Madara Uchiha stood quietly in the center of Konoha after killing ten invading ninja from Sunagakure. Beside him, several elite ninja of the Yamanaka Clan and Inoichi Yamanaka surrounded him.
Madara had left Flying Thunder God marks throughout Konoha. With the Yamanaka Clan's formation supporting him, his sensory range had expanded to cover the entire village, leaving none of the invading ninja anywhere to hide.
As Madara killed ten Sand Ninja, the number of invaders within Inoichi Yamanaka's perception also dropped by ten.
Inoichi looked at Madara's youthful back. At that moment, he was profoundly grateful that the Yamanaka Clan had not tied its fate irrevocably to Danzo. Even with two villages attacking Konoha together, the mere thought that Madara Uchiha was on their side filled Inoichi Yamanaka with confidence in Konoha's victory.
"Sasuke, Naruto, go after Gaara. Remember, force him out of Konoha's central district before you fight him."
Inside Konoha's Arena, Hayato Hyuga intercepted the shuriken Baki had thrown at Gekko Hayate with an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. He immediately followed up with Rotation, driving Baki back, while ordering Naruto and Sasuke to pursue the enemy.
"This is an A-rank mission. Do well, and you might just get promoted straight to chunin."
After driving Baki back, Hayato caught Gekko Hayate before he could collapse. He even had the leisure to joke with Sasuke and Naruto.
"Don't worry, Hayato. We won't let you down."
Hearing that, Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a smile, then set off together after Kankuro and the others.
"Hayato, thank you. Be careful. This guy is strong!"
Coughing, Gekko Hayate struggled to stand. He had come within a hair's breadth of being killed by Baki. Seeing Hayato, who was younger than him, step into the fight, he could not help worrying despite knowing how strong