"Where is Garp now?"
Madara took a deep breath, forcing down the reckless urge to rush out and challenge Garp head on as he questioned Black Zetsu.
"After destroying hundreds of Iwa-nin with a single attack and rescuing the Sannin, he headed straight for the Land of Lightning, alone."
Seeing that Madara wasn't losing his temper like the Third Raikage had earlier, Black Zetsu finally felt a bit relieved.
If Madara also decided to charge off impulsively, he'd be forced to activate the contingency plan.
"What about Kumogakure's side?"
Madara frowned in thought after hearing the report.
"After Garp descended the mountain and Iwagakure surrendered, Kumogakure didn't withdraw their troops.
Instead, they launched a full assault against Konoha's forces under Danzo's command.
From what we know so far, the Third Raikage, who has been rumored to be the strongest in the shinobi world ever since Konoha's White Fang took his own life, doesn't fear Garp at all.
He even intends to challenge him."
Black Zetsu faithfully relayed all the information he had.
"Challenge Garp?
Young people these days… they have absolutely no idea how strong Garp truly is."
Madara couldn't help but shake his head with a faint laugh.
"Only Lord Madara is capable of defeating Garp. That Raikage is nowhere near worthy."
White Zetsu chimed in at the perfect moment.
"Save the flattery. Have your clones keep eyes on Garp. The moment he reaches the battlefield between Kumogakure and Konoha, report to me immediately."
Madara sat back down, his expression sinking into contemplation.
"Lord Madara, are you particularly concerned about the Third Raikage?" Black Zetsu asked.
He had a suspicion, after White Fang's death, the Third Raikage really could be considered the strongest around, so it wasn't too strange for Madara to keep an eye on him.
"A frog at the bottom of a well, unable to see the real world, isn't worth my concern."
Madara mocked.
Clearly, he held nothing but disdain for A, the Third Raikage, who fancied himself a hero, an Asura, a god of shinobi, simply because the true legends no longer walked the battlefield.
"But I'll admit, this generation's Raikage is a fine blade. At least for now, the shinobi world has no better, nor more suitable weapon.
Before anything else, I might as well use him to test Garp's current limits.
I'm very curious… has that age defying body of his finally reached its peak? Is he weaker than before? Or has he gone even further?"
After speaking, Madara closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu said nothing. They silently sank into the ground, one heading off to watch the Raikage, the other disappearing to an unknown destination.
...
Border of the Land of Fire.
Thousands of dark skinned, powerfully built Kumogakure shinobi flooded forward like a swarm of locusts, launching a ferocious assault on Konoha's defensive encampment at the national border.
The explosions of paper bombs, the clashing of ninja tools, and the roars of shinobi intertwined into a savage symphony of war that echoed for kilometers.
"Hold them off."
"Even if we die, we must hold the line, this is our final defense."
"We absolutely cannot let those Kumogakure bastards set foot on our land."
Facing this horde of adrenaline-charged Kumo-nin, Danzo and the Konoha shinobi pushed themselves to the limit, yet they were steadily forced back in defeat.
In just two days, the Kumogakure forces under the command of the Third Raikage had crushed their way from the Land of Sound all the way to the Land of Fire's border.
Knowing there was no room left to retreat, Danzo and the others fought with reckless resolve, battling the Kumo army in a desperate bloodbath, but the Third Raikage was simply too strong.
Even with Danzo, the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and Hyuga Hizashi working together, they couldn't raise their heads against the man who fought like a walking, rampaging tyrannosaurus.
"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"
Hizashi pushed his Byakugan to its limits, barely managing to track the Raikage's movements. He thrust out his palm, firing a powerful attack.
The Gentle Fist of the Hyuga could rupture the organs of even a Jonin if struck directly.
Yet the Third Raikage took the attack head-on and didn't even wobble. His enormous frame simply halted for a split second.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Danzo, having lost an arm to the Raikage moments earlier, seized the fleeting opening and summoned the gigantic elephantine chimera, Baku.
The moment the chimera appeared, it inhaled sharply toward the Raikage.
A roaring whirlwind surged forth like a vortex, yanking at the Raikage's massive body.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi unleashed their respective clan techniques, one binding with shadows, the other invading with mental force, pinning the Raikage in place through sheer combined will.
"Choza!"
Danzo coughed up blood, half-kneeling.
"Butterfly Mode!"
Behind Akimichi Choza, a pair of brilliantly colored chakra wings spread open like a butterfly.
He clenched his right hand into a fist, then roared.
"Expansion Jutsu!"
As his punch swung toward the Raikage, the chakra wings condensed, fusing into his fist and forming a gigantic chakra hand that slammed the Raikage straight into the ground.
A deafening crash shook the land. The hard, heavy earth collapsed layer by layer under Choza's blow, sending dust billowing everywhere.
But before Danzo and the others could celebrate, a massive silhouette climbed out of the crater and strode through the smoke, appearing before their eyes.
"That monster…"
"We used ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, none of it works."
"If only Sakumo were still alive… his blade might've been able to cut through that monster's body."
Danzo and the others watched in despair as the Third Raikage shrugged off all of their attacks, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu alike, without suffering so much as a scratch.
Their spirits trembled.
And it wasn't because they lacked resolve.
It was because they had seen this exact scenario more than a dozen times since the war with Kumogakure began.