The massive figure of the Third Raikage, Ai, suddenly appeared in the desert.
Rasa, standing on his golden sand cloud, was startled.
"Third Raikage… how could you—"
Before he could finish, a bolt of lightning tore through the night sky.
Ai moved at lightning speed and appeared right in front of Rasa in an instant.
Luckily, Rasa wasn't weak, he reacted quickly.
He manipulated the golden sand beneath him into a shield to block the strike.
"Three-Finger Thrust!"
Ai's hand, like a spear, pierced through the thick gold sand with ease.
The golden shield, thought to be unbreakable, was shattered by Ai's attack.
Still, it bought Rasa just enough time to use the Body Flicker Technique and escape to the desert floor.
To protect himself, he summoned a massive wave of gold sand from the ground to form a new defense.
There was no choice, Ai's speed was terrifying, and his power even more so.
If Rasa didn't slow him down with the gold sand, he could be taken out in a single hit.
"Why is the Third Raikage here…?"
Rasa still couldn't understand.
No matter what, Konoha and Simu were now the greatest threats in the ninja world.
So why would Kumogakure help them?
"…No. You're not the real Third Raikage!"
Rasa suddenly understood.
He remembered the Third Raikage's defeat at the Fire Daimyo's mansion, this must be a reanimated body.
"So, you noticed? What a pain," said the Third Raikage, still speaking in his original voice.
Rasa's face darkened.
That earlier attack had real power, whoever was controlling this body could still use much of the Raikage's strength.
"I don't know who you are," Rasa said coldly,
"but you came here to take our Jinchūriki? You're clearly underestimating Sunagakure."
After all, the Sand Village was still one of the Five Great Nations.
More and more Sand Shinobi began to pour out of the village to defend it.
But they had barely reached the battlefield before being met with a barrage of laser blasts from over a dozen pacifists.
Rasa looked at the hulking metal giants, his expression turning dark.
If this continued, morale would collapse.
So he made his move.
A wave of golden sand surged from the desert, forming a massive tsunami aimed at crushing the pacifists.
But in the very next moment, thousands of enormous trees erupted from the ground, blocking the sand completely.
Standing at the front were two Wood Style users: Obito and Tenzo.
"Wood Style ninja?!"
Rasa muttered, his voice trembling. "It seems Konoha has truly mastered how to create Wood Style users,"
Simu said calmly, speaking through the body of the Third Raikage.
"Fourth Kazekage… Sunagakure is no longer what it once was. You've suffered three crushing defeats against Konoha."
"Now, your forces are less than one-third of their peak. And most of your current ninjas were promoted only recently, their strength is far below the veterans of the past."
Rasa's face darkened. It felt like Simu had ripped open his deepest wounds.
"You Konoha bastards, die!!"
He shouted, sending another furious wave of golden sand surging forward.
But once again, the Third Raikage blocked his attacks with ease.
The strongest spear was not just a title, it was real power.
Meanwhile, the Sand Shinobi reinforcements had reached the battlefield, only to be stopped by the special team.
After surviving the pacifists' laser barrage, they faced an endless forest of giant trees.
If they somehow made it through the trees, they were immediately met by a storm of powerful ninjutsu.
Scorch Style. Magnet Style. Gentle Fist. Ice Release... and more.
Many of these Sand Shinobi had never seen so many Kekkei Genkai users gathered in one place.
Uzumaki Tanjiro, a medical ninja from the Uzumaki clan, moved swiftly across the battlefield, healing his teammates nonstop.
Meanwhile, Banpuku the One-Tail Jinchūriki had already been taken deep into the desert.
Rasa felt deep sorrow.
But under the relentless attacks from Third Raikage Ai, he was completely powerless.
And then, something even worse happened
Hanzō of the Salamander appeared.
"This... this can't be..." Rasa muttered in disbelief.
Controlling the strongest Raikage in history was already unbelievable.
But now even Hanzō, the man once known as a demigod, was under Konoha's control?
Yet, it was real.
To crush Sunagakure quickly and weaken the ninja alliance before the war truly began, Simu had sent out two powerful clones.
Back in Konoha, there were still heavyweights like Jiraiya, Tsunade, Uchiha Madara's clone, and Simu's true body, plus six tailed beasts.
With that lineup, there was little to worry about.
Right now, in the ninja world, only a group like Orochimaru, Jigen, and the Fourth Raikage appearing together could possibly challenge Simu.
Once Hanzō joined the battle, the tide turned completely.
Toxic gas spread wildly across the field.
Rasa had no choice but to use Wind Style to blow away the poison, while also trying to block the Third Raikage's fierce assaults with waves of golden sand.
At the same time, Hanzō of the Salamander showed off his terrifying speed
Rasa was in a terrible situation.
Eventually, Third Raikage Ai saw an opening.
With a single thrust of his finger, he pierced through Rasa's golden sand defense.
The sand shattered instantly.
Rasa rolled to the side in desperation
But Hanzō was already waiting.
With a flash of the Body Flicker Technique, he appeared in front of Rasa and struck.
Just like that
After the strongest Third Kazekage, the Fourth Kazekage also fell… at the hands of Konoha.
Seeing their Kazekage die, the morale of the Sand Shinobi crumbled on the spot.
In the past, Sunagakure's forces might have still charged forward with courage.
But those strong ninja were long gone.
Now, fear took over.
As Sunagakure fell into chaos, Kakashi quickly ordered the special ops team to retreat.
Under the cover of night, the Konoha forces left silently, bringing back both Rasa's body and the One-Tail Jinchūriki.
With this, Konoha now possessed eight tailed beasts.
This marked Konoha's strongest moment since Hashirama once distributed the tailed beasts among the other villages.
Only the Eight Tails remained.
But Simu wasn't worried.
He was certain that in the upcoming great war, Kumogakure would never let go of such a powerful asset like the Eight Tails.
The news spread like wildfire
Sunagakure was attacked, One-Tail captured, and the Fourth Kazekage killed.
The entire ninja world was shaken.
Ohnoki felt completely helpless.
Iwagakure and Sunagakure were still supposed to be allies…
But now, just before launching a big counterattack, Rasa was gone?
If Rasa had simply fallen in battle, that was one thing
They could still choose a new Kazekage to lead Sunagakure.
But the problem was, Sunagakure had no one left.
Most of their famous ninjas had already died in the recent wars.
If it weren't for Chiyo still holding things together, Sunagakure might have surrendered already.
With no better option, Grandma Chiyo was forced to push her young grandson, the teenage Sasori, onto the stage as the new Kazekage.
But both Ohnoki and Fourth Raikage Ai doubted Sasori's strength.
By now, Ohnoki was both physically and mentally exhausted.
Facing Konoha's current power, there was little hope of victory with just the combined strength of Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
"Lord Tsuchikage"
"The envoy from Kumogakure is requesting an audience."
"…Let them in," Ohnoki replied tiredly.
Soon, the envoys from Kumogakure entered the room.
The envoys didn't waste time and got straight to the point:
"Tsuchikage-sama, Lord Raikage asks you to gather Iwagakure's forces at the border of the Land of Iron. He has found a new ally. Also, Lord Raikage requests that you come to Kumogakure immediately for a strategy meeting."
Ohnoki frowned.
"New ally?"
With the entire ninja world on the verge of being unified by Konoha, what possible ally could still make a difference?
"Tsuchikage-sama," one envoy continued
"do you remember when Konoha was attacked by those white creatures?"
Ohnoki's eyes narrowed. He remembered.
"You mean... the people behind that attack are joining us to fight Konoha?"
"That's right."
"In that case," Ohnoki said decisively, "I'll leave right away."
He knew that if Iwa and Kumo stood alone, they would only end up being conquered by the Konoha Kingdom.
"Tsuchikage-sama, to save time, we will use the Heavenly Transfer Technique to take you there quickly!"
Ohnoki hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
After all, the news of Rasa's assassination had just reached him.
If he traveled to Kumogakure on his own, there was a real risk of being ambushed, especially since that boy Simu had strange and unpredictable abilities.
The three men in front of him had already proven they were from Kumogakure.
At such a critical time, Ohnoki didn't believe the Fourth Raikage would turn on Iwagakure.
As the three surrounded him, they activated the Heavenly Transfer Technique.
In the blink of an eye, all four disappeared.
When Ohnoki opened his eyes again, he was already inside Kumogakure.
Standing there, along with the Fourth Raikage, were two unexpected guests:
Orochimaru and Jigen.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED