Land of Grass.
Konoha Ninja Command Center.
To train Hatake Kakashi, Tsunade specifically placed him in the position of commander and sent the previous generation of Ino-Shika-Cho as his aides. The Hyuga Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Family, and the Sarutobi Clan all joined in as well.
Although the number of ninja in this unit was not large, it could be considered a miniature version of the Konoha ninja army, with complete perception units, assault units, combat units, and medical units.
Late at night.
The senior members of this unit were having a meeting.
A trace of worry appeared in Hatake Kakashi's eyes: "Tonight, three Anbu squads and fifteen squads stationed at the fortress have lost contact, but according to our spies in the Hidden Rock Village, the Hidden Rock Squad has not made any moves yet."
"This loss is not small."
Nara Shikaku toyed with the pen in his hand and muttered, "We've effectively lost about a fifth of our manpower and haven't even gathered any intel on the enemy."
"I'll report to Lady Tsunade immediately!"
Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head with a sigh, raised his finger, and said, "At such a crucial moment in the alliance talks, we were ambushed in the Land of Grass. This is a serious issue; it seems to deliberately target this alliance conference."
"Could it be the Land of Rain?"
"No, the Hidden Rain Village has sent word that they will send people to attend this alliance talk, so we still have to send someone to meet them."
"That would be bad then!"
Nara Shikaku slowly circled the attacked locations on the map with his pen and gently said, "Based on these activity trajectories, it seems like the work of a Hidden Rock Village assault unit since they could push forward as a whole, but there was no coordination on either side…"
Just as Nara Shikaku was analyzing this, a series of loud signal flares lit up outside the camp. It was the enemy attack signal from the nearby patrolling ninja!
"Everyone, be on high alert!"
Hatake Kakashi immediately halted the meeting and loudly instructed the captains of each team, "Each team, return to your positions, and all Anbu gather and deploy with me!"
Not far from the Konoha Camp.
The members of the Akatsuki dispersed. Hoshigaki Kisame stood by with his Shark Skin Greatsword on his shoulder, Uchiha Itachi furrowed his brows, and Uchiha Sasuke was full of displeasure.
It was their squad that had taken the initiative to kill the Konoha patrolling ninja, but unfortunately, there was an issue with the captive they were supposed to keep alive.
The captive had managed to release an enemy attack signal flare before Uchiha Itachi could kill him, despite Itachi's efforts.
Uchiha Itachi furrowed his brows and remarked at the corpse on the ground, "Did someone manage to break free from the Sharingan's Genjutsu?"
"No matter."
Uehara Naraku glanced deeply at Uchiha Itachi with a faint smile on his lips, "After all, we've already infiltrated right under the Konoha camp's nose, and it was unlikely that we wouldn't be noticed during a direct assault…"
Uehara Naraku looked at everyone present and cast his gaze towards the slightly bustling Konoha camp in the distance. In a loud voice, he said, "In that case, let's launch a direct attack! Tonight, we'll drive all the Konoha ninja out of the Land of Grass!"
As long as Konoha's camp is driven away, the other Konoha ninja squads stationed at the fortress won't amount to much, and without reinforcements, they'll certainly withdraw.
Boom!
A Clay Flying Bird appeared beneath Deidara's feet.
Sasori of the Red Sand slowly pulled out the puppets of the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage; both generations of the Hidden Sand's Magnet Release ninjas were under his control. As expected of an exiled ninja from the Hidden Sand, he loves using the bodies of his homeland's leaders.
Kakuzu's body quickly swelled and gradually split into three Earth Grudge Fear beasts, clearly adept at strong attacks, while Hidan could only rush in recklessly.
The three Seven-swords Ninja of the Hidden Mist each drew their ninja blades as Kaguya Kimimaro's body slowly grew a few bone spikes, while Haku and Uchiha Itachi provided side support.
And Uchiha Sasuke was mainly there to pick off stragglers...
"Let's give them a little greeting first!"
Uehara Naraku extended his palm, and a Star Core appeared in the center. The surrounding Natural Energy and his chakra continually flowed into it, causing the Star Ring around the Star Core to rapidly expand!
Uchiha Sasuke shot a surprised glance at Uehara Naraku's Ninjutsu, "Is that Naruto's Rasengan?"
At first glance, the rapid surge of the Star Core indeed looked like a Rasengan.
Uehara Naraku slowly tossed the Star Core, which continued to absorb Natural Energy from its surroundings, causing the Jutsu's range to grow larger!
When the Star Core quickly entered the field of vision of the Konoha ninja, its outer coverage had already reached several hundred meters!
Several Konoha Jonin quickly dashed out and formed hand seals in unison, shouting, "Earth Release: Earth Flow City Wall!"
A tall wall rapidly rose from the ground!
However, the moment the Star Core touched the wall, it blasted a gap in the Earth Flow City Wall's defense, sending countless fragments of stone and earth flying!
A sudden high-pitched whistle was heard.
A white Clay Giant Bird flew overhead, scattering a series of Clay Bombs. Deidara, standing excitedly on the Clay Giant Bird, raised his finger, "Boom!"
Boom!
Continuous explosions left the Konoha ninja in a state of panic and confusion!
As Hatake Kakashi was figuring out a way to deal with Deidara in the air, shadows clad in Cloud Black Robes began to emerge one by one from the gap in the Earth Flow City Wall.