Iwagakure.
Dawn had barely tinged the sky when a Rock Ninja, battered by the cold wind, glanced back at the shinobi village behind him and forced himself to perk up.
Although the Third Tsuchikage had declared a wartime state of emergency, he was only a chunin and had not taken it to heart. He stayed here simply because it was his duty as a sentry.
He did not believe any enemy could invade the village. Even during the previous Three Shinobi World Wars, no enemy had ever threatened Iwagakure, nestled deep in their territory.
He gave a bored yawn and looked toward the distant sky, where a black speck had appeared on the horizon.
Raising his telescope for a look, the Rock Ninja instantly shook off his lethargy and pulled the alarm beside him.
Alarm bells rang out, shattering Iwagakure's tranquility.
Two dark figures appeared not far from the Iwagakure chunin, watched him silently, then slipped into the shinobi village.
They were none other than Obito and Zetsu, both highly skilled at infiltration, and they were searching for the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
They had not spared the chunin out of mercy. There were simply too many sentry posts in Iwagakure.
To prevent an Akatsuki attack, Ōnoki had mobilized a vast number of ninja in a short time-enough to spark a shinobi war.
Before long, the shrill alarms reached the Tsuchikage's office, where Iwagakure's elite forces had already gathered to await Ōnoki's orders.
After surveying the jonin around him, Ōnoki frowned and asked, "Can we confirm that the intruders are Akatsuki members?"
Kitsuchi nodded. "No one in the shinobi world has a flying summoning beast like that except Hiruko of the Akatsuki."
"They actually flew here to Iwagakure. It looks like all our hastily built ground defenses are useless."
Ōnoki's expression darkened.