If it could make two great Ninja Villages excited, let alone smaller ones like them.
Naturally, some small Villages unafraid of death sent out Ninja to secretly follow behind the Ninja forces of the two great Ninja Villages.
Unfortunately, the forces of the two great Ninja Villages restrained each other and dared not act, but they showed no mercy to these small Villages.
Any Ninja from small Ninja Villages who followed behind them were all obliterated!
Although the Ninja sent by each small Ninja Village were mostly eliminated, these small Ninja Villages did gain some useful intelligence: the direction both forces were heading seemed to be towards the Land of Fire.
The Sand Ninja Village and the Mist Ninja Village jointly attacked Konoha. Because it happened so quickly, many Ninja Villages didn't react in time.
To be precise, even Konoha itself was somewhat stunned by the sudden attack from the Sand Ninja and Kirigakure.
Besides Orochimaru, the Sand Ninja Village itself also didn't know that the Mist Ninja Village would also make a move on Konoha.
One could only say that the Mist Ninja Village's sudden move caught everyone off guard. Even if they reacted, they had to make corresponding choices.
If Kirigakure hadn't attacked, the Sand Ninja Village, facing Konoha's formidable strength, would likely have surrendered long ago, instead of stubbornly holding on as they are now.
At this moment, rumbling sounds occasionally came from Konoha's direction, coupled with the unconcealed movements of the Ninja forces from the two great Ninja Villages, the Cloud Ninja Village and the Hidden Stone Village.
Now, even the slowest-witted person knew that something big was about to happen!
Rain Ninja Village!
In an extremely hidden and dark mountain cave.
Pain stood atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, expressionlessly looking down.
Not long after, ethereal images suddenly appeared at the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Pain turned his head, his gaze falling upon two empty spots. Those two spots belonged to Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.
They didn't come?
Pain turned his head back again, expressionlessly looking down once more.
"Didn't we just gather not long ago? Is something else happening?"
Sasori's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction. At this moment, he was in his own territory, working on puppets, and it was a crucial time.
Pain's sudden summons naturally made him somewhat displeased.
"Hey!! I'm currently looking for prey for Lord Evil God!"
Hidan spoke loudly, his voice filled with an annoyed tone.
"There is something important I need to inform everyone about."
Pain paid no mind to everyone's expressions, his tone still cold as he spoke. After speaking, he turned his head to look at a certain position beside him.
Seeing Pain's action, everyone's gaze also turned over. They saw White Zetsu, with his peculiar appearance and black-and-white face, slowly rising from the ground.
"Oh dear, it's been a while."
White Zetsu spoke in a lively tone. As for Black Zetsu beside him, he kept his mouth shut, showing no intention of speaking at all.
"Spit it out!"
Deidara's mouth twitched violently. One was Hidan, the other was White Zetsu. Facing these two chatterboxes, Deidara always felt an urge to blow them both up.
It wasn't just Deidara; the others also looked at White Zetsu with subtle threats in their eyes. Clearly, no one wanted to listen to White Zetsu's nonsense.
Feeling the threatening gazes from everyone around, White Zetsu couldn't help but quietly grumble, then honestly relayed the information.
"What? Kirigakure and the Sand Ninja have jointly attacked Konoha!"
Hidan revealed a look of surprise and couldn't help but speak loudly.
"Not only that, but now even the Cloud Shinobi and the Rock Shinobi are on their way to attack Konoha."
White Zetsu spread his hands and continued speaking.
"Even the Cloud Shinobi and the Rock Shinobi are involved, how interesting!"
Kakuzu spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.
"In other words, a war might break out ahead of schedule. Is there any more specific information?" Sasori pondered for a moment and spoke indifferently.
"No, there are a lot of sensory Ninja around Konoha's battlefield and on the outskirts of the Cloud Shinobi and Rock Shinobi forces. If I got too close, I'd probably be discovered."
"More importantly, all four Villages have Tailed Beast Chakra fluctuations; they've clearly deployed Jinchuriki. I didn't dare get too close." White Zetsu said helplessly.
"Heh heh! This makes things interesting. Should we start our plan early?"
"Since the Cloud Ninja Village and the Hidden Stone Village have both dispatched large numbers of Ninja forces, this is a great opportunity for us." Kakuzu's face showed a bright smile.
"Oh right, why haven't those two guys, Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki, shown up? I remember they went to Konoha, didn't they?"
Hidan looked curiously in the direction of Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.
"They must have run into some trouble."
Pain's voice rang out, causing everyone present to fall slightly silent.
"Since the information has been relayed to everyone, the discussion on this matter ends here. Meeting adjourned!"
Pain's cold voice came again.
"We're not doing anything? This matter is beneficial to us." Kakuzu's face showed a look of doubt, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Before everything settles, observe the situation."
As this voice reached everyone's ears, Pain's figure had already disappeared.
Seeing that Pain had left, the images of the others also disappeared one after another. Only Zetsu remained.
"A sudden outbreak of war, without any warning, huh? What do you think?"
White Zetsu let out a murmur, then spoke to Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu couldn't be bothered to respond to White Zetsu, seemingly lost in thought.
Seeing that Black Zetsu didn't reply, White Zetsu wore an expression as if he expected it, and continued to mutter to himself, "I should tell Obito... Tobi about this. I wonder if he'll be happy."
After speaking, Zetsu's figure quickly sank into the ground and disappeared.
Not long after Zetsu left, a paper slip streaked through the air and quickly disappeared.
...
Konoha Battlefield.
Facing the full force of Konoha's attack, the Sand Ninja Village, without large numbers of troops for support, couldn't resist at all and could only continuously retreat towards the Konoha Great Gate.
The only thing that relieved Maki and the others was that Kirigakure's forces had no intention of flanking them, allowing them to retreat out of the Konoha Great Gate.
After retreating to the Konoha Great Gate, when Maki saw Isobu lying not far from the Konoha Great Gate, a look of shock couldn't help but appear on his face.
That was absolutely not some Jinchuriki, but a real Tailed Beast. That the people of the Mist Ninja Village could make a Tailed Beast completely obey them was simply unbelievable.
When did the Mist Ninja Village acquire such a method?
Among the Five Great Shinobi Countries, everyone thought the Mist Ninja Village and the Sand Ninja Village were the two weakest Ninja Villages, but now, in Maki's view, the Mist Ninja Village's strength was not weak at all.