Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

However, the children of Konoha were still full of energy, and the heavy clothes and slippery ground could not stop their enthusiasm for playing.

They chased and played in the streets and alleys of the village, throwing snowballs as kunai, and fantasized about becoming ninjas and carrying out secret missions outside the village.

As the year draws to a close, adults are becoming busier than usual.

Since the political and economic activities of the Land of Fire have been concentrated in Konoha, the village has been continuously expanding.

The city walls and roads have been demolished and rebuilt, and shopping malls and tourist attractions have been demolished and rebuilt, making many villagers who have lived in Konoha for a long time almost unable to recognize their own homes.

With roads built and buildings erected, merchants naturally came to do business.

The goods brought in were gathered in Konoha and then sent to various places, gradually turning this place into the second transportation hub of the Land of Fire.

The village ninjas also made a small fortune as a result, receiving so many orders that they couldn't keep up, and their family coffers gradually filled up. They all looked forward to having a good New Year.

In Konoha Village, patrolling ninjas wearing green vests walked together, chatting about their experiences during missions.

The guards encountered a picky employer.

When fighting bandits, which newbie got so scared that he wet his pants?

After cleaning the river, I encountered an unlucky kid urinating upstream.

Finding cats, dogs, and children; delivering goods, meals, and letters.

All sorts of jobs, seemingly random, can be posted at the village's mission center and eventually become topics of conversation among the ninjas.

Therefore, ninjas are not as cool as imagined. What they accumulate from their countless daily lives is a life that every villager in Konoha cherishes.

As the conversation went on, the topic gradually shifted towards politics.

"By the way, it seems that my two friends stationed at the border will not be able to come back for the Chinese New Year this year."

A seasoned veteran who appeared very composed sighed softly.

Konoha has the most Chunin like him.

He became a ninja at the age of twelve, and after more than twenty years of hard work, he has experienced many B-rank missions. He is excellent in all aspects and is a backbone of Konoha Village.

Those he considers friends are naturally ninjas of the same level as him, and the fact that such middle-level forces are being sent in large numbers to the border under the guise of garrison duty reveals a lot of information that is worth considering.

“My friend is too,” another ninja said, puffing out a cigarette. “And recently, the prices of food, fuel, and ninja tools have all gone up.”

"Is...we're going to go to war with the Land of Earth?"

A ninja with a single, blood-red eye took his cigarette and lit it for himself.

"The Land of Earth is in dire straits, it can barely support its people... Wait, who are you!?"

The experienced man, having regained some of his energy with the help of the pungent tobacco, immediately noticed something amiss.

In a split second, he completed a series of actions, from throwing out his ninja tool to finishing the hand seals.

The spinning shuriken was ignited by the flames he exhaled and shot towards the one-eyed, three-tomoe ninja.

—Fire Release: Red Phoenix Claw!

"What a pity, the quality of Konoha's ninjas remains as high as ever!"

Even though he had already used an illusion to conceal his presence, he still couldn't fool his opponent.

Obito Uchiha took a step forward, his body becoming intangible as he passed through the flames attached to the flying shuriken that were heading towards him.

Immediately afterwards, the kaleidoscope in the pupil spun, activating the eye technique.

Spiral-shaped spatial folds appeared, and all members of the Akatsuki organization descended.

"Well done, Obito Uchiha!"

Pain stepped out of the vortex and deliberately called out his name.

With a wave of his hand, he mobilized his chakra and released a repulsive force, sending the flaming shuriken flying.

"Hmph, now is not the time for infighting. Don't forget why we came to Konoha!"

Obito Uchiha snorted coldly, his heart filled with hatred for Sakura, who had revealed his true identity.

Even though he knew Nagato was just a pawn, being treated with such contempt still made him feel embarrassed, as he was used to acting as Madara Uchiha.

—Damn Sakura Haruno, I'm going to destroy what you cherish!!!

"A meaningless reminder. All obstacles will vanish before God!" Pain said coldly, showing no respect for Obito.

In the distance, Deidara returned, carrying one of the escaped Chunin in one hand, with Kisame Hoshigaki following behind, also carrying another Konoha Chunin in his hand.

The entire Konoha patrol team was captured, and no one was able to escape.

"You bastard, who are you?!"

The veteran Chunin who started it is now being pressed to the ground by Pain's repulsive force.

With a burst of chakra, he barely managed to lift his head from the repulsive force.

"Shouting loudly won't help; your voice won't carry."

The indifferent Human Dao stepped forward, and the Heavenly Dao cooperated by releasing the repulsive force.

"hateful!"

Enraged, the Chunin rose and threw a kunai, but Human Path shook his head and dodged it.

A hand covered in chakra rods grabbed the Chunin by the neck and lifted him up.

"Alright, let's extract information about Konoha's barrier from you!"

The Human Path placed his palm on his head and activated the Rinnegan's Mind Layer ability on him.

Suddenly, the Human Dao, who had read all of his memories, opened his eyes wide and turned around abruptly.

"hehe!"

The chunin gave a mocking laugh, then died after his soul was extracted.

The kunai that had just been launched pierced the ground, directly triggering a trap that Konoha had set up on the outskirts of the village.

The small mechanism buried underground was triggered by the kunai, and a rolled-up explosive tag was unfurled by the machine, the runes on it igniting and bursting into flames.

boom--!

Amidst a deafening roar that seemed to shatter the atmosphere, flames and smoke billowed into the sky.

The Akatsuki members, being powerful rogue ninjas, were unlikely to be killed by explosive tags like a certain celebrity.

However, the explosion triggered Konoha's defensive barrier, and immediately, a sharp and piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire village.

Previously, in order to distinguish between different mobilization events, the Second Hokage personally designed a set of different alarm sounds for early warning.

And now, the alarms echoing over Konoha are of a kind that haven't sounded for years, and their meaning is quite simple—enemy attack!

"It's over, we're exposed!"

Deidara sat down on the ground dejectedly. "It's all your fault, Obito Uchiha. If you had just brought us into Konoha from the beginning, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."

"They knew about my existence all along and modified the barrier accordingly!"

Obito Uchiha gave Deidara a cold look, barely managing to hold back his anger.

"So what do we do now? Should we continue attacking Konoha?"

Kisame Hoshigaki's bloodshot eyes turned to Pain beside him.

"Continue!" Pain ordered. "This time, attack directly from the front!"

The group marched forward in a grand procession, heading towards the area where Konoha was located.

Meanwhile, inside Konoha Village.

"This is... an alarm that the village's barrier has been triggered, and it's the highest level alarm at that?!"

Tsunade looked up in surprise from inside the office, smashed the wall with a punch, and jumped off the Hokage Building, which was hundreds of meters high.

Once inside the village, Tsunade quickly organized her forces, using her status as Hokage to mobilize the Anbu, Jonin, and Sealing Team.

After arranging for the surrounding residents to evacuate and take refuge, he hurriedly led a group of ninjas towards the direction of the explosion.

On the way, they unexpectedly encountered a group of people wearing long robes with black backgrounds and red clouds.

"dawn!!!"

Enemies meeting are bound to be furious, and a battle erupts in an instant!

Chapter 286 Konoha's Plea for Help!

"Don't be careless, these are all S-rank rogue ninjas, go all out!" Tsunade shouted a warning to the ninjas behind her.

The sealing team's ninjas entered various parts of the barrier to strengthen defenses, while the ANBU and Jonin teams followed behind Tsunade, launching an attack on the Akatsuki members.

“A meaningless struggle. Do mortals also want to defy the gods?” Pain of the Asura Path sneered.

He stepped forward and opened his arms, revealing rows of rockets emitting a ghostly glow.

Seeing the enemy adopt an offensive stance, the Jonin squad's advance faltered. Nara Shikaku, the squad leader, immediately ordered the bewildered ninjas around him, "Retreat! This guy's ability is to unleash various high-explosive weapons. Don't get hit!"

The Jonin ninja changed formation, and the originally dense crowd suddenly became sparse.

Shura Path clicked his tongue, and the strange arm rocket flew out and exploded, but the effect was minimal. Just as he was about to take out a melee weapon from his body and go forward to kill, Kakashi, whose arm was flashing with lightning, rushed forward and cut off one of his arms with a Chidori.

"Very good, let's take turns wearing down their chakra!" Tsunade, who was using her super strength technique to get into close combat with the Preta Path, looked up and glanced at the group of well-coordinated ninjas.

The old Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio worked together to hold off Kisame Hoshigaki and Deidara, while Genma Shiranui, Hayate Gekko, and Raido Namiashi faced off against Raiga Kurosuki, Konan, and Obito Uchiha, respectively.

In an instant, fire-style and lightning-style attacks clashed across the battlefield, while taijutsu and genjutsu intertwined.

"Nagato Uzumaki, if you stop now, I can forgive you for what you did in the name of the surviving members of the Uzumaki clan!"

Tsunade launched a punch, accompanied by a surge of chakra power that spread outwards, catching the Preta Path in front of her off guard as Tsunade pierced through his chest.

The broken iron rod and debris flew backward, scattering in a semi-circle on the ground, making the members of the Akatsuki organization hesitant to act for a moment.

"Let bygones be bygones?"

He, who had been protected at the very end of the Hell Path, stepped forward and summoned Yama, whom no one could see, with a wave of his hand.

The enormous tongue curled up the shattered Hungry Ghost Realm and entered its mouth, chewing it several times before emerging intact.

"I thought that as the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi, you would understand the weight of our responsibility as gods to maintain order. Your grandfather used the Tailed Beasts to maintain the balance between the various ninja villages and created the current system."

"But with the Jinchuriki basically all captured, it's impossible to maintain this now. The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning are the best proof of that, aren't they?"

Pain, the Deva Path, remained completely emotionless, like a dead man. He stepped forward and raised his hand to Tsunade.

"Hand over the Nine-Tails, and we'll take control of the war and achieve peace. If you cooperate with us now, we might let you go!"

"Do you think we'll still believe you now?"

Tsunade clenched her fist. "Aren't you terrorists the ones who want to trample on the peaceful life that our ancestors pursued?"

"Don't be so arrogant!"

Pain's Rinnegan gleamed with a cold light, and his massive chakra surged forth, sending a group of Jonin who were trying to attack him flying. "Your great nation's so-called peace is nothing but violence against us!"

"Indulging in a false peace, unaware that murderers will eventually be killed, hatred will bind the two together, just as war always brings casualties on both sides. Without an absolute external force, the chains of hatred will not break!"

Recalling her brother's death in battle and the passing of her lover, a look of pain appeared on Tsunade's face.

She raised her fist again, roaring at Payne, "Haven't we suffered the pain of war? Stop making excuses and keep doing this!!!"

Even if I told you that I killed Jiraiya-sensei, would you still be able to so easily say you forgive me?

Pain casually made a hand seal, took out a severed arm from a storage scroll, and threw it in front of Tsunade.

"You bastard!" Tsunade's eyes were bloodshot.

With a burst of chakra, he stomped on the ground and charged toward Pain.

"ridiculous!"

Seeing Tsunade's reaction, Pain sneered, and a repulsive force rose from beneath his feet, pulling her into the sky.

Tsunade's fist grazed past him as she gritted her teeth and looked up at the man who was getting closer and closer to the sun.

"It feels painful, it hurts."

Those who do not know pain cannot understand true peace!

Pain looked down at all the Konoha ninjas from his high vantage point, his gaze sweeping across the distant, brightly lit but deserted Konoha village.