As the battle between the Raikage, Kisame, and others raged on...
Within the central command of Konohagakure, a flash of golden light streaked through. Shortly thereafter, the entire force began to retreat in an organized manner.
They seemed to possess a highly efficient and wide-reaching method of communication. Despite the full-scale retreat, there was no sense of panic or haste. Instead, they moved steadily and methodically, as if remaining vigilant against the pursuit of a formidable enemy.
At the rear of Konohagakure's retreating formation, Minato Namikaze stood atop a towering tree.
He gazed worriedly at the massive water sphere in the distance. Once filled with flickering, radiant lightning, the sphere was now gradually calming down.
"Uchiha Madara... Sōmi..."
"Those two... their ultimate target must certainly be Konohagakure..."
"How can I protect the village?"
Minato's toad-like eyes shifted toward a nearby forest. Although there were no visible movements, he knew that a powerful barrier was concealing that area.
"Dad!"
Suddenly, an excited voice rang out.
When Minato turned his head, a cheerful blond-haired boy appeared behind him. The boy's face bore six whisker-like marks, his headband displayed the symbol of the Leaf Village, and he wore a Konoha flak jacket over a black mesh undershirt.
"Ah!"
"It's Naruto!"
"You've grown so much over the past few years..."
Minato smiled warmly as he turned to face the boy who bore such a striking resemblance to himself. He reached out to gently ruffle Naruto's hair.
"Hehe..."
"Dad, I've grown into an outstanding ninja now! I'm not a kid anymore!"
Naruto quickly ducked out of Minato's reach, waving his arms animatedly as he recounted his heroic exploits, occasionally punctuating his speech with his signature "dattebayo!"
When Minato's eyes fell on Naruto's bandaged right hand, a look of concern crossed his face.
He knew, however, that it was precisely because Naruto had lost his entire arm in battle—due to a moment of hesitation—and had it replaced with a new arm cultivated from Hashirama's cells, that his progress in mastering Wood Release had become astonishingly rapid.
According to Naruto, his body seemed to be highly compatible with Hashirama's cells, completely avoiding the rejection and self-destruction that others often suffered.
"Dad!"
"Anyway, I'm so glad you're back!"
"Mom and I have always believed in you..."
"While you were gone, Sasuke and I did a great job protecting the village!"
"And, and I made lots of new friends..."
Naruto continued to chatter enthusiastically.
Minato smiled gently, placing his hand on Naruto's head once more. "Naruto, you've really grown up!"
"But our village is currently facing two incredibly powerful enemies—so powerful that even I have no confidence in defeating them..."
A shadow of unease passed over Minato's face.
"Dad!"
"Don't worry..."
"Because we've all gotten so much stronger!"
"Konohagakure isn't just relying on you to protect it anymore!"
"I'm going to become Hokage! And not just any Hokage—I'll surpass all the previous ones!"
"Straightforward and unwavering, never breaking my promises!"
"That's my ninja way!"
Naruto flashed a dazzling grin, giving Minato a thumbs-up with his bandaged right hand.
"Ah..."
"It seems Naruto really has grown up..."
Just as Minato was filled with pride, an overwhelming surge of power suddenly erupted from within the barrier.
In Minato's sensory perception, he could clearly feel the barrier's transparent space emitting cracking sounds as if it were about to shatter.
"This is bad!"
"Naruto, we need to go!"
Minato quickly grabbed Naruto's hand, and in a flash, they vanished from the treetop.
After confirming the identity of the presence within the barrier, Minato had already lost the confidence to continue fighting.
Without the Nine-Tails' Chakra, facing such an opponent would be far too reckless...
Moreover, his most important task now was to ensure the safety of Naruto and Sasuke. Minato had never forgotten the Great Toad Sage's final prophecy, which he had been told long ago.
If Uchiha Madara and Sōmi threatened the Shinobi World, there was still one final solution...
As for Kisame, who was now locked onto by that overwhelming presence, he could only fend for himself.
What mattered most now was the village and the entire Shinobi World!
...
Elsewhere.
Kisame, clad in a crimson Chakra cloak, had the Raikage pinned beneath his foot. He sneered provocatively at the enraged Kumogakure shinobi surrounding him.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you just going to stand there and watch your Raikage lie on the ground?"
"Is this what Kumogakure's shinobi are made of?!"
"Hmph, hmph, hmph~"
Kisame ground his foot into the Raikage's body, which was half-buried in the muddy ground, all the while taunting his opponents.
The Raikage's body was in a gruesome state—mangled beyond recognition, with exposed bones and organs, as if he had been savaged by wild beasts.
"Lightning Release: Black Panther!"
Roar!
A black lightning bolt, shaped like a panther, lunged toward Kisame with a ferocious roar.
"Hmm?"
"Black lightning? This is the first time I've seen something like this..."
"Looks like I've found myself an interesting opponent!"
Kisame's shark-like eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light.
Swoosh!
In his hands, a pair of peculiar, flounder-shaped blades began to glow with a dense blue light. White steam hissed from the holes in the blades.
"Release: Hiramekarei!"
With a loud shout, Kisame leaped into the air, swinging his massive Chakra hammer down toward the Black Panther.
Buzz!
The colossal hammer, over ten meters in diameter, was so powerful that even the air seemed to groan under its weight.
Boom!
The Black Panther was smashed apart, its form dissolving into streaks of black lightning that danced helplessly across the ground.
Whoosh!
Now fully consumed by bloodlust, Kisame swung his enormous hammer and charged at the advancing Kumogakure forces.
Boom! Boom!
The sound of the hammer striking the ground grew louder and more frequent. Ordinary shinobi were injured by mere glancing blows and killed outright if struck directly.
As the casualties mounted, some sharp-eyed Kumogakure shinobi noticed that Kisame's hammer was growing larger with each strike!
When the hammer fell, it created a shadow so vast that it blocked all possible escape routes.
"Captain Darui!"
"We can't fight this monster!"
A young Kumogakure shinobi, his face pale with fear, swallowed hard and turned to the dark-skinned man beside him. The man bore tattoos of the kanji for "lightning" and "water" on his shoulders, and his left eye was hidden beneath white hair.
Darui's expression was grim as he unleashed a series of Water and Lightning Release combination jutsu against Kisame, but none had any effect.
The massive Chakra hammer was impervious to ordinary techniques, and Kisame's body was encased in a tough, mud-like shell that provided incredible defense.
"I'll cover you!"
"Retrieve the Raikage, even if it's just his body!"
"We shinobi of Kumogakure never abandon our comrades!"
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Darui shouted resolutely, bringing his hands together in a seal.
Streams of water-like lasers shot toward Kisame from all directions, attempting to bind him.
"Heh!"
Kisame, who had just reduced another shinobi to pulp, swung his hammer to intercept the lasers. However, the water-like streams moved with incredible agility, coiling around the hammer like ropes.
"Huh?"
Kisame tugged at the hammer but found himself unable to break free.
At that moment, Darui clenched his hands tightly and let out another shout.
The surface of the water streams began to shimmer with intense blue lightning, which leaped toward Kisame, enveloping him entirely.
Crackle!
The blue lightning surged violently!
But soon, a voice from within the light made Darui freeze, as if an icy hand had gripped his heart.
"Hmm?"
"This level of Lightning Release is nothing compared to the Raikage's..."
"It doesn't even tickle!"
As the blue light faded, Kisame emerged, his body now covered in spiked, gray scales resembling a shark-turtle hybrid. A sinister grin spread across his face.
But his grin quickly froze.
Kisame's senses detected an immensely powerful presence emerging from the forest to his rear right. The sheer magnitude of this presence made even Kisame tremble slightly.
"Kisame..."
"I heard you're quite arrogant?"
Step... Step...
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
The first thing to catch the eye was a strange, glowing purple pupil exuding an eerie light.
Then came the dense Chakra surrounding the figure. Behind him coiled a long, emerald-gold serpent, its forked gue flickering as its cold gaze swept across the battlefield. ton━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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