"Bad news! Two mysterious figures in black cloaks with red clouds have appeared on the village outskirts! They... they wiped out the guard squad in an instant, and they're closing in on the village center!"
The blood-soaked Anbu ninja collapsed to his knees at the entrance to the ruined command room, undisguised despair in his voice. After Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan, the entire village's defenses were riddled with holes, and all the jonin and ANBU were exhausted. Now unidentified, powerful enemies had invaded as well. It was one disaster on top of another.
Hearing the news, Danzo, slumped on the floor, showed a flash of astonishment in his lone eye, but deep fear quickly replaced it. His mind was filled with the black phantom that had just been stripped out of him; he had no attention to spare for invading enemies. The two advisers, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, exchanged looks, their faces deathly pale.
"Immediately... notify Jiraiya immediately! And Kakashi and the others! Pull back our defensive lines!" Mitokado Homura forcibly suppressed the trembling in his heart and shouted his orders.
Shengu Xuan, who had just walked out of the command room, merely picked at his ear in boredom when he heard the shrill alarm.
"Black cloaks with red clouds? Akatsuki came to join the fun this soon?" A cold, amused smile curled Shengu Xuan's lips. Of course he knew who had come: Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki, two S-rank rogue ninja infamous throughout the Shinobi World. But what did that have to do with him? Right now, he only wanted to find a barbecue restaurant that hadn't been smashed to pieces and fill his stomach.
With his hands in his pockets, Shengu Xuan followed the dim underground passage toward the surface. Just as he emerged, he ran into