The death of the Third Raikage dealt a devastating blow to the Cloud Village's shinobi.
Ever since Yuzuru Uchiha's death, the Third Raikage had been the spiritual pillar of the Cloud Village.
Now that the Third Raikage had fallen in battle, the shinobi of the Cloud Village all felt as though they could no longer see any hope ahead.
The Land of Lightning's defensive lines shrank once more, retreating all the way to the outskirts of the Cloud Village.
Yet judging by the stance of the other four great nations, they clearly had no intention of letting them off.
Gathered around the Cloud Village's perimeter, Sand shinobi, Stone shinobi, Mist shinobi, and Konoha shinobi grew more numerous by the day…
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Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Three years had already gone by since the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
After the Third Raikage's death, Obito Uchiha became the Fourth Raikage.
Everyone placed their hopes on him, believing that the ninja personally entrusted with responsibility by Yuzuru Uchiha before his death must surely possess something extraordinary.
Under such immense pressure, Obito felt as though he was on the verge of going insane.
Only he himself knew the truth—he was nothing special at all. Not only did he lack brains, even his strength lagged far behind people like Shisui, A, and Fugaku.
But bearing everyone's expectations, he could only grit his teeth and endure, forcing himself not to show any emotion.
At this moment, Obito sat in the Raikage's office, staring at the log scroll in his hands.
Konoha Year 58: Yuzuru Uchiha died. Tsunade's whereabouts unknown.
Konoha Year 59: Konoha launched an attack on the Cloud Village. The Fourth Shinobi World War began. Orochimaru defected.
That same year, all of the Land of Lightning's vassal states were conquered by enemy forces. The flames of war spread to the mainland of the Land of Lightning.
The Third Raikage carried out a surprise attack on the Stone shinobi. After being besieged for three days and three nights, he exhausted his strength and died.
A and Killer B attacked Konoha shinobi, but were ambushed by Konoha forces led by Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze. A lost an arm.
Konoha Year 60: Sakumo Hatake died under a joint assault by the Fourth Mizukage and an elite force of Mist shinobi.
…
Obito closed the scroll, his expression numb.
"Brother Yuzuru… what am I supposed to do…"
"If I had the same power as you, I wouldn't need to cling to the Cloud Village like this…"
As Obito muttered to himself, Kakashi Hatake pushed the door open and walked in.
A vicious scar ran across his right eye, making him look like a blade drawn from its sheath, overflowing with killing intent.
"Obito, the Cloud Village is surrounded on all sides now. The enemy is preparing to launch a full-scale assault."
"This time, there's no way out."
Obito stood up and said in a deep voice, "I know. It's nothing more than a fight to the death."
"Call Shisui, Fugaku, Killer B, A, and everyone else here."
"Yes!"
When everyone filed into the room, Obito spoke heavily, "We have no retreat left. Today is the final battle."
"Shisui, Fugaku—you'll fight the Stone shinobi."
"A, Killer B—you'll engage the Mist Village."
"Yugito, Kakuzu—you're responsible for holding back the Sand Village's forces."
"Kakashi, Guy—you're coming with me to attack Konoha."
After making the brief arrangements, Obito took the lead and walked outside.
The others immediately followed.
Everyone understood that if they won this battle, the Cloud Village might be able to survive a little longer.
If they lost, the Cloud Village would likely be erased from the shinobi world.
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With the Cloud Village launching a proactive offensive, the battle erupted.
To everyone's surprise, the fighting went unusually smoothly.
All four battlefields achieved decent results, pushing the enemy back dozens of kilometers.
Yet the enemy did not withdraw, instead setting up camp on the spot.
Over the next several months, Obito and the others endured high-intensity combat every single day.
Everyone knew the enemy's intention clearly—they meant to drag them to death.
Finally, late one night, Obito finalized a decapitation plan.
Shisui and Fugaku activated Susanoo and, under the siege of twenty thousand Stone shinobi, killed Ōnoki and Kitsuchi.
The price was the blindness of two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, and both of them died at the hands of the Stone shinobi.
A and Killer B killed Yagura Karatachi and fought to the death, slaughtering several thousand Mist shinobi before being surrounded and dying together.
Kakuzu exploited the intelligence gap surrounding Earth Grudge Fear to kill Chiyo, only to be besieged and die soon after.
Yugito wreaked havoc within the Sand shinobi ranks before being sealed and imprisoned by Rasa.
On the Konoha battlefield—
Obito, Kakashi, and Might Guy led a charge, but were quickly forced into a dead end.
A perfect Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Minato Namikaze, and the toad-bearing sage Jiraiya…
Just the two of them almost wiped out every Cloud Village shinobi on the battlefield.
"Now it's my turn."
Guy slammed a finger into his chest. Red steam erupted from his body.
"The Blood-Red Beast of the Cloud Village—youth's ultimate climax!!!"
In an instant, Guy charged into the Konoha ranks. Jiraiya tried to block him, only to be kicked to death on the spot.
Minato disappeared without a trace.
In an extremely short span of time, Guy killed nearly ten thousand Konoha shinobi.
In the end, his entire body was charred like charcoal, lying motionless on the ground without any sign of life.
"That was a close one."
Minato clutched his severed arm, staring at Guy's body with lingering fear.
If the Nine-Tails hadn't warned him in advance, allowing him to activate Flying Thunder God and leave before Guy launched his attack, losing an arm would have been the least of his problems.
"Kill!"
At Minato's command, the remaining several thousand Konoha shinobi charged toward Obito and Kakashi.
Guy's body was crushed to pieces beneath the trampling feet of the crowd.
"Flying Thunder God!"
Minato abruptly appeared in front of Obito, his kunai flashing past.
Before Obito could even react, he felt his body jolt.
Kakashi's throat was slit by Minato. Using the last of his strength, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but only hoarse "huh… huh…" sounds came out.
Watching his closest friend die before his eyes, Obito dropped to his knees.
He clutched his head in agony, staring at the flames rising sky-high within the village and listening to the heart-wrenching screams of his clansmen…
"No… no… this isn't real…"
Recalling everything that had happened over the past few years, Obito shook his head in a daze, muttering to himself.
Just a few years ago, everything had been so wonderful. How had it all become like this?
Why?
Why?!
If only he possessed the same power as Brother Yuzuru—if only he could transfer his clansmen and companions to a safe place…
Obito stared at the fresh blood covering his hands. He felt as though he had fallen into endless darkness, with all beauty erased, death permeating everything around him.
"Brother Yuzuru… this place… is hell." Obito glanced at Kakashi's lifeless body beside him, then suddenly stood up and roared toward the sky.
"A world like this—I refuse to acknowledge it!!!"