Fierce Battle with the Raikage

"Pfft."

"Pfft."

"Pfft."

Every envoy from the Land of Lightning's Daimyo Palace and the Cloud Village lay dead, save for a single ninja.

Watching Uchiha Hise kill these men with a beaming smile, the onlookers felt a shiver run down their spines.

Is he really this ruthless at such a young age?

Yet, regarding his decision to take on an entire village alone, the others still deemed it impossible. No one possessed such strength; even if Hise's golden giant (Susanoo) had shocked them, Hise could easily be exhausted. Such techniques were bound to consume massive amounts of chakra—this was nothing short of suicide.

Of course, this was due to their limited perspective, having never witnessed the cataclysmic battles of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. They naively believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had succeeded as Hokage during times of crisis and led the Hidden Leaf to victory in several Ninja World Wars, was the strongest Hokage.

Having faith was better than having none, so those who knew of the power held by Hashirama, Madara, and Tobirama Senju ignored this situation.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi, who understood the true might of those who founded the Hidden Leaf Village, was different. He had agreed immediately.

Wood Release, Mangekyo Sharingan, the secret arts of the Uzumaki Clan, and the Byakugan—to have such enviable gifts gathered in a single person, could he be anything less than extraordinary?

Certainly not.

Hise took the surviving ninja and flew toward the Land of Lightning.

With the flight capabilities of the Tenseigan paired with the Lightning Flicker Technique, his speed was unparalleled. Moreover, he did not bother to conserve chakra; his velocity even exceeded the speed of sound.

In about half an hour, he reached the border of the Land of Fire. However, at the intersection of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, the Tenseigan spotted a burly figure: the Fourth Raikage, A.

"Hmph, the people of the Hidden Leaf dare to kill our Cloud Village envoys. This must succeed. Otherwise, our efforts were in vain, and our men died for nothing."

Sigh, this Raikage looks so reckless, yet he actually has some brains. In the novels or anime he had seen, burly, hot-tempered men were always portrayed as brutes. Seeing this contrast in the Raikage made him feel a bit unsettled. Shouldn't a man like this be straightforward and honorable? As expected, no shadow of a village was a simple character.

"Excuse me, Lord Raikage. Though I hate to apologize, your plan has failed, and your men are mostly dead. Except for this one."

The Raikage was startled by the sudden voice and looked up at Hise, who was hovering in the air.

Upon hearing the news, he flew into a rage, pointing a finger at Hise:

"You Hidden Leaf bastards are courting death!"

"Hmph! You kidnap my little niece and then try to shift the blame? It is you who are courting death! Since you want to fight, fine! By order of the Hokage, I have come to clean up you pieces of trash."

"Hahahahaha, hahahahahaha!"

"Even that old dog Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't dare speak to me like that. You little brat, who gave you the courage?"

"Liang Jingru."

Raikage: "???"

What was that supposed to mean?

Realizing the boy was clearly mocking him, he struck without hesitation.

He lunged forward with a punch—a mere probe. In his heart, he still believed a little brat couldn't possibly be that strong.

"Heh."

Then came the Rock Strength Enhancement Fist.

BOOM!

The Raikage was sent flying backward, embedding himself into the nearby stone wall.

The Raikage was stunned that a mere boy possessed such power, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

"A truly terrifying boy, to have honed your physical strength to this degree at such a young age. But if that is all you have, I shall take your head!"

"Lariat!"

"Rock Strength Enhancement Fist!"

The two clashed in a fierce battle.

The Fourth Raikage was a decent opponent, and Hise intended to use him to polish his own combat skills.

The Fourth Raikage, A, felt quite the opposite.

From the very beginning, Hise had appeared composed, showing not a single sign of panic. The longer they fought, the more alarmed A became; the boy's attack patterns were devious and bizarre, filled with endless underhanded tricks. Sometimes, the boy would even use A's own momentum against him, and his speed was not inferior to his own—perhaps even slightly faster.

How is this possible?!

He was already using his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which boosted his speed significantly. Under such conditions, no one had ever surpassed him in speed, save for the late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

When did such a monster appear in the Hidden Leaf?

Wait!

"Are you Uchiha Hise?"

"Oh, it seems Lord Raikage has heard of my name. Since that is the case, why not surrender quickly and beg for mercy on your knees?"

Hearing Hise's mockery, the Raikage flew into a rage.

"You brat, don't think you can defeat me just like that! I am the Raikage!"

"Heh."

Fei Shi set aside his relaxed expression, and an aura of absolute dominance erupted from his body.

Across from him, Raikage A couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He forced himself to suppress the fear in his heart, but an inexplicable sense of unease caused that fear to spread even further.

"Then I shall let you witness it."

Complete Body Susanoo, activate!

Massive amounts of chakra surged from Fei Shi, quickly coalescing into a golden giant standing over two hundred meters tall.

The nearby Cloud Village ninjas were filled with despair.

"Is... is this... even human?"

"A god. This is a god. I actually provoked a deity."

"Shut up!"

The Raikage roared in fury, ordering his men to be silent. Although he was terrified and couldn't even muster the will to continue fighting, he knew that if he didn't find a way out now, they would all perish here.

Damn it! This doesn't match the intelligence reports at all. Whoever was in charge of this intel—if he had this kind of power, he couldn't have just watched Minato Namikaze die. How could the Nine-Tails possibly be a match for this kind of strength? It's impossible for someone to make this much progress in just three years. Impossible.

But no matter how much he claimed it was impossible, it wouldn't resolve the crisis at hand.

To surrender. To surrender to a fourteen-year-old child. To save his life by backing down was, to the proud Raikage, nothing short of a humiliation.

He was so unwilling.

"Heh, what's wrong? Why is the ever-arrogant Raikage making such a face? Blame your own greed, heh. Daring to kidnap my little niece—you're courting death!"

"Wait! We surrender! We can compensate Konoha for all losses incurred during the Third Great Ninja War!"

The Raikage gritted his teeth and threw caution to the wind. To save his life, this was his only option. Several of the people beside him were ninjas with the potential to succeed him; if they died here, it would be a massive loss for the Cloud Village.

Money could be earned again, but if people died, everything was gone.

Once he had this thought, he acted on it immediately.

Fei Shi was tempted the moment he heard this.

He had money, sure, but Konoha didn't. This was the village he had built alongside his sister's grandfather, and Tsunade also held deep feelings for Konoha.

"Fine. But you still have to lose people. If I take action, everyone dies except for the Raikage. If you do it yourself, you can keep half your men, and the compensation remains the same. Otherwise, I might just pay a visit to the Cloud Village."

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

The Raikage felt as if he were about to shatter his own teeth.

"Pfft!"