Kumogakure was located among a range of high mountains. Those mountains formed its natural defensive stronghold, making it useless no matter how many people attacked Kumogakure, because they first had to overcome altitude sickness.
Because they lived on a plateau, the people of Kumogakure had better cardiovascular systems than ordinary people and lower body-fat percentages, making it easy for muscular brutes like the Raikage to emerge.
Thus, Kumogakure revered martial prowess and respected only the strong.
In Kumogakure, there was one most straightforward way to judge a strong person—seeing how long they could endure in Heavenly Thunder Gorge and how high they could climb.
Heavenly Thunder Gorge was Kumogakure's sacred training ground. The density and power of the natural lightning there were beyond outsiders' imagination.
Once Kumogakure ninjas reached a certain level of strength, they began entering Heavenly Thunder Gorge to train. Using Lightning Release and their own bodies, they welcomed the heavenly lightning, allowing it to temper them and grant them even greater strength.
At the same time, Heavenly Thunder Gorge was dangerous, and Cloud Ninja died there every year.
It was said that Kumogakure's secret Lightning Release Chakra Mode and the ultimate secret of Black Lightning were hidden at the summit of Heavenly Thunder Gorge.
The Third Raikage finished his daily training and descended from the summit of Heavenly Thunder Gorge. The surrounding Kumogakure ninja looked at him with reverence, gazing at their powerful Raikage.
The Third Raikage, Ai—or Old Ai, as he was also called—returned to the Raikage's office. His secretary immediately handed him the documents she was holding.
Old Ai accepted the documents and pondered for a while, his fingers tapping on the desk with a steady thunk, thunk. After a moment, he asked:
"Have you chosen the personnel for this operation?"
"They're ready. According to Lord Raikage's requirements, all of them are proficient in Lightning Release and have met the speed standard. There are one thousand in total."
"Good. In that case, assemble them! Prepare to depart!"
"Yes, Lord Raikage!"
Old Ai looked at the one thousand dark-skinned, powerfully built Cloud Ninja below. Electric arcs occasionally flashed through their formation, and satisfaction filled his eyes.
He raised one hand, and a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking his palm. Old Ai savored the feeling of heavenly lightning in his grasp, then suddenly clenched his five fingers and directly crushed the lightning apart, scattering sparks across the ground.
Old Ai raised his hand again, facing the Cloud Ninja and revealing his completely unharmed palm. He said:
"Boys, as for how much we can take from the Land of Earth, that will depend on you!"
"Depart!"
"โอโอโอโอโอโอโอ!"
A thousand Cloud Ninja skilled in high-speed movement followed the Third Raikage to the Land of Earth to plunder it. This trip would likely throw the Land of Earth into chaos, leaving no peace for man or beast and inflicting heavy losses.
Konoha Camp.
The Konoha ninja under the leadership of the Sannin had already joined forces with the troops of Danzo and Hatake Sakumo. Taking advantage of the Rain Ninja's rest period, Konoha was also hurrying to recuperate.
At this moment, Hyuga Ao was dreaming.
Hyuga Ao "saw" herself in a magnificent palace. The palace was filled with the natural fragrance of flowers. A huge fountain stood in the center, and countless water spirits flew out of it, carrying various tools as they cleaned the palace.
She herself was sitting on a chair in front of the fountain. Three slot machines stood before her. The version of herself on the chair wanted to stand, but it was as though an invisible wall had confined her to the seat, leaving her unable to move.
"Damn Aqua!"
Hyuga Ao remembered. She had no idea how she had ended up here at the time, and she had waited on the chair for half a day without anyone coming.
In the end, a blue-haired girl had arrived, shouting, "There's not enough time!"
Aqua rushed over. As she ran at full speed, her short skirt fluttered, faintly revealing the wonderful scenery beneath it.
But when Hyuga Ao realized that the person who had arrived was Aqua, she immediately lost interest. An ominous premonition filled her heart, and she felt that she was doomed.
Sure enough, Aqua quickly pressed the buttons on the three slot machines and waited for the draw. At the same time, she anxiously watched the time, pacing back and forth nearby.
Yet after waiting a long while, only the first slot machine produced something.
Aqua wore an expression of resignation and shouted, "Forget it, forget it! If I die, I die! There's no time!"
Without even speaking to Hyuga Ao, she grabbed her and threw her into the Time-Space Tunnel. The reward from the first slot machine followed close behind.
Before crossing over, Hyuga Ao vaguely saw the other two slot machines about to produce their prizes.
The replay ended.
Hyuga Ao felt her consciousness being pulled away. The previous scene transformed into a light screen before her, while on the other side, Aqua knelt before the screen with a face full of shame.
An aged voice rang out.
"Aqua, do you know your crime?"
Aqua nodded frantically, then crawled on her knees to Hyuga Ao's feet and rubbed against her thigh.
Aqua wailed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please be magnanimous and forgive Aqua this once. I'm willing to compensate you afterward."
As she spoke, Aqua raised her head and looked at Hyuga Ao with tears filling her eyes. "Anything is fine... fine... fine. Huh!?"
Aqua lifted her head and discovered that the person before her was a young woman.
Her previous shame and embarrassment vanished at once.
She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and laughed loudly.
"Hahahahaha! Old man, even you make mistakes sometimes! The person in front of me is obviously a woman, but the one that day was a man."
At that moment, an invisible hammer swung down and knocked Aqua flat on the ground.
"Idiot! It was because of your mistake that that young man became like this!!!"
"Huh!!!" Aqua half reclined on the ground and looked up with an expression of disbelief.
She hurriedly crawled over again, hugged Hyuga Ao's thigh, and continued sobbing pitifully.
After a while, Aqua noticed that nothing was happening. She raised her head to look at Hyuga Ao again and saw Hyuga Ao watching her performance with dead-fish eyes.
Aqua immediately fell silent, unable to say a word.
Hyuga Ao said helplessly, "When apologizing, you're supposed to show your breasts. Isn't that common knowledge?"
Aqua suddenly understood and began undoing the bow in front of her chest.
Hyuga Ao covered her face and said speechlessly:
"Are you people short on staff? Why do you always use an employee like Aqua to receive guests? What will you do when something goes wrong?"
Before the aged voice could answer, Aqua cried out, "It's because Aqua doesn't charge anything! Aqua already owes thirteen thousand four hundred years of labor, waahhhhhhh!"
After saying that, she continued crying loudly.
Grass! It referred to a type of plant.
Hyuga Ao's head began to ache. She asked, "Then how are you going to resolve this matter?"
The aged voice replied:
"When we previously granted you Embryonic Breathing, we actually provided some compensation."
"At the time, we activated Shikotsumyaku for you and modified your body to a certain extent."
"Originally, the slot machine should have drawn a talent, an ability, and a skin. Your talent and ability have been supplemented somewhat, but there's no way to give you the skin now. You have two choices."
"The first is the coordinates of your original world, plus a comprehensive enhancement of your basic physical qualities. The second is one ability from Naruto. Which will you choose?"
Hyuga Ao was silent for a while.
"You seem to be encouraging me to choose the coordinates of my original world. How did I die and end up here?"
"The original world has indeed undergone some changes, and that is why you came here. We cannot interfere with those changes. You will be much better off if you return, so yes, we do hope you go back," the aged voice answered.
Hyuga Ao asked again, "What if I choose the second option?"
"We accept every choice, and we have the confidence to sit back and watch how things develop."
"All right." Hyuga Ao smiled brightly. "I choose the first one. Sometimes, people shouldn't calculate everything so clearly."
"Hahahahaha." The aged voice laughed heartily.
"All right." The voice became stern. "Aqua!"
"Here." Aqua stood at attention.
"It's your turn!"
"Yes!" Aqua had somehow changed into a low-cut evening dress. She bowed deeply, and under the force of gravity, a large expanse of fair skin was revealed, making Hyuga Ao dizzy.
Aqua shouted, "Please accept my apology!"
After saying that, she picked up a small fan and waved a stream of water into Hyuga Ao's body, pushing her away.
"Damn Aqua." Hyuga Ao did not know whether to laugh or cry. She awoke in the camp amid the cleansing of the water.
Before you continue