Kakuzu
This particular individual had been directly involved during the masked man's devastating assault on Konoha more than a decade ago. Historical records indicated that as early as Konoha's initial founding period, Kakuzu had attempted to assassinate the First Hokage. To every loyal ninja of Konoha, he represented an absolutely unforgivable enemy whose crimes demanded retribution.
While Kakuzu certainly possessed dangerous techniques and considerable experience, dealing with him would not present insurmountable challenges for Konoha's elite forces.
However, among the coalition of criminals assembled by the masked man, there were threats far more dangerous than either Deidara - who had already been successfully engaged by Kakashi - or even Kakuzu himself.
Sasori.
Although Minato had implemented comprehensive preparations and contingency plans well in advance of this assault, the complete evacuation of Konoha's civilian population simply could not be accomplished within such a compressed timeframe.
Sasori of the Red Sand had originally been born and trained within the Hidden Sand Village. His expertise lay in the creation and deployment of incredibly potent poisons, and during the Third Great Ninja War, he had single-handedly forced entire divisions of Konoha's military forces into desperate, life-threatening situations through his toxic weapons.
Despite utilizing his sensory abilities to their absolute maximum capacity, Minato still could not detect even the faintest trace of the Red Sand Scorpion's presence anywhere within the village.
"Kushina, I need your help!" Minato called out, recognizing that among all of Konoha's defenders currently available, only his wife possessed the enhanced sensory capabilities necessary to locate such an elusive and dangerous enemy.
On the secondary battlefield where the resurrected Kage were engaged, Kushina's perception immediately expanded to encompass the entire village, her consciousness sweeping through district after district as she searched for chakra signatures that didn't belong to Konoha's defenders or known civilians.
Wave after wave of unfamiliar energy patterns began appearing within her enhanced awareness, each one representing a potential threat that needed to be identified and neutralized.
"There!" she exclaimed with sudden recognition.
Immediately, her dark golden eyes blazed with renewed intensity, and the Nine-Tails chakra coating her entire body transformed into a brilliant pillar of light that shot upward into the sky like a beacon.
The Second Tsuchikage, who had been positioned as her primary opponent, found himself completely unable to prevent or interrupt Kushina's coordinated sensing technique.
"What absolutely incredible chakra reserves," Orochimaru observed with genuine amazement, his serpentine gaze briefly shifting away from his own battle. "Is this truly the full extent of the Nine-Tails' power?"
However, the moment his attention wavered during their ongoing duel, the Third Hokage immediately recognized and exploited this critical opening.
"BANG!"
The legendary Ruyi Staff struck Orochimaru's chest with devastating force, the impact sending the traitorous Sannin flying backward through the air as blood spurted from his mouth.
"Orochimaru, I should have taught you never to leave openings for your opponent during combat!" the Third Hokage declared in a voice heavy with disappointment and determination as he pressed his advantage.
"Lord Orochimaru!" Kimimaro cried out in horror, witnessing his beloved master being injured and bloodied by the enemy.
The young man's originally handsome and delicate features suddenly began to darken and distort as his kekkei genkai activated fully. A long, segmented tail erupted from his back, while both the tail and his spine became covered with sharp, protruding barbs formed from pure bone.
Kimimaro extended his right arm, and the skeletal structure within began breaking through his skin and growing outward, forming a cone-shaped weapon of incredible hardness and lethality.
Swoosh!
The moment his bone weapon finished forming, Kimimaro's entire body underwent a dramatic transformation into something more monster than human. His speed increased exponentially as he launched himself toward the Third Hokage with single-minded fury.
The bone spear in his hand moved like a perfectly aimed projectile, and as his velocity continued to build, the weapon's tip created explosive sonic booms by piercing through the air itself.
The Third Hokage glanced sideways with obvious surprise, because Kimimaro's transformation had affected far more than just his physical appearance.
The experienced leader could clearly observe that as the boy's form changed, both his speed and raw physical strength had been enhanced to extraordinary levels.
Kimimaro had reached a combat capability that was genuinely worthy of joining their elite-level battle!
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
However, just as Kimimaro was about to strike the Third Hokage, a towering figure suddenly descended from above like a falling meteor.
An enormous fist composed entirely of compressed rock and earth plummeted from the sky, aimed directly at the transformed young warrior.
"BANG!"
Although Kimimaro managed to react to the incoming attack, his response was still a fraction of a second too slow, and he was struck with tremendous force by the massive earthen construct.
"CRASH!"
The ground beneath the impact point immediately cracked and shattered from the tremendous force, while Jiraiya landed gracefully nearby. He frowned as he studied Kimimaro, who was now pinned beneath his technique, before turning his analytical gaze toward Orochimaru.
Although Jiraiya had been tracking his former teammate for many years without achieving a decisive confrontation, he had managed to gather considerable intelligence about the kinds of research and experiments the rogue Sannin had been conducting.
Unlike the Third Hokage, who continued to harbor regret and hope for his former student's redemption, Jiraiya felt only a cold sense of disappointed finality.
He regretted only that he had maintained illusions about Orochimaru's potential for rehabilitation, allowing the situation to deteriorate to this catastrophic point.
"Orochimaru!" he called out with icy determination, observing how his former comrade had been forced into a defensive position by the Third Hokage's relentless assault.
Just as Jiraiya was preparing to join the Third Hokage and finish their traitorous opponent, the ground behind him suddenly erupted as Kimimaro tore through the massive rock fist and launched himself toward the legendary Sannin.
The young warrior's charge carried tremendous momentum and killing intent. As Jiraiya prepared to retreat and properly assess his opponent's capabilities, he suddenly discovered that sharp bone spikes had grown from the ground directly behind him, effectively cutting off his escape route.
Without question, this represented another manifestation of Kimimaro's terrifying kekkei genkai abilities.
"Close combat would be extremely dangerous," Jiraiya realized almost instantly, understanding that allowing himself to become entangled in melee range with this opponent would prove highly problematic.
However, Kimimaro had already successfully blocked his most obvious retreat path, leaving limited tactical options.
In this critical situation, Jiraiya raised his right hand as azure chakra light began condensing and swirling in his palm with increasing intensity.
"Big Ball Rasengan!" he declared, suddenly leaping upward and driving the instantly formed technique directly toward Kimimaro with devastating force.
"BANG!"
The two combatants collided head-on in a spectacular display of opposing forces. Jiraiya twisted his palm to maximize the Rasengan's rotational power, causing the technique to explode outward and create a miniature hurricane that sent Kimimaro flying backward through the air.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Meanwhile, Kushina - who had been engaged in her own confrontation with the Second Tsuchikage not far from their position - suddenly formed hand seals with practiced efficiency. In an instant, dozens of shadow clones imbued with the Nine-Tails' golden chakra materialized around her.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
These chakra-enhanced duplicates immediately dispersed and scattered throughout the village, each one serving as both a mobile sensor node and a rapid response unit capable of engaging threats wherever they might appear.
"HISS!"
Suddenly, a distinctive and ominous sound emerged from directly behind Kushina's position. However, given the incredible enhancement of her sensory abilities in Nine-Tails chakra mode, no attack could possibly approach her without being detected well in advance.
"CRACK! CRACK!"
Her adamantine sealing chains shot out with lightning speed, immediately intercepting and binding whatever had attempted to strike her from behind.
As she felt the chains make contact with their target, she turned to observe what she had captured. Behind her stood an extremely tall and unnaturally ugly man wielding a massive sword wrapped in white cloth.
The giant weapon had become entangled by Kushina's chains, but rather than remaining static, the blade itself began to writhe and undulate as if it were a living creature.
The chain that had successfully bound the weapon was now disappearing at an alarming rate, being systematically consumed by whatever was hidden beneath the cloth wrapping.
"It's actually absorbing my chakra!" Kushina observed with a slight change in her expression, recognizing the unique threat this represented.
At that moment, the white cloth covering the blade was torn apart entirely, because after consuming Kushina's substantial chakra reserves, the weapon called Samehada had expanded beyond its normal dimensions.
"This is Nine-Tails chakra!" the shark-faced wielder exclaimed with obvious excitement and predatory satisfaction. "It's making Samehada absolutely ecstatic!"
Kushina's expression hardened as recognition dawned, her features freezing with a mixture of anger and grim determination.
This was the rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village who had attempted to assassinate her during the political upheaval when Mei Terumi was preparing to assume the position of Mizukage.
Kisame Hoshigaki.