A vast battlefield that had just been in chaos was suddenly silent.
In the open ground, there was only a single person standing. Surrounding him from all sides, over two thousand Cloud ninja formed a circular formation, yet they hardly dared breathe. Their bodies were tense, their expressions wary.
The only one without apparent pressure was the Fourth Raikage. Gazing at Danzo Shimura, who had been turned into a human puppet, the Raikage's face showed both pity and contempt:
"So the great leader of Root, once a candidate for Hokage—famous as the darkness of Konoha—has become the puppet of a rogue shinobi, forced to perform even the lost Flying Thunder God Technique. What a ridiculous disgrace."
Danzo said nothing. He simply held a sword in one hand and, with the other, pulled out a kunai, hurling it at the Fourth Raikage.
"Such tricks got old back when I fought the Fourth Hokage," the Raikage scoffed, his body cloaked in blue-white lightning. He shot forward with speed akin to a space-time technique, appearing on Danzo's left side and chopping at him with a knife-hand strike.
Danzo vanished into thin air, reappearing near the kunai he'd thrown. But in the next second, the Fourth Raikage materialized by Danzo again, his fierce-looking face twisting into a grin that showed his battle mania, excitedly declaring:
"I've always wondered: at close range, which is faster—Flying Thunder God, or my Lightning Release Chakra Mode? Since the Fourth Hokage never gave me a definitive answer, you'll pick up where that fight left off."
"Lariat!"
Roaring, the Raikage struck again. This time, Danzo didn't evade. Clutching a blade infused with Wind Release chakra—the natural enemy of Lightning—he met the Raikage's knife-hand head-on.
Given that Wind trumps Lightning, a half-baked Wind Release might not be enough, but Danzo had been a wind-style master in life.
And after all, Izayoi's wind mastery had reached top level ever since awakening the Tenseigan.
Unless the Fourth Raikage possessed the unbreakable body of the Third Raikage, that blade could slice right through his Lightning Release chakra.
Seeing Danzo's sword coming, the Raikage's face didn't flinch. It looked as though he truly intended to challenge a blade with only a knife-hand. But right before they collided, the Raikage vanished again.
"Liger Bomb!"
A roar from behind. The Raikage, wearing massive metallic guards, drew his elbow back. It was larger than Danzo's head, filled with lightning-charged force capable of shattering rock, aiming right at the back of Danzo's skull.
Danzo's back was still turned, locked in a striking posture, as though he hadn't noticed at all. But if one looked closely, there was a thin wooden tendril under his feet, bearing a special marking.
Just like the Raikage's sudden movements, when the elbow was about to slam into Danzo's head, he swapped places, reappearing at the Raikage's forearm, swinging his sword.
The speed of this slash took even the Raikage by surprise. Acting on sheer reflex, he shifted the angle of his elbow, letting the sword strike his metal guard. Sparks flew. The wind-enhanced sword carved a groove in the armor. Just as it was about to dig deeper, possibly cutting into the Raikage's elbow, he vanished again.
"Whoever's controlling Danzo like this is a genius!"
In the distance, Black and White Zetsu had arrived unnoticed. White Zetsu murmured in awe: "They're using Wood Release to craft marks for Flying Thunder God. If their Wood Release extended farther, that puppet would be nearly unstoppable. I wonder how Sasori would feel about this."
Black Zetsu said nothing, but once again unleashed his terrifying sensory ability, which could detect even the chakra of Asura and Indra, searching for the hidden mastermind. Finding nothing, he refocused on the fight. Perceiving the Wood Release aura in Danzo's body, he spoke in a low voice:
"So that mysterious individual is indeed working with Orochimaru. Danzo's body likely merges Sasori's human-puppet techniques with Orochimaru's input. Perhaps that's why the man abducted that Konoha Wood Release test subject—to graft Wood Release onto other puppets, giving them all the ability to share Flying Thunder God through Wood Release."
"That would be terrifying," White Zetsu gasped at the notion.
On the battlefield, Danzo's duel with the Raikage became ever fiercer. They were like black and blue streaks of light flitting about multiple spots in a single second—yet generating no deafening collision, only an unending search for an instant kill.
No matter if Danzo warped to a kunai location or dropped white seeds that sprouted tree branches inscribed with Flying Thunder God markings, the Raikage still kept pace. After that first ambush, Danzo couldn't land another surprise blow, and the two looked evenly matched.
But compared to the original battles with Minato and the A-B Combo, the Danzo puppet—forced to rely on Wood Release—was already losing ground.
"Too slow, too stiff…"
A Wood Clone hidden by Ranmaru's red-eye stealth sighed. "Though he can use both Lightning and Wind Release transformations, a mere corpse puppet can't recreate the living flexibility. It's enough to trample weaker foes, but against someone on his level, that flaw is glaring."
"Still…"
The Wood Clone's lips curved. "Flying Thunder God is not my only trump card."
Almost on cue, Danzo's right eye—the Mangekyo Sharingan—suddenly flared with blazing red light. The Raikage, inadvertently meeting that eye, glimpsed a magnified Mangekyo pattern.
For a fraction of a second, he was dazed, though his raging chakra began pushing back the illusion. Seizing that moment, Danzo swiftly formed a one-handed seal. Darkness robbed the Raikage of sight.
Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!
Then Danzo lunged in, ready to place a Flying Thunder God mark on the Raikage's body. But just then, a giant octopus tentacle appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the Raikage and causing Danzo's palm to brand the tentacle instead.
As if realizing the danger of Flying Thunder God, the tentacle instantly flung the Raikage upward, then popped off, severing itself at the mark. Another silhouette soared skyward, extending other tentacles to catch the Raikage crackling with lightning.
"Lord Killer Bee!"
"Awesome, the A-B Combo's reformed—we've got this!"
The Cloud nin recognized the tentacle's owner: the Raikage's younger brother, Killer Bee, Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.
"Now there's no escape. This time the mastermind will have to show himself, right?" White Zetsu said with eager anticipation.
Black Zetsu again stretched his sensory powers. Meanwhile, Obito, who had also arrived unnoticed, stared at Danzo's right eye:
"So Danzo's right Sharingan is Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami, right? That eye is dangerous; I'll need a chance to retrieve it."
He possessed Kamui and generally feared no ninjutsu except powerful illusions. That was why he didn't really fear Nagato but was wary of Itachi, whose Tsukuyomi might expose his identity as not actually Uchiha Madara.
Kotoamatsukami was even more dangerous than Tsukuyomi. Obito coveted it more than stopping the mysterious figure.
Black Zetsu, hearing this, felt exasperated. What an idiot, can't tell which threat is bigger. If Kotoamatsukami was truly that powerful, the puppet master wouldn't have put it in a puppet.
That eye lacked Eternal Mangekyo synergy. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, after Bee rescued the Raikage from Bringer-of-Darkness, he rapped at his big brother:
"Damn fool, big bro—look what a mess you're in! If I hadn't showed up, you'd be sliced to bits—like a total newbie, man!"
But the Raikage wasn't angry. Instead, he showed relief: "Bee, you got here just in time. Let's bring that puppet down together at least!"
Having nearly been taken out so cheaply, the Raikage had lost any interest in a fair fight. Only killing intent remained:
Too dangerous… This Akatsuki is absolutely terrifying.
Just a single puppet from Sasori put me on the edge of death. Their rumored Rinnegan-wielding leader hasn't even done anything yet…
Seeing his brother so serious, Bee dropped his flippant act. Red Tailed-Beast chakra swirled around him. Wielding two swords shaped like honey bee stingers, he said firmly: "Then let that punk see what the A-B Combo can do."
At that moment, Danzo silently sheathed his sword, and the Mangekyo in his right eye returned to a three-tomoe Sharingan. The Raikage spoke gravely:
"Going to run? Even with Flying Thunder God, you can't vanish without consequences after such an attack. Our infiltration of Amegakure might've been questionable, but leveling our village as retaliation? You've gone way too far. If you leave with no explanation, you can expect a Tailed Beast Bomb aimed right at your beloved Rain Village!"
Obito: "…"
Black and White Zetsu: "…"
"W-What a cheat," White Zetsu stammered. "So that mysterious guy just pinned the destruction of Kumogakure on us?!"
"We need to warn Nagato," Black Zetsu said in a low voice. "Preta Path can absorb chakra, but Kumo has two Jinchūriki plus that 'Heavenly Transfer' space-time jutsu. Not sure if they can air-drop Tailed Beast Bombs. We must be ready."
Obito kept silent, feeling outdone. He realized he was the lesser evil. Only now did he understand how Itachi and Nagato had felt—I really am shameless, but that unknown mastermind is even worse.
In the next moment, a commanding, emotionless voice rang out from the sky:
"Akatsuki will be waiting!"
Everyone looked up. Under the starry sky, an individual wearing the red-cloud cloak hovered in the moonlight, seen by all the Cloud nin.
Purple ripple-patterned eyes glowed coldly, surveying them like a deity gazing upon mortals. The sheer dread behind that gaze made all who saw it shiver.
No words were needed for them to realize one thing: Konoha's intel was true. The Sage of Six Paths' fabled eyes—the legendary Rinnegan, highest of the Three Great Dōjutsu—really existed!
All present stared in a daze, as if witnessing a god's descent. Meanwhile, Obito turned to Black Zetsu:
"Any luck?"
"It's too garbled," Black Zetsu growled. "Clearly, he's gotten hold of a huge mass of chakra from various people. So now his chakra signature is a mess—at least a hundred or more different components. We can't isolate it."
"He predicted our plan too," Obito muttered, his eye narrowing on the 'Tendo Pain' figure overhead.
Loftily, Izayoi—masquerading as Tendo Pain—stared down at the Raikage and delivered Nagato's declaration of war:
"We chose the strongest village, Kumogakure, to send all of you a message: A god must not be profaned! If you reject this, whether you want a mutual strategic assault, an all-out war, or a coalition to storm Amegakure—by all means come. The Akatsuki will meet you head-on!
"First, though…survive this."
He spread his arms wide.
"Be careful—scatter!"
Though they didn't know exactly what the figure intended, the Raikage's face changed drastically. Beside him, Bee leapt to full Tailed-Beast form, wrapping the Raikage in a massive tentacle, already charging a Tailed Beast Bomb.
The Cloud shinobi, who'd felt the meteor's terror not long ago, sensed impending doom. No one hesitated: they bolted for the shelters or fled to other peaks.
Some swift-thinking ninja formed hand seals and roared:
"Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Others who'd mastered multiple elemental natures conjured solid earthen bunkers. But just as these layered barriers and fortifications rose, a cold voice echoed from above:
"Feel pain. Consider this parting gift… Shinra Tensei!"
A blinding white light tore through the darkness, engulfing Kumogakure. All the terrified, despairing Cloud ninja looked like black-and-white sketches in a manga panel, as if erased by the sheer brightness.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion resounded. While it didn't compare to the earlier meteor bombardment in sheer spectacle, its lethal impact on Kumogakure was just as dire. Plumes of dust spread outward from the mountain's peak.
They swirled around the summit like daytime clouds, hiding its full height. Tremors violently shook this already unstable "tower" of rock. Had the mountain not dwarfed its neighbors, it might have collapsed outright.
Even now, the devastation made it impossible for the village to rebuild there.
When the dust finally subsided, the crater-strewn ruin with a few buildings left from the meteor assault was gone. In its place was an immense pit. There wasn't a single scrap of debris or rubble. Everything had been repelled to the outer edges, as if by some inviolable law of repulsion.
Thus, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—widely regarded as the strongest—vanished without a trace.
~~~
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