The Strongest Shield Shattered

"Big brother, you can't go in."

A tentacle struck first, wrapping around Fourth Raikage and pulling him to Killer B's side.

Even a fearless Tailed Beast could not help but be shaken awake by the might of the Vacuum Infinite Sword.

"Don't worry. That man can go toe-to-toe with me. Not even a Tailed Beast Bomb could break his body, so a mere Wind Release is nothing."

"Eight-Tails?"

This was the first time Gyuki had spoken of his own accord since Killer B became a Jinchuriki.

"Don't misunderstand, Gyuki. I just don't want to fall into Konoha's hands. Rather than lose myself to the Sharingan's control, I'd rather stay inside you and listen to your off-key rap."

Every Tailed Beast, regarded as a walking disaster in the Shinobi World, had a memory they could not bear to revisit: being bound up like dumplings by Wood Release, their minds controlled by the Sharingan and reduced to obedient little pets.

"I hate Uchiha Madara. I thought that after the First Hokage killed him, I would never have to experience such evil Dojutsu Power again."

As he spoke, Gyuki used Killer B's vision to look at Shisui Uchiha in his fox mask and the cold-faced Shimura Danzō.

"The Sharingan is actually this powerful? And it can even be transplanted into the bodies of non-Uchiha?"

Fourth Raikage had calmed down by then. The battlefield between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire had raged for nearly three years. Kumogakure had killed no small number of Uchiha, including two Elite Jonin who had awakened Three Tomoe.

If he remembered correctly, those two pairs of eyes had been removed and stored in the village's Medical Department.

"The Uchiha do not have a Caged Bird Seal like the Hyuga Clan. Aside from the fact that they have never had a tradition of main and branch families, it is also because once the Sharingan leaves its original body's nourishment, it can no longer evolve."

Gyuki was far more knowledgeable. Before the village system was established, quite a few shinobi coveted Uchiha power, yet not a single person who transplanted the Sharingan had ever managed to evolve it further.

Many had even been dragged down by the Sharingan, their minds withering and bodies decaying until they died.

"The fox mask has an original Mangekyo. As for that gloomy old man, he must have a special constitution and an unyielding mind to subdue such evil power."

"It's a pity we never captured anyone from the Hyuga main family. With their perfect Byakugan, we could have truly completed the Chakra Mode."

Fourth Raikage spoke unwillingly. As a family that had dominated one side of the Shinobi World since the Warring States Period, his ancestors had once suffered a little-known crushing defeat. Their opponent had been Hyuga Shinobu, hailed as the strongest of the Hyuga Clan, whose invincible bearing had swept through the Land of Lightning's four strongest families.

Neither Yotsuki, Otsutsuki, Kaku, nor even the Ketsuryūgan, which could rival the Sharingan—even fighting together, they could not contend with Shinobu's true Chakra Mode.

Lightning Release Chakra Mode had been created by imitating Hyuga Shinobu's Green Chakra Mode, but unfortunately, it possessed neither its form nor its essence.

"A perfect Byakugan? Such a thing will never appear in the Shinobi World again."

As the Sage of Six Paths' pet, Gyuki had once heard the old man mention a few things about his younger brother. Naturally, he knew what lay at the end of the Byakugan's evolution.

"Oh, Eight-Tails? Have you seen Hyuga Shinobu?"

Listening to Killer B's especially awkward rap, Gyuki fell silent and said no more.

"Once I become Raikage, I will stop at nothing to gather the Shinobi World's powerful secret arts, bloodlines, and ninja tools. In the next Shinobi World War, Kumogakure will be the only victor."

As Fourth Raikage spoke, the azure pillar of light created by the enormous Wind Release began to slowly contract. Amid the dust and debris flying through the air, the outline of a giant emerged.

A faint mist swirled around the Third Raikage, revealing his still-intact, burly body despite being drenched in blood.

Threads of black lightning mingled with crimson radiance, illuminating his dark, smoking face, its features still deep and sharply hewn.

Since the birth of Ninjutsu, the strongest Wind Release still could not kill this man.

"Oh, what a disappointing sight."

Guo Wang released Namikaze Minato, who had been supporting him. Forcing out the last trace of Chakra in his body, he straightened his lean yet powerfully muscled frame, as though he subconsciously refused to appear weak before this opponent.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Body Flicker flashed, and three young Konoha shinobi of varying heights and builds landed before Guo Wang. The pineapple-haired leader wore an exasperated expression, but his gaze was exceptionally resolute.

"Commander, leave the rest to us."

"That's right. It's time for Konoha's branches to sprout leaves."

"Let us become butterflies and dance with the wind."

Soft footsteps sounded as Namikaze Minato treated the wound on his chest and imprinted the Sword of Shinobi Love upon the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Although I do not have much fighting strength left, I can still pull you out of trouble when it counts."

One-Finger Nukite was the Raikage's strongest technique. Beyond its unstoppable piercing power, the Black Lightning Chakra it carried had numbed Namikaze Minato's prized activated body and sealed away his God Speed.

"Brats, if you think you can dance, you're still twenty years too early."

The blood-soaked Raikage suddenly spoke. Then, as though some mechanism had been triggered, beads of bloody fluid seeped from every pore of his body, gathering beneath his feet into a small pool of blood in the blink of an eye.

"Dad!"

Fourth Raikage descended with his younger brother and the Shadow Guard into the thousand-meter crater carved out by the Vacuum Infinite Sword. Like the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, they stood in front of the Raikage.

"Son, from today onward, you are no longer a candidate for Raikage."

Third A raised his bloodied hand and heavily pressed it onto his son's head.

"Impossible. Not even the Eight-Tails could break your body. How could you possibly die to Wind Release?"

Fourth Raikage grasped his father's hand and felt an unprecedented weakness. This man, who had always stood tall beneath the heavens, was bleeding from all over for the first time. His body, known as the Strongest Shield, was riddled with holes. Endless Wind Release Chakra burrowed and sliced through his wounds, seeming determined to grind him into dust.

"A mere Wind Release naturally cannot kill me, but I have no strength left for further battle."

As the Raikage spoke, thin azure needles and wind blades seeped from his wounds, vanishing along with the flowing blood.

"I underestimated Danzo before. As expected of the disciple of the Second Hokage, that creator of forbidden techniques."

Fourth Raikage was decisive as well. Although Danzo, Konoha's commander, was already at the end of his rope, and Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato, the deputy commanders, had lost their combat strength, he did not dare gamble with his father's life.

"Pass the order: retreat!"