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The List of The "ANBU" Member:
-ar4ngel
-Cain
-Ryan biggins
-Kreios
-Sabo
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Konan's eyes were dazed as she fell into a genjutsu, while Kiba scrambled back to Akamaru's side.
"Akamaru, how are you?"
Ignoring his own bloodied condition, he checked Akamaru's wounds.
"Secret Technique, Insect Jade."
A swarm of insects surged endlessly from Shino's sleeves, spreading out widely like a dark cloud covering the sky, enveloping Konan, who was hovering in mid-air.
"Got you."
Shino extended his hands, forming claws.
The swarm of insects surrounding Konan tightened and then exploded, revealing a flurry of falling paper pieces.
"Shino, be careful!!" Hinata's startled cry suddenly rang out.
White paper pieces gathered behind Shino, and Konan abruptly appeared, holding a paper spear that pierced through Shino's chest.
"Shino!!"
Hinata cried out again, rushing forward.
"Gentle Fist Technique, Sixty-Four Palms of the Eight Trigrams!"
A large Eight Trigrams diagram appeared beneath Hinata's feet. She raised both hands, her fingers pointing like lightning at Konan's body.
"Two Palms, Four Palms, Eight Palms, Sixteen Palms..."
Hinata's fingers continuously struck Konan's body, but Konan remained expressionless, her body once again dispersing into countless paper pieces.
At the same time, Shino's body, which had been pierced by the paper spear, gradually melted, turning into a pile of gathered insects.
It was an insect clone!
"Great, Shino!!"
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, her Byakugan catching sight of Shino emerging from behind a tree on the other side.
"Watch out, above!"
Following Hinata's warning, Konan flapped her wings and abruptly appeared above the four Konoha ninjas. Sharp paper pieces continuously detached from her wings, shooting towards them.
Kurenai swung her kunai to block the paper pieces, shouting, "Spread out!!"
"Leave it to me, Kurenai-sensei."
Hinata dashed forward, her hands spread wide.
"Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Her hands became a blur, firing needle-like chakra from her palms, slicing through all the paper pieces approaching them.
"As a teacher, standing behind your students in battle is quite irresponsible."
Kurenai quickly formed hand seals.
"Genjutsu, Triple Sakura."
Her body suddenly dispersed into scattered cherry blossoms, disrupting Konan's vision.
"A genjutsu of this level..." Konan suddenly erupted with powerful chakra, "Release!"
The wings behind her wrapped around her body, blocking the kunai that suddenly appeared in Kurenai's hand.
The moment Kurenai made contact with Konan's wings, the paper pieces on the wings came to life, continuously attaching themselves to her body starting from her hands.
"The gap is too wide!"
Kurenai genuinely felt a sense of helplessness, only managing to shout to her students, "Run!!"
One after another, paper pieces covered her face.
Kurenai's body, completely wrapped in paper, fell from the sky. Konan, holding a paper spear, turned and thrust it down.
"Kurenai-sensei!!!"
"Woof woof woof..."
Kiba and Akamaru barked anxiously, while Shino and Hinata rushed to the rescue.
"Spindle Technique!"
"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"
"Too late."
Konan blocked the attacks with her wings, the tip of her spear already piercing Kurenai's chest.
"Still in time."
A kunai arrived, and Minato suddenly appeared, grabbing the spear and halting its downward thrust.
"Uzumaki Naruto, here!!"
Naruto, clad in a red chakra cloak, extended a chakra beast claw to catch Kurenai.
"Kurenai-sensei!!"
The three members of Team 8 quickly gathered around.
"She's injured!"
Hinata, seeing the blood seeping from Kurenai's chest, anxiously tore off the paper pieces covering her face.
"Ha... ha..."
Kurenai gasped for breath as she regained sight, turning to look at the other side.
Minato, holding the spear with one hand, formed a Rasengan with the other and hurled it at Konan.
Konan smiled coldly, her body dispersing into flying paper pieces. The Rasengan in Minato's hand dissipated, and he landed.
"Kiba! Shino! Hinata! You guys go first! Leave this to us!"
Naruto, now on all fours, instructed without looking back.
"Naruto, Fourth Hokage!" Kiba finally relaxed a bit, "You really know how to steal the spotlight, Naruto!"
"Let's go, Hinata," Shino stood up, "Kurenai-sensei and Kiba are injured, and so is Akamaru."
"Alright," Hinata carried Kurenai on her back.
Shino helped Kiba up, and they turned to head towards the village.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata looked back with concern.
"Let's go..." Kurenai's voice was weak, "Staying here will only cause more trouble."
The paper pieces gathered, and Konan reappeared in the air.
She ignored the departing Team 8, simply looking down at Naruto, who now had three tails.
"The Nine-Tails has appeared, Nagato."
"So Nagato is here too," Minato stood in front of Naruto, "Be careful, Naruto."
"Don't worry, Dad!" Naruto scanned the surroundings, searching for where Nagato might appear.
"Here he comes?"
The surface of a large tree not far away suddenly revealed layers of paper pieces. The papers scattered, and Nagato, seated on a massive mechanical device, appeared.
"I've been waiting for you," Nagato looked down at Naruto, who was on all fours, "As expected, you came to me, Naruto."
"What's going on?" Naruto looked up at Nagato in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Wasn't it you who came looking for me?" Nagato said coldly, "Konoha, having obtained intelligence and prepared for battle, indeed found my true body quickly."
"I see."
Minato's expression turned serious, "No wonder you didn't intercept us during the battle inside the village."
"What?" Naruto was still confused.
"Those fighting in the village were merely puppets."
Nagato stood up, leaving the mechanical device. The wounds on his back, previously pierced by black rods, instantly healed.
"As long as I can obtain the Nine-Tails, those are things I can discard."
"Time is running out, Nagato," Konan landed beside him, "We should capture the Nine-Tails before Konoha's reinforcements arrive."
"Don't worry, Konan."
Nagato's Rinnegan gleamed coldly as he looked at Minato and Naruto.
"It will be quick."
"Hey! What are you talking about, you bastard!" Naruto bared his teeth at Nagato.
Inside the village.
The moment Nagato left the mechanical device, the remaining four Paths of Pain suddenly collapsed.
"What's going on?"
Tsunade retracted her fist, the Hundred Healings Seal marks on her body gradually fading.
"It seems Minato and Naruto have found Nagato's true body," Jiraiya had noticed the signal flare in the distance.
"I'm heading there!!" He swiftly turned and rushed towards the outskirts of the village.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade quickly followed, "What's going on? How did Naruto end up facing that guy directly!"
"Hey hey hey, I can't let you go over there now, yeah!"
Deidara, riding a clay bird, suddenly flew over, throwing a handful of clay spiders at Jiraiya and Tsunade.