As the Raikage raged, Uchiha Yorin had already returned to Konoha's forward line.
Flying Thunder God really is unfairly good.
At short range, Lightning Body Flicker—or other flickers—can rival it. But for strategic, ultra-long jumps, nothing compares.
Yorin had tasted something delicious.
He's still far from the Yellow Flash's level—painting marks all over a battlefield and zipping everywhere at will—but a single long hop to yank the Raikage's nerves was satisfying enough.
You want my "little" head? I'll take your big one first. Let's see who dies first.
"Come to think of it, Cloud has a nice space–time jutsu too—Heavenly Transfer, right? But it can't move the user; it moves other things and has a big wind-up. Compared to FTG, each has pros and cons."
While Yorin mused, Konoha's army was all smiles—first clash, first win, morale up, trust in Yorin soaring.
Back to that outpost fight—Yorin's personal show. Many veteran Konoha elites sighed: White Fang had returned.
Yorin's mastery of flicker and swordplay had surpassed his teacher, Hatake Sakumo. The old "shoop-shoop head-taking" scenes were back—faster, higher, stronger.
Konoha's vanguard found, to their excited resignation, they barely needed to lift a finger. Cloud's five hundred plus a dozen jōnin weren't enough to sate Yorin's blades.
An hour? Half an hour? No—fewer than ten minutes, and the five hundred were gone.
The whole field was etched with Lightning Body Flicker trails—
Yes, Lightning Flicker: fastest of the common flickers. Yorin had perfected it in recent months; his already brutal speed jumped another tier. Tactically, strategically, he's still short of Minato. But raw speed? He's no slower—maybe a hair faster.
Funny, really. He started as a Fire-style guy, earning the title "Konoha's Flame Claw." Now Lightning has surged ahead and replaced Fire as his main track—NTR of nature's affinities.
"What can I do? If you want Fire-style drops, you farm in a Hidden Fire Village—and Land of Fire only has Konoha. Why does the Tsuchikage run Earth, Mizukage Water, Raikage Lightning, Kazekage Wind—yet the Hokage not Fire? Must be the Uchiha's long losing streak…"
Ask the crowd who feels more like the "Raikage" right now, the real one or Yorin, and the pretty boy might win. Killing Cloud with Lightning—delicious irony.
…
After that forward fight, Cloud cracked.
Shame bitten and eager for revenge, the Cloud army pushed harder toward Konoha's preset line. The Fourth Raikage calmed, heart prickling—something's off. He couldn't place it; he urged caution, tried to cool his men, to trim needless losses.
But they mounted anyway.
On the way to Yugakure, why so many exploding tags? "So what if you're rich?"
Well—yes. Rich matters.
Below shadow fights, even at elite-jōnin level, money still decides outcomes. As the war rolled on, Konoha's depth began to sing—seemingly endless tag-traps became the best delay tactic.
Each boom lifted tens of thousands of ryō—and a Cloud shinobi or two—skyward.
Konoha shadows? Nowhere. Battle? Hardly. It was taunting—flexing Konoha's deep pockets.
The Raikage's tamped-down rage rekindled—and the army's impatience with it.
"Cowardly Konoha—hiding behind parlor tricks!"
"If you've got guts, fight us straight on—we'll beat the crap out of you!"
"To deal with a Konoha that breaks the 'rules,' we need a heavy fist."
Anger mixed with greed and fear. If Konoha's this rich, won't the spoils be fat? But all these tags… Cloud's losses will be heavy, too. What to do?
Reinforce.
In front of Konoha's Hot Water defense line, halted Cloud troops saw their numbers and edge melt: fifteen thousand down to fourteen-plus—before a real assault. Even if they cracked the line, it would be a bloody "win." And then? No strength for a follow-up on Konoha proper. As for Iwa—the "ally"—Cloud didn't count on them.
Not that the two villages don't hate each other; but Iwa's opponent will be a coalition of three villages. Even Cloud, proud as it is, doubts its odds against three. And they rank Iwa under themselves—so how could Iwa hope to win?
But… did Mist's army really join Konoha?
Intelligence said Mist's homeland defenses had thinned to nearly nothing; aside from the navy, their forces vanished. Konoha, meanwhile, paraded the new Mizukage, "Seven Swords" scions, and battalions of Mist headbands…
Headbands can be forged. People can transform. Deception is a shinobi's craft.
The Raikage still couldn't bring himself to strip five thousand from the homeland garrison.
His caution gnawed morale; criticism bubbled—he'd lost his nerve; the Third would never… Those grumblers took a Brother-Bee beating, but the stalemate dragged, and spirits sagged.
The Third War wasn't long ago; Cloud is still ragged. Troop gaps can be bodged with four-year-olds and eighty-year-olds; resource gaps—less so.
Petition the Daimyō again? He would pay—he is, after all, a hard-line expansionist. But too many asks bind Cloud tighter, erode its independence—until one day it becomes a Varangian Guard in everything but name.
In truth, three roads lay before the Raikage:
Hold the stalemate—slow death. When Minato crushes Iwa, Cloud's turn comes.
Attack now with ~14,000 into a fortified line—victory possible, at horrific cost.
Strip the rear, commit the five thousand garrison, mass superiority, smash the line; then either lunge for Konoha to force a recall, or link with Iwa for a bigger battle.
Three options… but really, no choice at all.
This was a gamble. Once the wheel of war turns, there's no stepping off the table. Two endings remain: triumphant return, or death in the field.
"…Draw… all rear reserves forward."
When he gave the order, the Raikage's voice rasped; in a moment he seemed ten years older—except for the fire still burning in his eyes.
…
Not long after the order went out, the odd black-and-white pitcher-plant man beside Yorin nodded.
The world's best spy, Black Zetsu, had delivered first-hand numbers. He'd wanted to watch Yorin stumble—to lift his own standing in their "alliance." But again Yorin's design was unfolding. Disappointed, a little worried, Zetsu brooded: "Mother will be fine… but this guy's too uncanny… am I really going to end up with a stepfather? No way. Absolutely not."
As if reading him, Yorin added, "If you're that unhappy, I won't marry her. Thinking it over—Kaguya's just… okay."
"I won't let you talk about my mother like that!"
"Oh? Since you care that much, I will marry her."
"Hey—wait—"