Without sparing a thought for anything else, the Third Raikage immediately entered Lightning Release Chakra Mode and shot out through the window, rushing at full speed toward the source of the Eight-Tails' chakra rampage. However, by the time he arrived, the Eight-Tails had already completely broken free from its seal. Its massive body rolled casually, crushing a large number of buildings into rubble.
"Ah! The Eight-Tails is rampaging! Run!"
"How... how could this happen?"
"Hurry! The Eight-Tails is out of control, report to the Raikage immediately!"
At this moment, Kumo was shrouded in a terrifying gloom. Most people had fallen into a state of sheer panic and chaos. Especially in the area where the Eight-Tails had appeared, the air was filled with a cacophony of screams, cries, and chaotic footsteps, it was like the end of the world. No one knew how many people had been struck down by the Eight-Tails' tails and died instantly.
"Raikage-sama!"
By now, aside from the Third Raikage, many elite ninjas had also arrived one after another. While bowing respectfully, they waited for his orders.
Third Raikage clenched his teeth and immediately gave his command, "All except the Sealing Team will be temporarily led by my Guard Squad. Focus on evacuating the civilians, get everyone as far away as possible! Once they're clear, return to assist!"
"The Sealing Team, keep your distance for now, but stay ready to begin the sealing at any moment!"
"Raikage-sama… you…" One ninja was stunned by this order.
Everyone else was to focus on evacuation, and even the Sealing Team was to stay back, so who would deal with the Eight-Tails? Before the ninja could finish his thought, the Third Raikage had already charged toward the Eight-Tails alone.
"Oh-ho!" From a high vantage point, Shin watched the Third Raikage prepare to take on the Eight-Tails solo, a spark of interest in his eyes.
When he saw the Raikage directly engage the beast in close combat, holding it at bay and preventing it from attacking others, thus buying time for the evacuation, he couldn't help but call him a monster.
To hold his ground in close-quarters combat with a tailed beast, especially the Eight-Tails, who ranks second in strength among them, and not fall behind… this was something nearly unheard of in today's shinobi world.
At least for now, he didn't believe he could pull off something like that.
Of course, if he were to fight a tailed beast, he wouldn't need to go toe-to-toe. He had plenty of other methods at his disposal. Didn't Susanoo work just fine to crush enemies?
Five minutes later, the civilians had finally been evacuated to a relatively safe distance. With lightning speed, the Third Raikage disengaged from the fight. He quickly scanned the surroundings, assessed the situation, and just as the Eight-Tails turned to attack elsewhere, he used the Lightning Body Flicker Technique.
Taking advantage of the brief moment of distraction, he appeared like lightning near one of the beast's tails, and with a lightning-infused hand blade, he sliced the tail clean off.
The Eight-Tails howled in agony, thrashing violently and demolishing yet more buildings. But this strike had thoroughly enraged the beast, causing it to go completely berserk and fight the Third Raikage with everything it had. The battle had entered its most intense phase.
Having enjoyed the spectacle for a bit, Shin used the Flying Thunder God Technique to disappear from the scene. When he reappeared, he was already inside the Raikage's office.
This place, where normally no one would intrude, had now become his personal playground.
He casually flipped through the documents on the desk. Finding nothing of interest, he dispelled the seal on a drawer. Upon opening it, he discovered quite a number of scrolls inside. Glancing out the window and seeing that the battle was still raging, escalating even further now that the Eight-Tails had begun using Tailed Beast Balls, he turned his full attention to examining the scrolls one by one.
When he came across a certain scroll, he grinned.
"Danzō... you really are something. Do you think that even by selling out Konoha's secrets, you're still acting out of devotion to the village? If that's the case, then your Root will be mine. You'll die at the hands of the very Root subordinate you trusted most, at the height of your arrogance, still believing it was Hiruzen's plot all along. And in your final moments, you two can tear each other apart."
After stowing away the scroll sent by Danzō, he lost further interest in reading. After all, the so-called secrets of various villages were worthless in his eyes.
Just as he was about to leave, however, a half-unrolled scroll on the desk caught his attention. He quickly opened it and skimmed its contents, and his pupils involuntarily contracted.
The intel concerned Kiri. That alone wasn't unusual. But the scroll mentioned the recent appearance of a large number of white humanoid creatures infiltrating the village in human form, with unknown intentions. These beings had caused so much trouble that the villagers began calling them "The White Calamity of the Mist."
There was another detail in the scroll that raised alarm: the Third Mizukage had been acting extremely strangely as of late.
"White Zetsu."
Others might not know what these white humanoid monsters were or where they came from. But Shin knew all too well.
This many White Zetsus moving so openly could mean only one thing, Madara was up to something again. And… could it be that the Third Mizukage had already fallen under his control?
Shin was speechless at the thought.
Between Madara and Obito, could they stop tormenting Kiri for once? Still, it looked like he'd have to make a trip there too. One more person wouldn't make a difference. Especially since this involved Madara, he had no choice but to investigate.
Even though he guessed that by this point in time Madara had likely lost most of his combat ability, and that, based on the timeline, his Rinnegan had probably already been transplanted into Nagato, who was now about six years old, he still couldn't be too careless.
So he wasn't afraid of Madara or Black Zetsu at all. But Madara's name carried heavy weight. If Madara was involved, it couldn't be a minor issue.
Unless he went to confirm it personally, he wouldn't feel at ease. Who knew if the butterfly effect he had set in motion might have changed certain events?
Hiruzen and Danzō were just minor nuisances. With constant surveillance on them, they could be dealt with at any time, no surprises would occur.
Madara, on the other hand, was the real threat.
With his course of action decided, he returned to the Konoha Research Institute. After handing over a piece of the Eight-Tails to Orochimaru, he began preparing follow-up arrangements.
His goal was simple: ensure that while he was away, Hiruzen and Danzō wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble. In fact, he intended for Hiruzen's reputation to continue deteriorating.
---
In the Hokage's office, facing Sakumo standing across the desk, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he'd one day have to rely heavily on this man.
Sakumo was too heavily influenced by his clan and couldn't be brainwashed by the Will of Fire. His strong sense of individuality made him difficult to manipulate.
He had never liked people like that. But he had no choice, this guy was just that strong.
So despite his dislike, he didn't show a trace of it. Instead, his face was full of praise as he said, "You've worked hard on your missions lately."