Elsewhere in Konoha, a fierce battle was raging.
Hordes of White Zetsu Soldiers swarmed through the village like a plague of locusts. They destroyed indiscriminately and killed everyone they saw, sparing nothing in their path that could be smashed or slaughtered.
The defenders Konoha had hastily assembled were fighting desperately to hold them back.
With a kunai in his lone hand, Jiraiya struggled against Sasori of the Red Sands and his puppet tactics.
Every puppet was covered in poison, leaving him constantly on the defensive.
Uchiha Itachi had already left the scene. He was moving swiftly through Konoha, searching for the Masked Man.
The surprise attack on Konoha had caught him off guard. Even when the operation began, he had made no preparations, and he could think of no good way to stop the Masked Man.
Right now, all he wanted was to find the Masked Man and keep a close eye on him!
Unfortunately, the Masked Man could use Space-Time Ninjutsu, making him incredibly difficult to track.
Just then, a figure suddenly entered Itachi's field of vision and was about to pass him.
"Sora!" Itachi called out.
It was Uchiha Sora's Wood Release clone, on his way to reinforce Jiraiya.
Uchiha Sora stopped and looked at Uchiha Itachi. "Oh, it's you, Itachi! It's been a while!"
The two had known each other since childhood, and Uchiha Sora had met Shisui through Itachi. Later, however, they had chosen different paths and gone their separate ways.
Now that they had met again, neither knew what to say.
Still, Itachi knew that Uchiha Sora had grown powerful enough to inspire even a measure of awe in him. Seeing Sora in Konoha, he could not tell whether he was friend or foe, so he asked, "Sora, what brings you to Konoha?"
Uchiha Sora