Chapter 326: Annihilation of the Cloud Mission
Upon seeing the arrival of the newcomer, Buraza's brow twitched, and his tone instinctively softened. "So, Uchiha Kyosuke... do you intend to stick your neck out for the Hyuga clan?"
Although the Third Raikage had explicitly stated that Kyosuke was not an opponent to be trifled with, the fact remained that Kyosuke currently held the title of "The Strongest." Buraza felt a twinge of apprehension in his heart.
While Buraza didn't believe Kyosuke would dare risk an all-out war by doing anything drastic to him, he knew it was best not to completely antagonize the Uchiha. His primary objective, after all, was still to obtain the Hyuga's Byakugan.
Hearing Buraza's tone soften, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a subconscious sigh of relief. But before he could step in to mediate the conflict further, Kyosuke's hardline stance sent the Hokage's heart rate spiking once again.
"I am sticking my neck out for the Hyuga. Do you have a problem with that?" Kyosuke said, his face devoid of expression.
"You..." Buraza glared at Kyosuke, then turned his gaze to Hiruzen, his eyes conveying a clear message: Control your man.
"Ahem, Kyosuke, look at this situation..." Seeing matters spiraling toward an unpredictable outcome, Hiruzen cleared his throat, intending to persuade the volatile Uchiha to stand down. Unfortunately, Kyosuke cut him off before he could finish.
"Lord Third, leave this to me."
Kyosuke turned back to the gloomy-faced Buraza. "You said the Hyuga clan killed Cloud ninja? That's absurd. Which eye saw that? Because I certainly didn't see anything."
Buraza flew into a rage. He stepped forward, pointing at the two corpses that had long since gone cold. " The bodies are lying right there! How do you have the face to stand there and lie through your teeth?!"
"Tch." Kyosuke sneered dismissively. "Who knows? Maybe those two had nothing better to do after dinner and decided to spar, only to accidentally kill each other."
"Pfft."
Hearing Kyosuke's defense—which could only be described as roguish—several Hyuga members held their breath for a moment before bursting into laughter.
Their laughter acted as a fuse. The other gathered Konoha ninja—aside from the stoic Anbu behind the Third Hokage—began to laugh boisterously. The sound was filled with scorn for the Cloud.
The more stifled and oppressed they had felt earlier, the more liberated their laughter felt now. One could only imagine how ugly Buraza's expression became upon witnessing this scene.
"You Leaf ninja have some nerve!" Buraza decided to stop arguing about right and wrong. His emotions unstable, he stated his demands directly. "Hand over the murderers to us, or await the arrival of war!"
Seeing the situation escalate to the threat of war, the Konoha ninja stopped laughing. They glanced at Hiruzen's darkened face, then, for some reason, turned their gaze toward Kyosuke, waiting to see how he would respond.
Kyosuke did not disappoint. Upon hearing Buraza's threat, he took a step forward. His killing intent unfurled without restraint as he stared into Buraza's eyes, speaking each word with deliberate weight.
"Who gave you the guts to threaten Konoha? You want war? Fine. Go notify your Cloud troops gathering on the Fire Country border right now."
"You... you... excellent." Buraza feigned extreme anger, but internally, he was calculating. He knew that his plan to coerce Konoha had failed today. The priority now was to withdraw his men safely from the village. As for whether to start a war, that was for the Raikage to decide.
With that thought, Buraza whipped his sleeve around, ignoring Hiruzen's attempts at diplomacy, and turned to lead his subordinates away.
But then, Kyosuke spoke again.
"You think you can just spout that nonsense and walk away? It's not going to be that easy."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
As his words fell, dozens of figures suddenly appeared on the walls of the Hyuga compound and the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Pairs of crimson eyes stared coldly down at the Cloud delegation.
"Do it. Don't let a single Cloud ninja leave," Kyosuke commanded with a wave of his hand.
The Uchiha forces surged forward, killing intent radiating from them as they charged the panicked Cloud ninja.
Seeing the Uchiha suddenly attack, Hiruzen didn't even have time to stop them before the stunned Hyuga clan reacted.
"Damn it! Kinsmen, we can't let the Uchiha fight alone for our sake! Anyone not afraid of punishment, follow me!" A member loyal to Hyuga Saori shouted, seizing the moment to incite the clan.
Hearing this, the blood rushed to the heads of many Hyuga members. Remembering the Cloud's aggressive posturing earlier, they disregarded the Third Hokage's stance and jumped into the fray to fight alongside the Uchiha.
It was hardly a battle. The Cloud ninja were vastly outnumbered. Within minutes, everyone except the still-resisting Buraza had been beaten to the ground.
"ARGH!!!"
Seeing his subordinates captured, a furious Buraza pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its maximum output, attempting to carve a bloody path out of the encirclement of elites alone.
However, before his speed could fully ramp up, Kyosuke's crimson Sharingan appeared in front of him.
"Don't be in such a rush to leave. I haven't settled the score with you for injuring my friend Hizashi."
"Damn you! Uchiha Kyosuke, you go too far!"
Buraza roared as his figure blurred. Powerful lightning chakra coated his right arm as he unleashed a devastating chop aimed straight at Kyosuke's head.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
BOOM!
A massive violet-red figure materialized instantly. Using the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Kyosuke manifested the Third Stage Susanoo. It was a defense that the current Buraza could not hope to break.
Looking at the disbelief on Buraza's face, a bloodthirsty smile flashed across Kyosuke's lips. Locking onto his enemy, the Susanoo's blade swept horizontally.
With a resounding crash, Buraza was swatted away like a ball. He smashed headfirst into a building within the Hyuga compound. Although his Lightning Armor saved him from death, he had taken the full force of the Susanoo's strike. He struggled on the ground for a long time, unable to stand.
Seeing the once-arrogant enemy defeated in a single blow, the gathered Konoha ninja erupted in cheers. The cheers from the Hyuga clan were even louder than those of the Uchiha.
Kyosuke smiled silently. He ordered his men to drag the Cloud ninja and Buraza to the dungeon, then turned and walked toward the grim-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi.
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