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During this period, apart from the events concerning Kagaya, another major incident occurred.
The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, missing for a month, was discovered dead!
The Fourth Kazekage had been assassinated!
This was no trivial matter. Sunagakure was already in dire straits. The One-Tails had rampaged in Konoha, and following orders received from the Kazekage before their arrival, Suna ninja had turned against Konoha during the tailed beast's outburst. Naturally, Konoha, the older and stronger "big brother," had given its "little brother" Suna a thorough beating.
No matter how weakened Konoha was, it wasn't someone Suna could bully.
Thus, Suna was battered by Konoha, and Konoha was battered by Kagaya and Orochimaru. In the end, Suna could only form an alliance with Konoha; both needed each other for support.
But Suna never anticipated their misfortune wasn't over. Fresh from being beaten by Konoha, they turned to search for their Kazekage, only to find a corpse.
This was undoubtedly adding insult to injury. They weren't like Konoha, who could lose a Hokage and still have a Sannin step forward. If Suna lost a Kazekage, they were truly left with no one of comparable stature.
In their fury, Suna immediately placed Kagaya and Orochimaru on their highest-priority bounty list, despite lacking certainty that the two were the perpetrators.
But it didn't matter. These two rogue ninjas invaded Konoha, and shortly after, the Kazekage was found dead. Even if they didn't do it, they had to be made responsible for it!
Suna had to find the Kazekage's killer. Otherwise, they would lose all remaining face. Not knowing who killed your own Kage? That would be a joke.
They already had the case of the Third Kazekage, whose killer remained unknown. If they added a Fourth Kazekage to that list, would Suna have any dignity left?
Therefore, the blame for the Fourth Kazekage's death, regardless of the truth, had to be pinned on Orochimaru and Kagaya!
From that moment on, aside from Konoha, another of the Five Great Shinobi Nations began actively hunting Kagaya.
Of course, Kagaya was currently completely unaware of all this.
*****
Half a month later.
Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds.
Inside the Raikage's office.
A powerfully built man sat imposingly, clad in a white cape, his hair a light yellow. He wore only the cape over his upper body, leaving much of his torso bare, allowing a clear view of his explosive musculature. Merely standing before him involuntarily induced a sense of pressure.
This man was the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure—A.
A monster who, in his time, could even contend with Minato Namikaze in terms of speed!
It's important to note that a significant portion of Minato's legendary speed depended on the Flying Thunder God Technique. One could argue that even a bedridden old woman who mastered this technique could achieve unparalleled speed in the shinobi world—though a bedridden old woman mastering it was impossible. But this illustrates just how absurd the Flying Thunder God Technique was. In terms of speed, it was practically a cheat code.
And yet, A had relied on his own raw power and physical prowess to reach a level where he could compete with Minato's Flying Thunder God.
This was akin to a cheat-code user facing a regular player, and the regular player, through sheer skill, nearly managed to land a blow on the cheater.
Even Kagaya wouldn't dare claim his speed surpassed A's. The more he studied the Flying Thunder God, the more he grasped its terrifying nature. Facing this Fourth Raikage, who could rival the Flying Thunder God (though still losing), aside from the deceased Minato, no one in the entire world could claim superior speed—including Kagaya.
In fact, if Kagaya had to choose an opponent between A and Minato, he might even choose Minato.
While Minato's Flying Thunder God was faster, Kagaya understood its limitation: movement required pre-placed markers. Merely knowing this characteristic allowed Kagaya to formulate some defense against Minato's speed.
But A? A moved through sheer physical might, requiring no markers whatsoever. Unless one possessed speed surpassing his, like Minato, there was simply no way to anticipate or defend against A's attacks.
Thus, the Fourth Raikage was a genuine, living monster.
In the original narrative, the Fourth Raikage seemed to lose every significant fight. But one must first consider his opponents.
His most notable battles were three: first against Minato, second against Sasuke, third against Madara.
First, Minato. During Minato's lifetime, who could consistently defeat him? No one. Facing a bug-like technique like Flying Thunder God, no one dared claim assured victory over Minato! Not even the aged, withering Madara of that era, who would die if separated from the God Tree, let alone fight Minato. Even Obito, possessing another bug-like technique in Kamui, was still beaten by Minato. If not for Obito releasing the Nine-Tails, Minato would have emerged from that confrontation unscathed. While the Fourth Raikage lost, it was no disgrace. Anyone from that era placed in his shoes would have lost as well.
Next, Sasuke. In the original story, the Fourth Raikage's battle against Sasuke was actually a victory. If not for Gaara's intervention, the Raikage, at the cost of an arm, would have decisively crushed Sasuke. This was Sasuke after awakening his Mangekyō, even manifesting Susano'o. To be able to kill such a powerful opponent at the cost of one arm—few could achieve that.
Finally, Madara. This requires little explanation. In his entire life, Madara only lost to two people: Hashirama and Black Zetsu.
Even Naruto and Sasuke combined, when they fought Madara, resulted in him successfully activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
So, not just the Raikage—looking across shinobi history, the number of people who could defeat Madara was exceedingly small.
Therefore, the Raikage had always been incredibly strong. His misfortune was that his opponents were all "cheat-code" users.
At this moment, the Raikage sat in his office, holding a recently submitted report detailing recent events in Konoha.
The Raikage's brow furrowed slightly. "The One-Tails and Nine-Tails went on a rampage?"
This wasn't exactly good news. Each of the Five Great Nations possessed a tailed beast. In a sense, preventing tailed beast outbreaks was a shared responsibility.
However, the Raikage merely glanced at this part, unconcerned. He had faith in Killer B. After all, B was a perfect Jinchūriki.
"Uchiha Kagaya... Orochimaru..."
The report mentioned these two names once again. Not long ago, the Raikage had learned of their existence through the Konoha incident. Now, their names appeared once more.
The previous report, delivered personally by Mabui, had detailed Konoha's invasion. This new report covered Konoha's subsequent actions and Sunagakure's decision to place bounties on Kagaya and Orochimaru.
Reading to the end, the Raikage snorted derisively. "Dogs biting dogs. If not for that Jiraiya, it would have been perfect."
From the Raikage's perspective, two Konoha rogue ninjas turning against their own village was precisely "dogs biting dogs." If Jiraiya hadn't stepped forward, he might have even considered launching an attack on Konoha. At the very least, he could have extorted significant concessions. Last time, they failed to obtain Konoha's Byakugan; this time, perhaps they could have succeeded.
A pity. Konoha and Suna had formed an alliance, and Jiraiya had emerged as a pillar. This made the Raikage hesitant to act rashly.