Chapter 116: Battling the Third Raikage
Just as the Third Raikage's strongest spear was about to pierce through Kawaaki, a streak of light flashed across the battlefield.
In the next instant, Kawaaki vanished from the spot and reappeared some distance away.
When everyone looked again, an extra figure was already standing beside him.
It was a handsome young man draped in the Hokage's exclusive haori. Simply standing there, he exuded a refined presence and an elegant charm that naturally drew the eye.
"Hokage? When did you get here?"
The Third Raikage frowned, his gaze locking onto Kei. He had already realized something was wrong.
For this surprise attack, he had prepared thoroughly and gathered a great deal of intelligence in advance.
If his information was correct, Kei should still have been in Konoha presiding over a celebration. He should not have been anywhere near the Land of Whirlpools.
"I only arrived a moment ago."
Kei's expression remained calm. "To prevent exactly this kind of situation, I left a Flying Thunder God mark here a long time ago. When necessary, I can teleport over directly."
"Your Flying Thunder God Technique can do something like that?"
The Third Raikage could not help but feel shocked.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
The distance from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools was enormous. Even an S rank shinobi would need at least one or two days to reach it at full speed.
Yet Kei's had crossed that distance in an instant through the Flying Thunder God Technique alone.
The sheer strategic value of that was horrifying.
"Hmph!"
He snorted coldly and quickly steadied himself. "So what if you came?"
"Kumogakure still holds the advantage. Even if you can arrive here through Space Time Ninjutsu, what can one person possibly change?"
"First, let me correct one thing."
Kei smiled faintly and spoke in a gentle voice. "I did not come alone."
"To show Kumogakure the respect it deserves, I brought quite a few people with me this time."
As soon as those words fell, figures began to appear behind him one after another.
Homura, Kagami, Danzo, Torifu...
More than a dozen figures emerged in succession. The weakest among them was still at the level of an Elite Jonin.
As for people like Homura, they were firmly Kage level.
And among them all, the strongest one...
"Nagato... it has been a long time."
Mito looked at Nagato in front of her, her expression gentle as she spoke softly.
"You are... Sister Mito?"
Nagato recognized her at once, and joy immediately appeared on his face.
He was a member of the Uzumaki Clan and, by blood, Mito's younger cousin.
This reunion was, in a sense, a meeting of family.
Looking at Mito now, warmth filled his eyes.
"Leave the rest to us."
Mito's gaze was gentle as she quietly reassured him, telling him to step back and rest for a while.
To hold off Kumogakure, Nagato had already fought for most of the day. His stamina had been heavily drained, and he truly needed time to recover.
Compared to Mito's gentleness, the Third Raikage was far more shaken.
"To teleport more than a dozen people all the way to the Land of Whirlpools in one go?"
His expression darkened, and disbelief rose in his heart.
Kumogakure also had some research into long distance teleportation. Although the Heaven Transfer Technique of the future had not been fully developed yet, its crude prototype already existed.
Because of that, he understood even more clearly just how terrifying Kei's feat was.
Although Space Time Ninjutsu was powerful, its chakra consumption was equally monstrous.
The greater the distance and the more people one brought, the more chakra it demanded.
Teleporting from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools in an instant already required an absurd level of chakra and mastery over Space Time Ninjutsu.
Bringing more than a dozen people along at the same time made it even more unbelievable.
"Is this bastard a human Tailed Beast?"
That thought flashed through the Third Raikage's mind. "How could he possibly do something like this...?"
In truth, even for Kei, pulling this off had not been easy.
If he had not successively absorbed Hashirama's cells and the Nine Tails' flesh and blood, thereby gaining the blessings of Wood Release and Tailed Beast power, he would never have been able to accomplish something like this.
Teleporting himself here alone would have already pushed him close to his limit.
Bringing more than a dozen people across such a distance was not just taxing. It was outright absurd.
Even now, it was far from effortless.
That was also why he had actually arrived earlier, yet only appeared now.
He had been buying time to recover his stamina and restore the chakra he had spent.
But now, the timing was just right.
"Good. That saves me trouble."
The Third Raikage's expression turned cold. "If I capture all of you here, Konoha will be as good as crippled."
"It seems coming to the Land of Whirlpools this time was not a mistake after all."
The people before him were practically the backbone of Konoha, either high ranking officials or the leaders of major clans.
If he could capture them all, Konoha might not be utterly destroyed, but it would be crippled beyond recovery.
Better yet, they were far from Konoha now, and the only forces at their side were the eight hundred shinobi already stationed here.
On the other hand, Kumogakure had come fully prepared for this assault.
A full five thousand Cloud shinobi stood behind him.
Five thousand against eight hundred.
The advantage was obvious.
"If you can do it, then feel free to try."
Kei chuckled lightly. "Though, if possible, I would still advise you to stop here, Raikage dono."
"The Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning only signed a truce not long ago. Everyone has only enjoyed a few peaceful years. Why go this far?"
"Enough nonsense!"
Veins bulged on the Third Raikage's forehead as he roared, "Since you're here, then let's settle this in battle!"
The moment his words fell, his entire body turned into a streak of lightning and shot forward.
"So a fight is unavoidable after all."
Kei let out a soft sigh, sounding almost regretful.
Then, in the very next moment, he drew his kunai.
Slash!
A shrill tearing sound echoed through the air.
The ordinary kunai in Kei's hand seemed to transform into a divine weapon. With a simple swing, it released a fierce slash.
Terrifying chakra burst forth and condensed into razor sharp wind blades that tore through everything in front of them.
"What terrifying Wind Release!"
The Third Raikage's eyes widened.
For the first time, he felt genuine danger from those slashes.
To him, that was a shocking thing.
His Lightning Release Armor was powerful enough to shield his body and grant him monstrous defense.
In the past, only extremely powerful Wind Release Ninjutsu had ever been able to threaten him.
And yet now, Kei was merely swinging an ordinary kunai, but each subtle slash carried the same frightening pressure.
It was enough to make even the Third Raikage instinctively wary.
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]