Cloud Hidden Battlefield, Land of Hot Water, Annihilated!

Just as Ato lay down and fell asleep,

the Ninja World underwent earth-shaking changes.

Land of Hot Water.

The main battlefield between Konoha and Kumogakure.

Beside a natural hot spring in the Land of Hot Water stood a natural cavern.

This was where the Konoha Shinobi Forces were stationed.

Inside the cavern, hundreds of Konoha Shinobi leaned against the rock walls with pale, exhausted faces, seizing every moment to rest.

Just twenty minutes earlier, the Konoha Shinobi Forces had repelled a wave of attacks from the Cloud Shinobi Forces.

The Land of Hot Water had been deliberately chosen by the Hidden Cloud Village as the battleground.

The Land of Hot Water's countless natural hot springs were natural conductors for lightning.

Fighting here increased the power of Kumogakure's Lightning Release by more than double.

Faced with the Hidden Cloud Village's wide-range Lightning Release attacks, the Konoha Shinobi suffered devastating casualties and retreated again and again.

Now, the Konoha Shinobi Forces had nowhere left to retreat. Two kilometers behind them lay the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire.

"Lord Jiraiya, what should we do?"

At the center of the cavern, a Ninja from the Akimichi Clan looked solemnly at the commander of the Konoha Shinobi Forces, who sat atop a boulder.

This Ninja had spiky white hair that reached his waist, a forehead protector marked with the character for "oil," red markings beneath his eyes, and a brown skintight suit beneath his red outer robe.

He was none other than Jiraiya, the Toad Sage and one of the Three Legendary Sannin.

Jiraiya's brows were tightly furrowed.

"It seems we can only attempt a decapitation operation."

Under the watchful eyes of more than a dozen Konoha jonin, Jiraiya laid out his countermeasure.

"A decapitation operation?" Akimichi Torifu of the Akimichi Clan looked sternly at Jiraiya.

"That's right. Kumogakure's AB Combo is simply too powerful. Even I can't defeat them both at once. Especially Killer B, the Hidden Cloud Village's Eight-Tails jinchuriki—he's the most perfect jinchuriki in Kumogakure."

Jiraiya's words plunged all the Konoha jonin into silence.

The Hidden Cloud Village's strength was obvious to all.

Leaving aside the boost to Cloud Shinobi combat power on the Land of Hot Water battlefield,

there was the AB Combo of Kumogakure alone.

Fourth Raikage A, and Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

One possessed the Cloud Hidden Secret Ninja Body Technique, the Lightning Release Cellular Activation Technique.

The other was a perfect Tailed Beast jinchuriki.

Even Jiraiya had to avoid the full-force combined attack of the two.

"Therefore, I intend to lead a surprise assault unit deep into the Cloud Hidden Battlefield and directly assassinate Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki. Even if we fail to kill him, as long as we make the Eight-Tails go berserk, Konoha's collapsing situation can be turned around."

Jiraiya spoke with resounding conviction, full of confidence.

He could not handle the AB Combo, but he could still easily defeat a single Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

"After I leave, Lord Torifu will temporarily serve as the commander of the Konoha Shinobi Forces."

Without any of his usual bold, carefree manner, Jiraiya swiftly laid out the battle plan.

Bang.

Just as Jiraiya prepared to carry out the decapitation operation, a cloud of smoke appeared before him.

"A Communication Frog from Mount Myoboku?" Jiraiya frowned slightly as he looked at the toad emerging from the smoke.

"Lord Jiraiya, an urgent order from the Third Hokage: immediately abandon the Cloud Hidden Battlefield and retreat at once."

The Communication Frog from Mount Myoboku opened its mouth, and Minato's anxious voice emerged.

"An urgent order from the old man?" Jiraiya froze for a moment, confusion flashing through his eyes.

"The old man wouldn't issue a retreat order for no reason. That means something unexpected happened—something that made him willing to abandon the fight against the Hidden Cloud Village and withdraw from the battlefield?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

Then he lightly clapped his hands. "Operation canceled. Inform the Konoha Shinobi Forces to immediately withdraw from the Land of Hot Water."

Five minutes later, the Konoha Shinobi Forces withdrew from the Land of Hot Water in orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, the Cloud Shinobi Forces at the central hot spring of the Land of Hot Water immediately noticed the Konoha Shinobi Forces' movements.

Inside the Cloud Shinobi Forces' command tent, Fourth Raikage A—dark-skinned, towering, and rugged, utterly unlike the Konoha Shinobi—looked at the intelligence report in his hand. His right hand, adorned with heavy iron rings, smashed down onto the table.

Bang.

The stone table instantly shattered into pieces.

"Trying to run? Not so easily!" the Fourth Raikage roared, lightning crackling across his body.

"Yo, what happened?" The young Killer B walked up to the Fourth Raikage, rapping in his strange rhythm.

"Konoha retreated!" The Fourth Raikage's single sentence startled Killer B so badly that he forgot to rap.

"B, come with me. We're pursuing the Konoha forces." The Fourth Raikage heavily patted Killer B's shoulder with his right hand and spoke in a deep voice.

Killer B merely gave the Fourth Raikage a thumbs-up.

The Fourth Raikage and Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, immediately left the Cloud Hidden Camp and pursued the Konoha forces toward the Land of Fire.

And just three minutes after Kumogakure's AB Combo left the Cloud Hidden Camp,

an azure Energy Blast, carrying rolling sonic booms and a tidal wave of air, struck directly toward the center of the Land of Hot Water.

Boom!

The enormous explosion resounded throughout the Land of Hot Water.

The earth shook, and the ground churned like a dragon turning over.

The violent shockwave from the explosion instantly vaporized the enormous hot spring at the center of the Land of Hot Water.

The Cloud Shinobi Forces near the hot spring only had time to see a rising blue sun. Beneath its blinding radiance, over a thousand Cloud Shinobi were instantly reduced to dust.

Rumble!

A massive black pillar of light shot into the sky from the center of the Land of Hot Water, then abruptly expanded into a pitch-black sphere more than several hundred kilometers in diameter.

The dark sphere collapsed inward, then exploded with a thunderous roar.

The next second, every building, the ground, the rocks, the hot springs—everything in the entire Land of Hot Water—was instantly reduced to nothingness.

The intense light produced by the explosion was clearly visible across half the Land of Fire.

The AB Combo, having just left the Cloud Hidden Battlefield, stared in horror at the devastating black sphere behind them as it swept away everything in its path.

They did not even have time to speak.

The destructive black sphere had already caught up with them, and the terrifying energy shockwave swept over them.

Lightning Release Armor!

Seeing the energy shockwave bearing down on them, the Fourth Raikage instantly activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Violent blue lightning surged two meters beyond his body.

Killer B, meanwhile, directly extended several octopus tentacles from his back, rapidly wrapping both himself and the Fourth Raikage within them.

Boom!

The next moment, the Fourth Raikage and Killer B were swallowed by the energy shockwave.

Under the force of the shockwave, Killer B's Eight-Tails tentacles shattered continuously, only for more tentacles to surge forth.

The Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Armor became utterly tattered.

The Lightning Release Armor, known as Kumogakure's absolute defense, was completely unable to withstand a single blow.

Fortunately, after raging for dozens of seconds, the energy shockwave finally vanished completely.

Two enormous octopus tentacles on Killer B's body slowly disappeared.

Though Killer B was a perfect jinchuriki, his body now swayed unsteadily. The chakra within him had nearly been drained dry. If not for the Eight-Tails Gyuki's timely replenishment of chakra, Killer B would already have passed out.

The Fourth Raikage was in an even more miserable state.

His Lightning Release Armor had long since vanished, and his entire body was drenched in blood.

"Dammit, Konoha actually used the Nine-Tails' power!!!" Though covered in blood, the Fourth Raikage still roared in fury.

Clearly, he attributed the explosion just now to Konoha using the Nine-Tails' power.

"No, big brother, this isn't the Nine-Tails' power!" Killer B frowned deeply, shaking his head as he communicated with Gyuki, the Eight-Tails, inside him.

"The Nine-Tails couldn't possibly cause such terrifying destruction." Killer B raised his head and looked ahead.

Before him, the Land of Hot Water had long since disappeared.

In its place was a massive abyss.

The abyss was bottomless, and one could even faintly see magma deep underground.

After witnessing the terrifying scene before him, the Fourth Raikage finally calmed down from his rage.

"Th-This is such terrifying power... a single strike destroyed a nation!" The Fourth Raikage's expression shifted constantly. He finally understood why the Konoha Shinobi had suddenly retreated.

The Konoha Shinobi had clearly known in advance about that blue Energy Blast.

"B, let's go. We're returning to the Hidden Cloud Village.

From this moment onward, the Hidden Cloud Village withdraws from the Third Shinobi World War."