The Third Raikage looked at the crowd, their fighting spirit ablaze, and a smile appeared on his stern face.
At this moment, the "Will of Lightning" of the Cloud Village was embodied in these individuals.
Lightning was ferocious, destructive. Even under the pressure of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Cloud Village had never lost its will to resist.
As the only person in the Cloud Village to have survived Li Anshi's flying daggers, the Third Raikage had the most direct understanding of Li Anshi's terror.
While Li Anshi's current strength was also terrifying, it lacked the "invincibility" of Hashirama Senju, which utterly demoralized opponents. What concerned the Third Raikage was Li Anshi's age. Although enhanced by chakra, making him taller than his peers, Li Anshi's youthful face clearly indicated his young age.
If Li Anshi already possessed such terrifying power now, what if he was given more time to grow? Would he reach a level comparable to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?
The Cloud Village had been suppressed by the First Hokage for over a decade; the Third Raikage didn't want the Cloud Village to be suppressed by another powerhouse in the future. Therefore, even though a lingering fear of Li Anshi remained in his heart, it didn't prevent him from taking a gamble for the future of the Cloud Village.
In the Third Raikage's view, if they could kill Li Anshi, even if half of the Jonin present died in battle, it would be a worthwhile trade. Moreover, the Third Raikage wanted to end Li Anshi in his own generation.
Otherwise, the one to contend with Li Anshi in the future would be his own son. Although his son was talented, the Third Raikage didn't believe his son's ultimate achievements could surpass his own.
If he couldn't kill Li Anshi even with the full strength of the village... then let his child lead the future Cloud Village to live under Konoha's shadow!
Anyway, according to the "Will of Fire" left by Konoha's First Hokage, Konoha Village had almost no intention of unifying the ninja world.
After a period of lurking and developing, waiting for Li Anshi's death, the Cloud ninjas would have their day! The Third Raikage refused to believe that Konoha could produce a powerhouse capable of suppressing the entire ninja world in every era.
"Lord Third, give the order!"
"Good!"
Seeing that everyone in the conference room leaned towards the slogan "The war can be lost, Li Anshi must die," the Third Raikage also stood up. "Since everyone shares this sentiment, then let us prepare a little welcoming gift for our guest!"
"Oh!"
...
"Time's up."
Glancing at the sky, Li Anshi turned his head to look at Raiya Okazaki.
Hearing Li Anshi's words, Raiya Okazaki's whole body trembled. The time for judgment had arrived! After taking a deep breath, Raiya Okazaki formed hand seals.
Poof!
White smoke billowed, and a giant falcon appeared, its wingspan exceeding three meters. Its beak and talons glinted with a metallic luster. The moment it landed, it shattered the stones on the ground.
"Creee—"
After a loud cry with its head held high, the falcon lowered its head, untied a piece of paper from its leg, and held it out to Raiya Okazaki.
Raiya Okazaki unfolded the paper and quickly read its contents. As he had expected, the paper contained only three words.
Let him come!
From these three words, Raiya Okazaki could almost feel Lord Third Raikage's mood when he wrote them. Similarly, the moment he saw these three words, a strong fighting spirit erupted in Raiya Okazaki's heart.
Lifting his head, Raiya Okazaki let out a wild laugh. "Hahahaha... Your Excellency Li, Lord Raikage said, let you come!"
"Indeed, my strength is still too weak."
"I need to become stronger..."
The moment Li Anshi sensed the change in Raiya Okazaki's aura, he had guessed the Cloud Village's reply. In fact, Li Anshi knew that the possibility of him making the Cloud Village directly submit a letter of surrender was less than thirty percent. But even so, he had still chosen to have Raiya Okazaki deliver the message. What if it worked?
But now, judging from the message conveyed from the Cloud Village, they had ultimately chosen to fight him. Perhaps they were already thinking about how to kill him.
Of course, Li Anshi also knew this was related to the strength he had displayed. If he could demonstrate power on the level of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, or the Asura of the ninja world, Madara Uchiha, with a single word, the Cloud Village wouldn't dare not to surrender.
"Heh, Your Excellency Li is too modest. If your strength isn't considered strong, then what are we, who can only fight you with our lives, considered?"
"Heh, if you truly thought I was strong, how could you still dare to resist after receiving my message?"
Raiya Okazaki's mouth twitched. What kind of talk was that? Did Lord Li Anshi think Cloud ninjas were the type to not resist desperately when faced with a strong enemy?
"Your Excellency Li, even if we faced the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, our Cloud Village would not give up resisting!"
Raiya Okazaki's words were not entirely false.
Ten years ago, the entire ninja world was still under the sway of Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi. When they received his letter announcing his intention to convene the first Five Kage Summit, the Cloud Village had already prepared for a life-or-death battle with Konoha.
Although it later turned out their preparations were a misunderstanding, it had to be admitted that once these ninjas had something to defend, they could face death calmly for it.
"The battle between the Cloud Village and Your Excellency Li shall begin with me!"
With that, Raiya Okazaki formed hand seals, and streaks of lightning gathered in his hands.
"Lightning Release—Lightning Fang!"
Standing in front of Raiya Okazaki, a flying dagger had appeared between Li Anshi's fingertips at some unknown point.
However, he didn't throw the dagger in his hand immediately. Instead, he waited until Raiya Okazaki successfully unleashed his ninjutsu, manipulating the lightning-formed hound to attack him, before he shot out the dagger in his hand.
"A decent will. As a sign of respect for your will, I will personally deliver your last testament!"
Raiya Okazaki's lightning hound ultimately failed to reach Li Anshi, dissolving into scattered lightning bolts that scorched black marks onto the ground.
"Tha, thank you..." Raiya Okazaki said to Li Anshi intermittently.
Large amounts of blood foamed from his mouth. After thanking Li Anshi, Raiya Okazaki's body went limp and fell backward.
Before long, the blood flowing from Raiya Okazaki's neck stained the ground a vivid red.