Very quickly, Kumogakure's army was assembled.
In other words, the Kumogakure shinobi had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Kumogakure had withdrawn early.
When they fought Iwagakure, they lost the Third Raikage.
When they fought Konoha, they made Minato Namikaze famous.
After watching Sunagakure defeat Kirigakure and gain enormous benefits, Kumogakure had long since grown unbearably hungry.
Now was an excellent opportunity.
Iwagakure had suffered a major loss at Sunagakure's hands, so its strength had inevitably declined. Konoha, meanwhile, would have to face attacks from both Sunagakure and Kumogakure at the same time. Whether advancing or retreating, it would be caught in a dilemma.
The current Konoha was not the Konoha of the past.
Its talents were gradually withering away.
The people it could truly rely on amounted to only a few.
Under these circumstances, how could Konoha possibly withstand attacks from two great shinobi villages?
It could not withstand them.
In the Fourth Raikage's view, Konoha being broken through was merely a matter of time.
That meant whichever of Kumogakure and Sunagakure breached Konoha first would gain the greater benefits.
"Konoha's resources—our Kumogakure will have them!"
The Fourth Raikage looked in the direction of the Land of Fire, his eyes blazing.
Two shinobi armies advanced toward the Land of Fire under the leadership of Killer B and Yugito Nii.
One was the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.
The other was the Two-Tails jinchuriki.
Both possessed extremely powerful individual combat strength.
A figure emerged from the earth, then sank back into the soil again.
Piece after piece of intelligence gathered from White Zetsu scattered all across the shinobi world and flowed into Uchiha Obito's hands.
Wearing his mask, Uchiha Obito sat on a high tree branch and looked down at Kumogakure's advancing army. A smile appeared on his face.
"Good. Let it all descend into chaos."
"The intelligence gathering on these Tailed Beasts and jinchuriki has been easier than expected."
"The One-Tails jinchuriki is in Sunagakure."
"Hidden in a corner of the village, but not difficult to locate. By using Sasori of the Red Sand, as long as Rasa is not in Sunagakure, we can take the opportunity to infiltrate and capture the One-Tails jinchuriki."
When he thought of Rasa, Uchiha Obito's expression turned slightly unpleasant.
Ever since awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Obito had possessed immense confidence in his own strength.
"Even Teacher Minato suffered a loss at my hands, yet I suffered a loss against Rasa."
"How did that guy detect me?"
"And his resistance to genjutsu was strangely high."
"His movement speed is extremely fast, and his attacks are powerful…"
"We cannot set the One-Tails jinchuriki as the first target. Otherwise, Rasa will definitely keep looking for ways to make trouble for the Akatsuki. He'll be very troublesome."
"But we also cannot set the One-Tails jinchuriki as the final target. Once Rasa learns that other jinchuriki have been attacked and gone missing, he will definitely become vigilant."
"In that case, capturing the One-Tails jinchuriki will become much harder."
"But the absorption of the Tailed Beasts is best done in order."
"It would be best if we could kill Rasa before beginning the operation."
"Can Nagato do it?"
Previously, Uchiha Obito had never been worried about Nagato's strength—or more precisely, about the abilities of the Rinnegan.
But when he thought back to his own situation when facing Rasa, Uchiha Obito felt a faint, ominous premonition.
"The Two-Tails jinchuriki is Yugito Nii of Kumogakure."
"The Three-Tails has yet to revive."
"The Four-Tails jinchuriki is Roshi of Iwagakure, currently wandering outside the village."
"The Five-Tails jinchuriki is Han of Iwagakure."
"The Six-Tails previously belonged to Yagura of Kirigakure. But after his battle with Rasa, Yagura was killed. The Six-Tails must have died as well. It will need three years to revive."
"The Seven-Tails is in Takigakure."
"The Eight-Tails is Killer B of Kumogakure."
"The Nine-Tails' precise information has yet to be obtained."
"However, Kakashi has already pulled Uchiha Shisui into the Akatsuki. Now that Uchiha Shisui is lurking in Konoha, he will obtain intelligence on the Nine-Tails sooner or later."
"With the Tailed Beast intelligence gathered, the strength of the Akatsuki's members becomes another important point."
Uchiha Obito calculated silently.
"Nagato, Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakashi, and Uchiha Shisui."
"Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui are both currently insufficient in strength."
Uchiha Obito's eyes flickered.
"The most suitable route for Kakashi to improve his strength may be the path of the White Fang from back then. I wonder how much Kakashi inherited. If it isn't enough, then we'll have to take it from Konoha."
"As for Uchiha Shisui…"
Uchiha Obito recalled the scene when he had awakened his own Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Intense pain can create a tremendous stimulus for an Uchiha."
"If Shisui can awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, that will be enough."
"But the abilities of the Mangekyo are too special. Once Shisui awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan, will he notice me hiding behind the scenes? Will he interfere with my plan?"
Uchiha Obito cared about this.
"However, there is no need to worry too much."
"I am hidden behind the curtain, and Nagato's Rinnegan stands in front."
"Besides, I have transplanted Hashirama cells and possess double Kamui. Even if Shisui awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan, he will not be my opponent. There is no need to choke on food for fear of eating."
"But what kind of pain would be enough to stimulate Shisui so strongly?"
"What does Shisui care about?"
Three words surfaced in Uchiha Obito's mind.
—The Uchiha.
"Use the destruction of the Uchiha as the catalyst to help Shisui awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"This will also strengthen Shisui's choice to stand with the Akatsuki."
"The plan can begin."
Uchiha Obito looked toward Konoha, his eyes flickering.
Before long, Kumogakure's army reached the border of the Land of Fire.
"Kill!"
The Konoha outposts stationed at the border were easily breached and crushed in an extremely short period of time. They could not even send out a cry for help before being directly overrun.
The gap between the two sides was too great.
Whether in numbers or in strength.
Only after several outposts had been pulled out by Kumogakure's army did the remaining Konoha shinobi finally sense that something was wrong.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!"
"This is bad! Kumogakure has attacked!"
"Report to Hokage-sama immediately!"
When Hiruzen Sarutobi received the news, his vision went black. He instinctively tried to stand, but he could not stand at all. Halfway up, his body fell heavily back into the chair.
"Raikage brat!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth.
Elsewhere.
Sunagakure.
Compared with Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger and panic, Rasa was quite relaxed at this moment.
After Ninja World Weekly spread, Rasa watched the points on the system panel rise at tremendous speed. The Fourth Raikage's interview was far too powerful.
Three thousand?
No. At this moment, it had already rushed close to four thousand.
And it was still climbing.
"It's time to begin this small guarantee draw!"
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