Why Are You All Fighting to the Death?

"Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite!"

Blinding lightning pierced the rain curtain, crossing dozens of meters in an instant.

Yet, in the moment before he could impale Tsunade, a burst of smoke abruptly erupted, swallowing the Third Raikage whole.

With a heavy thud, he felt his body plunge into a gelatinous, sticky substance, the Lightning Release Chakra enveloping him steadily eroded by a highly corrosive fluid.

What appeared before everyone was a colossal blue-white slug, over thirty meters tall, nearly covering the entire forest clearing.

Tsunade, her body covered in the Strength of a Hundred Seal, crouched atop its head and called out loudly:

"Lord Katsuyu!"

"Please, seal this guy as best you can."

"Hmm..."

From beneath her, the monstrous creature—unfathomably massive—let out an unexpectedly gentle, feminine voice, tinged with a hint of helplessness:

"Lord Tsunade, I might not be able to hold him for long."

"Boom—"

The moment the words fell, the lightning-wreathed figure burst out from the other side of its body.

Acidic chakra still clung to the surface of the Lightning Release Armor, wrapped in rising acid mist that hissed faintly with a 'sizzle sizzle sizzle.'

But this minor issue did nothing to hinder the Third Raikage's speed.

The only saving grace was that Kime Kunou's large-scale Earth Release had already been completed.

Almost as soon as he emerged from Lord Katsuyu's body, the Third Raikage found himself plummeting into a tens-of-meters-deep pit, like an abyss.

A dull 'boom' echoed as he landed.

"Damn it!"

Tsunade had no time to say more, sprinting directly across Lord Katsuyu's surface toward the Third Raikage.

Yet, one figure moved even faster than her.

"Whoosh—"

Ando Ooyama, a scroll clenched in his mouth, dashed toward the stone wall with blinding speed, drawing the twin blades at his waist.

Few knew that his speed was the fastest in all of Tsunade's Team.

"Leaf Style: Willow!"

A genjutsu woven from the gleam of his blade appeared before the Third Raikage's eyes, but he merely smirked in disdain.

A single 'crackle' of lightning flickered across his wild, flowing hair, shattering the visual genjutsu completely.

Then, like a rampaging beast, he charged straight ahead.

"Boom!"

Gravel burst beneath his feet.

Ando Ooyama merely narrowed his eyes, sidestepping and swinging his blades with the momentum.

A sharp 'crackle' of lightning scorching the air rang past his ear, and a thick, dark arm brushed by his cheek, carrying a faint sting.

Wind howled as both longswords struck the man's broad chest in near-unison, his body carried forward by inertia.

"Squeak—"

The Wind Release Chakra-coated blades cut through flesh, yet only a sound like metal clashing rang out, and two sparks mingled with lightning quickly faded.

Tougher than I imagined?

Before he could dwell on it, another sweeping arm came down like an axe from above.

"Boom!"

The moment he dodged, it struck the ground, carving a gash several meters long.

"Impressive speed!"

The Third Raikage's praise was heavy, almost crushing: "But not enough."

Almost as the words left his mouth, the arm braced on the ground propelled his massive body, spinning him like a windmill, and a single kick sent Ando Ooyama flying, tumbling and crashing over a dozen meters away.

"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"

He had perfectly timed it—the instant before Tsunade landed, he crossed the distance.

"Boom!"

The explosive force left a crater spanning over ten meters in the depths of the earth.

"Truly remarkable talent."

The Third Raikage watched, a smile creeping onto his face: "Just by mastering the technique, you've restored three-tenths of that person's ability from back then?"

"But what a pity!"

Suddenly, the already wild and unrestrained Lightning Release Armor around him swelled several times larger than before, fueled by a burst of chakra, his voice sharp and cold:

"Even if that esteemed figure from years past were still alive, he wouldn't dare claim he could break through my defense with just fists and feet!"

"Little girl, what do you think you are?!"

The moment his words fell, his speed abruptly surged to its peak.

The impact unleashed in that instant formed a brilliant stream of light before the two of them, charging straight toward Tsunade.

"Get out of the way!"

But before Tsunade could meet this attack head-on, Ando Ooyama's voice rang in her ears, solemn to the extreme.

At that warning, Tsunade rolled to the side almost instinctively.

"Pfft—!"

The next moment, the dull sound of flesh being pierced by a heavy object echoed in her ears.

The lightning spear, hard as steel, pierced through Ando Ooyama's abdomen without error.

Blood gushed out.

Yet this man, more a samurai than a ninja, revealed a ferocious grin on his face.

"Rip!"

The scroll in his mouth was suddenly bitten open.

The Third Raikage's heart leaped with alarm, and he instinctively tried to shake him off.

"Splash!"

Black water composed entirely of sealing jutsu formulas sprayed out in all directions like raindrops, his arms gripping the Third Raikage's wrist with all his might.

Ando Ooyama, blood in his mouth, roared hoarsely:

"Everything, for Konoha!"

Tsunade stared at him, eyes wide.

"Hah!"

Yet those fragile arms and body could not restrain the Third Raikage's frame, more terrifying than a tailed beast.

With a single pull, a single tear, Ando Ooyama, who had staked everything for one chance, was ripped apart from the middle like a sheet of paper, his severed limbs flung aside.

Then, his form retreated swiftly.

Until the very end, the man stared fixedly at him.

But all he could see was the figure leaping out like lightning.

"Boom!!"

"Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique"

A pitch-black sphere instantly swallowed everything within a ten-meter radius centered on Ando Ooyama.

In that mere moment, the surroundings turned into a 'void.'

In that same blink, a man who had once existed left not even a fragment behind.

"Huff, huff"

The Third Raikage stared at the hemispherical blank on the ground, still shaken.

That sealing technique just now was not something even a sturdy Chakra Armor or a powerful physique could withstand.

Konoha's ninja—not a single one could be underestimated.

"Bastard!"

But before he could recover his stance, Tsunade was already charging at him as if risking her life.

"Bang!"

Their four palms met.

The 'Monster Strength' built from the massive chakra accumulated by the jutsu formula and the Yin Seal clashed against a physique honed by countless life-and-death battles and natural toughness.

Despite the terrifying size difference between the two, this contest of strength fell into an almost eerie stalemate.

"Crackle—"

The rising chakra even lifted the fine gravel and dust beneath their feet, floating upward.

Quietly observing this within his sensing range, Dan Katō crouched behind a tree trunk, his hands maintaining hand seals, eyes shut tight.

He had waited this long for this very moment!

"Spirit Transformation Technique!"

The chakra that burst forth like a pillar of flame seemed to ignite his entire body.

Under this extreme concentration of spiritual energy, Dan Katō, now in a completely intangible soul state, shot out from his physical form.

Formless, silent.

Even special dojutsu could not visually perceive him in his soul state.

Yet in his vision, everything became incomparably clear.

But even in this state, he could not maintain it for long.

So.

"Die!"

No one could say how fast a soul could move.

Even in Dan Katō's own perception, his soul pierced through the distance of over two hundred meters in an instant, plunging entirely into the Third Raikage's burly body.

Invade, disrupt, destroy.

As the supreme technique of the soul domain, the Spirit Transformation Technique possessed power far beyond mental arts like the Mind Body Switch Technique, acting directly on the enemy's spirit.

The Third Raikage's body suddenly stiffened.

The moment she sensed this detail, Tsunade's eyes lit up.

Dan, succeeded!?

Yet just as this thought surfaced in her mind—

"Heh."

The corners of the Third Raikage's mouth slowly curled upward.

"Crackle—"

In the spiritual world that Tsunade could not see.

The instant his soul form fully invaded the Third Raikage's mental domain.

In Dan Katō's soul vision, a massive sealing formation was reflected—spreading in all directions like a spiderweb, completely covering the Raikage's entire brain.

The moment he charged forward in his spirit state, this enormous seal ignited his soul.

"Damn it!"

The soul felt no pain.

But the terror of losing nearly half his spiritual energy in an instant swallowed every instinct Dan Katō had.

"Bang."

The next moment, his spirit-transformed body was forcibly ejected from that form.

"Guh—"

The agonized scream from deep in the distant forest was so pained.

Even Tsunade's movements froze.

"Heh, heh heh heh haha."

Watching this scene, the Third Raikage seemed to have discovered some amusing toy, laughing uncontrollably, shaking his head with a hint of helplessness: "You people... you didn't think this old man would come alone into a trap without any preparations, did you?"

Tsunade stared straight at him, unaware that her face had already turned deathly pale.

The Third Raikage kicked her flying with a single bang, curling his lips: "You're probably wondering right now why this old man has a rarely seen soul defense seal inscribed on him, aren't you?"

His smile grew more contemptuous, yet he explained plainly: "Certain (stressed) high-ranking members of your Konoha casually handed over intelligence—intel our spies spent countless efforts and still couldn't obtain—for a mere twenty million ryo."

"From your mission, your numbers, your personnel composition, even Dan Katō as your trump card—they told us everything in meticulous detail."

"So from the patrol squads, to the outpost location, to the seal on this old man's body—everything was prepared in advance."

"Only that brat who used the sealing technique earlier was a small surprise."

"Ha."

"I simply don't understand."

"What exactly are you people fighting for?"

Every word the Third Raikage uttered felt like a heavy blow hammered into Tsunade's heart.

By the end, all color had drained from her face.

Tsunade desperately told herself that this was all just psychological warfare from the Third Raikage, her enemy.

But everything she had experienced these past days told her otherwise.

—Was it all true?

The Third Raikage watched her expression of doubt toward life itself, his smile growing more malicious.

He listened as the distant screams gradually faded, then suddenly noticed a faint wetness trickling from his nose.

The soul seal in his mind had already vanished.

Clearly, Dan Katō's desperate strike had not been without effect.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

If he carelessly took another hit like that, things would really go wrong.

Out of this caution, he immediately cast aside his current opponent and made his decision.

Suddenly, his form transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning, erupting from tens of meters underground and shooting toward the direction of the voice.

Tsunade was a beat slower, then jolted awake, straining with all her might to chase after his figure.

Yet she could not catch up to the Third Raikage at all.

"Stop!"

Kime Kunou, standing guard above, drew his Tanto, but in a one-on-one fight, his situation was little better than Andō's.

In just five or six exchanges, a heavy elbow strike drove into his abdomen, and he crashed to the ground as if split apart, blood gushing from his mouth.

Lightning Torrent.

At that moment, Dan Katō was enduring the excruciating pain deep in his soul, holding back the rusty, metallic taste flooding from his nose and mouth, still raising his Kunai with a desperate resolve toward the direction the lightning had come.

But before his eyes, everything was a bleak blur.

His consciousness was steadily leaking away through the wound in his soul.

Yet his hands still maintained the Hand Seals of the Spirit Transformation Technique.

Even if his life was about to end, he had to use his last strength, his last—

Unfortunately, before he could unleash this life-burning strike.

"Lightning Release: Lariat!"

In Dan Katō's fading consciousness, that familiar voice rang out.

This moment before death seemed to stretch endlessly.

But Dan Katō found that he could no longer think of anything.

Only a deep shame and regret lingered in his heart.

I'm sorry, Tsunade.

"Shiiing—"

In an instant, a hand blade forged entirely of blazing lightning split him in two at the waist, severing his body.

Blood splattered across the ground.

The Necklace with Blue Crystal fell silently to the earth.

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