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"Kiri!"
The moment they saw him, both Namikaze Minato and Hatake Sakumo couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, their eyes brimming with delight.
After the battle they just had with the Third Raikage, they both thought they were going to die there.
What worried them most wasn't even their own lives, but the catastrophic consequences if the Third Raikage, with his strength, were to suddenly push into the rear.
But now, Sawara Kiri, who had been confined to the Village for a long time for unknown reasons, appeared here.
This immediately ignited a spark of hope in their hearts.
As long as Kiri was here, he would surely be able to force the Third Raikage to retreat!
After experiencing the Sunagakure battle together, both Namikaze Minato and Hatake Sakumo held such confidence in this guy.
"My apologies, my apologies."
Sawara Kiri seemed quite apologetic, pressing his palms together: "I could have arrived earlier, but I ran into a small Kumogakure unit on the way and just dealt with them before coming."
"Sakumo-sensei, are your injuries alright?"
It wasn't until he heard this that Hatake Sakumo suddenly reacted.
He looked down and saw that his Konoha Jonin vest and the steel mesh armor underneath had been torn open by the Third Raikage's claw at some point, leaving a huge wound resembling a giant claw mark, constantly oozing blood.
He could even faintly feel a slight scorching sensation from within the wound.
Clearly, if Sawara Kiri had been even half a second later, his entire body would have been shredded by that claw.
However, Hatake Sakumo didn't pay any attention to this minor mark on his body at the moment, instead looking towards the direction the Third Raikage had been sent flying, and said with a grave expression:
"My minor injury is fine, let's quickly deal with the Third Raikage."
"Don't underestimate him."
"After his Tailed Beast transformation, his body is capable of super-regeneration; even if his bones are broken, they will likely recover very quickly."
Sawara Kiri, however, didn't seem too worried about this.
He turned to look at the figure that had been sent flying who knows how many meters away by his kick, and waved his hand casually:
"Just leave that guy to me."
"Lady Tsunade will be here soon, Sakumo-sensei, you should stop your bleeding first; it'll be easier for her to heal you that way."
Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo was stunned, as if he understood the meaning in the young man's words, and said in surprise:
"You're going to deal with that guy alone?"
"Relax."
Sawara Kiri's deep blue eyes narrowed slightly, curving into a reassuring smile.
At this moment, he had enough confidence in himself.
"I am the strongest."
"At least for now, I should be."
Listening to his arrogant tone, Hatake Sakumo stared at him blankly.
At some point, the young man who once needed him and Tsunade to protect him from behind had seemingly grown at a speed they could not imagine, reaching a realm they could not even grasp.
So much so that, the moment he said this, Hatake Sakumo was somewhat stunned, but he had no reason to challenge him at all.
Instead, Namikaze Minato was looking at him with a very serious gaze.
Although it was only a slight detail, he had keenly noticed it.
Kiri seemed much stronger than he was back in Sunagakure.
The spatial ripples constantly accompanying his body now were on a completely different level than before, even appearing incredibly natural.
Just then, the fully armored Tsunade also arrived from the distant forest, appearing before the group.
When she saw the wounds on Hatake Sakumo's body, even with her dark glasses on, Tsunade's facial expression visibly stiffened for a moment.
However, it must be said that after not being able to see the color, her reaction was slightly better than the previous instances of her hands and feet going limp all at once.
At this moment, she quickly moved to Hatake Sakumo's side, leaving no room for debate, and said:
"Sit down, I'll treat you first."
Hatake Sakumo was startled by her words; he naturally knew about Tsunade's condition.
However, after hearing her words, he still sat down where he was.
"Alright."
Tsunade looked at the wounds, fine beads of sweat secreting on her forehead, but she still suppressed the soreness in her hands and feet, striving to control the Chakra within her body, and a faint glow of Yang Release Chakra bloomed from her palms.
Sawara Kiri glanced behind him, seemingly revealing a somewhat relieved smile.
Just then.
From the distant pit, there suddenly came a series of crisp tearing sounds, as if some giant beast was pushing aside broken giant trees from deep within the forest, walking towards their direction.
Sawara Kiri's gaze gradually became focused, his Six Eyes quietly observing the direction from which the sound came.
Namikaze Minato, with his nerves highly tensed, immediately adopted a fighting stance.
The sound arrived before the person.
Almost the instant he sensed Sawara Kiri's Chakra, a series of deafening laughs erupted from within the dense forest.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Sa! Ha! Ra! Kiri!"
From the Third Raikage's chest, roars like those of a wild beast erupted.
"This old man has finally waited for you."
His dark and robust body slowly emerged from the dense forest, his gaze as sharp as an axe, staring directly at the young man's figure.
As he walked, he crunched and distorted his newly healed neck, and the surface of his body, under the intensely surging emotions, pulsed with faint traces of lightning.
Every step he took forward felt like a heavy stomp on one's heart.
On the Third Raikage's distorted face was a sinister smile, but his gaze cautiously swept over the figures present, his expression growing increasingly disdainful:
"It seems that old man Sarutobi Hiruzen is indeed dead, isn't he?"
"These constant stream of small fries sent to this old man are truly making me agitated beyond belief!"
"Snap!"
The last sound of a dislocated neck bone rang out.
His neck was finally completely healed.
Tsunade, who had just finished her treatment, felt her hands and feet involuntarily soften a bit the moment she saw the opponent, even though she saw no blood.
The deep shadow the Third Raikage had left on her was already deeply etched into her heart.
Kato Dan's death, Ando Daizan's death, all were so tragic and bloody.
Even just making a fist was so difficult.
However, Sawara Kiri stood there quietly, without the slightest waver, even having the leisure to joke with him:
"What? You're already impatient to die at this age?"
"Raikage-sama."
"If that's the case, I don't mind sending you on your way sooner."
"Hmph."
The Chakra floating on the Third Raikage's body became increasingly intense, gradually transforming from the previous lightning glow into a complete, thin cloak of Tailed Beast Chakra, his expression ferocious:
"It seems you still haven't realized, Sawara Kiri."
"What kind of power this old man wields now!"
Almost the instant his words fell, his figure suddenly pierced through dozens of meters at an extreme speed, far exceeding that of Lightning Release Chakra Mode, aiming directly at Sawara Kiri.
"Buzz——!"
As his heavy punch swung out, the surrounding air seemed to tremble faintly.
However, Sawara Kiri still stood there, motionless.
The violent airflow spreading outwards suddenly formed a large, spreading gust of wind behind him, radiating from his figure as the focal point, tearing apart all the loose stones and weeds on the ground.
Only the fist in front of Sawara Kiri stopped one inch from him.
No matter how much force was applied, it could not advance another step.
Sawara Kiri's expression remained calm as he spoke: "Raikage-sama, you should have already gathered quite a bit of information about me."
"You should know, right?"
As he spoke, he slowly extended his hand, his palm meeting the fist that had stopped before his eyes:
"The distance between us..."
"Is Limitless."
Looking at his extremely contemptuous posture, the veins on the Third Raikage's forehead suddenly bulged, but the sinister smile on his lips distorted even more, and he roared:
"So what!"
Almost the instant his voice fell, the Tailed Beast Chakra enveloping the surface of the Third Raikage's fist instantly surged several times more intensely than the previous moment, swelling like a balloon.
Under this blazing fury, heavy punches rained down rapidly like raindrops.
"Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom——!"
"Ora ora ora ora——!"
His speed was so fast that his trajectory was completely invisible;
His arms seemed to have increased by an unknown number in an instant;
His power was so terrifying that even the aftershocks alone were enough to stir up a sand-sweeping storm behind Sawara Kiri.
However, it was all useless!
"Slap! Slap!"
Very abruptly, Sawara Kiri suddenly extended both hands, tightly gripping the Third Raikage's two arms, causing the expression on his dark face to freeze.
The next moment, the young man suddenly took a step forward, and a meteor-like knee strike, wrapped in pure and extreme violence, slammed into his abdomen.
This extremely short-distance acceleration, however, erupted with a terrifying force that seemed capable of piercing through mountains.
Whether it was the outermost Tailed Beast Chakra cloak or the Lightning Release Chakra armor on his body, under this ultimate blow, they all shattered.
Pure violence alone carved out a vacuum gap on this body, which could be called absolute defense.
The Third Raikage's figure suddenly bulged backward, as if his entire abdominal muscle, along with his internal organs and even his spine, had been carved out into a huge concave shape, his nearly three-hundred-pound body was forcibly lifted into mid-air, emitting a muffled thud like a drumbeat.
"Thud——!"
Sawara Kiri's right foot landed as a pivot, his left foot suddenly lifted, relying on his excellent flexibility and explosive power, swinging out a whip-like arc in mid-air, transforming into a shadow breaking through the air, striking the Third Raikage's face.
The enormous impact caused him to roll and land on the ground, the Tailed Beast Chakra on his body continuously floating and repairing the internal damage.
But he seemed completely unable to feel pain, landing on all fours and pouncing towards Sawara Kiri's direction at an extremely fast speed, like a true wild beast, his eyes even faintly glowing crimson.
The dark red figure shuttled back and forth across these dozens of meters, appearing to others as a continuous crimson streak, enveloping everyone like a net.
It was only at this moment that Namikaze Minato suddenly realized that the Third Raikage was indeed toying with them like mice, just as he had said before.
However, the same scene, when applied to Sawara Kiri, the situation was exactly reversed.
Sawara Kiri, who had stood in place from the very beginning, hadn't moved a single step, remaining quietly in his original position the entire time.
However, no matter from what direction the Tailed Beast-transformed Third Raikage charged with his uncatchable speed, he could easily intercept him.
Not just by relying on Limitless.
Observing Sawara Kiri's gaze and subtle body movements, Namikaze Minato could even feel that Kiri-kun truly could discern the Third Raikage's every change in direction.
That monstrously terrifying existence, in front of him, was like a soccer ball being kicked back and forth against a wall, posing no threat whatsoever.
Seemingly noticing this as well, the Third Raikage's tail suddenly increased by one more, and his speed and strength seemed to rise to another level.
At the same time, the moment he was about to charge in front of Sawara Kiri, his figure suddenly bent along the ground.
He abruptly lunged towards Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade on one side.
First, clear out the weeds!
"Whoosh——!"
The fierce wind and the figure moving too fast for the naked eye to catch seemed to instantly rob Tsunade, who was barely resisting her hemophobia, of her sanity; she merely followed her body's instinct, subconsciously wanting to throw a punch forward.
However, just as the crimson giant claw was about to touch her body, the young man's slender figure suddenly shot out from nowhere, kicking him violently from the ground into mid-air.
"Hey."
Sawara Kiri said in a low voice: "Where do you think you're going?"
Tsunade's previously trembling body suddenly stiffened, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
Sawara Kiri's name was like a shield protecting her fragile mental state.
It was as if she had suddenly returned to that day before.
Also being protected by him from behind.
But then, Tsunade seemed to suddenly awaken from that calm and protective dream, and what filled her heart was a strong sense of anger and humiliation.
Again.
Blood, death, battle?
What exactly was she afraid of?
Almost the instant she thought of this, completely out of instinct, or perhaps without even having time to think, she simply took a step, supported by her already fierce and unyielding personality, as if she had forgotten even the hemophobia rooted in her mind.
She suddenly shot out from under Sawara Kiri's protection, flying towards the dark red target floating in mid-air in front of her.
Punching.
The massive amount of Yang Release Chakra inherent to the Senju, and the exquisitely precise Monstrous Strength, erupted from her fist at this moment.
Pointing directly at that dark red figure.
"Bang!!"
A punch capable of shattering even Susanoo's armor hit its target dead on.
The Third Raikage, floating in mid-air, seemed to be stunned for a moment, and even Sawara Kiri, who had been blocking her, didn't react.
Under this punch, the robust figure spun and flew out.
Plummeting to the ground, scraping a mark that spanned dozens of meters.
"You bastard!"
A violent and blunt curse, as always, rang in his ears.
Even Sawara Kiri was somewhat surprised.
Tsunade stood there, her golden hair fluttering in the air behind her, but her eyes were somewhat moist at some point, remembering something at this moment, her furious voice even faintly trembling:
"I've wanted to punch you for a long time."
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