Big Cat

"Hatake Sakumo, Kumogakure has no grudge against you. Why are you hounding us for no reason, chasing us over mountains and across ridges for a hundred li?"

A Hidden Cloud Jonin besieging Hatake Sakumo played dumb as he questioned him.

"For no reason? We're all adults here. Why say something so naïve?"

Hatake Sakumo's expression remained blank. With a single swing, he unleashed one of the five ultimate moves of Hatake Style Kenjutsu: Juzumaru Tsunetsugu.

All things are impermanent; all dharmas are without self. Like the inscrutable mysteries of Buddhist scriptures, this strike was impossible to fathom. With an effortless sweep, it shattered Hidden Cloud's combined defense and severed the Jonin's head.

Only after the corpse fell did Hatake Sakumo speak. "Hidden Cloud really does have quite a talent for turning black into white.

"You were the ones who secretly sent agents to bribe and corrupt Konoha Anbu intelligence networks, and who took in important rogue ninja wanted by Konoha.

"Yet by your account, we're the ones at fault. Truly absurd."

Another Jonin had just been about to retort when the petite Yugito Nii rebuked him.

"Enough. There's no point in saying any more. If you truly want to call black white, then kill these people first."

Kumogakure had always excelled at making something out of nothing and shifting blame. It was not because the Raikage was especially skilled at strategy; rather, the Third and Fourth Raikage were both known for their martial prowess.

Knowing their own shortcomings in strategy, they left such matters entirely to their advisers.

The scolded Jonin was somewhat displeased, but when he remembered Yugito Nii's status as a Jinchuriki, he swallowed his dissatisfaction.

He was just a high-level extra who did not even deserve a name. He might be a Jonin, but if he fought