A dark figure shot out of the ground, slamming heavily onto the earth. The impact left a deep crater, and the body itself was nearly shattered by the force of Raikage A's blow. No matter how powerful the man had been in life, after so many years of death, his body was fragile. His cells had lost their vitality, slowly eroded by bacteria, and A's punch had blasted the corpse into two pieces.
"DAAAAAAD.....!"
A let out a mournful cry, clutching his father's corpse as he glared at the now-empty grave.
But there was no one there. Uchiha Nagi was gone. Though it had happened in a fleeting instant and he hadn't seen a soul, the Fourth Raikage was certain: no one could vanish before his eyes like that without using space-time ninjutsu.
"What happened, Lord Raikage?!"
Darui and several Kage guards, drawn by the massive explosion, rushed to the scene. Though their strength was no match for the Raikage's, it was their duty as his guards to be there.
But when they arrived, they were greeted by a stunning sight: the Fourth Raikage, A, clutching the bisected corpse of his own father, crying like a child. Because he was the one who had smashed it.
"Aaaah, Dad... sob..."
"Uh, Lord Raikage, what is this?!" one of the Kage guards asked, looking around in bewilderment, completely lost.
"Hush. Don't say anything," Darui hissed, rolling his eyes. The man was clueless. Couldn't he see their lord was grieving?
Another Kage guard, a sensory ninja, stepped into the crater A had created. He knelt, sensing the area, then picked up a handful of soil.
"Someone was here."
The sensory ninja closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and shook his head at Darui, indicating he couldn't detect any trace of the intruder. Nagi had just teleported away, and though he had been in the grave for a short time, his body had inevitably touched the ground. But his use of the Flying Thunder God, unlike an Earth Style jutsu, left no chakra signature behind. The chakra hadn't permeated the soil, so all that remained was Nagi's scent, not his energy.
"No need to look. I know who it was," the Raikage said, his tears gone, his face dark as he stood up. "It could only be someone who uses space-time ninjutsu."
"Space-time ninjutsu? Could it be..."
"That's right." The Fourth Raikage stood, grinding his teeth as he spat out the words. "It was him..."
Darui frowned, his mind racing. "For him to sneak into our village... what was he trying to do? Was he planning to assassinate you, Lord Raikage?"
He could be forgiven for not thinking of the Edo Tensei. Aside from the older generation, very few people even remembered the jutsu existed. It hadn't been seen in nearly half a century. After Tobirama Senju invented the technique, its incomplete nature—and the fact that his older brother Hashirama was still alive—meant it was sealed away on the grounds that it was an affront to the natural order before it could even be deployed in war. Tobirama himself had never had the chance to use it again before his death. After all, the Edo Tensei required advanced preparation, a living sacrifice, and the souls of powerful individuals.
"Darui, give the order to the Anbu. Starting tomorrow, begin secretly gathering war supplies—paper bombs, kunai, everything."
"At the same time, gather all intelligence on Uchiha Nagi. Monitor his every move. Send spies to the Land of Iron."
Darui's mouth fell open. He wanted to reason with his Raikage. Are you trying to start a war? The Land of Iron is a neutral country! While the Land of Lightning could undoubtedly crush the Land of Iron, just as the Hidden Mist had destroyed the Uzumaki clan, the consequences were unpredictable. This could very well spark another Great Ninja War.
But then Darui looked at the Raikage's thunderous expression, and at the two halves of his father's corpse clutched in his arms, and he sighed in resignation.
As the future Raikage, Darui was exceptionally intelligent. It took him only a moment to understand A's true intentions. He didn't want to attack the Land of Iron; he wanted to kill Uchiha Nagi. He'd heard that the man was preparing to establish his own village, and that the Daimyo of the Land of Iron had already agreed. Once the village was built, the Land of Lightning would launch a full-scale invasion, forcing Nagi into a direct confrontation. That would be their chance to kill him. It would be just like Tobirama Senju, who had died in battle because he'd had no choice but to fight.
Besides, the weakness of the Flying Thunder God was clear. Without a marked kunai, the user couldn't teleport. The exact range was unknown, but surely he couldn't cross hundreds of kilometers in a single jump.
"Even if we target his marked kunai, he'll still be hard to catch," Darui muttered, scratching his head in frustration.
"No matter. Inform the village elders that I'm calling a meeting tomorrow," the Fourth Raikage commanded, his voice grim.
The elders? Does he mean to use... those things?
Darui was lost in thought.
"What a shame," Uchiha Nagi mused. He was already far from the Hidden Cloud Village, having released the pangolin from its summoning contract and sent it away.
He hadn't planned on leaving so soon, but he'd been discovered. Although his relationship with Mifune was casual, the man had considered him a friend, and his unwavering samurai spirit of never betraying a friend made Nagi feel a pang of guilt. So, when the opportunity arose, he would kill the Fourth Raikage to avenge him. But not now.
Many things couldn't be rushed. For instance, the person he wanted to kill most was Itachi, followed by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and finally, Danzo. Then came Obito. When he really thought about it, the Fourth Raikage was actually last on his list. But A also happened to be the Raikage of the Land of Lightning, backed by an entire nation.
The Hokage and the Raikage were the most difficult targets, as killing them involved too many complications. It couldn't be done hastily.
He hadn't planned on leaving tonight. After finding the former jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, he'd thought he might find the Gold and Silver Brothers as well. To have survived for so long inside a Tailed Beast's stomach, their bodies must have been incredibly resilient. Their kekkei genkai defenses were likely on par with the Kaguya clan's, and they had even gained the Nine-Tails' chakra, allowing them to transform. Of course, Kishimoto had nerfed them for the sake of the plot later on. Otherwise, with the strength to fight Tobirama Senju—a man who knew a thousand forbidden jutsu—to a mutual end, they couldn't have been weak.
It was a pity he'd been discovered tonight, leaving no time to search for the graves of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Still, he had acquired two valuable assets.
Should I go back again tomorrow night?
Uchiha Nagi was lost in thought. The Land of Lightning had sealing jutsu, but those required catching him first. The only person who could keep up with the Flying Thunder God's speed was A himself. Killer B was strong and fast, but he still couldn't match his brother.
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