Nagato's Invitation

The main reason is that Uzumaki Clan's technology is so advanced that Leaf Village has never considered using Jinchūriki as a research direction for Tailed Beasts.

Before Killer B and Yugito Nii, the Jinchūriki of Kumogakure had always followed the second traditional route.

Looking at the person in his hands, the furious Matatabi felt a familiar Chakra.

It's Gyuki.

Matatabi and Gyuki had a good relationship, after all, they had been imprisoned together for so many years, and Gyuki didn't have the same kind of bad personality as Kurama or Shukaku.

This made the Matatabi even angrier.

"The Matatabi, returning to the Yugito Nii's body."

Ai, who was being held Matatabi in You Lü's hand, suddenly spoke.

He didn't make a move because he didn't want to give up on Yugito Nii.

Since he didn't see Yugito Nii's body, it means that Matatabi is still in the early stages of his berserk state and hasn't yet separated from the Jinchūriki's body.

If you press down at this moment, the Jinchūriki will be unharmed.

Matatabi responded to Ai's words.

It did something very down-to-earth.

He got the worst hand in the game and angrily threw it down.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ai crashed vertically into the ground in front of the restaurant like a solid bullet.

The force used by the Matatabi was considerable; it smashed cracks into the ground, splitting the land into many pieces, some of which were even uprooted.

After smashing the person, it leaped up Matatabi. The restaurant, which was only half its original height, couldn't withstand the impact and immediately collapsed, unfortunately falling right onto the spot where Ai had been smashed.

But the Matatabi, already halfway up in the air, was still not satisfied, so it turned around and spewed a mouthful of flame.

For a ninja, this is a genuine Fire Release.

Of the Nine Tailed Beasts, nearly Tailed Beasts possess some unique abilities. It is precisely because of this characteristic that Sand Village, Iwagakure, and Hidden Mist Village have focused their research on the Tailed Beasts' powers on developing Ninjutsu.

This is also the direction with the lowest risk and the least difficulty.

The special nature of Matatabi is that it became popular.

It doesn't just have a body like flames; it can actually breathe fire.

The extremely hot blue fireball easily wiped out everything in its path, crashing into the spot where Ai had landed. Amidst the explosion, a blue sea of fire broke through the land and building ruins, like layers of ocean waves, engulfing everything nearby.

"Lord Raikage!"

The Cloud Village's ANBU only had time to attack Matatabi at this point; the Tailed Beasts's movements were too agile, its speed incredibly fast, as nimble as a real big cat.

Their attacks were ineffective against the Matatabi. It casually shook its body, and countless blue fireballs detached from it, blasting indiscriminately in all directions. Any Cloud Ninja who couldn't dodge in time and were hit became part of the blue sea of fire.

"Don't be impulsive! This won't hurt Lord Raikage. Everyone, let's leave the town together!" Dodai shouted as he saw this.

He didn't see any Leaf Village ninjas; the enemy had probably already left the town to prepare an ambush.

Dodai's idea was correct. As soon as Namikaze Minato landed, he ordered the ANBU to send word for the Konoha Ninja in the town to evacuate immediately.

Their mission was to block the town's entrances and exits, intercept and kill the Cloud Village ninjas who were requesting reinforcements, and at the same time notify their own forces that had secretly entered the Land of Land of Hot Water to annihilate the Cloud Village here.

Uchiha Shingen called this the Raikage Extermination Plan.

Namikaze Minato thought the name was terrible; it not only sounded unpleasant but also lacked any grandeur. However, the meaning was there, and considering that Uchiha Shingen had worked hard on the first draft, he adopted it and seriously considered it as a backup plan in case the negotiations broke down.

Then the negotiations broke down.

Now, only Namikaze Minato and a few others who were part of the negotiation team remain in the town.

The indiscriminate attacks by the Matatabi had little impact on them.

The Tailed Beasts' indiscriminate attacks are basically just random attacks, with huge gaps in their defenses.

"Torifu, Homura, Koharu." Sarutobi Hiruzen had already ripped off his robe. "I'm counting on you!"

"This is truly something to reminisce about." After decades of seamless cooperation, Mitokado Homura stood in a corner, and as he spoke, he completed a Hand Seals, raising a sufficiently thick water curtain that blocked several incoming fireballs. "How many years has it been since we fought together like this?"

"This is nothing." Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled upon hearing his old friend's words. "The Tobirama Squad can't be missing a single member if they go into battle again. As for you, can you still use Ninjutsu?"

"What kind of lame New Year's joke is this?" Mitokado Homura tossed out two scrolls. "I've prepared them all for you."

Sarutobi Hiruzen caught them and put the two scrolls into his pocket.

"Let's begin then."

Chapter Thirty-Five: Nagato's Invitation

Blue flames roared in the center of the town, coloring half the sky.

Outside the town, the Cloud Ninja ANBU attempting to escape were blocked by the Leaf Village ANBU.

To make matters worse, because Leaf Village had the initial advantage, a thousand-strong elite Leaf Village force appeared, completely blocking all the Cloud Ninja's escape routes from the town.

It will take time for the troops deployed by the Cloud Village to notice the situation here and arrive.

As a veteran Cloud Village Jonin Kumogakure trusted by two generations of Raikage, and also the examiner of the legendary Double Lariat, Dodai decisively abandoned his original plan in the face of this situation.

"Return to town, reunite with Lord Raikage, and gather our strength to fight our way out."

"Dodai, this could lead to our complete encirclement."

"We're already surrounded. We misjudged Leaf Village. They came with the intention of annihilating us from the start. Where are the Akatsuki members?"

"I've already gone to support Lord Raikage."

"Very good, send the order to everyone to tighten the defensive line."

After giving the order, Dodai led his men back towards the town center.

Halfway there, a large, bright blue cat swooped down overhead.

"Matatabi!?" Dodai stopped in his tracks. "They haven't escaped yet? Chase after them! We can't let the Two-Tails fall into Leaf Village's hands!"

"Oh my, that's really touching. You really care about the village, Cloud Ninja."

The man riding the giant serpent coincidentally broke through a cluster of buildings, passed in front of the Cloud Ninja, and then, even more coincidentally, knocked over a group of them.

"Ah, sorry, no one should have died, right? You can't deduct money, or the Raikage will die."

"Orochimaru!" Dodai waved his hand to stop the enraged Jonin behind him. "Shouldn't you be protecting Lord Raikage?"

"I'll help stop the Two-Tails," Orochimaru said.

However, his utterly bored demeanor wasn't very convincing.

In just a few leaps, the Two-Tails beast had almost disappeared from sight.

Lightning flashed in the darkness.

Two massive spears wielded by lightning tore through the air, transforming into a net of lightning that swept towards the Matatabi.

The big cat lowered its head and charged into the lightning net.

However, the caster possessed a high level of Chakra flow ability, and the thunderous roar continued, managing to entangle the Tailed Beasts for a while.

Taking advantage of this delay, a slender figure appeared above Matatabi.

This is a blue-haired woman with paper wings on her back. When she appears, her paper wings have already spread out.

Explosive Tag appeared in the air, nimbly flying towards Matatabi's body.

They exploded the moment they came into contact with the Tailed Beasts.

Amidst the deafening explosion, the orange-red Kakkō momentarily obscured the blue glow of the Matatabi's armor.

Orochimaru arrived riding a snake, and upon seeing this, he also unleashed a Wind Release technique as a token gesture.

Dodai was stunned, then flew into a rage.

"Akatsuki! Shouldn't you all be protecting Lord Raikage!? Are you trying to break the agreement!?"

"What's all the noise about?" Thick smoke billowed from the other side, giving Kakuzu a chance to chat. He glared at the Dodai with displeasure. "This was originally what your Raikage requested."

After thinking about it, he felt that he couldn't be too fussy, after all, the customer experience was also very important.

For a major client like Kumogakure, we need to strive to turn them into repeat customers, otherwise our cash flow will suffer.

So he said, "This won't cost extra."

The Dodai's face was so black it could be burned like charcoal.

"Don't worry about the Two-Tails, go back and support Lord Raikage. I have reason to believe that Leaf Village's goal this time is not negotiation at all, but to harm Lord Raikage."

"With your Raikage's temper, it would be strange if you didn't want to kill him," Orochimaru said while unleashing his Wind Release. "Let's make this clear first, the Third Hokage is over there too; I'm not going."

Orochimaru knew perfectly well when to be carefree and when to stay away.

The fact that the former students of the Second Hokage are all here speaks volumes.

"Orochimaru, why are you meddling?" Kakuzu's dissatisfaction was very strong. "If you've taken the money, you have to do the job."

He continued to unleash Lightning Release while speaking.

"You're the one who gets paid. I'm not interested in this kind of thing. I'm already being kind by coming with you."

"Cloud Village, don't worry, Pain is with your Raikage. With Pain there, the Raikage will be fine," the woman said to Dodai while continuing to unleash Explosive Tag.

Before he could finish speaking, Matatabi had already broken through the encirclement of several people once again.

The angry cat swung its paw, but the group skillfully dodged.

"You are not the ones making the decisions here. As the ones who entrusted you with this mission, I demand that you immediately go and protect Lord Raikage." Dodai waved his hand, and the accompanying Jonin forward to form a battle formation with him. "We can handle the Two-Tails."

Konan frowned.

She, Kakuzu, Orochimaru weren't really there to capture the Tailed Beasts.

Akatsuki will not attack the Tailed Beasts until the time is right and they can simultaneously suppress the power of the five great villages.

Orochimaru.

"Um?"

"Kakuzu and I will go protect the Raikage. Since you're unwilling to go, then cooperate with the Cloud Ninja to capture the Two-Tails."

"Alright." Orochimaru had no objections.

"In that case, you all go too," Dodai said to the others upon seeing this.

"Yes," the Cloud Ninja responded, then turned around and followed Konan and Kakuzu to support the Fourth Raikage A, A.

Only Dodai remained, to continue facing the frenzied Matatabi alongside Orochimaru.

"Matatabi, stop! If you continue, you'll kill Yugito Nii."

Dodai shouted at Matatabi first, but only received an angry slap from Matatabi.

Uchiha Shingen's Transcription Seal contained more than just the Totsuka Blade.

By this time, the town center had completely changed.

"Shingen, this is quite different from your third-stage plan." Namikaze Minato looked at the red-haired youth in front of him and said to Uchiha Shingen, "I didn't expect there to be such a powerful ninja outside the Five Great Villages. Could that eye be the legendary Rinnegan?"

Namikaze Minato recalled an old story that his teacher Jiraiya, had once told him.

In the Land of Rain, he also had three fellow disciples...

"How would I know, Lord Hokage? Nobody's ever seen that thing before," said Uchiha Shingen. "Let him do his thing, we'll do ours. The Third and the others are probably already fighting the Raikage right now."

Namikaze Minato: "..."

He felt that this statement was problematic in many ways, yet it also seemed to make a lot of sense.

Uchiha Shingen was also amazed at this moment.

I really didn't expect Uzumaki Nagato to come here in his true form.

He was now confident he could preserve his Rinnegan?

But he didn't arrive early enough; the Leaf Village group had already successfully cornered Raikage A in the town.

Then the third phase officially begins.

The Third Hokage and his Tobirama Squad, fought the Fourth Raikage, while he and Namikaze Minato went elsewhere to clear the area.

It may differ from what he wrote on paper before, but the meaning is the same.