"We found them! Over there!"
Hyuga Peak fixed his gaze on the distance, the veins at his temples bulging as he pushed his Byakugan to its limit.
The ninja beside him heard his shout and immediately pulled a flare from his pouch. He lit it and fired it into the sky.
"The main force will be here soon. Let's get over there and hold them off!"
"Yes!"
The squad members answered in unison and raced toward the signal.
After receiving Itachi's intelligence, the Third Hokage had dispatched search parties, sending numerous squads to comb the area around the village. They had to find Nagato.
With their search focused on the threat, a Hyuga Clan ninja soon detected an unusual Chakra signature. The ninja summoned the main force, and they rushed toward Nagato.
Might Guy was leading the search parties.
He was also among the first to arrive after the signal went up.
When he reached Nagato, he found bodies strewn across the ground. Every Konoha ninja who had arrived before him had been killed by Nagato.
Nagato pulled a Black Receiver from the last ninja's body and casually flicked the blood from it onto the ground. Then he turned his head and looked at Might Guy, his expression indifferent.
"You're Might Guy?"
"The one who specializes in the Eight Inner Gates Formation?"
Guy and the others faced him as if preparing for a life-or-death battle, hurriedly taking defensive stances.
"Nagato, we know about the Akatsuki Organization. Your plan can no longer succeed."
"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on. You'll never defeat Konoha!"
"Heh..." Nagato gave a faint, contemptuous smile. "An spoke of your Eight Inner Gates Formation as though it were the greatest thing in the world, calling it the strongest taijutsu in the Ninja World."
"But I