Could It Be That I've Already Grown Strong?

On the eve of the agreed deadline, the Fourth Raikage walked alone toward Konoha Village's camp.

When Uchiha Yansheng received the report from the sensory ninja, he was rather surprised.

He truly hadn't expected the Raikage to do something like barging into an enemy camp alone.

Could it be that the entire Cloud Village had forgotten how the Third Raikage had been surrounded and ultimately killed some time ago?

"Come on, let's take a look."

Uchiha Yansheng called to Shikaku beside him, leaving no room for discussion.

Nara Shikaku gave a wry smile and shook his head. After giving Morino Ibiki a few instructions, he followed behind Uchiha Yansheng.

Letting an eleven-year-old child serve as battlefield commander looked like a joke no matter how one saw it.

Yet Nara Shikaku could not raise any objection, because if Uchiha Yansheng did not give the word, Konoha Village would no longer be able to command a single Uchiha.

When the Fourth Raikage saw Uchiha Yansheng with his own eyes, he still found it hard to believe despite already knowing his age.

It would have been one thing if the brat before him were like the Fourth Mizukage, merely built like a child. But if he really was only eleven...

He had to find a way to snuff him out in the cradle.

With that thought, the Fourth Raikage covered his entire body in chakra and lightning, then charged at Uchiha Yansheng at full speed without warning.

At such close range, even Minato Namikaze...

Just as a faint smile appeared on the Fourth Raikage's lips, his thrown punch was blocked by a girl-shaped puppet.

The girl-shaped puppet had appeared without warning, and its material was incomparably hard, utterly unlike anything that should have existed in the Ninja World.

"Space-time ninjutsu?"

Suppressing the sharp pain in his fist, the Fourth Raikage did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately unleashed his next move.

Guillotine Drop!

The name was rather tongue-twisting, but judging by its appearance, this move seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary kick under Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Yet its effect was unexpectedly powerful.

Zero-Two's body was smashed directly into the ground, and her shoulder appeared to have suffered extensive damage as well.

In just two moves, the newly modified Zero-Two had been forced out of the fight. It seemed that Zero-Two's combat strength had weakened somewhat.

But Uchiha Yansheng was already very satisfied that she had been able to withstand two full-power attacks from the Fourth Raikage.

Seeing Uchiha Yansheng so close at hand, a cruel smile appeared on the Fourth Raikage's face.

But the next instant, that smile froze.

Boom!

As a cloud of white smoke burst forth, the Fourth Raikage's expression gradually turned livid.

"Raikage... are you all this lacking in martial virtue?"

Uchiha Yansheng's figure once again approached from the direction of Konoha Village's camp.

Seeing this, the Fourth Raikage knew he had lost the initiative. He snorted coldly and canceled his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

"Do you think this old man is despicable? Brat, let me tell you, this is the real Ninja World."

The Fourth Raikage's expression was ugly. It was unclear whether it was because his sneak attack had failed or because of Uchiha Yansheng's calm face.

The Shadow Clone Technique really was useful.

A technique that even Kaguya Otsutsuki could not see through to the true body was truly delightful.

"Despicable isn't the word. I just think you're a little stupid."

Uchiha Yansheng's calm statement nearly made the Fourth Raikage lose his temper again.

Cloud Village had obtained very little intelligence on Uchiha Yansheng. They only knew that he had supposedly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and possessed talent even greater than Madara Uchiha's.

"Hmph. This old man has seen plenty of geniuses. But a genius who cannot grow strong is nothing."

The Fourth Raikage spoke a threat.

Perhaps, in his eyes, it was not merely a threat, but a statement of reality.

No matter what Uchiha Yansheng had been like before, after today, even if the Fourth Raikage failed to kill him, the vast majority of forces throughout the Ninja World would be waiting for Uchiha Yansheng's death.

If the stakes were high enough, even if the Fourth Ninja World War broke out again, the four ninja villages and countless other forces lurking in the darkness of the Ninja World would all swarm Konoha Village.

This Ninja World had no need for a God of Shinobi.

"Cannot grow strong? Could it be that I've already grown strong?"

"Enough. Stop talking nonsense."

"I'm here to demand my compensation. If Cloud Village can't pay, then shall we go to war?"

Uchiha Yansheng spoke slowly, with a trace of anticipation in his tone.

"Impossible. My bottom line is to pretend this never happened and have both sides withdraw their troops."

The Fourth Raikage refused without hesitation.

"I see. What a pity..."

"For Cloud Village..."

Uchiha Yansheng raised a hand and pointed at the sky. A crimson beam shot from his fingertip and burst in the air.

The next moment, the ground began to tremble faintly.

The Fourth Raikage had clearly realized something. He formed hand seals with both hands and used an unknown ninjutsu, likely to notify the Cloud Village ninja in the rear.

Before long, the trembling of the ground grew increasingly intense.

The Fourth Raikage had thought Konoha Village had sent out the Nine-Tails. After all, aside from tailed beasts, there were few existences in the Ninja World capable of causing such a great commotion.

Not long afterward, a figure finally burst from the distant forest. It resembled some kind of irregular beast, radiating extremely violent chakra.

The first, the second, the third...

As more and more beasts charged out of the forest, the Fourth Raikage's expression became exceptionally grim.

Only then did the Fourth Raikage understand why every ninja Konoha had deployed this time was a Jonin.

Only Jonin could move freely amid such a massive beast tide. Those Genin, and even many Chunin, would be nothing but targets in a beast tide of this scale.

He had to return as quickly as possible and notify all Earth Release ninja to alter the terrain with Earth Release. If these ninja beasts were allowed to charge all the way through, this war would be nearly impossible to win.

Watching the Fourth Raikage rush back, Uchiha Yansheng unhurriedly leaped onto the foremost beast.

"I never expected some troublesome waste products to be so useful on the battlefield."

The beasts that had been released were all waste products from Uchiha Yansheng's research into natural energy for the Ninja Cat Clan.

They had originally been cloned through extremely crude methods, then contaminated with violent natural energy that was difficult to remove, making these waste products troublesome to dispose of.

He could not simply toss them anywhere. Though they were all defective products, they still contained a considerable amount of Sage Art chakra.

Disposing of them carelessly could not only leak his own techniques, but also create unnecessary trouble.

For that reason, before setting out for this war, Uchiha Yansheng had made ample preparations. He obtained a batch of supplies from Hiruzen Sarutobi and made a few small modifications to these waste products from his natural energy research.

After the modifications, these former waste products had transformed into one-use killing weapons.

But to make this weapon display its proper power, he still needed a special ninjutsu.

Earth Release: Hardening Jutsu!