"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Li Chuan, who was in his room using Shadow Clones to research Ninjutsu, immediately dismissed his Shadow Clones when he heard the sudden, loud explosions outside. With a flash, he appeared on the rooftop.
"They're finally here!"
Watching the scene of various Ninjutsu flying wildly in the southern area of Konoha Village, a slight smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
Because he knew that the Akatsuki Organization had finally come to attack Konoha under his guidance, and his chances of becoming the Fifth Hokage were very high.
"Strong enemies have invaded! All Jonin and Chunin of the Sarutobi clan, follow me to the South Gate for support! Genin, go evacuate the villagers!"
Li Chuan's current residence belonged to the Sarutobi clan, so he quickly saw the Sarutobi clan's Ninja begin to move.
At the same time, he also saw that at the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage had once again donned his armor and was leading the Anbu Ninja towards the southern area of Konoha. He must have realized the seriousness of the situation and intended to take action himself.
However, it was indeed quite serious, as the southern area was falling very quickly, and the explosions were pushing towards the north of the Village, indicating that the Ninja at the South Gate clearly had no resistance left.
This was normal, actually. Konoha currently had no Ninja who could withstand even the Pain Six Paths, let alone the other members of the Akatsuki Organization.
If Might Guy opened the Eight Gates, he would be strong enough, but he would surely die after opening the Eight Gates, and opening them without understanding the Pain Six Paths' intelligence would be useless.
Because even if Might Guy opened all Eight Gates and kicked the strongest Deva Path into submission, he would be revived by the Hell Path the next second.
The power of Might Guy's full Eight Gates surpassed the Shadow level, truly terrifyingly strong, even capable of kicking off half of Madara's body with one strike.
But it was too singular and easily countered. If Madara hadn't wanted to test Might Guy's Eight Gates and chose to take the hit, there were many ways he could have dodged Might Guy's attack.
In this World, if the difference in strength was not too great, Ninja intelligence was very important.
If Might Guy knew the intelligence of the Akatsuki Organization members, his full Eight Gates could instantly kill anyone; no one could withstand his life-burning kick.
But if he didn't know, and the Akatsuki knew about his Eight Gates, then besides Kisame, he probably couldn't kill a single one.
Nagato goes without saying; not finding his main body would be useless. Konan could turn into paper; unless her Chakra ran out, physical attacks were almost immune.
Obito could directly use Kamui to escape and return after the Eight Gates ended. Deidara could fly into the sky to hide. Sasori was useless unless his core was destroyed, as they were all puppets.
Kakuzu had five lives, Hidan had an immortal body, and Zetsu's body was White Zetsu; he could switch bodies if he died.
As for Itachi, with Itachi's combat intelligence, Might Guy would likely be caught in Tsukuyomi or directly hit by Amaterasu before he even had time to open the Eight Gates.
In fact, at this moment, Li Chuan still didn't know that Might Guy was no longer in the Village.
It wasn't because he was on a mission with Neji and others like last time; on the contrary, he was in the south of the Village at that time and was among the first Ninja to fight the Akatsuki members.
He was sent to the Land of Water, the furthest place from Konoha, by Obito's Kamui ability in a sneak attack before he even opened the Eight Gates. It would probably take him three to five days to get back to Konoha.
Mainly, Obito had been kicked away by Might Guy during the Chunin Exams, so he understood the power of Might Guy's Eight Gates and knew about his father Dai's feat of instantly killing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist with full Eight Gates.
So, to be safe, the moment he saw Might Guy, he used Kamui in a sneak attack to send him away.
The Third Hokage led the Anbu Ninja, leaping forward towards the southern part of the Village. During this time, Ninja from various clans residing in the north of the Village received orders and joined them.
"How many enemies are there? What's the situation now?"
"Currently, eleven can be observed. The situation is very bad. The Ninja guarding the South Gate have suffered heavy casualties, and a large number of civilians have been affected."
An Anbu Ninja from the Hyuga clan reported, activating his Byakugan.
"After crossing the river, one-third of the Ninja will evacuate the villagers from the south of the Village. After the villagers are evacuated, we will concentrate our forces to deal with the invading Ninja."
The Third Hokage immediately gave the order upon hearing this.
Most villagers who didn't know Ninjutsu lived in the southern part of the Village. He feared that the upcoming battle with the enemy would cause more villagers to be injured or die.
"My Lord, there is a Ninja flying in the sky who has been continuously throwing explosive Ninjutsu at the Village below. The attack range is very large. If he is not dealt with, it will be very difficult to safely evacuate the villagers!"
The Anbu Hyuga reported again.
The Third Hokage looked up at the sky above the south of the Village. Indeed, there was a Ninja standing on a white flying bird, continuously throwing white clay downwards. Each time the clay landed, it exploded, destroying a section of houses.
Currently, Konoha had no Ninja capable of flying in the air.
"Sarutobi clan, listen to my command! Disperse to various locations in the south of the Village later, and use Fire Release to detonate those clay bombs in advance to cover the villagers' evacuation."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The current clan head of the Sarutobi clan responded.
However, Shikaku, Konoha's strategist, who was nearby, frowned tightly upon hearing the Third Hokage's order.
"My Lord, the enemy's strength is very high. Dispersing our forces too much will likely make it difficult to cope."
As the main gate of the Village, the South Gate was guarded by a considerable number of Ninja. However, from the moment the barrier team reported the enemy invasion until now, with most of the southern Village buildings destroyed, only a few minutes had passed.
This indicated that the enemy's strength was far greater than they had imagined. Even when Orochimaru and the Sand Ninja jointly attacked Konoha last time, truthfully, the speed of their conquest was much slower than it was now.
At this point, sending out one-third of the Ninja to evacuate villagers and then assigning the powerful Sarutobi clan Ninja to assist was not a wise decision.
In his opinion, it would be better to concentrate all Ninja to prioritize dealing with the invaders. Although the losses in the south of the Village would be heavier this way, the north of the Village could at least be preserved, and the Village's strength could be maintained to the greatest extent.
"It will be difficult to cope even without dispersing, so our strategy later must be to stall, not to engage in direct confrontation."
The Third Hokage couldn't help but sigh.
Through the information from the barrier team, he already knew that the attackers were the Akatsuki, the mysterious organization that Itachi had infiltrated. According to the strength of the Akatsuki members that Itachi had reported back over the years, Konoha was in trouble this time.
It was much more troublesome than the previous joint attack by Orochimaru and the Sand Ninja.
Just as the Third Hokage was preoccupied with his thoughts, a figure suddenly appeared beside him. It was none other than Li Chuan.
"Lord!"
The Ninja's eyes lit up when they saw Li Chuan. Many of them had survived the previous great war thanks to Li Chuan's medical Ninjutsu.
"Teacher, leave the villagers and the wounded to me. I will also handle the Ninja in the sky. You all focus on dealing with the invaders."
Li Chuan activated Sage Mode, formed hand signs, and instantly created thousands of Shadow Clones. Then, each Shadow Clone used Apparition to disappear and, upon reappearing, was already holding injured Ninja and villagers.
His main body, meanwhile, spread his Flying Sword Wings from his back and flew towards Deidara in the sky.
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