"Dammit! Idiot! This is exactly the time for me to shine!"
"Brother! Don't worry! Your dad is my dad! Let me go instead!"
"With the Eight-Tails here, nothing will happen to me! I'll make Iwagakure understand my power!"
Killer Bee volunteered himself to head to the Land of Fields, his face full of confidence.
A grabbed Killer Bee's shoulders excitedly and growled in a low voice, "Bee..."
Dodai also looked at Killer Bee with eyes full of trust.
"Bee, I'm counting on you!"
"We don't know the exact situation in the Land of Fields yet, so we can't send too many people."
"Your mission is simply to find out what's really happening there."
"Alright, take ten jonin and two sensory ninja. Go and come back quickly!"
Killer Bee grinned.
"Relax, brother! Our dad will be fine!"
"I'm off!"
Watching Killer Bee's retreating figure, A and Dodai exchanged a glance.
"Let's go hold off Konoha's attack."
"Buy some time for Bee."
A had been waiting impatiently; as soon as he heard Dodai's words, he activated his Lightning Armor and dashed out.
Dodai followed closely behind.
Soon, a thirteen-man squad from Kumogakure began heading toward the Land of Fields.
...
Eastern border battlefield, Land of Fields.
"Tsk tsk, with your chakra backing me up, wiping out these guys is a breeze."
"Please, even without my chakra, you could've taken them down easily. It's just a bunch of chunin, only two or three jonin at most."
Gekko Chizan let out a sly laugh. At his feet lay a field of Kumogakure corpses.
Out of a 200-man squad, nearly 80 had perished under his Crystal Release bombardment. The ones who fled were mostly support personnel, like medical ninja.
And this was him holding back to test out Crystal Release. Had he gone all-out, the entire 200 would've been wiped out.
Of course, Gekko Chizan never planned to keep them all here. His goal was to provoke the Third Raikage.
Now that his goal was achieved, he backed off.
Plus, the crystals from the kills had already vanished into nothingness. Kumogakure would assume they were ambushed by Iwagakure ninja. No one would suspect that the true culprit was Gekko Chizan.
"The fighting over there is still going on. Hmph, let them keep at it."
"My anger's vented. The rest has nothing to do with me."
"Let's go, Chōmei. Time to head back."
He had been in a rush to come here, but now he was taking his sweet time flying back.
With Transparent Release active, he flew leisurely through the air.
"Chōmei, after this battle's over, where should we go next?"
"How about a stroll through Iwagakure?"
"The Land of Earth is in disarray too. Maybe we can go mess around and do some side gigs?"
A month in the Land of Lightning had gotten Gekko Chizan addicted to the thrill of making easy money.
After all, the one racking up debt was the Raikage's son, A. What did that have to do with him?
"I think you're hooked. But that Raikage's son has racked up five hundred million in debt—inside and out. He might keel over from rage when he gets back to the Land of Lightning."
Gekko Chizan grinned. At first, he was making money for the mission.
But now, it was all about enjoyment.
Letting your enemy shoulder the debt while you spend the money—how could that not be satisfying?
"Chizan, stop laughing. Two kilometers ahead, someone's approaching."
Suddenly, Chōmei's voice rang out with a hint of surprise.
Gekko Chizan froze. Someone approaching the border of the Land of Fields?
Could it be that Tsunade didn't launch the attack on the Land of Hot Springs? No way. With Black Mamba's speed, the intel should've already reached Tsunade.
With Konoha going all-out, how could Kumogakure spare anyone to reinforce the Land of Fields?
"Holy crap, they really are Kumogakure ninja."
"And leading them is the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki!"
Using his insect eyes, Gekko Chizan saw clearly who was coming.
Sunglasses, a burly figure, the word "Iron" on his shoulder.
That's got to be Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki!
"A 13-man squad? Doesn't seem like reinforcements—more like a recon mission?"
"Chizan! Beat him up! If it were anyone else, maybe let it go, but that's the Eight-Tails! Take him down, no questions asked!"
Chōmei's excited voice burst out. Clearly, he really disliked the Eight-Tails. The moment he saw him, he wanted a fight.
Gekko Chizan thought for a moment, then decided to intercept them. The battle in the Land of Fields wouldn't be over in just two days.
Even if he didn't believe Kumogakure had the strength to rescue anyone, Killer Bee was someone who could yield valuable attribute power. He definitely couldn't be allowed to slip away.
"Let's stop them first!"
"Summoning Jutsu!"
They were already far from the Land of Fields, so Gekko Chizan boldly performed a summoning.
With a puff of white smoke, a massive golden python appeared.
"Damn! Snake-playing freak incoming!"
The moment Killer Bee saw the golden python, he couldn't help but shout.
His quip about a "snake-playing freak" had the surrounding Kumogakure ninja stifling their laughter.
"Dammit! You're the damn snake freak!"
"Jinlin! Bite him to death!"
Who was Gekko Chizan? The best intel gatherer in Konoha, capable of hearing ten thousand voices and seeing eight thousand miles with open eyes.
And with Killer Bee's booming voice, he didn't even need to try to hear him.
"Hmph! Don't need you to tell me!"
"Hiss!"
Jinlin heard Killer Bee too. She didn't know exactly what he meant, but it clearly wasn't anything good.
Gekko Chizan's reaction said it all.
The massive golden python lunged at the Kumogakure squad with terrifying speed.
"Tch! That's one huge snake!"
"Looks like brother was right—something definitely went down in the Land of Fields. Otherwise, this snake freak wouldn't be here."
"Brothers! Prepare to engage!"
Killer Bee, as the squad leader, gave the command, and the twelve Kumogakure ninja quickly entered combat mode.
The two sensory ninja retreated swiftly while the other ten launched into ninjutsu.
Three of the Kumogakure ninja swiftly broke formation and rushed to three positions, leaping onto treetops as they activated the same jutsu.
Under the chakra-consuming full power of the three jonin, blinding lights lit up in all directions, so bright that even Gekko Chizan had to shield his eyes.
Jinlin, being a golden python and a nocturnal creature, had it even worse.
The dazzling light made her growl in pain, stopping her charge and coiling her massive body defensively against the glare.
"Dammit! Idiot! We've already developed countermeasures just for your snake!"
"Attack!"
Killer Bee's mocking voice rang out again, and he and the remaining ninja began unleashing their offensive ninjutsu.
"Damn it, they've really targeted me!"
"But don't underestimate me!"