An ellipsis perfectly described Ay's mood at that moment. It wasn't that he lacked that kind of speed; he had simply gotten too carried away earlier, stepped into a trap, and then been provoked by Ronglin. Any thought of leaving immediately had vanished, leading to him getting blown up instead.
"Cough, cough!!"
Seeing that Ay had nothing to say, Ronglin cleared his throat and told everyone else, "I hope everyone will take this as a warning. Never be like the Fourth Raikage—when people get carried away, they're easily at a disadvantage."
"Yes!! Lord Hokage!!!"
The Konoha ninja all shouted, with quite a bit of laughter mixed in. The Kumogakure ninja, meanwhile, wore strange expressions. They wanted to agree with Ronglin but didn't dare, so they could only hold it in—and they couldn't laugh either, or Ay might punch their teeth out.
He really was a genuine goofball.
Why was Ay in the original story only somewhat hot-tempered, without so many goofball tendencies?
Of course, that excluded when he was with Killer Bee. Those two brothers always managed to bring some special surprises.
But now, Ronglin felt as though the world had changed. Could it be because of his age?
Come to think of it, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Ay had already been an old man. If he still had such goofball tendencies at that age, something would have been wrong. Was it because he wouldn't be a goofball when he got old, so he was making up for it now?
Ronglin found it hard to understand.
"Retreat!!! Retreat, now!!!"
Under the Hozuki Clan Head's orders, the ninja of Kirigakure and the Small Nations Alliance all withdrew at top speed, leaving behind an astonishing amount of things along the way, especially supplies.
No one had expected the Four Great