Two days later, in the Cloud Village.
"I'm just saying, is that guy really that strong?" Raikage eyed his son skeptically, who seemed to have developed an irrational fear of Seiki.
"Hey Dad, stop giving me that look!" A slammed the table angrily. "It's like you think I'm scared of that kid or something!"
"Hmm, aren't you?" Raikage scoffed disdainfully.
"It's not fear... It's just overstated..."
A chopped the side of B's neck with a sharp strike, interrupting his rap, and said sternly, "I'm serious! That bastard's current strength is truly unreasonable!"
"I know how powerful that kid is," Raikage calmly analyzed, "but you're overdoing it! From what I've heard, those two times he reached the peak of the shinobi world—one was an ambush against Onoki, another was teamwork against Hanzo. If he were really that terrifying, the outcomes wouldn't have been like this!"
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"But that was a year ago!" A said seriously. "He's a genius, same as me—even slightly better. Since my progress has been this huge, it's not strange for him to develop even more dramatically!"
B gave A a strange look. How come he felt like Aniki was getting deeper and deeper into this Seiki hype?
"Seriously injuring a Jinchuriki within minutes—that's not something slight improvement can explain," Raikage twitched his lips slightly, then shook his head. "Anyway, even if his progress isn't as exaggerated as you say, we still cannot afford to fight Konoha right now."
"We may find it hard to defeat Konoha, but Konoha won't easily defeat us either," When considering the overall situation of Konoha, A's thinking returned to normal. "Konoha doesn't completely trust Iwagakure—the half of their forces remaining at our Western Front campsite proves that. Under such circumstances, their advantage still hasn't reached a level that completely overwhelms us."
Raikage nodded in agreement. "Fine. We'll maintain the current stalemate with Konoha. The key lies with Mist."
"Mist? They might have already figured out our intentions," A said gravely. "Claiming they want to end the war—it's probably just them avoiding battle."
"They decide not to fight just like that?" Raikage snorted contemptuously. "Hmph, I've never cared about face!"
"But what if he takes advantage of this, accusing us of disregarding our subordinates' lives?" A frowned. "That would definitely hurt our troop morale a bit."
"Then we just capture a spy and accuse Mist of using ceasefire talks as cover while contaminating our water supplies when we let down our guard!" Raikage waved dismissively. "When you want to start a war, reasons are never scarce!"
Upon hearing this, A and B exchanged glances, clearly having learned something new.
...
Meanwhile, at the Mist encampment.
"The Mizukage stood at the doorway. 'Yuan Shi, how is the situation?'"
"Not great—the part of your body you severed was way too large. Even with the Six-Tails, regeneration won't happen anytime soon," Yuan Shi sighed heavily with a solemn expression.
The Mizukage's expression turned awkward as he let out a sigh. "I never imagined I'd be outsmarted by a mere brat!"
Yuanshi asked in shock, "Even you got tricked? Is that kid from Konoha really that formidable?"
"He's someone comparable to the Hokage, no—actually, even more troublesome than him!" The Mizukage took a deep breath. "He has the First Hokage's power and the Second Hokage's intellect—a perfect fusion of both!"
"You really think that highly of him after just one meeting?" Yuanshi's aged face showed slight emotion before glancing at the well-behaved Mei Terumi standing aside. "Little Mei, you and Shiyaya are the only ones from Mist who've closely interacted with that guy—back when he was still weak. What do you think about his weaknesses?"
"Although we passed the Chunin Exams together, by the time I became a jonin, he was already someone the Mizukage feared!" Still astonished over Seiki's impressive achievements, Mei's face flushed pink upon hearing Yuanshi's sudden question.
"D-Deeply interacting? W-We didn't interact that deeply, really!"
Yuanshi sighed helplessly. "Then just tell us your opinion."
Returning to serious discussion, Mei recalled thoughtfully, "Once you see him, you'll never forget him—hell, even when facing him, you have to admit, he's just too perfect."
"If I had to point out a weakness, it would be precisely because he's too perfect. During the Chunin Exam, he even stood against Zabuza just for some irrelevant people..."
Seeing both looked pensive, Mei quickly waved her hands. "But using someone he cares about as bait won't work either—I heard the Tsuchikage failed exactly there!"
Yuanshi nodded first, then slightly shook his head. "Iwa failed because they were too greedy—trying to kill Seiki Shimaseki with such traps is absolutely impossible."
"We should learn from Iwa's mistakes: First, avoid confronting Shimaseki directly. As long as we don't target him first, no matter how powerful he is, he can't possibly foresee everything to interfere with us. Second, don't aim for too much—reclaiming our stolen ninja blades should suffice."
"Given our current disadvantage, after recovering the blades, we can practically withdraw officially!"
The Mizukage himself already wanted to retreat but couldn't openly express this. Seeing Yuanshi voice exactly what he wished, he readily went along. "Exactly! We must retrieve the ninja blades before this war concludes!"
"And after that, we'll return to the Land of Water!"
Mei, however, felt somewhat anxious, sensing an ominous undertone in those words.
...
Major wars might erupt only every few months—or less—but skirmishes are a constant.
In a jungle, Kakashi and Rin kept their eyes fixed on a four-man squad.
"Rin, don't act yet—wait until I assassinate the leading jonin, then seize the right moment to move," Kakashi whispered.
"Okay!" Rin nodded. "How are you planning to kill him secretly?"
"Naturally with this technique!" Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector covering his left eye, then grabbed his right arm tightly.
[Chidori]!
"It sounded like a thousand birds shrieking through the forest, with lightning flashing so brightly it rivaled the sun. The four-man squad instantly turned their attention toward the commotion.
'Who's there?'
Rin murmured to herself, 'Isn't this supposed to be an assassination?'
'If no one sees it, isn't that still an assassination?' With his Lightning Release chakra surging, Kakashi shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
In less than a minute, the 'assassination' was complete.
'Another four!' Kakashi exclaimed, collecting the enemies' Forehead Protectors with a look of exhaustion.
Seeing how utterly worn out Kakashi appeared, Rin gave up puzzling over the definition of assassination and hurried forward anxiously. 'Kakashi, are you injured?'
Kakashi shook his head. 'I just used up a lot of chakra.'
Rin looked puzzled. 'Didn't you use Chidori last time without any problem?'
Kakashi sighed deeply, looking deeply troubled. 'The Sharingan never closes. It uses way too much chakra!'"
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