, all Kari could think about was reaching the temple as quickly as possible and requesting reinforcements.
Konoha now had enemies across the world. More than ninety percent of the village's forces were stationed in the major vassal states.
He could only hope Commander Fox's temple system could help the village survive this crisis.
After landing in the temple courtyard, Yamanaka Kari saw that an Uzumaki ninja had already opened a scroll and was waiting for the village's messenger.
This Uzumaki ninja was a believer of the Church of the Three Calamities, responsible for managing this temple.
"Quick, Jonin Kari! I've been ready for a while!"
Yamanaka Kari stood before the shrine, and sealing marks appeared across it.
He could not help asking, "What happens if someone attacks the shrine at this moment and interrupts the teleportation?"
The Uzumaki ninja said, "Attacking the shrine is attacking the Three Gods. Leader Fox will instantly appear. So… if you attack the shrine right now, Jonin Kari, you'll meet Lord Fox even sooner."
Yamanaka Kari thought to himself—
'Wonderful. If I attack the shrine, I can indeed find Lord Fox faster, but I'll be the criminal. You won't have any problem at all.'
Yamanaka Kari vanished instantly.
His vision shifted, and he saw an unfamiliar courtyard.
When he looked outside the courtyard, he realized it was the familiar Ryojō Port.
Having served as captain of the Land of Hot Water Daimyo's Guardian Ninja for many years, he came here many times every year.
He left the temple courtyard with Body Flicker Technique and hurriedly searched for Commander Fox.
On the distant sea, the Wood Golem had just pressed the Six-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball back into the water, causing a terrifying explosion across the surface.
Seeing that explosion, Yamanaka Kari sighed inwardly.
Some battles could only be joined by top-tier ninja.
If he had been standing on the shore just now, he would not even have known how to handle the aftershocks of that blast.
Yamanaka Kari saw Commander Fox turn and look toward him.
He quickly made hand signs, indicating that the situation was urgent.
Someone from Konoha had come to report an emergency. Lord Fox would surely understand the gravity of the situation.
Sure enough, Lord Fox quickly rushed toward him.
"Lord Fox! A powerful enemy has launched a surprise attack on Konoha Village! With one attack, he destroyed dozens—no, possibly over a hundred meters of Konoha's wall. Before I left, I heard a piercing thunderclap!"
Yako said, "Then it seems the Third Raikage has made his move. Let's go. We'll teleport back."
Yako could have instantly appeared inside Konoha on his own.
But he did not do so.
What he wanted was for Kushina and the others to return through the Flying Shrine system. All Konoha ninja needed to adapt to this new system.
The temple believer activated the shrine.
Yako, Kari, and Kushina vanished instantly.
When their vision shifted again, Yako had already appeared inside Konoha Village.
In the distance, an iron staff dozens of meters long was smashing and stirring through the breach in Konoha's wall.
There was also a black dot in the sky.
That was Ōnoki, flying.
Yako said, "Kushina, help Lord Hokage deal with the Raikage. I'll handle Ōnoki."
The Raikage was strong, but his strength lay in being a monster of raw stats. Kushina had a chakra cloak and powerful recovery ability. She could stall him for a while.
Ōnoki's Dust Release, however, meant certain death if it landed.
A mass of sand emerged beneath Yako's feet, carrying him into the sky.
Yamanaka Kari froze.
Why did Lord Fox know Sunagakure's secret sand technique?
Lord Fox could fly too?
Was Lord Shikakaku's speculation true?
Lord Shikakaku had said that Pakura becoming the Fifth Kazekage was highly abnormal, and that Commander Fox must have been manipulating things from the shadows. He also said there was something unclear between Pakura and Lord Fox.
Could it be…
Lord Fox really had something going on with the Fifth Kazekage?