ichigo12
Substitute Shinigami
They start in the top left corner of the map, in the Land of Earth.
This is before the war, before Danzo and Sasuke fight and the countries decide to make an alliance. And the Espada don't take different paths, they all remain as a team.
The ninjas are not aware that the Espada had appear.
As the countries are each on their own, each country fight the Espada by itself, unless it has an alliance and requests backup (like Konoha and Suna).
Any ninja that died before Danzo vs Sasuke are revived. So Oro is alive, and if he sees them as a threat, he can use Edo Tensei and summon whatever person he wants. Jinchuuriki are still alive, also Akatsuki are revived, but they are not reunited, but scattered around the continent in pairs and still looking for the Jinchuurikis.
So, in other words, the ninja world as it was before the Kage Summit, all people dead are revived, and all are living their normal lives without realizing the Espada has appeared.
So can Espada even defeat the Land of Earth?