The Chill in My Heart!

About a hundred miles away from Kumogakure, amidst a stretch of low-lying hills, a battle was drawing to a close.

The two sides of the conflict were, on one hand, Kizaru's teammates Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Hatake Sakumo, and on the other, an elite ten-man squad led out by the Third Raikage.

Half an hour ago, after receiving news that the village was under attack, the Third Raikage had ordered this elite squad to continue toward the border while he returned to the village himself.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Hatake Sakumo, who had been hiding in the heart of the Land of Lightning near the route from Kumogakure to the border, discovered the squad and, upon confirming the Third Raikage was absent, decisively launched an ambush.

A Kage-level powerhouse skilled in assassination paired with a well-rounded elite Jonin—striking with premeditation against an unsuspecting foe—wreaked devastating havoc.

In the very first wave of attacks, two members of the Kumogakure elite squad were killed, one was heavily wounded, and three sustained minor injuries.

In the ensuing frontal engagement, Sarutobi Shinnosuke relied on his exceptional, versatile ninjutsu to pin down the enemy, creating the time and opportunity for Hatake Sakumo, who had been circling the perimeter.

With god-like movement and sharp swordsmanship, Hatake Sakumo cut through them like a hot knife through butter, claiming a kill with every strike to complete a five-man execution.

By the end, only two elite Jonin from Kumogakure, both proficient in Nintaijutsu, remained capable of fighting.

The two stood back-to-back, watching vigilantly as Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Hatake Sakumo blocked their paths on either side.

Both of these Kumogakure elite Jonin were clansmen of the Third Raikage and had mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode; at this moment, their bodies were wreathed in electricity.

"You Konoha ninja, are you trying to start a war?" one of the Jonin demanded sharply, his tone certain.

The Land of Fire had always been the Land of Lightning's greatest enemy, and they invested the most resources into gathering intelligence on Konoha.

Through the brief exchange of blows, this Kumogakure Jonin had roughly guessed the identity of his enemies.

Blocking both ends, Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Hatake Sakumo said nothing; after a glance at each other, they launched their attack in perfect synchronization.

Hatake Sakumo's Body Flicker Technique was incredibly fast, top-tier even in Konoha, and he appeared before his enemy as if teleporting.

But at that moment, someone was faster than him.

A golden light flashed in the sky, and just as Hatake Sakumo was about to swing his blade, the light plummeted straight down.

Two long legs with a metallic black luster appeared out of thin air, stomping onto the heads of the two Kumogakure elite Jonin and driving them directly into the earth.

Hatake Sakumo, who had leaped into the air to strike, froze at the sudden appearance of Kizaru and immediately halted his assault.

"I'm not late, am I?"

Standing in the crater he had created, his feet planted in the dark red soil, Kizaru stood with his hands in his pockets, looking up at his two teammates above the pit.

Silently sheathing his blade, Hatake Sakumo immediately scanned Kizaru for injuries.

Following the same movement as Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, standing above the crater, also observed Kizaru.

His clothes were covered in blood, but upon closer inspection, there were no signs that Kizaru himself was wounded.

Seeing this, both men couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

"Come on up, Kizaru!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke called out.

With a bend of his knees, Kizaru leaped from the pit and landed beside Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

"Are you hurt?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked with concern as he looked at Kizaru.

Kizaru tilted his head and replied with a smile, "Nope."

Nodding, Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked toward Hatake Sakumo, who was standing on the other side of the crater, finishing off the heavily wounded Kumogakure ninja.

"Let's retreat!"

"Understood!"

As the words fell, the figures of the three men vanished instantly.

The Third Raikage, his upper body bare with bandages wrapped around his waist, abdomen, and left chest, stood atop a ruin, his hair bristling with rage.

Damn it! I'm going to slaughter that bastard!

Veins bulged on his face, his fists, the size of sand mortars, clenched tightly; the Third Raikage's heart was filled with fury.

This attack had cost Kumogakure dearly.

Hundreds of ninja were dead or wounded, and a vast amount of infrastructure and equipment had been reduced to rubble.

Of all these losses, the one that pained the Third Raikage the most was the death of Dodai, a genius of the village's younger generation and a civil official he had painstakingly cultivated.

Since taking the mantle of Raikage at the end of the First Great War, the fruits of the Third Raikage's twenty years of diligent governance and development had been more than half destroyed in less than an hour.

"Do you have any leads regarding the enemy?" The Third Raikage turned to look at the elder and several high-ranking officials beside him, suppressing his rage as he asked.

The high-ranking officials exchanged glances before turning their gaze toward the elder.

Facing the many eyes upon him, the elder, who had weathered many great crises, appeared remarkably calm.

"I do have a suspicion regarding the identity of the enemy."

"What is it?" the Third Raikage asked urgently.

"The enemy came from Konoha." Although he called it a suspicion, the elder's tone was absolute.

"Konoha?" Thinking of the personality of the Third Hokage, the Third Raikage was not entirely convinced by the elder's theory. "Do they have the guts?"

"The ninja who attacked the village possessed the ability to fly and used ninjutsu I have never seen before. Those techniques were incredibly fast, devastatingly powerful, and emitted a blinding light," the elder said, recalling the battle.

"The performance of this individual is extremely close to the intelligence we have gathered on the new genius of Konoha, Shimura Kizaru!"

"Furthermore, having suffered two assassination attempts from us, both he and Konoha have every reason to retaliate!"

"Konoha's Shimura Kizaru!" As he recalled the images of his clash with the enemy, the Third Raikage compared them against the fragmented intelligence he had gathered on Shimura Kizaru, finding that they truly seemed to match!

Yet, one question remained that prevented the Third Raikage from being entirely certain.

According to intelligence reports, that Shimura Kizaru from Konoha was not even ten years old this year.

A brat under ten years old had not only single-handedly raided the village and killed over a hundred shinobi, including a dozen Jonin like Dodai, but had also ambushed and severely wounded him after the raid.

How could this be possible? Was there truly such a monstrous, perverted genius in this world?

"That Shimura Kizaru is not even ten years old yet!" the Third Raikage reminded the elder.

"That is the village founded by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha," the elder replied in a tone filled with both awe and gravity.

Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha!

The mere mention of these two names was enough to make the Third Raikage feel the pressure.

Those were two monsters who, decades ago, possessed the power to sweep across the entire Shinobi World!

Could it be that less than thirty years after their passing, Konoha was about to give birth to a third monster?

And this monster possessed flight, high-speed movement, and a mysterious ninjutsu—whether it was Genjutsu or the ability to turn his body into light—that allowed him to become immune to attacks.

A chill crept into his heart; at this moment, the Third Raikage desperately hoped that the enemy did not truly hail from Konoha!