A steady drizzle fell from the sky, and a stifling atmosphere hung over everything. Gazing at the battered ground, Pain sank into thought, as though mentally preparing himself.
In the end, he made his decision: set out for Konoha and capture the Nine-Tails.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, Jiraiya had already told Tsunade everything he had discovered during his last battle with Pain.
She quickly passed the combat intel down the ranks. After all, knowing yourself and your enemy meant never losing a battle.
At the Land of Fire's border, the Six Paths of Pain and Konan-oh, and Nagato too-prepared to head somewhere neither too close to nor too far from Konoha.
To better control the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato and Konan moved to a location not far from Konoha.
The most dangerous place was the safest place.
The Six Paths of Pain would be the main participants in this operation.
Meanwhile, Tsunade had already made all the arrangements in Konoha.
The ANBU had evacuated the civilians to safety.
Only ninja remained outside. What the people of Konoha didn't know was that the Animal Path had already sneaked in.
At that moment, Meihui was still waiting for Pain at Konoha's main gate.
Looking at Meihui and the banner he had hung up, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki felt their mouths twitch. The enemy was coming to attack his home, and he had actually put up a banner? What was this, a welcoming party?
The banner even read, "Konoha welcomes you."
What Meihui didn't know was that someone had already slipped inside.
"Huh? Where's Pain? Why isn't he here yet?" Meihui was still puzzling over it when a loud boom rang out from inside the village.
Oh, crap. Someone slipped past me and hit our base, Meihui thought.
He immediately ran toward