Prelude to Battle

On the evening of the next day, a group of twelve people in black cloaks with red clouds could be seen standing right in front of Konoha's detection barrier.

In front of that group stood the Yahiko-looking corpse-puppet with a severe expression.

"I will go in first to cause as much chaos as possible to disturb Konoha's troop deployment. Zetsu and Obito will be responsible for finding Naruto and for distributing information. The rest of you will deploy five minutes after I went in and help with searching and subduing Naruto."

Without waiting for any feedback, Asura Path Pain, who was capable of producing all kinds of weapons from his body, picked up Animal Path Pain, who was capable of summoning all sorts of different beings, including the other Pain's.

Asura Path Pain reeled back his arms, and moments later, Animal Path Pain was thrown in a high arc towards the center of Konoha. As soon as he landed, the other five Pains were summoned next to him and immediately spread out throughout Konoha.

As soon as Animal Path Pain breached Konoha's barrier, alarms went off all over Konoha, as its shinobi immediately started mobilizing. Since the people in high positions were already informed that this would happen, countermeasures were instantly initiated.

On top of the Hokage office, Tsunade was surrounded by multiple ANBU in a defensive formation, which was surrounded by another layer of red-headed shinobi who sat in a complex sealing formation around Tsunade, resulting in a red barrier surrounding all of them.

The moment Tsunade got the notice that someone had breached Konoha's detection barrier, she slammed her hand on the ground, forming a complex pattern.

"[Kuchiyose no Jutsu]"

A gigantic slug appeared and immediately started splitting into thousands of smaller slugs, which started spreading all over Konoha. Simultaneously, a complex pattern started spreading from the small symbol on Tsunade's forehead and covered her whole body in black markings, significantly increasing the amount of chakra she could use.

The small slugs, Katsuyu's split-bodies, will attach themselves to the people of Konoha, allowing Tsunade to heal them remotely. Naturally, the formation around her was created to protect her while she was on healing duty.

Meanwhile, every single shinobi inside Konoha under the rank of Elite-Jonin had only one job: Evacuating every single civilian as soon as possible. In front of a bunch of S-Rank shinobi, everything under the strength of Jonin might as well be considered cannon fodder, so evacuating people was all they were supposed to do.

Meanwhile, the Uzumaki clan went on high alert as the Uzumaki clan compound was turned into an almost impenetrable fortress. Even without listening in on Akatsuki's meeting, there was no doubt who Pain's target would be, so securing the compound had a high priority.

Naturally, Naruto, Nagato's primary target, wouldn't bunker down in the Uzumaki compound even if that might be the best solution to avoid any dangerous situations.

He might not have the same naïve mindset as his canon counterpart, but he put considerable effort into becoming stronger and would not hide himself behind a barrier if push came to shove.

So, Yuna, Hinata, Anko, Karin, Naruto, Ino, and Haku left the Uzumaki compound as soon as they noticed the invaders and prepared themselves for combat.

A wide smile appeared on Yuna's face as she stepped out of the Uzumaki compound with measured steps, closely followed by the rest of her group.

"Well, is everyone ready for combat?"

"Of course, Yuna. Let's make this quick."

"Hehe, I wonder which one I will meet. I can't wait~ Let's have some fun, Akane~"

"Hiss~"

"Guhehehe, can I claim a reward after defeating one of them, Yuna-sama?"

Yuna chuckled in amusement when she heard the words of her harem. Hinata, with her ridiculous stealth, would obviously aim for a quick fight when it was an actual combat situation instead of a sparring match, while Anko has always been someone who sought after her own enjoyment. Karin, on the other hand... Well, it was no secret that she was a hopeless case, so Yuna shrugged her shoulders to acknowledge her request.

"Let's do this, nee-san. But please give me that Obito guy. I'm still not done with him."

"Let's do this, Haku. We went through a lot of training, and now it's time to prove ourselves against a powerful opponent."

"Indeed, it's finally our time to fight side by side with Naruto. Let's do our best, Ino!"

Naturally, Naruto still wasn't done with Obito, who was responsible for the death of Minato and Kushina. Although Yuna had told him the whole story by now and explained who was currently manipulating who, Naruto's current enemy number one was still Obito.

He might not be as obsessed with his revenge as Sasuke, which probably is impossible from the start, but that wouldn't mean he would forgive Obito for what he did.

On the other hand, Ino and Haku could finally show how strong they have gotten and finally had a chance to prove that they were capable of fighting side by side with Naruto. That was a dream both of them had since they saw Hinata fight side by side with Naruto during the chunin exam three years ago.

Yuna saw the determination burning in everyone's eyes and nodded in approval. She straightened her back as an overbearing aura started flooding out of her, washing over her group.

"Very well. All of you have been trained to varying degrees by me, but I'm confident that all of you not only have what it takes to survive but that all of you have the skills necessary to win."

Yuna's battle intent burst forth, flooding the whole village, as her face twisted in glee.

"Go forth! Reveal your strength to the world! FIGHT AND WIN!!! HAHAHA, SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!!!"

The faces of the people surrounding Yuna stiffened for a moment when Yuna allowed her battle intent to slip into insanity at the end but decided to just ignore the last part.

""""""YES!!!""""""

The battle against Akatsuki has begun.