Assault on the Akatsuki

Konoha.

Taiichi was cultivating with his three disciples when he was abruptly stopped by a member of the Anbu who suddenly appeared.

Hearing that it was the Hokage who had summoned him, and that it was extremely urgent, Taiichi was also quite bewildered.

He had been notified by the Anbu many times, but this was the first time he had been in such a hurry.

There was no need for the Anbu service to lead the way; since it was an extremely urgent matter, Taiichi naturally activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

They remained where they were, leaving only the Anbu and the three little ones staring at each other in bewilderment.

There was a hint of resentment (from the Anbu) and a touch of dissatisfaction (from the three little ones) in his eyes.

The Hokage's Office.

When Minato saw Taiichi arrive, he was taken aback at first, but then he understood.

"Wait a moment, the Third Kazekage and the two Advisors will be here soon."

Taiichi became interested; what could be the matter that warranted such a large-scale operation?

Not long after, the three arrived one after another. Minato then picked up a piece of intelligence and said to the four of them, "I just received information from the Kusagakure intelligence personnel."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but chuckle, "This intelligence certainly didn't come cheap; it cost a full million taels."

"Ho!"

Taiichi exclaimed in surprise, "This is indeed not cheap; it seems to be important intelligence."

Minato nodded and continued, "Kusagakure has discovered Akatsuki's base in the Land of Grass."

This time, everyone was truly astonished. When did Kusagakure become so powerful that they were able to obtain such information?

You have to understand how much effort and resources the Five Great Ninja Villages put in, yet they couldn't find a trace of it, but unexpectedly, it all benefited the Kusagakure in the end.

However, in this way, the 1 million taels were indeed well spent.

"So, what should we do next? Should we launch a surprise attack on Akatsuki? Should we do it alone, or should we join forces with the other four major ninja villages?"

Minato watched the four of them with a smile; all four seemed eager to try.

We're definitely going to have to do it, and the sooner the better.

No one knows just how powerful the Akatsuki has become after collecting all eight Tailed Beasts.

It's hard to say whether their strength will increase over time.

Therefore, extinguishing their arrogance as soon as possible is the best option.

Only--

"Heh, Kusagakure, I bet everyone in the Five Great Ninja Villages has a copy of this intelligence by now, right?"

Taiichi curled his lip; he clearly didn't like Kusagakure. The village had too many flaws, making it impossible for him to feel any affection for it.

"Taiichi is right. What Kusagakure did this time was indeed underhanded. Our intelligence ninja there has already communicated with the other four major ninja villages, and they've all bought a copy of this intelligence."

This is Kusagakure, where intelligence has become a business. Intelligence ninjas from the Five Great Ninja Villages are an open secret there, much like diplomatic ambassadors.

"We can't rely on just one village to deal with Akatsuki," Utatane Koharu said calmly. "Considering the danger and the attitudes of the other ninja villages, this will inevitably be a joint action by Five Great Ninja Villages."

Mitokado Homura nodded in agreement, "Just like when we dealt with the Moryo, the Five Great Ninja Villages will join forces. However, this requires a leader, and the Allied Forces will be at their strongest when they speak with one voice. Konoha is perfectly suited to be that leader."

The people present all smiled knowingly; this was yet another opportunity to expand Konoha's influence.

"Taiichi, I'll have to trouble you with this again."

Taiichi nodded, understanding Minato's approach. This was a surprise attack, and they needed to gather manpower as quickly as possible. The number of people sent by each village didn't have to be large, but they had to be elite.

After the meeting ended, Taiichi did not hesitate and immediately created Shadow Clone, which used the Flying Thunder God Shadow Clone to quickly travel to the other four major ninja villages.

Things progressed exceptionally smoothly; by the time Taiichi arrived, the other four major ninja villages had also received intelligence from Kusagakure.

What else is there to say? It's truly a case of enemies meeting with intense hatred.

The other four major ninja villages all wanted to tear the Akatsuki members to pieces, so they immediately reached an agreement to each send an elite squad of one hundred people to gather in the Land of Grass.

Of course, this doesn't include Kirigakure. They live far overseas, and the time allotted for this operation is too tight. If they wait for their people to arrive, Akatsuki might get some intelligence and run away.

As for the question of which team should listen to which leader, none of the major ninja villages mentioned it. When they learned that Taiichi was also participating in this siege, they all tactfully tacitly agreed that Konoha would be the leader.

There's nothing we can do; our strength is what it is, and we don't have the confidence to compete.

When Taiichi returned, the personnel dispatched by Konoha had already assembled.

Taiichi could tell at a glance that Konoha had truly produced a wealth of talent this time.

The Uchiha Clan was led by Yohei, and the other four members were all Three-Tomoe Sharingan users whom Taiichi knew.

Hyuga Clan time, the Hyuga clan was led by Katsuya Hyuga. As the former head of the Moon Otsutsuki Clan, he had always kept a low profile after joining Konoha, but this time he personally took to the field.

Other families, such as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Aburame, and the Inuzuka Clan, also sent out their best fighters.

Taiichi looked into the crowd again and discovered that Kakashi and Guy were also mixed in with them.

Kai was waving his arms to Taiichi, while Kakashi shrank back, as if afraid Taiichi would notice him.

But your white hair is so conspicuous, how can anyone ignore it?

Taiichi knew, of course, that this guy's purpose in participating in this operation was not pure, but since Minato had arranged for him to be included, Taiichi had nothing to say.

Ultimately, he has to resolve his own inner conflicts.

Everyone here is an experienced ninja, so there's no need to say anything Taiichi.

To ensure the secrecy of this mission, the hundred-person team will be divided into four-person squads, leaving the village under different mission names, and then reuniting with other ninja village teams in the Land of Grass.

Taiichi, Yohei, Kakashi, and Guy formed a team, which was obviously because Taiichi used his special privileges.

As soon as the four of them left Konoha, Yohei and Kai gathered around Taiichi.

Yohei couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "Taiichi, are we the only ones fighting Akatsuki this time?"

Taiichi glanced at Kakashi, who was lagging behind the group, and shook his head. "Of course not. This is a joint operation by the four major ninja villages. Mist Village is too far away to participate in this operation."

"Wow, that's quite a few people." Yohei spoke with great enthusiasm, his tone becoming cheerful. "I missed the last time the Allied Forces wiped out the Moryo, but I've finally made it this time! My name, Yohei Uchiha, is about to become famous throughout the Ninja World once again!"

Taiichi, seeing the guy's smug look, knew that he had lost control because his eyes had recovered. If he were to go after the Akatsuki with this mindset, he might just get himself killed. So he quickly spoke up to calm the guy down.

"You better watch out. Every official member of Akatsuki has a unique skill. Even Susanoo might not be able to withstand their deadly attack. I don't want my aunt and uncle to have to bury their child after this mission."

"Ugh, ptooey, ptooey! What discouraging talk! I, Yohei Uchiha, will live to be a hundred!"

Kai nodded repeatedly beside him, but it was unclear which of Yohei's statements he agreed with.

Seeing the atmosphere lighten, Yohei secretly glanced back before saying meaningfully, "What does the village think of Obito? He seems to hold a fairly high position in Akatsuki now."

Obito's joining the Akatsuki was still considered a secret in Konoha, and ordinary people naturally didn't know about it, like Guy.

He looked completely shocked at that moment.

For Yohei, knowing this was naturally not a problem.

Obito was Uchiha, and Minato would definitely inform the Uchiha Clan after learning about his situation. Once the Uchiha Clan knew, Yohei, with his strength and status, would naturally find out as well.

Taiichi gave him a disapproving look, knowing that he had asked the question on Kakashi's behalf.

Kakashi and his team worked for Yohei and Saori for a while back then, and their relationship was quite good.

"Obito, the village is treating him as Rogue Ninja. At first, everyone thought he was controlled by Genjutsu, but based on our recent interactions with him, even if he was initially influenced by Genjutsu, he has definitely broken free from Genjutsu control. But look at what he's done—"

Taiichi stopped there and didn't say any more. Everyone had some connections in Konoha and knew a little about the Akatsuki.

The person most talked about here is not the leader of Akatsuki, but rather Obito Uchiha, whose unpredictable Space-Time Ninjutsu tricked countless people.

"Obito —seriously—how could this be!"

Kai also sighed, realizing that Obito and he used to be friends, but they never expected to meet again as mortal enemies.

"Remember this, this Akatsuki is no easy task. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Allied Forces have a numerical advantage, and..."

They are elite troops, but I estimate that even if we succeed in this encirclement, it will only be a Pyrrhic victory. I don't want to have to attend your funerals when I get back to the village."

Taiichi's words silenced everyone; they hadn't expected Taiichi to be so pessimistic about the upcoming siege.

This also served as a sudden wake-up call for them; it seemed that the upcoming battle would not be easy.

The team arrived at the assembly point in just over a day, and other teams from Konoha followed suit.

There were 100 people when we set out, and there are still 100 people now; at least the early stages of the mission went smoothly.

The next half day, Iwagakure arrived second, led by Kitsuchi.

But when Taiichi saw Kitsuchi, he noticed that the guy's complexion wasn't very good.

This wasn't the first time Taiichi and Kitsuchi had interacted, and given that it was currently a time of peace, their relationship was quite good.

"What's wrong with the Kitsuchi Jonin? Is he thinking about the Akatsuki's evil deeds again? Don't worry, they won't live much longer."

Taiichi feigned concern, but was actually trying to elicit information.

Kitsuchi didn't think much of it. Actually, he also wanted to find someone to talk to, preferably someone who wasn't one of his own from Iwagakure.

Then, Taiichi heard another version of the story about the source of intelligence on the Akatsuki Base.

It turns out that this information was obtained by Kitsuchi and a Grass Ninja together.

If we're talking about who made the biggest contribution, it has to be Kitsuchi. It was with Kitsuchi's help all the way that Grass Ninja was able to keep up until the end.

What's even more disgusting is that Kitsuchi sent the Grass Ninja back ahead of time to ensure his safety, but the Grass Village took advantage of this time difference to sell the information directly to the Five Great Ninja Villages.

When Kitsuchi returned and learned that his own intelligence ninja had spent 1 million ryo to buy the information he had originally obtained from Grass Village, he was completely devastated.

This is even more disgusting than eating feces.

Taiichi's lips twitched as he listened.

It can only be said that Grass Village acted in a very underhanded way, even managing to trick people into being taken Kitsuchi of.

Taiichi could imagine that Grass Village would not have an easy time for a while afterward. Ōnoki was not one to suffer a loss, especially since his son had been implicated in this mess.

Of course, this was just a minor incident, a way to lighten the mood before the battle.

The other ninja villages arrived just as quickly.

The day after Iwagakure arrived, Cloud Village ninjas also arrived, this time led by the Fourth Raikage himself.

One can imagine how much the Fourth Hokage A hated the Akatsuki organization, to the point that he even disregarded the village he was building.

On the morning of the third day, Sunagakure finally arrived in a hurry. They were led by Chiyo and Ebizo, old acquaintances of Taiichi.

With this, the forces of the four major ninja villages finally gathered, and the plan to encircle and annihilate the Akatsuki officially began.

Actually, there wasn't anything particularly complicated in their plan. They were currently in a favorable position where the enemy was in the dark and they were in the light, so of course they had to break through the enemy's defenses as quickly as possible and catch the Akatsuki off guard.

Therefore, the strongest group of people were selected.

Taiichi, the Fourth Raikage, Kitsuchi, Chiyo will lead five skilled fighters from each village as the spearhead, directly penetrating the heart of the Akatsuki.

The others followed closely behind, eliminating the remaining enemies.

The objective of this mission is to kill every single member of the Akatsuki, leaving no prisoners.

The operation began, and the four hundred-strong force formed a huge cone shape, rushing towards Xiao's base.

At the very front of the group, Kitsuchi Tu took the lead, simply because he was most familiar with the terrain.

The team advanced quickly, and in half a day they had reached the outermost edge of the base, where a series of warning Barriers began to appear.

Now, the benefits of advance reconnaissance became apparent; Kitsuchi led the group, weaving and twisting their way through the obstacles, managing to avoid those traps.

Within the perimeter's warning zone, the team charged straight into the inner perimeter with almost no slowing down.

"There are too many Barriers ahead, and traps everywhere; we can no longer hide."

Kitsuchi slowed down slightly and spoke to Taiichi.

The meaning is clear: it's time to officially get started.

Everyone's eyes were on Taiichi, including the Fourth Raikage A.

Taiichi was not to be outdone, and stepped forward directly, forming hand seals as he ran.

"Gentlemen, since we can no longer hide, then—the battle begins now!"

After saying that, Taiichi finished his hand seals.

Wind Style ·Super· Vacuum Great Sphere.

A colossal whirlwind formed in front of Taiichi, its massive size causing all the ninjas nearby to twitch at the corners of their eyes.

This hurricane was like a giant bulldozer, pushing straight towards the Akatsuki Base.

Everything that blocked the windball along the way, whether trees, boulders, or even traps, was reduced to dust.

It truly swept away everything in its path, obliterating all obstacles in its way.