As the sun rose over Kumogakure, the villagers of the Hidden Cloud had only just begun to stir from their sleep and start the day.
At that moment, a squad of shinobi came rushing through the village with two gravely wounded comrades strapped to their backs, immediately drawing the attention of the civilians nearby.
They were part of the village's regular border patrol unit.
And the two badly injured shinobi they carried were the survivors left behind by Sarutobi Shinnosuke and his team.
The Third Raikage, who had just finished breakfast and begun his morning training, received the report almost immediately.
The moment he heard that the border had come under attack and several outposts had gone silent, his first thought was that another nation had made its move and launched a raid into the Land of Lightning.
But the detailed follow-up report that came after nearly made him explode on the spot.
Two missing-nin are suspected of attacking multiple border strongholds. Their identities are unknown. Their strength is estimated to be at least jōnin level... possibly higher.
Boom!
With one furious punch, the table in front of the Third Raikage split cleanly in half.
"Impossible! How can this be!" he roared, unable to accept the report from his subordinates.
Setting aside the absurdity of two rogue shinobi managing to wipe out multiple Kumogakure outposts along the border...
Just the claim that the enemy might be missing-nin was enough to make the Third Raikage reject it outright.
Everyone in the shinobi world knew the Hidden Cloud's reputation. Kumogakure was one of the most powerful and aggressive great villages in existence. What kind of fool would dare provoke the Hidden Cloud on their own?
If they really were missing-nin, then they had to be tired of living.
No.
Those two were almost certainly shinobi from one of the other four great hidden villages. The so-called "missing-nin" identity was just a cover.
"Dodai," the Third Raikage said, turning to the man beside him, "do you really believe the enemy is made up of rogue shinobi?"
Rather than answer the report directly, he chose to ask one of the village's rising figures, the Lava Release user Dodai.
Dodai answered without hesitation.
"They're most likely shinobi sent from another hidden village."
The Third Raikage gave a satisfied nod.
That was the answer he wanted to hear.
In his eyes, Dodai had not failed the trust and attention he had placed in him.
"It seems more than a decade of peace has made some villages forget who they're dealing with." (PS: Bruh...)
His expression darkened.
The provocation, combined with the deaths of his men, pushed the already hot-blooded Raikage into a simmering rage.
"I won't let anyone who harms this village get away with it."
His voice was firm, heavy with killing intent.
Then, without further hesitation, the Third Raikage made his decision.
"Gather the elite forces. I'll hunt them down myself."
"Lord Raikage, please reconsider!" Dodai stepped forward at once. "I suspect this is the enemy's plan. They may be trying to provoke you into leaving the village so they can ambush you... or strike Kumogakure itself."
Dodai's analysis was calm and perfectly reasonable.
Unfortunately, the Third Raikage had already made up his mind.
Still, after hearing Dodai out, he adjusted his plan.
"I'll take a small elite unit and head to the border myself," he declared. "The main force stays in the village. If the enemy tries anything here, they'll be dealt with immediately."
It was, in truth, a solid arrangement.
The Third Raikage would lead a highly mobile elite team to track down the enemy, while the bulk of Kumogakure's forces remained behind to guard the village.
In theory, whether the enemy struck at the border or targeted the village, they would be hard-pressed to gain anything.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent was far outside the norm.
Not only was the enemy monstrously powerful, but he also possessed one of the most outrageous mobility abilities in the entire shinobi world.
Lacking critical information, the Third Raikage acted at once after making his decision.
After urgently summoning ten elite shinobi and leaving Dodai and the village elders behind to command the rear, he departed Kumogakure with the unit.
Roughly one kilometer outside the village, atop a raised mountain ridge, an invisible Kizaru stood quietly watching as the Third Raikage led his team away.
"How reckless," Kizaru murmured softly, a faint smile touching his lips as he watched the Hidden Cloud force disappear into the distance.
At that point, Kizaru remained perfectly patient.
Even after the Third Raikage had vanished from sight, he did not make his move right away. Instead, he simply sat down where he was.
According to Sarutobi Shinnosuke's plan, once it was confirmed that the Third Raikage had left the village, Kizaru was to wait a full hour before acting.
The reasoning was simple.
It was a precaution against the Raikage receiving word too soon and turning back in time to reinforce Kumogakure.
When it came to missions, Kizaru was unusually reliable.
He did not improvise. He did not move ahead on a whim.
He simply waited.
One full hour later, Kizaru rose to his feet, turned into a streak of golden light, and vanished from the mountain.
He landed outside Kumogakure, concealed himself once more with his invisibility technique, and then strolled into the village as openly as if he were taking a morning walk.
To avoid being picked up by sensor-type shinobi, Kizaru did not spread out his Observation Haki across the entire village. Instead, he moved at an unhurried pace through Kumogakure's quieter side streets and alleys.
Using his perception only to monitor his immediate surroundings, Kizaru lifted his right hand.
A round sphere of chakra glowing with a faint golden light appeared in his palm.
A Glitter Bomb.
It was a jutsu Kizaru had developed by combining sealing techniques, the principles of the Rasengan he had learned from Mito Uzumaki, and the core nature of his Glint-Glint Fruit powers.
Drawing inspiration from grenades and landmines from his previous life, the Glitter Bomb could remain stable for up to half an hour thanks to sealing techniques.
During that time, Kizaru could throw it like an explosive flash grenade, plant it like a mine, or set it to detonate remotely or on a timer.
After burying the first Glitter Bomb in the corner of a building, Kizaru slipped out of the alley and continued moving through Kumogakure, calmly selecting suitable blast points.
Hospitals. Administrative buildings. Warehouses.
By relying on the signs posted on buildings and the conversations of passing villagers, invisible Kizaru was able to plant Glitter Bombs with ease in one critical location after another throughout the Hidden Cloud.
Twenty minutes later, after setting up eighteen separate detonation points across Kumogakure, Kizaru finally arrived near the center of the village.
Then he stopped hiding.
His figure appeared in plain sight.
Under the startled and wary gazes of everyone around him, Kizaru slowly looked around, then smiled.
"Ever seen light rain down all at once?"
His sudden appearance froze the people nearby for half a heartbeat.
Then the experienced shinobi reacted first.
"Enemy attack!"
With a shout, one shinobi hurled two shuriken straight at Kizaru.
The blades passed through his body without resistance and flew onward, nearly striking the people behind him instead.
Kizaru gave the scene a sidelong glance.
"That's dangerous," he said lightly.
Ignoring the attacks rushing toward him, he brought his hands together in a seal.
Then his voice rang out, calm and clear.
"Art is an explosion."
Before the echo of that single word even faded, massive explosions erupted all across Kumogakure.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fire and shockwaves burst out from multiple points at once.
The Hidden Cloud was thrown into instant chaos.
Buildings shook. Smoke billowed into the sky. Screams and alarm cries overlapped from every direction.
The moment the bombs went off, Kizaru moved.
Facing the shinobi charging him, he raised his right leg and unleashed several flying light slashes in rapid succession, carving through the attackers and bringing up sprays of blood mist.
After clearing out the enemies around him, Kizaru glanced across the village in turmoil and let out a quiet sigh.
"That's a lot of people."
Then he stepped into the air with Geppo, rising above Kumogakure itself.
Suspended high overhead, Kizaru looked down at the village beneath him and slowly raised both hands.
In the next instant, he unleashed one of Admiral Kizaru's signature techniques—
Yasakani no Magatama.
Countless bullets of light rained down from the sky, mercilessly bombarding everything below.
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