The walls of the leaf village were battered and broke but they still stood high, as if in defiance of the sound village's attacks. Ninja, from Anbu to Chunin, were scattered around and on top of the walls, keeping guard as the sun glared down from high above. A Chunin twitched as something moved in the forest but he dismissed it as an animal. He missed the shadow creeping along the bottom of the wall, leaving explosive tags in his wake. The Chunin stood again as the same movement in the forest caught his eye. He was about to raise attention to it, when a blade erupted from the foliage and buried itself in his neck. He choked and tumbled to the bottom of the wall. An expressionless face watched the ninja the hit the ground and raised a blade with another tag wrapped around it. He hurled the blade at the wall and it exploded before it touched the stone, setting off the other explosives. The stone of the wall crumbled and collapsed, creating a path for the attack. The sullen faced man raised his arm above his head then swung it forward. Large silhouettes materialised from nowhere and dashed into Konoha.
The heads of the Konoha turned as one and they all looked towards the plume of smoke rising over the remaining rooftops. Sasuke cracked his knuckles as several Anbu members rocketed overhead.
"Looks like we're on," he muttered and led the charge.
Naruto and Sakura bounded along side Sasuke as they followed the Anbu. As they reached the scene Naruto had to do a double take, each of the soldiers looked more animal than human. The creature leading the pack had tiger-like fur covering his arms and claws on his fingers. Sasuke's face turned grim as he studied the enemy.
"Orochimaru's test subjects," he growled then turned to the others, "listen up, these creatures aren't human anymore and they're completely out of control. The only thing we can do is put them out of their misery."
The others nodded and they joined the battle. Naruto dispatched the first of the creatures with his chakra blades. Its form became more human as it collapsed. Sasuke launched himself into the air, raining fireballs down on the crowd of creatures. Kiba and Akamaru rocketed through the monsters, scattering them in all directions as Lee kicked another creature into the air, bringing it back down with a primary lotus. Sakura grabbed a monster with crablike armour as it tried to strike her; she swung it over her shoulder and into the ground. Its armour shattered and it lay still. Ruby eyes fixed on lavender as a wolf headed beast saw Neji and lunged. The beast was flung backwards by Neji's rotation, crashing into more of Orochimaru's monsters. Naruto was caught off guard by a scorpion-tailed creature springing out of the ground beneath him. He landed in a pile of sand and looked around to see Gaara leading the sand forces into the attack. Naruto got back to his feet and rocketed at the scorpion again. He severed the creature's tail and slashed its throat. Naruto saw the vast number of monsters pouring through the hole in the wall as the scorpion fell and his face darkened.
"A sandstorm is coming," he growled and flickered, leaving a flock of shadow clones in his wake.
Sasuke made to slam his fist into an enemy but it was sent flying backwards by a yellow blur.
Naruto moved faster than ever before, forming a one-person barrier between the monstrous enemy and the Konoha forces. The Konoha and Suna ninja pulled back and prepared for the second wave.
"Finally found a way to channel his hyperactivity," Kakashi said as he appeared next to Sasuke.
The Uchiha saw Naruto's speed drop and the creatures behind the human wall massing. Kakashi gritted his teeth.
