At this moment, within Konoha Village...
Chaos reigned. The village burned as war erupted.
The majority of the remaining members from both the Hyūga Main House and Branch House had already been evacuated to shelters.
Only a small number of ninja capable of combat remained inside the village.
They worked together with other Konoha ninja to resist the invasion.
Of course, to prevent another defection from the Branch House ninja,
Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Main House family, intentionally divided the remaining Branch House ninja into three groups.
One group was mixed in with Konoha's close-quarters combat units.
Another group collaborated with Anbu ninja in battle.
The last remaining group stayed by his own side.
This arrangement aimed to prevent any further rebellion from the Branch House ninja.
Right now, Hiashi Hyuga himself was personally stationed at the Main House estate along with ten Branch House ninja,
defending against enemy summoning beasts rampaging through the compound, ensuring the Main House estate remained unharmed.
Although most of the Main House's treasures had already been stolen by thieves,
the ancestral shrine and large sections of housing were still important.
The Branch House's defection had already brought great shame to the Hyūga Clan.
If even the Main House estate was destroyed this time,
then the Hyūga Clan truly would lose all face...
Moreover, with Hiashi plus ten skilled Branch House ninja, they should have formed quite a formidable force.
Unfortunately...
Hiashi miscalculated.
Less than ten minutes after the battle began,
all the ninja stationed within the Hyūga Main House estate had fallen — not a single one survived...
Now Orochimaru slithered through pools of blood,
arriving beside Hiashi Hyuga's corpse. He carefully extracted the eyes.
"What beautiful, seductive eyes!"
Orochimaru gazed at the Byakugan in his hands with visible admiration.
Hiashi Hyuga and the surrounding Branch House ninja had clearly met their end.
How could such a small number possibly stand against Orochimaru?
In fact,
this attack on Konoha—
each Akatsuki member had their own motive.
Orochimaru was no exception.
A few days ago, he had already received a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan eyes as payment from Shimoku.
Now he only needed a pair of Byakugan.
Unfortunately, nearly half of the Branch House ninja had already joined Homuragakure.
Orochimaru didn't want to provoke conflict with that little perverted brat Shimoku over just a pair of Byakugan.
Therefore, his target naturally turned to the Hyūga Main House instead.
And with this invasion serving as cover, of course he'd love to pay the Hyūga Main House a visit.
While grabbing a pair of long-coveted Byakugan at the same time.
'Besides, all these crimes will be blamed on Akatsuki anyway. What does it matter to me, Orochimaru?'
'Indeed, that little brat Shimoku made a good suggestion — better let Akatsuki take the fall for this one!'
After storing away the Byakugan, Orochimaru glanced back at the scattered corpses, murmuring with satisfaction.
Then, he leapt upward,
quickly departing from the Hyūga Main House estate.
"Hmm? Is that...Shimoku's clone using Susano'o?"
"There's still someone in the village able to go toe-to-toe with that kind of Susano'o clone?"
"He really did underestimate the village!"
As Might Guy engaged in a terrifying battle, Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Judging from the scale of combat, that "Fourth Form" clone [Susanoo] was already quite formidable.
Even fighting just one would be difficult for him.
Yet someone could actually face off against three [Susanoo]?
'It seems if Konoha doesn't fall today, I'll have to completely revise my Konoha Destruction Plan for the future!'
Orochimaru secretly felt apprehensive.
Of course, just to play it safe,
he had no intention of getting personally involved in that battle.
Given how intense that battlefield was,
even an incidental strike could destroy this current body of his.
Although he'd already obtained numerous White Zetsu bodies as spare vessels for transmigration,
there was no need to waste them carelessly either.
...
"That's the Hokage Tower?"
"That's...a barrier? Trapping Pain and them inside?"
"Using the [Hokage Tower] itself as a trap..."
"The old man still has some tricks up his sleeve after all!"
Orochimaru sighed again.
In his opinion, compared with that shrewd old Third-generation Kage,
Pain, the leader of Akatsuki, was still too inexperienced.
Falling into a trap like this was quite normal.
However, these minor tricks could only slightly affect the outcome of battle.
Given Akatsuki's overwhelming overall strength,
winning couldn't rely solely on such small schemes.
Those two barriers probably couldn't hold Pain for long!
Old man, got any more hidden moves left?
Show me everything you've got!
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, brimming with excitement as he anticipated what would come next.
He hadn't felt so thrilled in a long time...
At the same time, right now,
"Crack! Crack!" — two sounds.
Far away at the [Hokage Tower],
the two-layered barrier suddenly shattered.
It seemed as if someone had broken through it from outside...
With the barrier destroyed,
the five Deva Paths trapped inside immediately broke free.
Upon escaping,
the original five Deva Paths plus the newly arrived [Asura Path]—six in total—
without hesitation, immediately rushed toward another direction.
Seeing this, Orochimaru contemplated thoughtfully.
"They've all gone over?"
"That battlefield must be the most crucial one!"
"Is that where Sarutobi old man is? Or perhaps some even more important target?"
"For instance, the Nine-Tails?"
"Fascinating, fascinating! Then I should go check it out too."
Orochimaru licked his lips, excitedly speculating.
Without hesitation,
he immediately followed them toward where Jiraiya was.
...
"Konan, stop this!"
"I don't wish to harm you!"
"Back then among those children, you were the kindest and gentlest one!"
"Why choose to invade Konoha?"
"If you have any difficulties or unspoken problems, feel free to talk to me—your teacher!"
Right now, Jiraiya was defending himself while trying to dissuade Konan.
With his strength, even without using the Toad Oil Bullet technique, defeating Konan quickly wouldn't be difficult.
Still, it might end up hurting the other side badly.
He truly couldn't bring himself to strike hard against his former favorite disciple!
Furthermore, he wanted to gain more information about Akatsuki through conversation.
For instance, what exactly was going on with those Rinnegan eyes?...
"Jiraiya-sensei, you're still just as weak as ever."
"Enough talk."
"You've already lost..."
Konan shot back icily.
"What are you talking about? Where have I lost?"
"If you don't stop now, don't blame me for being merciless!"
"With just you alone, you're no match for me, teacher!"
Jiraiya roared, clearly at the end of his patience.
However, just at this moment,
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—"
A series of sharp whistles cut through the air.
Figures landed on surrounding rooftops, encircling Jiraiya in a circular formation.
[Deva Path], [Asura Path], [Human Path], [Animal Path], [Preta Path], [Naraka Path].
The Six Paths of Pain regrouped and closed in on Jiraiya as one!
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