Death of the Third Raikage

"Shuichi Jonin, the village's latest order."

The Konoha Anbu wearing a bird mask solemnly took out a Scroll, handed it to him, and then turned and left. All the Jonin the front lines of the Land of Whirlpools also received the message.

Shuichi opened the Scroll, somewhat surprised by its contents. "Temporarily abandoning the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, all squads are withdrawing to the Konoha border. What exactly happened?"

The higher-ups ordered the Jonin to return to the village with their respective squads. The defenses of the Kirigakure Front would be redeployed, and they might have more important tasks to undertake.

Putting away the Scroll, Shuichi stopped thinking about it. He figured a major battle was about to break out, and Konoha was preparing to gather its strength and defeat the enemy one by one. "I just don't know what the village will do..."

Earlier in the time, in the northern part of the Land of Fire, the environment was extremely desolate, with hardly any vegetation to be seen, surrounded by towering mountains and rugged roads.

But in this deserted place, a large number of ninjas suddenly appeared, numbering roughly over a hundred. Judging from their Forehead Protector, they were all ninjas from Kumogakure.

"Why has Kumogakure sent so many troops here? What Cloud planning to do?"

Behind some distant rocks, a resolute-looking Iwagakure Rock Village Ninja was concealed. Sensing he had discovered something of great importance, he immediately ordered his comrades, "We must notify the village immediately!"

After receiving the signal, the two teammates moved slowly. Seeing that the Cloud Force had not noticed them, they controlled their footsteps and prepared to leave in the opposite direction.

"Oh, there really were a few mice. You almost got away."

The sound from above startled the Iwagakure team members. When they looked up, they saw several figures standing on the hilltop, their gazes cold and merciless.

"Damn it!" one of the Iwagakure gritted his teeth. It seemed today was the day he would die in battle, but he wanted to die with some value. "Captain Keita, you must get the intelligence back."

"Drink up..."

Surrounded, they launched a counter-charge against the enemy, trying to cover their captain who was still hiding in the rocks.

"Hmph, overestimating yourself!"

With a wave of his hand, the leader sent several Cloud Ninjas swooping down and easily dispatching them.

As the corpses were being laid out, a fair-skinned Cloud secretly gave the leader a wink.

The strong, middle-aged Black man remained expressionless upon seeing this. He seemed to walk unintentionally to a rock, then unleashed a powerful burst of chakra and slashed down at it with his sword.

"Crack..."

A powerful Lightning Release sliced the boulder in two, and a dark figure emerged from within, leaping away beforehand and fleeing for his life despite his injuries. It was none other than Keita, the fish that had been caught in the net.

"Karem, your perception has improved again!"

The Cloud Jonin Cloud offered a word of encouragement to his young teammate, then calmly gave chase to the fleeing Keita, demonstrating his great confidence in his own abilities...

Not long after, he brought back the Iwagakure who was Jonin in blood and motionless. "Let's go. This operation needs to be kept strictly confidential. We need to capture all of the enemy's reconnaissance units."

"Swish, swish, swish..."

After the Cloud Forces left, a white figure appeared at the site of the previous battle.

"What a pleasant surprise! What would happen if I told Iwagakure and Konoha about this?" White Zetsu pondered with his simple mind. "Anyway, they'd definitely fight, which suits Lord Madara just fine... so..."

Beside him lay Keita's buried corpse. The White Zetsu, having absorbed his chakra, began to change form, eventually becoming an exact replica of Keita. "The show's about to begin!"

On Shuichi's side, having received orders from the village, he led Aburame Shihei and Hyuga Akiha away from the Land of Whirlpools, accompanied by many other groups.

"Captain, why is the village withdrawing its forces from the Land of Water front at this time? Is there a problem on other fronts?"

"I don't know either." Shuichi pondered. "Maybe... um?"

Upon sensing that Orochimaru had sent a message, he immediately used Summoning Technique to summon a small snake.

"This..." Shuichi looked at the intelligence report in his hand in surprise, "As expected, something big has happened. Iwagakure has mobilized nearly 10,000 ninja to surround the Cloud forces. The location is in the hills west of the Land of Fields..."

"Hiss, ten thousand ninjas?" The two teammates were shocked. Mobilizing so many people at once would be difficult even for the five major ninja villages, mainly because the expenses for food and mission rewards were enormous, rather than a shortage of manpower.

How many people are in the Cloud Army?

"About 2,000 people," Shuichi replied. "Many of them are elite Cloud. No wonder Iwagakure did this; after all, an encirclement battle and a regular skirmish are completely different things. And they actually succeeded..."

According to Orochimaru's intelligence, this large force from Kumogakure is probably secretly dispatched to do something bad.

Based on their location, it can be inferred that their objectives are nothing more than two: to launch a flanking attack on the forces of Iwagakure or Konoha, or to complete a pincer attack with the main force at the front.

However, for some reason, the intelligence was leaked so quickly. The commander of Iwagakure decisively dispatched a large army and eventually succeeded in surrounding them.

Among this force of over 2,000 people were many elite members of the Cloud Clan and young geniuses, all of whom were now in extreme danger.

Iwagakure can use Earth Release Ninjutsu to continuously tighten the encirclement, and the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki's Dust Release is also ready to be unleashed. At that time, they can completely wipe them out one by one and severely damage the Land of Lightning.

The Kumogakure certainly wouldn't sit idly by and wait to be destroyed, but what they never expected was that the Konoha Village would also receive the news at the same time.

The shrewd Konoha High Command would certainly not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by. Now, Konoha has changed its defensive posture and is constantly diverting troops to launch a full-scale attack on the Land of Lightning, preventing the Cloud from intervening to support the other side.

"This is good news for Konoha," said Aburame Shihei. "Regardless of whether Iwagakure succeeds or not, our situation of being besieged has finally changed."

"That's how it is for now." Shuichi the Third Raikage would definitely not be able to resist taking action, otherwise the Cloud Village would probably be in mourning, and as the leader, he would be cursed to death by the families of those ninjas.

The actual situation was pretty much as he had imagined. In the Raikage's Office in Kumogakure, the Third Raikage, with a full beard, was wearing only a combat vest and had a very solemn expression.

"Lord Raikage, please think about it again. There must be a way," a subordinate said.

"There's no time!" The Third Raikage A, said in a deep voice, "No matter what, I must take the brunt of the responsibility for this situation. Get ready quickly, I'm leaving immediately!"

"... yes!"

He walked alone to the high platform not far from the desk, activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and his body, enveloped in lightning, officially transformed into a terrifying weapon of war.

"Please be careful!" A ninja formed hand seals below. "Coordinates confirmed, Heavenly Transfer Technique!"

In the western part of the Land of Fields Rice Fields, Iwagakure, the commander of the Iwakaze Frontline Commander, appeared calm, but was actually very happy inside.

This time, his subordinate Keita Jonin detected the movements of the Cloud forces, giving the village time to mobilize a large number of troops and eventually surround them.

"Iwakaze, we can finally vent our anger!" one of the Stone Ninja said, a look of excitement on his face. "Those barbarians from the Land of Lightning will pay the price for their recklessness."

Nearly 50 years have passed since the era of ninja villages in the Shinobi World began, and this is the first time such a battle has occurred. This feat of annihilating a large number of enemy troops in one fell swoop will be accomplished by Iwagakure.

"We still need to be careful," Iwakaze said calmly with a smile. "A cornered beast's struggle is very dangerous, but as long as we don't act rashly, we'll wear them down quickly..."

"Boom boom..."

"What's that sound?" The two suddenly heard screams coming from afar. Soon after, someone rushed in to report, "Iwakaze, the Third Raikage has appeared on the battlefield. No one can stop him right now, and there have been numerous casualties in a short time..."

"Damn it!" Iwakaze hadn't expected the Raikage to teleport directly into their encirclement. "Immediately notify the Lord Tsuchikage, everyone else, come with me!"

On the battlefield, countless Stone Ninja surrounded one person, many of them sweating with tension, for their opponent was simply too terrifying.

"Ughhh..." A growled, his Lightning Release Chakra exploding, sending pebbles flying beneath his feet. With a powerful stomp, he vanished from his spot, moving with lightning speed that seemed completely incongruous with his robust physique. "Hell Stab - Four-Finger Nukite!"

"He's coming! Defend now!"

Seeing the Raikage charging like a raging lion, a Jonin Iwagakure shouted, and several people behind him moved in unison, shouting, "Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

Multiple thick earthen walls rose up one after another, but the Raikage didn't care at all. He put four fingers together and poked them directly into the wall. In what seemed like an instant, all the earthen walls and the ninjas behind them were pierced through.

Upon closer inspection, each victim had a large hole punched into their body.

As A stopped, many Stone Ninja were preparing to continue their attack, but unexpectedly, a large area of Black Lightning appeared in front of them, its power almost shattering their bodies, and a large gap was punched in the encirclement.

"Is it in that direction?" Sensing the chakra of several Cloud Ninjas, Ai didn't engage them in combat but headed straight there.

When the battle situation changed, Shuichi and the other Jonin their team back to Konoha.

Unexpectedly, the Third Hokage were not in the village at this time, but had already set off to participate in the war with the Land of Lightning.

"No wonder Kumogakure couldn't support the besieged troops," Shuichi thought to himself. "Ōnoki really came with a divine assist, but this is also because there have always been conflicts between the villages, and no one trusts anyone else. Otherwise, we definitely wouldn't have been able to withstand the full force of the four great nations' siege of Konoha."

With Third Hokage gone, the village's administrative affairs are handled by two advisors Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

"Lord Koharu, when shall we depart?" Sarutobi Keito asked.

Utatane Koharu, said, "This is a critical moment in the war. Considering that you just rushed back with all your might, you only have half a day to rest."

"Yes!"

The next morning, the teams, fully prepared to depart again, had already assembled. Just as everyone was about to leave the village, a large eagle flew in from the horizon and landed directly in the signal corps's position.

The Jonin exchanged glances, Shuichi spoke first, "Should we wait? This latest intelligence is of a very high level; the mission might change."

The others thought it made sense; leaving a few minutes later wouldn't be a big deal.

"Brush!"

Not long after, a member of the Mist Anbu rushed towards the Konoha Gates, shouting, "Shuichi Jonin, Jonin Fugaku... the mission has been canceled. You can stay in the village for now. The Third Lord will return soon."

"..."

Although such a bizarre experience is unlikely to happen a second time, Shuichi was happy with it. He couldn't let his guard down at any moment on the front lines; nothing beats sleeping at home.

He didn't step into the Hokage's Office again until several days later.

The Third Hokage was still smoking, showing no signs of having experienced a major battle, clearly having become accustomed to it.

"It's Shuichi!" Seeing him enter, Sarutobi Hiruzen's serious expression softened considerably. "I'm aware of your performance in the Land of Whirlpools. You've worked very hard. I hope you can understand the village's difficulties. The current situation still requires our utmost care."

"Well, it's nothing. After all, I'm a Jonin of the village; these are just my duties." Shuichi put himself in the Third Hokage's shoes. Could he really have the same patience as the Third Hokage if he were in the Hokage Position?

The total number of Konoha Ninjas is as high as tens of thousands. Even if the Hokage only deals with the elite among them, that still amounts to several thousand people.

Not only do you have to remember the names of so many people, but you also have to pay attention to their mental state, not to mention countless other miscellaneous tasks. Just thinking about it makes you realize it's no easy job.

"Phew..." The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke, a relieved smile appearing on his face. "It's good that you understand."

Shuichi certainly had to rely on a lot of resources, but he had already made many great contributions at such a young age. When the leaders of other villages found out, they would only say, "We'd take in as many geniuses like him as we could."

"By the way, what was the outcome of Iwagakure's siege of Cloud?"

"For Konoha, this is acceptable." The Third Hokage said, handing him a piece of information that contained a detailed record of the causes and consequences of the battle a few days ago.

Shuichi took it and examined it carefully. The Third Raikage had died in battle, and about two-thirds of the Cloud's besieged troops had escaped. The Iwagakure side had also suffered many casualties.

"It's a pity we didn't beat them any worse," he remarked, a hint of greed in his voice.

The Third Raikage appeared directly within the Iwagakure's encirclement, acting as the spearhead to continuously attack the enemy's defenses.

However, Iwagakure was no pushover either. Each area was teeming with people, and when one team ran out of chakra, they would rotate to the next. In addition, Ōnoki would float in the air and seize opportunities to launch surprise attacks, causing a lot of trouble for Cloud.

However, under the leadership of the Third Raikage, Cloud managed to open a gap in the defenses. At the same time, in order to allow the village's ninjas to escape, he turned around and charged into Iwagakure's formation to draw fire, thus preserving the very foundation of this elite force.

The Iwagakure side was in a very difficult situation. Ordinary ninjas were no match for this Strongest Spear and Strongest Shield. Ōnoki had to come over personally to threaten him from the air, which reduced the casualties.

Unable to stop the Cloud troops from breaking through, they could only turn their attention to the Third Raikage. Surrounded by him, they had Dust Release ready, and finally wore down this stamina monster's chakra.

"Okay, although it's already very strong, it's definitely not as exaggerated as one person fighting 10,000 people for three days and three nights. Otherwise, Ōnoki would just be a useless bum." Shuichi felt that this should be similar to the original work.

This statement was made by the Cloud itself. Of course, they would do their best to glorify the Third Raikage's power. In any case, other villages in the Shinobi World did the same, treating fallen heroes with the highest honors.