Lightning flared around the Raikage once more as he gave Killer B a look.
Killer B understood that his brother was signaling for a retreat.
As the Raikage charged out again, Killer B began charging a Tailed Beast Bomb at his mouth. Not to be outdone, Darui joined in as well.
Farther away, while charging his Tailed Beast Bomb, one of the Kumo shinobi also pulled a metal sphere out of his ninja pouch.
Yagura had no intention of dodging the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Both Yaguras also began charging Tailed Beast Bombs.
In those brief moments, the atmosphere grew oppressive to the extreme.
Even the fish in the sea sensed the danger nearby and quickly fled the area.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Tailed Beast Bombs shot out.
But unlike the others, the two Isobus targeted Killer B.
Killer B's Tailed Beast Bomb targeted Kyokotsu, while Darui's Tailed Beast Bomb intercepted the two Isobus' Tailed Beast Bombs.
It was like a thunderclap exploded in the sky. The sea churned as endless columns of water were blasted into the air. The entire battlefield was in complete chaos.
Kyokotsu's speed naturally made it impossible for a Tailed Beast Bomb to hit him.
But with the Raikage keeping him occupied, the Tailed Beast Bomb still exploded not far from the two of them.
Below, Darui's Tailed Beast Bomb also exploded in midair.
His Tailed Beast Bomb wasn't as powerful as Isobu's, so he was blown away as well.
Fortunately, the shock grenade thrown by Kumogakure exploded immediately afterward.
Something like ripples spread outward.
Everyone was affected.
But this was Kumogakure's own tactic, and among them, the Raikage and Killer B had greater resistance.
They grabbed Darui and the other Kumo shinobi, changed direction, and fled at full speed.
A short while later, Kyokotsu and the two Yaguras gathered together.
Yagura had already returned to human form, but the nausea from earlier still lingered. His expression was grim.
"What the hell did Kumogakure throw out? This is already the second time."
Rengoku thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. All I know is that it disrupts the body's balance system."
"It can only buy them time. It has almost no killing power."
"They ran off again. Are we still chasing them?", Yagura asked unwillingly.
A cold glint flashed through Rengoku's eyes, "Of course we're chasing them. If we don't keep them tied down, how is Byaku supposed to do his job?"
As he spoke, he closed his eyes and activated the Kagura Mind's Eye.
His vision immediately shifted in tone, and as his detection range expanded, clusters of chakra lights appeared one after another in his field of view.
"Follow me. But this time, we'll trail them from a distance."
"Whenever they stop to rest, we'll blast them once."
———
This time, Kumogakure hadn't gained any advantage.
After running for some distance, the group stood on the water's surface and prepared to rest for a while.
Although they had all managed to escape in the end, their condition wasn't good.
The Raikage's fists were already swollen, and the muscles in his arms were beginning to bruise.
Only then did Killer B notice that the Raikage had been injured.
"Big Brother! You're hurt?"
His cry drew everyone's attention.
They hurried over, all looking at the Raikage in disbelief.
After all, the Fourth Raikage's body was only slightly inferior to the Third Raikage's.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary blades couldn't even injure him, let alone when he had activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Aside from cutting off his own arm after being hit by Amaterasu, the Raikage hadn't been injured in many years.
Seeing him in this state was simply unbelievable.
Enduring the pain, the Raikage said, "I'm fine. We can't let Kirigakure stay on our trail. We need to get back as soon as possible."
"Where are we now? Do we still have any high-frequency vibration bombs left?"
Darui pointed toward the faint outline of the Land of Water in the distance.
"Boss, we're north of the Land of Water."
A Kumo shinobi beside him took out a metal sphere and replied, "Boss, this is the only one we have left."
At that moment, Kaifu suddenly felt a familiar scanning sensation sweep across him.
He cried out in alarm, "Boss, the Kirigakure people have caught up again!"
The Raikage snorted angrily, "Keep moving. Don't stop this time. Shake them off first."
The group sprinted across the water and quickly left the area.
Not long afterward, Rengoku arrived with the Kirigakure group.
He activated the Kagura Mind's Eye again, and a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Kumogakure is trying to lead us around in circles. Let's catch up first."
———
While Yagura's group was pursuing the Raikage's group from Kumogakure, Byaku was flying high in the sky toward Kumogakure at tremendous speed.
'This is still a bit slow. I should have had Minato leave Flying Thunder God kunai all over every country. Then we could go anywhere instantly.'
The Flying Thunder God Technique consumed chakra based on the distance traveled.
Although Minato now had the Nine-Tails, he still hadn't developed the habit of scattering Flying Thunder God kunai throughout the entire ninja world.
Byaku silently resolved that one day, the whole ninja world would be covered with Minato's Flying Thunder God markers.
Then any place in the ninja world could be reached instantly with Flying Thunder God.
It would make instant strikes and instant reinforcements effortless.
As Byaku flew toward Kumogakure, he also considered how to combine the elemental ninjutsu he had just learned.
Which techniques could work well with Ice Release?
He formed a hand seal.
Wind Release: Gale Palm!
A layer of wind pressure formed around his body, enveloping him.
The clouds split apart one after another.
His speed increased again.
———
After Konoha finished installing the seawater desalination devices along the coast of the Land of Wind, they finally revealed their true intentions.
Freshwater produced by the desalination systems was channeled into the water-starved regions of the Land of Wind.
Their message was simple: surrender to the Land of Fire, and water and land improvement would be provided free of charge.
If they refused to surrender to the Land of Fire, Konoha wouldn't massacre civilians.
Instead, they would simply drive them out of the areas occupied by Konoha.
It looked like there were two choices.
In reality, there was only one.
After all, civilians who had never traveled far from home were naturally afraid of unfamiliar places.
And with abundant water and green land available, they couldn't have been happier.
They didn't care whether their nationality was the Land of Wind or the Land of Fire.
The civilians living in the border regions of the Land of Wind surrendered one after another without resistance.
And as the irrigation canals and oases continued to spread, that trend gradually expanded outward as well.
More and more citizens of the Land of Wind were beginning to waver.
Especially those living in the poorer, water-scarce regions, they were already considering whether they should surrender once Konoha arrived.
Konoha's plan was to place ten large-scale seawater desalination units at regular intervals along the coast.
Then, using irrigation canals one after another, they would divide up the Land of Wind.
Once that was done, greening the land between them would become much easier.
Most of the reinforcements Konoha sent afterward were assigned to guard those seawater desalination facilities.
An invasion? No.
They intended to slowly devour the Land of Wind, one step at a time.
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