Konoha was a military organization, so whenever an alarm sounded, it reacted very quickly.
Although there had never been any large-scale fighting inside the village before, they still had emergency plans in place.
There was no need for orders from above. A group of ninja immediately mobilized and raced toward the source of the disturbance.
For a moment, people were running all over the rooftops.
There were also personnel assigned to direct the crowds, ushering ordinary civilians into the fortifications.
Uchiha An and Orochimaru strolled leisurely down the street, accompanied by a yellow-haired ninja with the appearance of the Rinnegan.
It wasn't Nagato, but the Human Path.
The Six Paths were not acting together. They had split up.
Before the battle began, each group had been assigned a mission.
Uchiha An and Orochimaru had volunteered to deal with the Root and the Hyuga Clan, respectively.
Uchiha An had specifically asked Nagato to assign him the Human Path.
The Human Path could capture and extract other people's souls, read their memories, and obtain information.
In the original story, Nagato had come to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so he had to send the Human Path and Hell Path in to search for information about the Jinchuriki.
But this time, the Akatsuki Organization had come to destroy Konoha.
Once Konoha was destroyed, they could do whatever they wanted with the Jinchuriki!
So the Human Path's usefulness had been greatly diminished.
The Human Path's greatest strength was gathering intelligence, while the Hell Path's was repairing damaged puppets.
Having the Human Path and Hell Path fight as ordinary Jōnin would have been a terrible waste. It made more sense to put them to good use and have the Human Path accompany Uchiha An to take a look around the Root.
Considering Uchiha An's contributions and how helpful his plan would be to the Akatsuki Organization, Nagato had readily agreed.
The trio's brazen stroll down the street naturally attracted the attention of Konoha's ninja.
Orochimaru's face was practically his calling card. Anyone could recognize him as an enemy at a glance.
A sharp whistle rang out, and a group of ninja immediately charged toward them.
Uchiha An casually scanned the area. Seeing no powerful ninja among them, he didn't move, only smiled at Orochimaru and said:
"Hey, Lord Orochimaru, they've already started over there. We should hurry up, too!"
"Once Nagato starts going all out, Konoha will be finished."
"While the Hyuga Clan's still fresh, you'd better get moving!"
"First come, first served!"
Orochimaru flicked his long, forked tongue around his lips, his face alight with excitement. He formed hand seals and slapped his palm against the ground.
With a "boom," a giant snake appeared in their midst.
Manda appeared and looked around. Seeing that he was in Konoha, surrounded by smoke and the sounds of battle, he immediately became ecstatic.
"Ha ha... Orochimaru, are we fighting Konoha this time? I want a hundred live sacrifices!"
Orochimaru leaped onto Manda's head and pointed toward the Hyuga Clan. "As long as you can eat them, you can have as many as you like."
Manda whipped his tail, sending every nearby Konoha ninja flying. Then he thrust his head forward, seized one of them in his jaws, and swallowed him in a few quick bites.
The unfortunate ninja screamed twice before falling silent. A great deal of blood sprayed from the snake's mouth and streamed down Manda's neck, chilling to behold.
After getting what he wanted, Manda did his part. He followed the straight path Orochimaru had pointed out, crushing his way through houses and streets.
Wherever he went, houses collapsed and lofts toppled. He carved a snake-wide path through the village, leaving only heaps of rubble and blood-soaked ruins behind him.
"Orochimaru!"
At a furious roar, a member of the Akimichi Clan immediately swelled into a giant, ready to stop him.
But a huge centipede came hurtling in from the side, coiled around one of his legs, and rapidly crawled upward. It opened its enormous jaws and lunged for his head.
The shadows on the ground suddenly came alive, transforming into countless ropes that wrapped around the centipede and squeezed tight, trying desperately to pin it down.
Then a gigantic rhinoceros charged in, headbutted the giant, and sent him tumbling heavily to the ground. He crushed countless houses beneath him, his screams ringing out without end.
Although a shortage of supplies and insufficient preparation time had greatly reduced the number of Summoning Animals available to the Animal Path, the Rinnegan's Dojutsu had not diminished their power in the slightest. Each one had the strength of an elite Jōnin.
While they were held up for a moment, Manda's enormous body had already pushed through house after house and reached the Hyuga Clan.
Uchiha An turned away and waved cheerfully to the Human Path.
"Let's go, boss. We'll take a look around inside the Root and see just how many dirty secrets Danzo's hiding."
The Root's location wasn't much of a secret. Most Jōnin in the village knew where it was; only ordinary ninja and ignorant villagers were kept in the dark.
But few people knew what was going on inside the Root. Even the Third Hokage probably couldn't claim to understand it very well.
The Root was in a relatively remote area, toward the outskirts of the village.
If Uchiha An tried to force his way in, he'd naturally face heavy resistance. But if he headed out, far fewer enemies would come to stop him.
He easily cut down a few nuisances, picked up his pace, and soon reached the Root's entrance.
Once he got there, the pressure suddenly increased. Large numbers of Root ninja poured out and charged at him in a frenzy.
"Ha ha... Danzo, open up! I'm here to bring you some warmth!"
Uchiha An laughed loudly as his Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly. He activated Susanoo and quickly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The energy giant opened its mouth, and blazing flames welled up from deep in its throat, sweeping toward the enemy in a vast wave.
The heat was so intense that the air around them warped and twisted. Even the rubble on the ground was swept up, suspended, and melted.
The Root ninja hurriedly used various Ninjutsu to defend themselves.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
One water wall after another and one earth wall after another surged up from the ground, shielding them.
But the Fire Style technique, amplified by Susanoo, was impossibly powerful. The flames surged like a raging inferno.
The Water Formation Walls boiled and churned as soon as they rose, while the surfaces of the Earth Walls rapidly dried out and cracked.
The defensive line, built through the combined efforts of dozens of ninja, trembled violently like a sheet of paper. In an instant, much of the water had evaporated into steam, and the earth walls had been baked into ceramic.
More importantly, Uchiha An wasn't their only enemy.
While they were busy dealing with the enemy in front, the Human Path used Body Flicker to slip behind them, grabbed a Root ninja, and effortlessly pulled out his soul.
"An, I found him!"
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