At the summit of a mountain, amid the torrential rain, Nagato opened his eyes and said to Konan beside him, "I have roughly grasped the situation within Konoha. However, an uninvited guest has also entered my rain."
In the cold rain, Konan's expression grew grave. "Madara... should we postpone the operation?"
After lowering his head in thought for a long while, Nagato made his decision. "No. This rain is a rare opportunity. It allows us to clearly sense the movements of Konoha's ninja from outside. We cannot let this chance slip away!"
Outside Konoha, the Six Paths of Pain, led by the Deva Path, had gathered here. Beyond the towering walls standing in the rain, they could clearly see... the sensory barrier shrouding all of Konoha.
"When foreign enemies invade, this barrier can automatically identify their locations and numbers."
"Let's use Nagato's strategy from back then."
The Third Kazekage's Asura Path lifted Pain Rin's small body with its arms, flames of propulsion erupting from them!
Boom!!!
Like a human cannonball, Pain Rin was hurled a hundred meters into the air. The instant she passed through the barrier, ripples spread across it!
Almost at the same moment, Konoha's barrier team detected her intrusion!
"Four o'clock direction! One intruder!!!"
"Whoosh!"
Pain Rin performed several backflips in succession. After landing lightly, she formed hand seals with her small hands and struck the ground!
"Summoning Technique!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five figures descended amid clouds of smoke. The Deva Path's gaze was cold. "Our destination is the Uchiha clan compound. To conceal our true objective, split up and create disturbances. If necessary... you may kill!"
"Scatter!"
The five black shadows scattered in every direction!
Pain Rin slowly rose. Through the rain, Nagato had already sensed a large number of Konoha ninja gathering toward this location.
"As expected of Konoha. Their response is so swift."
Behind the cat-faced mask, her Rinnegan gleamed with cunning.
"Hehe~, let's play hide-and-seek with them."
Without hastily summoning anything to fight, she ran alone into a dark alley.
Not long after, the first group of ninja arrived.
"This is where the intruder was reported to have appeared!"
"Damn it, where did they go?"
"None of us are sensory types."
"No, isn't there one among us?"
Under everyone's gaze, the silver-haired youth crouched down. His keen nose beneath his mask sniffed the air, and he turned his gaze toward the entrance of an alley. "The scent indicates that the intruder went into that alley."
"Oh? Then let's go after them!"
"Wait." The silver-haired youth slowly rose to his feet and said in a low voice, "There isn't just one scent, and they went in different directions."
"What!? You mean there was more than one intruder, Kakashi?"
"That can't be possible, can it? Even if they could hide their chakra, they couldn't have evaded detection at the instant they crossed the barrier!"
Kakashi hesitated in place for a moment. "I cannot be completely certain either. The rain interferes with my sense of smell to some extent. To be safe, we should not concentrate a large force in one place, lest we fall for the enemy's diversion."
"You search in other directions and report the possibility of multiple intruders to the higher-ups. As for the intruder from earlier, I can handle that alone."
"Understood!!" Having received Kakashi's instructions, everyone sprang into action.
Kakashi rose and stared at the dark alley entrance, his gaze shadowed. "For some reason, that scent from earlier felt vaguely familiar..."
"Kakashi!"
At that moment, a man clad in a green bodysuit paired with a ninja uniform, his hair gleaming even in the rain, landed beside him. "I'll go after them with you!"
Kakashi frowned. "Guy, weren't you about to head out on a mission? The intruder is none of your concern."
"That is true in principle." Might Guy smiled. "But I cannot rest easy letting my dear friend act alone. You were depressed for quite some time after what happened half a year ago."
Kakashi hid his face beneath a gloomy shadow. "It's fine. I am a ninja, after all. Go carry out your mission. An S-rank mission is—"
"Stop yammering!" Before he could finish, Guy had already shoved him forward.
"Quit being so indecisive. If you do not want me punished, then hurry and help me subdue the intruder! If it were you in my place, you would do the same, right? Because your other dear friend has already changed you."
In the rain... Kakashi began to run. Guy, running beside him, let his heart—which had already grown cold—feel the faintest trace of warmth for the first time in a long while.
"Perhaps..."
"Hokage-sama, Kakashi has provided new intelligence. There may be multiple intruders!"
Yamanaka Inoichi urgently contacted Minato Namikaze, who was at home, through the Mind Transmission Technique.
"Good work. I understand."
Minato Namikaze put on the Fourth Hokage's cloak and walked into the living room.
"Hokage-sama..."
On the sofa, Iruka's face was tense. Still a student at the Ninja Academy and not even a Genin, he simply could not believe what was happening before his eyes.
Could it really happen? Could the village really be invaded?
Minato hurriedly said, "Iruka, I know everything about Mizuki. Once I settle the trouble in the village, I will immediately form a search party!"
Iruka stood up and timidly asked, "Is there... anything I can help with?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he clenched his hands in regret and lowered his head.
I am overestimating myself. I am not even a ninja yet. Facing intruders who require Hokage-sama himself to act, wasn't saying something like that just asking for humiliation?
Just as he waited for the rejection that should naturally follow, a hand rested atop his head.
"Huh?" Iruka raised his head. Before him was Minato's warm smile.
Minato smiled. "Your task is to stay here and look after my wife and the little baby in her belly. Understood?"
At that moment, Kushina stood at the doorway holding a plate of fruit, smiling as well. "I'll be counting on you, little guardian of Konoha."
A smile blossomed across Iruka's face. "Yes!"
"Then I'm off."
Minato vanished in a flash...
"Hm?" As Pain Rin moved through the streets, she received Nagato's perception through the rain and noticed two people approaching her.
"They are tracking me precisely this way? Both of their chakra are quite strong. I may have trouble dealing with them alone. I should have the Asura Path provide a little support here..."
"Whoosh!"
But at that moment... a vortex that appeared out of thin air in the space before her made Pain Rin abruptly halt.
Uchiha Obito had appeared before her just like that!
From the black hole in the white vortex mask, that Sharingan coldly watched Pain Rin's exposed Rinnegan through her cat-faced mask.
A faint voice rang out. "Rinnegan... you are Nagato, aren't you? What exactly do you intend by breaking into Konoha in this manner?"
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