"What are you doing?"
"Going to Kumogakure, obviously. Lord Tsuchikage, what's wrong? Want to come along?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kazuyama vanished from the office along with that terrifying surge of chakra.
Ōnoki was left staring blankly at the empty room. After several breaths, he murmured:
"Have I really grown old?"
"A brat with strength like that…"
"His chakra is even more absurd than a Tailed Beast's…"
...
Kumogakure was nothing short of devastation.
Rubble and shattered buildings covered the landscape. This village, once thriving and built beautifully along the mountains, now lay in ruins.
Between the debris, countless ninja were rescuing the injured.
"There are more wounded over there! Move!"
"Where are the medical-nin? We need medical-nin here!"
The entire village seemed as though it had been struck by a calamity of unimaginable scale. Everyone was desperately trying to salvage what remained.
When Kazuyama landed using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he froze at the sight before him.
"What the hell—this is Kumogakure?"
"How did it turn into this?"
"And… that…"
His gaze fell upon a distant mountainside. A massive, perfectly circular hole pierced through its center—clearly the result of a violent blast.
His brows tightened. As a Jinchūriki, he recognized exactly what could cause such destruction.
A Tailed Beast attack. The enemy must have unleashed one of the captured Tailed Beasts. No other explanation fit this level of devastation.
Looking at the village again, if a Tailed Beast had rampaged through it, everything suddenly made sense.
"Sarutobi, old geezer… where are you??"
"Found you."
Using Sage Mode's sensory perception, Kazuyama quickly located Hiruzen Sarutobi. Several chakra signatures surrounded him—some familiar, some not.
Just as he was about to teleport, he suddenly noticed something.
The Flying Thunder God marker he had placed on Sarutobi… was gone.
"My technique kunai was destroyed?"
"What the hell happened?"
Without a marker, Kazuyama had no choice but to go there manually. Activating Transparent Escape Technique, he lifted off the ground and flew toward Sarutobi's location.
Soon he reached a building that was still mostly intact. Seeing the hospital emblem, he exhaled lightly before flying to a window on the third floor.
Inside the ward, Hiruzen Sarutobi lay wrapped in bandages. Standing near his bed were Shikamaru and his teammates. On the adjacent bed lay a burly man, also fully wrapped in bandages.
"Lord Sarutobi, how are you feeling?"
"Ino… haha… I'm fine. The old man's doing alright. Missing an arm doesn't stop me from smoking."
Though pale and missing his left arm, Hiruzen still held a pipe in his right hand, puffing away calmly.
The thick smoke made the Fourth Raikage grimace.
"Old man Sarutobi, would you stop smoking already?"
"Look at this room! You're choking us out! If it weren't for your help, I'd toss you into a regular ward!"
Despite his harsh tone, the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.
Kumogakure's loss this time was immense.
So immense that even the Raikage struggled to accept it.
"C, how long until I recover?"
"Raikage-sama, please don't rush. Your injuries are too severe. Darui is holding things together outside—focus on healing."
"Who's there!"
C, who had just finished speaking, suddenly looked toward the window. A figure was slowly emerging.
His voice made everyone else turn that way as well.
"Kumo's jōnin, C, right?"
"Sharp reaction. But relax—I'm not here to cause trouble."
"Sarutobi, old geezer, what happened to you?"
"Well, well… the barbarian got hurt too."
Kazuyama crouched casually on the windowsill, joking as always, though the deep crease in his brow revealed how serious he truly was.
Seeing him arrive, everyone in the room exhaled in relief.
"Kazuyama-sensei… Asuma-sensei… he…"
Shikamaru's eyes turned red the moment he saw him. Ino and Chōji looked no different.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped smoking, his expression filled with grief.
"We ninja accept life and death long before stepping onto the battlefield. As long as his death carried meaning… he is a hero."
"Old Sarutobi… you still have your grandson…"
Kazuyama wasn't good at comforting others. All he could do was take a different angle, hoping it would help ease Hiruzen's grief.
The word "grandson" brought a flash of clarity to Hiruzen's eyes, and he placed his pipe back in his mouth.
"Enough, Kazuyama. I'm fine."
"But this time… it was beyond anything we expected. I couldn't even protect the scroll and kunai you gave me."
Kazuyama immediately asked him to explain everything.
If the scroll had activated, he could have arrived instantly to help.
The Fourth Raikage spoke up instead.
"It happened too fast. No warning at all."
"The Three-Tails and Six-Tails appeared inside the village simultaneously. Two Tailed Beast Balls obliterated the Raikage building in an instant."
"If that old Sarutobi hadn't thrown up a defense with his summoning beast, the casualties would be far worse."
"Then that bastard showed up. The moment he appeared, he attacked Sarutobi. That's how he lost his left arm."
The Raikage leaned against the bed, face twisted with fury. This battle had clearly enraged him to the core.
Kazuyama listened and nodded.
It was as he suspected. If not for the sudden Tailed Beast attack and that bastard's dōjutsu, Kumogakure wouldn't have suffered such catastrophic losses.
"What about Killer Bee?"
"He was captured?"
Just hearing Bee's name nearly made the Raikage erupt like a volcano.
They were the A–B Combo. Brothers in arms—literal brothers, even. Of course he would be furious with his younger brother taken.
"Ōnoki has already agreed to the Five Kage Summit."
"The enemy now is Uchiha Madara. What do you say, Lightning Bro?"
The situation was already set. All that remained was to unite and eliminate this threat to the ninja world.
Without hesitation, the Raikage answered.
"I'm in! I'll bring Bee back—and avenge the fallen of Kumogakure!"
"As soon as I recover, we hold the Five Kage Summit!"