With a furious roar, a tall, burly figure wreathed in lightning descended with an incomparably violent aura, his thick leg mercilessly cleaving down toward the heads of Makoto and Kakashi.
Makoto reacted with astonishing speed, dragging Kakashi as he used the Body Flicker Technique to leap away.
Boom—
With a thunderous crash, the spot where the two had just stood was smashed into a massive crater by the lightning-clad giant's kick, the ground trembling slightly from the impact.
Poor Teoshi could not find peace even in death. His body was half-buried in the soil, as though he were about to be laid to rest right there.
The burly man glanced at the comrade he had almost managed to save, then fixed his gaze on Makoto, fury blazing in his eyes. It was all because of this damned brat—he had killed Teoshi a step ahead of him.
Both Makoto and Kakashi stood on full alert, for standing before them was the newly appointed Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure—A.
"Yeah! You Konoha fools, welcome the arrival of Lord Killer B! Bakayarō! Konoyarō!"
Accompanied by a strangely accented voice, another figure followed close behind, landing at the Raikage's side. He wore a white shinobi hat, had dark skin, and a powerful build.
This was Kumogakure's Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, the young Killer B.
During the war, this AB duo had always operated together.
Following behind them came a large contingent of Kumogakure shinobi who had rushed over to rescue their comrades. But after surveying the scene, they realized they had arrived too late.
After Konoha's encirclement and suppression, only a pitiful few of their comrades remained. The rest lay sprawled across the ground. Even Troy and Teoshi had already fallen.
Those Konoha bastards were truly detestable.
Minato gave a hand signal to the Konoha shinobi, then instantly teleported to Makoto and Kakashi's side.
Hiashi also arrived, standing alongside Minato to face Kumogakure's AB duo.
After all, he was the person in charge of the Northern Second Command Headquarters. He could not very well let two juniors stand at the front while he hid among the crowd. If that got back to the village, how could he ever hold his head up again?
The leaders of both sides faced off across a field strewn with corpses, each flanked by their subordinates. It carried the clear momentum of another large-scale battle about to erupt.
For a moment, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Yet the leaders on both sides knew that if they truly clashed here in a bloody fight, it would only make Iwagakure laugh until their jaws split. That was an outcome no one wanted to see.
Although the Raikage appeared to be a brutish powerhouse, he was in fact quite shrewd behind the scenes; his recklessness was merely a façade he presented to mislead others.
Minato still wore his usual bright image, but his expression was grave. "You two, we meet again."
"Meeting again is a good thing—means we get to fight once more! Bakayarō! Konoyarō!" Killer B was an odd one; the moment he opened his mouth, the tense atmosphere became somewhat absurd.
"Hmph!" The Raikage let out a heavy snort. On the surface, his anger remained, but inwardly he began weighing things up. Fight? That would only let that bastard Ōnoki profit—absolutely not. Leave? He wasn't willing. He had to make Konoha pay a price.
Minato proposed, "If you don't want to keep fighting, then please return. Take your people with you. Today's battle ends here."
The Fourth Raikage barked angrily, "Return? Namikaze Minato, are you joking? You brought people and killed so many of my subordinates—how are we settling this debt?"
"This is a battlefield, Raikage-dono. Haven't our Konoha shinobi been hunted down by your Kumogakure shinobi as well? By your logic, the only way to resolve this is for both sides to fight until the last person. Is that what you want to see?"
"That works too. We Kumogakure shinobi won't back down—unless you Konoha lack the guts."
"Then what are you waiting for? Come on!"
"I just don't want that old bastard Ōnoki to watch and laugh, that's all. If you want us to withdraw, that's fine—hand over those two brats. They must pay the price for killing Teoshi."
That unreasonable demand immediately infuriated everyone on Konoha's side.
"Bastard!"
"Are you out of your mind?"
"How could we possibly hand over our comrades?"
In an instant, emotions flared. They had never encountered such an outrageous demand. The shinobi on both sides immediately began shouting insults across the battlefield—before the fighting even started, the war of spit was already spraying.
Was the demand unreasonable? Of course it was. On the battlefield, it's all about ability. If you lose and die, you have no one else to blame. If your own people die and you want the other side to hand over the killer, what kind of good deal is that?
But once those words came out of a Kumogakure shinobi's mouth, they suddenly sounded "reasonable." That bunch had always been shameless like this.
That shamelessness actually amused Makoto. He couldn't help but remind him, "Raikage-dono, is there a chance the Teoshi you're talking about was killed by you?"
"Just now, when you chopped down with that kick, that guy could've still been saved—but you buried him straight into the dirt. If you want revenge, you should commit suicide instead."
"What did you say, you damned brat?!"
Facing the Raikage, so enraged that lightning flared all over his body, Makoto showed not the slightest fear. "Every Kumogakure shinobi who died here today was killed by you."
"If you hadn't given the order to invade Konoha, how could they have died? Your order killed them. You're the murderer. If I were a Kumogakure shinobi, I should be stabbing you in the back right now."
Everyone on Konoha's side was stunned. Damn—so you could say it like that? And why did it sound kind of reasonable?
Learned something. Learned something. Next time they ran into shinobi from the other four great villages, they could also accuse them this shamelessly.
The Raikage was so furious he actually laughed. "Hehe. Sharp-tongued brat. I wonder if your strength is as impressive as your mouth."
"I'm fairly capable. Killing that Teoshi didn't require your help. You're quite warmhearted—but I won't be thanking you."
"Is that so? Then I'll give you a chance. If you can take three moves from me without dying, I'll withdraw immediately. That way, neither side needs to increase pointless casualties and let Iwagakure reap the benefit for nothing.
Well? Do you have the guts to stand up for your comrades? Or are you just a brat who can only wag his tongue?"
Minato immediately refused. "Raikage-dono, by saying such things, are you not afraid of losing face?"
"Face? On the battlefield, we're all shinobi. Age doesn't matter—nor is there any Raikage."
Makoto thought about the speed and force of that kick just now. He was confident he could handle it. This man wasn't even thirty yet—not the fully matured Fourth Raikage from more than a decade later.
Besides, he also wanted to test the level of his current strength.
Ever since graduating and joining the battlefield, every fight had been too easy for him. He had felt no pressure at all and had no idea what level his training had reached. So the Raikage's proposal had come at just the right time.
And if he couldn't win, he could always fly. The Raikage wasn't Ōnoki—what, was he going to leap up and hit his knees?
"Fine. I accept!"
Everyone was instantly caught off guard by those words. Even Kakashi, standing beside Makoto, could no longer keep his usual half-lidded, indifferent gaze.
No, seriously—bro. I fight with my life on the line and don't fear death. I'm willing to die in battle. But I won't throw my life away meaninglessly.
Has this underclassman lost his mind? Did your teammates and parents all die too?
Minato sternly rebuked him. "Makoto, don't be reckless. You'll lose your life!"
"Don't worry, Minato-senpai. I know my limits." After saying that, Makoto briefly revealed the Flying Thunder God kunai inside his ninja tool pouch.
After seeing it, Minato finally agreed. He was confident he could rescue Makoto if necessary.
The originally tense standoff suddenly took on a bizarre turn. Neither side had expected things to develop into a one-on-one duel between the Raikage and a Konoha brat.
But the Raikage was not wrong. Once on the battlefield, everyone's identity was that of a shinobi. Age and gender did not matter—only strength spoke.
After persuading the uneasy Kumomi and the other two to stand back, Makoto stepped to the front of the formation without fear and instantly entered Sage Mode.
The keenly perceptive Minato frowned slightly. He seemed to sense a familiar yet unfamiliar fluctuation from Makoto—something indistinct and strange.
"Brat, are you ready to face death?"
"Raikage-dono, are you ready for the possibility that you won't be able to take me down in three moves? That would be rather embarrassing. You might even get overthrown by your subordinates when you go back."
The Raikage forced down his anger and stopped speaking. He admitted he could not out-argue this brat. If it continued, he might die of rage. Better to seize the opportunity and kill this Konoha genius.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode erupted, electricity flashing all over his body. The Raikage raised his aura to its peak, determined to end the battle in a single blow.
The Raikage leapt up, bringing down a heavy, overwhelming kick straight at him.
He had not forgotten how this move had been dodged earlier. Now that he was using it again, he wanted to see how this brat would block it. Smash into the dirt and atone to my fallen comrades!
Makoto spread his legs slightly and raised both hands.
Sage Art: Water Release: One-Horn Tranquility!
A pale blue, semi-transparent chakra barrier enveloped Makoto at the center. Within the shield, blue chakra flowed rapidly like water, interwoven with faint streaks of white that swam through it like fish.
The Raikage's kick came down, crushing a deep depression into the top of the chakra barrier—but it did not break.
"H—He blocked it!"
After a brief stunned silence on Konoha's side, cheers erupted.
They had not expected their village to have such an astonishing genius. At such a young age, he could withstand the Raikage's attack head-on. It was simply unbelievable.
The Raikage's first strike had failed to achieve anything. His expression instantly grew solemn, surprised that the Konoha brat had not been boasting—he truly could withstand his attack.
At the same time, he made up his mind—he had to kill this bastard. Otherwise, once he grew up, he would become another Senju Hashirama.
And judging by his temperament, he certainly wouldn't be as easygoing as the so-called God of Shinobi recorded in the village archives. When that time came, life would be miserable—people wouldn't even dare speak loudly outside.
Why couldn't such a genius appear in Kumogakure? The Sage of Six Paths must truly be blind.
The next strike would send him to the Pure Land.
The Raikage stepped back slightly, regathered his momentum, and concentrated a massive amount of Lightning Release chakra into his right arm. Charging forward and leaping up, he brought it down in a single, savage chop—
Lightning Release: Lariat!
"Die!"
Makoto did not even change his stance. He kept both hands raised, but switched to a different defensive ninjutsu.
Sage Art: Wind Release: Wind King's Barrier!
It was still a semi-transparent chakra shield, but this time the chakra infused within was not water-aspected, but sharp wind-aspected chakra.
White strands of chakra streaked through the barrier like meteors, weaving a dense and dangerous wind net. From the outside, it resembled an enlarged Rasengan.
Wind nature was far harder to control than water nature. He had been developing it for a long time, but wind chakra was difficult to restrain. It was only after Makoto learned a large amount of advanced sealing knowledge from the Third Hokage that he was able to complete its development.
Wind overcomes lightning. Today was the perfect opportunity to test the strength of his defense.
The Raikage's arm, crackling with violent lightning, smashed into the wind barrier. It felt as though he had struck a mass of upright steel needles. The lightning chakra around his arm was being consumed violently, and as his chakra diminished, his skin began to sting.
If this continued, his right arm would be crippled before that strange barrier even shattered.
What the hell kind of bizarre defensive ninjutsu was this? Why had he never seen any Konoha shinobi use it before?
Was he not strong enough—or was this shinobi world simply too insane?
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