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A day later.
Tsunade had already led her 'Shadow Guard' to the rear camp, located within the Land of Fire, which served as a logistical transfer point for the front lines in the Land of Hot Water.
At this moment, she held a pair of dark-tinted glasses in her hand, looking at the young man in front of her with some surprise:
"Can this thing be useful?"
"My current condition…"
Tsunade's tone seemed to carry a hint of hesitation, as she looked at him with uncertainty.
Sawara Kiri, however, spoke with a relaxed tone: "Whether it's useful or not, you'll know once you try it, Lady Tsunade."
Although the Ninja World had achieved peak physiological medicine due to the impetus of war, this extreme medical environment also led to most of the Ninja's psychological problems being ignored.
Even Tsunade's hemophobia was dragged on for decades in the original timeline, only finally improving when Uzumaki Naruto selflessly shielded her.
Sawara Kiri himself couldn't say whether Ashura Chakra played a role in this.
But the simplest method was right in front of them.
Red-green colorblind glasses.
Sawara Kiri looked at Tsunade, his tone very relaxed: "What's more, our goal this time is to stop the Third Raikage."
"Could it be that Lady Tsunade intends to just watch from the rear?"
"I…"
Tsunade looked at the glasses in her hand, and when she heard the Third Raikage's name, her body involuntarily trembled.
She seemed to suddenly recall that previous battle.
Kato Dan was easily split in two by that blazing lightning, his blood staining the battlefield.
The feeling of powerlessness at that time…
Tsunade secretly gritted her teeth, seemingly struggling, and finally said with some dejection:
"What use would it be if I went up there?"
"I can't…"
The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Sawara Kiri suddenly grasp her hand, and under Tsunade's stunned gaze, he smoothly took the glasses from her hand and put them on her eyes.
Sawara Kiri stretched out his arms, his voice as calm and warm as ever:
"I didn't ask if you could."
"I'm asking if you want to?"
"As for whether we can actually defeat that guy… isn't I still here?"
Amidst the young man's calm words, the dark-tinted glasses were firmly fixed on Lady Tsunade's ears.
All the colors in front of her seemed to be covered by a thin mist.
Only Kiri's voice could still penetrate her heart.
For some reason, looking at this young man, who had grown half a head taller than her at some point, Tsunade felt an inexplicable sense of security.
Just as she had told Orochimaru.
It seemed that as long as he appeared before her, everything would fall into place.
"You brat…"
Tsunade muttered in a low voice, as if somewhat unwilling.
Sawara Kiri, however, smiled gently, completely disregarding her small inner struggle.
Regardless of whether it would succeed, he had to try.
What if it did work?
Speaking of which, he looked at Tsunade wearing the dark-tinted glasses and nodded with an unintentional smile.
She had a bit of that Kizaru vibe, Tsunade-style.
Just then, a Ninja suddenly rushed into the tent from outside, shouting:
"Lady Tsunade—"
The moment he entered, the Ninja's gaze froze, staring in astonishment at Sawara Kiri, who seemed to be half-embracing Lady Tsunade while putting on her glasses.
He suddenly felt like he was about to be silenced.
Noticing the expression on his face, Tsunade immediately reacted, pushing Sawara Kiri, who was in front of her, away and quickly said:
"What is it?"
The Ninja then immediately remembered the urgent military situation and quickly reported:
"The ambush plan at Untamed Hot Spring Valley, ordered by Homura Mitokado, has completely failed!"
"That important Anbu figure who went directly to the front line suffered heavy losses while trying to intercept the Raikage, and the barrier was also breached by an unknown small army, with hundreds of troops carrying out the ambush mission now scattering towards the rear!"
"Upon receiving the order, Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato from the front have already rushed towards the Third Raikage's direction!"
"Now, now the forces led by the Third Raikage seem to be preparing to move towards our logistics center!"
The moment she heard this order, Tsunade's eyes widened sharply, and when her seemingly fair fists clenched, a dull 'thud' even exploded in the air.
"Homura Mitokado!"
"That good-for-nothing scoundrel!"
Although Tsunade had already realized the seriousness of the problem when she learned that Homura Mitokado had ordered an opening to be made at the front-line pass to lure the Third Raikage into an ambush, and she immediately rushed to the front line with Sawara Kiri and others.
However, no matter how fast they rushed, they still couldn't keep up with the speed of the plan's failure and the front-line army's retreat.
Sawara Kiri's expression also immediately cooled down a few degrees.
Konoha's vast legacy, how it declined from the leading Ninja Village during the Second Hokage's era to needing to hand over the body of the Hyuga Branch Family Head to Kumogakure after the Third Great Ninja War… From this series of internal conflicts now, one can see the clues.
Without waiting for the Ninja to say anything more, Tsunade, wearing dark-tinted glasses, immediately turned her head and ordered Sawara Kiri:
"Kiri! Gather the others, prepare to depart!"
"Yes."
"Whoosh—"
Shimura Danzo's figure swiftly streaked through the air.
Behind him followed several emotionless Root Ninja serving as guards, his intact left hand covering the severed right arm at his shoulder, his face incredibly ferocious.
How could this be?
How could things turn out like this?!
How could the incredibly powerful Wood Release not even control the Third Raikage's first tail?
Recalling the scenes that had just unfolded, Shimura Danzo felt as if he had experienced a painful nightmare, one that not only shattered his hope of returning to the Konoha Advisor Group through military achievements but also left an extremely deep shadow on his combat career.
His taijutsu couldn't keep up.
Wind Release was ineffective.
The Baku's Wind Release: Suction Technique was cut in half by the Third Raikage's hand blade the moment it was released.
The Wood Release, on which he had placed high hopes, couldn't grasp the opponent's shadow at all; all the Roots he shot out were brutally shattered like biscuits by him.
Even a powerful ultimate technique like Advent of a World of Flowering Trees couldn't absorb their Chakra if it couldn't make contact with the enemy.
Until the very end, even his ultimate Wood Release: Advent of a World of Suffering was swiftly dodged by the Third Raikage an instant before it was about to touch him.
How could things have turned out this way?!
Shimura Danzo felt that everything that happened today was so absurd.
That was the power of the invincible Senju Hashirama!
Could it be that even Senju Hashirama, who was known as the God of Shinobi back then, couldn't defeat the current Third Raikage?
How could such a thing be possible?!
Even his arm was severed…
After losing his greatest trump card, he didn't even care about the army he had brought with him to form the ambush circle, rushing directly out of the barrier and beginning a strategic retreat towards the rear.
Run away!
He no longer cared about their casualties.
However, Shimura Danzo still felt immense regret.
It was both because he had missed this opportunity and because he had lost that arm, which had taken a long time to adapt to.
As for the Konoha Ninja he used to cover his retreat, they didn't leave much of a mark in his mind.
On the battlefield, victory and defeat are inevitable.
Although this plan failed and many lives were sacrificed, their sacrifices were all worthwhile.
Now, he must rush to the rear and, as the overall commander, organize the second wave of the Raikage interception line, absolutely not allowing him to continue breaking through Konoha's rear defenses.
All of this was for Konoha!
Shimura Danzo firmly believed that at this moment, only by preserving his useful body could he preserve more of Konoha's vitality.
Only when he could no longer sense any pursuers behind him did he finally land and stop.
At this moment, the Konoha Ninja following him were only the command staff who had remained outside.
Even with only these few people, Shimura Danzo wanted them to play their biggest role and quickly ordered:
"Communication Department, immediately establish a communication channel with the rear supply center and order them to organize a second line of defense!"
"Now the troops led by the Third Raikage are moving towards us, we must—"
"You bastard!"
However, his words were only halfway out when they were interrupted by a staff Ninja, who was too enraged to control himself.
Shimura Danzo's sharp gaze swept over, and he found that it was a somewhat familiar figure.
It was precisely the civilian staff member who had bravely tried to dissuade him before the plan began.
At this moment, the other party completely disregarded the difference in status, his eyes red as he roared loudly:
"Wasn't it you who led them in this direction while escaping!?"
"And that unreliable ambush plan, it was actually forced through! You bastard, have you ever thought about what kind of losses the rear would suffer if it failed?!"
"Do you know how many people the pass's defense force sacrificed to hold out until today?!"
"Don't pull me!"
"—All of this is your responsibility!"
He violently broke free from the pulling of several staff members behind him and stretched out his arm, looking at Shimura Danzo.
He was clearly only a Chunin, yet he did something that many Jonin wouldn't dare to do.
When Shimura Danzo heard the last part, his face suddenly distorted a few degrees, and his remaining left arm whistled as it swung in a half-circle, heavily striking the Konoha Ninja's face, sending him flying several meters away, roaring like thunder:
"Idiot!"
"A mere staff member, what do you know about sacrifice?"
"All of this is for Konoha's grand plan!"
"A mere Chunin dares to shout at this old man—"
Shimura Danzo's eyes were wide, veins bulging on his forehead, his left hand clenched as he loudly cursed, as if to vent all the anger ignited by these incredible events onto the staff member opposite him.
His plan was clearly flawless!
How dare this idiot criticize him?
Just as he was angrily about to order several Root members to execute this ignorant idiot, he heard a Yamanaka Ninja from the communication department suddenly form a hand seal, as if receiving something.
His originally ashen face suddenly brightened.
"Reinforcements are coming soon!"
In the lush forest, there were broken Konoha Ninja corpses everywhere.
The Third Raikage, leading the Cloud Ninja behind him, walked through these dense corpses and officially stepped onto the Land of Fire Country.
Thinking of the comical scene just now, even he couldn't help but chuckle.
He had originally been on high alert, ready to simultaneously confront the two formidable enemies, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Sawara Kiri, but Konoha had given him a small surprise.
"Even the rumored Wood Release can be wielded like this by that idiot."
"It's as if he hasn't been on a battlefield for how many years."
"If a mere one or two powerful Ninjutsu could change the situation on the battlefield, then Ōnoki, who mastered the unstoppable Dust Release, should be the strongest in the Ninja World…"
"Ha."
"That idiot."
The Third Raikage weighed the pale arm in his hand, then casually handed it to a Cloud Ninja behind him, instructing: "Take it back and let the research department experiment with it."
"It's Wood Release power, after all."
"Yes."
The Cloud Ninja immediately agreed.
The Third Raikage, however, continued to look forward.
At this moment, he suddenly had some realization.
Had he been fighting a hypothetical battle with air all this time?
Sarutobi Hiruzen, after using that Jutsu, might have already died suddenly, right?
As for Sawara Kiri, for some unknown reason, he had never appeared, always staying in the Village… Perhaps it was due to internal strife, or some problem with his Jutsu, or maybe he simply contracted some incurable disease.
It was entirely predictable for someone so young with such power to experience premature aging, either from over-developing their Kekkei Genkai or overusing their body.
So much so that Konoha even had to throw someone like Shimura Danzo, who had almost completely forgotten his combat instincts, onto the battlefield as a trump card.
Thinking of this, the Third Raikage even found it somewhat amusing.
"If that's the case, then let's try it."
"Directly break through Konoha's front-line logistics center in one go."
"If no one comes out even then, it means there must be a big problem within Konoha."
"Heh."
The Third Raikage thought to himself, the bloody smile on his face growing even stronger.
However, as he was thinking.
His body seemed to instinctively sense something, and he suddenly took a step back.
"Wind Release: White Fang!"
The next moment, a blazing gale, carrying a silver chain that arced through the air, swept across from a great distance.
It passed almost brushing the step the Third Raikage had taken back, directly leaving a gully that cut through dozens of meters in front of him.
"Buzz—!"
Several Cloud Ninja who stood in the path of this blade light were split in two almost without realizing it, falling to the ground in two pieces with a thud.
The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes, looking at the man he had encountered several times on the front lines.
Hatake Sakumo stood before him, and beside him was a half-grown young man with golden, medium-length hair, holding a three-pronged Kunai reversed in his hands, his gaze fixed on the Third Raikage's formidable physique.
"We meet again, Konoha White Fang."
The Third Raikage uttered the other party's title indifferently, his expression cold: "This old man didn't actively seek your life, yet you delivered yourself to my doorstep."
"And brought a young one with you."
Hatake Sakumo, however, had an unusually cold expression, a faint arc of Chakra appearing on the surface of his blade:
"Is that so, Raikage-sama."
"Then perhaps you should try first, whether you can take my life."
The Third Raikage's gaze deepened, but then he suddenly smiled and calmly ordered his rear forces: "You all proceed according to the original plan."
"I will deal with the two of them alone."
"Yes!"
Upon receiving the order, the Cloud Ninja hesitated little, immediately bypassing the direct battlefield and scattering towards the rear.
However, both Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato were seasoned Ninja.
They knew their limits.
Just stopping the Third Raikage alone was already quite taxing for them.
The Third Raikage naturally knew this as well.
And the most brilliant part was precisely this.
In previous battles on the front lines, because the battlefield was in the Land of Hot Water, whether to fight or flee, it was very flexible for the Konoha Ninja, and Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato were both extremely standard high-speed Ninja.
Even with the Third Raikage's speed, he couldn't guarantee he could take them out in one go.
At the same time, this reinforced Lightning Release Armor he wore was actually developed with the intention of countering Hatake Sakumo.
This man, known as 'White Fang,' was most skilled in Wind Release Ninjutsu.
In previous battles, although he hadn't suffered any actual injuries, his Lightning Release Armor had been cut open several times by the opponent's White Fang short blade.
If he were to advance even further beyond that level, then even the Third Raikage couldn't guarantee his own safety.
Therefore, the Third Raikage's apprehension towards Hatake Sakumo was extremely deep.
Now that there was an opportunity where the opponent absolutely couldn't retreat, the Third Raikage naturally wanted to maximize this battlefield advantage.
"Today, I will break you here!"
"Konoha White Fang!"
The moment the words fell.
The figures of the three abruptly vanished from the forest.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr