The Eight-Tails threw back its head and let out a sky-shaking roar.
Words of blood-debt repayment thundered through the night, echoing across the sky until even the earth trembled.
Bzzz—
The emergency alarm blared as Kumogakure was jolted awake from its sleep.
"Emergency response teams, assemble—the Eight-Tails has gone berserk!"
"The monster has gone mad again!"
The village plunged into chaos. The Eight-Tails' tailed-beast chakra—unique to it and brimming with malice—spread like fire meeting wind, filling every Kumo ninja's heart with intense agitation.
In the past, tailed-beast rampages were not unheard of.
However, they had only involved partial leakage. Kumogakure's sensory warning department would immediately sound the alarm, and as long as powerful ninja arrived in time to suppress the jinchūriki, major losses could be avoided.
But a complete rampage like this—erupting right at the very center of the village—was a first!
"So this is a fully manifested tailed beast. Quite a spectacle…" Orochimaru murmured softly, patting a sealing technique onto Blue B's forehead—Blue B, already dead.
It was to facilitate better extraction of intelligence.
As the enraged Eight-Tails roared furiously toward the sky, Orochimaru manipulated the Kusanagi Sword to carve off a chunk of flesh. Taking Blue B, the former jinchūriki, as Konoha's spoils of war, he withdrew at high speed.
"Genjutsu of the Kurama Clan? Interesting…"
The Eight-Tails sank into extreme fury, cursing Kumogakure as it lashed out with its tentacles, repeatedly smashing the surrounding buildings, as if enemies were lurking there.
Even after being slashed by the Kusanagi Sword, it merely tilted its head slightly and did not shift its attention toward Orochimaru.
'We should leave. Genshin said this genjutsu won't last very long…' A thought stirred in Orochimaru's mind. From within his sleeve, a large snake slithered out and swallowed Blue B whole.
At the same time, Danzō, holding Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, stabbed straight through the head of the Kumogakure ninja that Hyūga Hizashi had mentioned earlier.
The other ANBU also completely tore open a breach in Kumogakure's outer defenses.
Under the cover of the night's terrain, with the Byakugan gathering intelligence and with prepared minds striking the unprepared, they carried out a flawless, silent assassination.
By the time Orochimaru regrouped with Jiraiya and Kurama Genshin, the three formed a squad formation, guarding against sudden enemy ambushes as they advanced rapidly…
There was no obstruction at all.
Because everything had already been wiped out by Danzō leading the ANBU.
"The mission went smoothly?" Danzō said in a low voice.
"Smoothly. You're quite capable yourself," Orochimaru replied with a soft chuckle. "How about taking these Kumogakure ninja along? Their ranks are fairly decent—they should have intelligence."
Danzō's expression darkened. "You don't need to tell me. It's already being done."
Damn that Orochimaru…
Back in Root, he had been nothing more than a soldier under my command!
Now that he's latched onto Hiruzen, he doesn't even know to address me properly—and he dares to comment on my work?
An arrogant junior!
'Orochimaru, you will regret this!' Danzō shouted inwardly.
But his body was quite honest, as he urged the ANBU to collect the Kumo ninja corpses
and erase the traces along the way, avoiding any pursuers.
'This is not the time to bicker with that brat. Do your job first… find an opportunity and lodge a fierce complaint against Hiruzen!'
Orochimaru glanced at Danzō with some surprise.
He actually didn't deliberately start an argument with me?
It seems being reprimanded by the sensei has made him a bit more mature…
'We should pay a little more attention to Shimura Danzō. He seems to have grown a bit smarter,' Orochimaru thought to himself.
At that moment, Hizashi suddenly spoke up. "The Eight-Tails is moving… is that a Tailed Beast Ball?"
Everyone raised their heads and looked toward the direction of Kumogakure.
Unsettling chakra was being gathered in the Eight-Tails' mouth. Clusters of blood-red chakra particles were rapidly condensing and continuing to expand.
Danzō's eyes lit up.
If that were to explode inside Kumogakure, it would truly be like setting off a massive firework…
But a figure crackling with lightning rushed straight toward the Eight-Tails like a bolt of lightning!
"That's the Third Raikage…" A trace of delight surfaced in Danzō's eyes.
If it explodes head-on…
What no one expected was that the Third Raikage, using his palm like a blade, chose to pierce and detonate the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball before it had fully formed—almost like a suicidal act!
"Has he lost his mind?" Hizashi muttered.
"He doesn't want the Tailed Beast Ball to keep expanding. The larger it gets, the greater the blast radius…" Orochimaru analyzed.
The explosive sphere of light turned the night into day for an instant, and the surging shockwave could be felt even by the Konoha ninja.
"He didn't die? He can still fight?" Hizashi said in shock.
As the residual waves of the Tailed Beast Ball dissipated, the Eight-Tails let out an extremely furious roar, while the Third Raikage, lightning flashing across his body, charged in once more.
A man and a tailed beast were actually locked in close-quarters combat, fighting purely with their bodies.
In terms of tempering the flesh, the Third Raikage had already surpassed the limits of what ninja understanding could encompass.
"What a monster… that guy," Jiraiya exclaimed sincerely.
"With a Lightning Release armor of that level, it would probably take extremely profound Wind Release to break through his defenses. Compound Wind Release ninjutsu might be even more effective…" Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth.
'His body is tough—so what about his soul? There will always be a way.'
'I'll have a proper talk with the sensei.'
Orochimaru recalled the 'Earth Spear: Full Coverage' Hiruzen had used during their sparring, and pondered inwardly, 'I wonder whether, with the sensei's current body, he could also try training in this Lightning Release body technique?'
'Perhaps that's asking a bit much of the sensei. Even though he's become younger, he's still up there in years.'
Seeing the Third Raikage's formidable strength, Orochimaru grew unconsciously excited.
This shinobi world was not a stagnant pool—heroes were rising everywhere…
Fail to improve, and one would be overtaken by enemies!
Beside him, Danzō narrowed his eyes slightly. The Third Raikage's power was somewhat beyond his expectations.
It also made him feel a sense of alertness regarding the path of training.
Danzō was not weak. In the path of Wind Release, he took pride in believing that even Hiruzen could not compare to him.
Even against the Third Raikage's Lightning Armor, relying on his summoning beasts combined with an enhanced form of Wind Release, he was confident he could inflict damage…
But the problem was that fighting an enemy was not simply a matter of releasing ninjutsu.
How to keep summoning beasts alive, what to do if the enemy closed the distance—these were all factors that had to be considered and gambled on.
'If I want to become Hokage, I can't let my strength slacken… damn that Hiruzen, secretly training on his own!'
'But he's right… when dealing with Kumogakure, merely assassinating the jinchūriki isn't enough. We need to expand the results, just as he said.'
'Those Kumo ninja intelligence officers' memories are the best material for us to analyze the Third Raikage.'
As he retreated, such thoughts surfaced in Danzō's mind, before he abruptly shook his head.
Even if he was to learn the essence of being Hokage…
He couldn't keep agreeing with that guy in his heart. He had to maintain independent thinking!
Danzō warned himself of this.
After the squad stealthily returned to Konoha, the bodies of Blue B and the Cloud ninja leader were sent to the Analysis Division, where Yamanaka clan ninja extracted the intelligence within.
Ten days later.
Konoha, the Hokage Building conference room.
Hiruzen held the materials on Lightning Release body techniques, reading them with rapt attention, as he waited for Orochimaru and the others to arrive.
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