"He's not here..."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, spoke slowly, his eyes flickering slightly.
"If possible, Lord Second, I hope you can help deal with the other Konoha shinobi."
The Second Kazekage glanced at Rasa and was just about to reply when,
Swish!
A figure suddenly appeared at his left.
It was the Second Mizukage of Kirigakure.
Moments later,
Swish! Swish!
The Third Mizukage and the First Mizukage also flashed into view behind him, each of them releasing a powerful surge of chakra.
"This is... Sunagakure?"
The Second Mizukage paused, momentarily confused. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I didn't expect Konoha to be here helping Sunagakure fend off the Edo Tensei."
"That's clearly not the case."
The Third Mizukage swept his gaze across the battlefield, his expression darkening.
"Looks more like Konoha invaded Sunagakure, and the Edo Tensei ambushed them both, turning this into a chaotic three-way battle."
"Eh? Is that how it is?"
The Second Mizukage raised his eyebrows in surprise, then noticed that Konoha shinobi were indeed fighting Sunagakure forces in certain areas. He twirled the ends of his mustache and let out a hearty laugh.
"So pathetic! Sunagakure's getting crushed by Konoha, and now the Edo Tensei shows up to hit them while they're down, hah! Serves them right!"
"Enough, Gengetsu!" the First Mizukage snapped, face grim.
"That bastard seems to have summoned all the former Kage. There's a good chance Kirigakure is being attacked too. This is bad, really bad!"
As the First Mizukage spoke, his expression suddenly shifted.
His body moved involuntarily, raising a hand toward the nearby Konan.
"Water Release: Five Dragon Bullets!"
Boom!!
His fingers transformed into torrents of water, which shot forward as five sharp, high-pressure water projectiles. In an instant, they pierced through Konan's mid-air body.
But no blood flowed, only a flurry of paper.
Her body reformed in the blink of an eye, knitting itself back together from the sheets.
Her expression tightened.
"Even the Mizukage have joined the battle..."
"Kakashi!" she called urgently.
Kakashi had already sensed the shift in the battlefield.
Originally, with only the Kazekage and Chiyo in play, they could hold their own. But now that three Mizukage and a number of Kirigakure's past elites had arrived, the tide had turned dramatically.
The Edo Tensei side had become an overwhelming force, forcing both Konoha and Suna shinobi to abandon their fighting and desperately band together to resist the onslaught.
"We can't keep fighting like this. We need to retreat."
Kakashi took a deep breath, made a decision, and shouted across the battlefield:
"Konan, Kurenai, Rin, mission aborted! Fall back to my position!"
At his command, Konoha's shinobi immediately began to retreat in formation, withdrawing toward Kakashi while still fighting defensively.
But just then,
Swish!
A figure flickered onto the battlefield and, with a wave of his hand, sent a barrage of kunai flying toward Rin.
"Watch out!"
The attacker called out even as he vanished again the moment his warning was spoken.
He reappeared next to one of the airborne kunai, a chakra-imbued tanto flashing in his hand as he slashed toward Rin.
"Flying Thunder God!!"
There was no doubt who this was,
Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konoha, and brother to Hashirama.
Rin's pupils shrank in alarm.
But her years of training with Kaede kicked in immediately.
Three-Tails chakra surged through her body, and a chakra tail sprang forward from her side, intercepting the blow.
Slash!!
A streak of white light tore through the air.
Rin barely blocked the strike, though it severed half of her chakra tail and sent it spinning through the air.
"Damn it..."
Tobirama cursed under his breath. Though his body was still under someone else's control, his left hand pressed against the chakra tail fragment. Black sealing script flared across his fingers, instantly sealing it.
With a shimmer, the tail vanished into thin air.
Only then did Kakashi, Kurenai, and the others nearby register what had just happened. Their eyes widened in shock as they turned toward Tobirama.
"L-Lord Second?!"
"Their target is the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki! Be wary of my Flying Thunder God kunai, I can teleport to any of them instantly!"
Tobirama had also noticed the Konoha forehead protectors they wore.
He had no time to waste cursing the one controlling him.
Instead, he immediately barked a warning.
Because right now,
Tobirama understood better than anyone how dangerous this situation truly was!
The other Edo Tensei might not know how many of them had been resurrected, but he did.
Just at the Kage level alone, there were at least twenty!
What's more, the one controlling the Edo Tensei seemed to have a clear understanding of each resurrected Kage's powers.
Tobirama's own body had been branded with Flying Thunder God marks, and so had the rest.
The First, Second, and Third Mizukage... and several other revived Kirigakure ninja…
All of them had been teleported directly to this battlefield using his own jutsu!
Which meant,
Once this battlefield ended, the enemy could just teleport them all elsewhere again using his ability!
This kind of strategy…
With such numbers and this level of coordination…
Unless the entire shinobi world united and pooled their forces into one concentrated army, they were going to get picked off one by one!
Right now...
They were facing a crisis that could destroy the entire shinobi world.
Almost at the same moment Tobirama gave his warning, the First Mizukage acted again.
He clapped his hands together and thrust them forward.
Boom!!
The earth shattered.
Five water serpents burst from the fractured ground, roaring as they surged skyward, engulfing the battlefield in a torrent of destructive force.
At the same time, the First Kazekage's face twisted grimly.
His chakra surged, and he slammed his hands to the ground with a sharp shout:
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!!"
Buzz!!
The sky darkened as a fierce wind erupted above Sunagakure, twisting into a massive tornado that descended like a funnel cloud, threatening to swallow half the village.
The two original Kage unleashed their full power.
A flood that crushed the land.
A tempest that tore from the heavens.
Every shinobi on the battlefield was now caught in their cataclysmic assault.
They were the First Kage, the ones who had founded the Five Great Hidden Villages.
Each one had tamed the chaos of their nations through strength and leadership.
"This is bad..."
"That's Lord First's Raging Wind Vortex..."
The Second Kazekage's expression changed dramatically.
Not far away, the Second Mizukage turned to the First Mizukage and muttered:
"Hey hey, Lord First... don't you think you're going a little overboard? At this rate, they might all get wiped out."
"Defend with everything you've got! Their power is monstrous!"
Tobirama's expression was grim as he shouted to Kakashi and the others.
As someone who had once fought alongside Hashirama Senju on countless campaigns, he had clashed with many of the original Kage before. He knew exactly how terrifying they could be.
Though suppressed by the likes of Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the First Kage were still among the most powerful shinobi in history.
If they didn't go all out now,
Everyone here could be annihilated.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria