What Was Coming Had Come...

Shikaku Nara said in a deep voice, "Oh? You know me? Then you must know the name of Konoha's Ino–Shika–Cho Formation!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Yamanaka Inoichi and Choza Akimichi landed beside Shikaku.

Choza narrowed his small eyes as he stared at the enemy wearing a Konoha forehead protector. "Hey... did we have a traitor in our own ranks?"

Shikaku analyzed carefully, "The possibility of a traitor appearing in Konoha is low. Yet I have never seen that face before. Either he deliberately wore a Konoha forehead protector while infiltrating to confuse us, or he belongs to ANBU or Root and has been controlled by the enemy's genjutsu."

"I have temporarily trapped him with the Shadow Binding Technique. Before his companions arrive to support him, let's take him down!"

"Easy enough!" Choza enlarged his arm, clenched his massive fist, and shouted, "Inoichi!"

"Yeah, leave it to me!" Inoichi formed his signature hand sign from afar. "No matter who you are, you can't possibly resist both the Shadow Binding Technique and the Mind Body Switch Technique!"

—Mind Body Switch Technique!

Their years of battlefield camaraderie came into play. The very next second, Choza charged forward like a tiger descending the mountain...!

Suddenly, Inoichi cried out, "What's going on? The Mind Body Switch... didn't work!?"

"What did you say!?" Even Shikaku was stunned. This had never happened before, never!

Inoichi asked in alarm, "What's going on? The Mind Body Switch Technique can be resisted by enemies with powerful mental strength, but it has never failed. Could it be that this guy... has no heart?"

Choza heard Inoichi's shout, but his momentum did not slow. "Even if the Mind Body Switch failed, Shikaku's Shadow Binding Technique is enough to restrain him!"

He leaped high into the air, his enlarged giant fist smashing toward the enemy ahead...!

"The Ino–Shika–Cho Formation truly is an impeccable combat style. Unfortunately, Pain's technique, and this body of mine, are practically your natural enemy!"

—Preta Path: Sealing Technique Absorption!

Whoosh! In an instant... the shadow binding his feet was absorbed!

Boom...!!! He sprang backward, narrowly avoiding Choza's crushing punch!!

"What...!?" Shikaku and Choza cried out at the same time.

As Choza stood frozen in shock, the Preta Path landed, bent its knees, and shot forward, thrusting its arm straight into Choza's large belly!

—Preta Path: Devouring!

Whoosh! In only a few seconds, that terrifying suction force turned Choza from a fat tiger into a scrawny dog!

Without the other Paths assisting me, I should thank my lucky stars that this worked. Better quit while I'm ahead. Once Shikaku catches on, he'll immediately think of a way to counter me...

Thud!!

With a powerful kick, he sent the now-skinny Choza flying, then threw a ninja smoke bomb and turned to sprint into a dark alley!!

"Damn bastard!!" Unwilling to accept it, Choza climbed to his feet and prepared to give chase.

"Choza... there's no need to chase him." Shikaku stopped him. "Based on the abilities he just displayed, if he were someone who liked to fight, I might have been able to respond in kind and counter him. But unfortunately, he is an exceedingly cautious opponent. We won't gain anything from pursuing him."

"Sigh, if even you say that, Shikaku, then we really are out of options." Choza said gravely, "He nullified your technique and drained, in an instant, all the calories I had stored to enlarge my body. If that was some chakra-absorbing technique, then its absorption power is far too terrifying!"

"Perhaps." But Shikaku saw a deeper problem. "More troublesome than that is the fact that the Mind Body Switch had no effect on him. Inoichi, you said just now... that he had no 'heart,' right?"

Inoichi had yet to recover from the shock of his signature technique failing. Cold sweat covered his face as he replied, "Right... for the Mind Body Switch to be ineffective, that is the only way I can interpret it."

Shikaku's gaze turned profound. "Inoichi, think about it. What would having no heart mean?"

"This..." After considering it carefully, Inoichi could not help drawing a sharp breath. "A puppet?"

"Yeah, probably." Shikaku did not say that another two-word term, even more terrifying and cold than "puppet," had surfaced in his mind...

Choza immediately flew into a rage. "Damn it! If it's a puppet, are the invaders from Sunagakure!? What two-faced bastards! During the day, they sent representatives and reached a consensus of peace with the Fourth, then they launched a surprise attack at night! Damn it, damn it all!!"

Shikaku said, "It is too early to draw conclusions. Inoichi, first relay that man's abilities, along with the possibility that the enemy is a puppeteer, to the Third and Fourth!"

"Understood!" Inoichi did not dare delay and immediately used the Mind Transmission Technique.

Whoosh!

In Konoha's central district.

Minato had just evacuated the civilians from the attacked southern streets and met up with Hiruzen here when they both received Inoichi's message!

"What... something like this actually happened?"

After hearing the report, Hiruzen's expression immediately grew solemn.

"If Hidden Sand Village truly planned this invasion, then, Minato, we must carefully consider how to deal with the enemy. This may very well involve diplomatic relations between two ninja villages and two nations!"

After saying that, he looked sternly at Minato and waited for his response. Minato was now Konoha's Hokage and the final decision-maker!

"Third..." Minato found himself in a difficult position as well. "I... would like to reserve judgment until this crisis has been resolved before making a decision."

Hiruzen said sternly, "We must capture them alive. Under no circumstances are they to be killed. The Third Shinobi World War has only just ended. Although the Fire Country and Konoha emerged victorious, we paid an extremely heavy price. At a time like this, we must avoid every spark that could ignite war..."

"Besides, Konoha has not suffered any actual casualties so far!"

"Lord Third! Lord Fourth!"

At that moment, a Chunin hurried over and reported, "The warehouse where we keep the Scroll of Seals has been infiltrated!!!"

"What!?"

Amid his tension, Hiruzen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "So Hidden Sand Village's objective is merely Konoha's 'forbidden techniques'?"

Minato raised his cloak. "Let me go, Third. It'll be faster this way!"

Hiruzen instructed, "Yes, I'm counting on you. Remember... make sure to leave them alive!"

"I'll do my best!"

As soon as the words fell, Minato vanished from the spot.

As the Hokage protecting Konoha, Minato had left Flying Thunder God Kunai at nearly every strategic location in Konoha. They served as markers, ensuring that he could arrive at any critical location at any time.

There were three areas in Konoha he could not enter: Root's headquarters, the Hyuga Clan compound, and... the Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha compound!

Behind the warehouse holding the Scroll of Seals... Minato emerged from a Flying Thunder God Kunai hidden in the shadow of a tree.

Rain poured down in torrents. He rose... and looked at the man emerging from the warehouse with the Scroll of Seals on his back.

"Stop."

Tap. The man halted and turned his eyes... toward the newcomer.

On a mountain outside Konoha, Nagato's lips curved into a clear smile. "What was coming had come..."