Jonin

Although the Third Raikage was furious at the Eight-Tails' cunning, he also felt fortunate that the alliance treaty with Konoha had already been signed.

If the Eight-Tails had gone berserk during their standoff with Konoha, he could not imagine the consequences.

"Ah, Killer B was still lacking. I shouldn't have listened to that child Yozuki A and brought Killer B out so early." The Third Raikage regretted it somewhat.

Boom boom boom~

The battle between the two was immense. The Third Raikage was tiny compared to the Eight-Tails, yet his strength made the Eight-Tails deeply wary.

What surprised Chiba Shun was that Kumogakure seemed to have rehearsed for a Tailed Beast rampage before.

Under the command of one Elite Jonin after another, everyone watched the Third Raikage fight the Eight-Tails hand-to-hand while gathering into formations of varying sizes.

They even tacitly refrained from launching powerful attacks at the Eight-Tails before the formations were complete, lest they draw its attention.

A moment later, the combat formations were ready. The Kumogakure shinobi were about to attack when a gesture from the Third Raikage stopped them.

Since the Eight-Tails had not shifted its attention yet, he intended to wear it down a little longer.

That would also minimize the army's casualties as much as possible.

Boom boom boom~

Every blow from the Third Raikage made the Eight-Tails cry out in pain, while the Eight-Tails could not land a single hit on him.

The Third Raikage was immensely powerful. Even fighting the Fully Mature Eight-Tails, he had not suffered the slightest injury.

If not for the fact that the Third Raikage's chakra would eventually run out, while the Eight-Tails possessed an enormous amount of chakra, Chiba Shun felt that no one else would need to join the battle at all.

Finally, after one man and one Tailed Beast had fought for half the night, the Third Raikage signaled everyone.

The ninjutsu users in each combat formation swiftly launched attacks at the Eight-Tails.

At this point, taijutsu users were of very little use.

Even the Eight-Tails could temporarily withstand the Third Raikage's attacks, let alone those of other shinobi.

The taijutsu users' role now was to protect the ninjutsu users.

Kumogakure's ninjutsu users were almost all Lightning Release users.

Wave after wave of Lightning Release ninjutsu crashed into the Eight-Tails from all directions.

From his position alone, Chiba Shun saw twenty or thirty Lightning Release techniques of at least A-rank Mission level.

Struck by such a wide-ranging barrage of Lightning Release ninjutsu, the Eight-Tails let out a pained roar, and its movements slowed by a beat.

The Third Raikage seized the opportunity and drove a One-Finger Nukite straight at the Eight-Tails' head.

The Eight-Tails only had time to tilt its head slightly.

As a result, one of the horns on its head was sliced off by the Third Raikage.

The Third Raikage frowned. He had not expected that killing blow to miss.

And this time, the Eight-Tails was thoroughly enraged.

It simply abandoned the Third Raikage and turned its target toward the nearby shinobi.

Countless tentacles rose high into the air and smashed down in every direction.

Even moving at full speed, the Third Raikage only managed to knock back two of them.

Seeing many tentacles about to crush large numbers of Kumogakure shinobi, the Third Raikage grew even more anxious.

But at that moment, the ground beneath the Eight-Tails suddenly sank, and its massive body immediately lost balance.

No, it had not sunk. The ground on one side had risen slightly.

The Eight-Tails nearly toppled over to one side.

It hurriedly used the tentacles that had been prepared to attack the surrounding shinobi army to support its body.

Following the chakra, it looked to its side and saw a shinobi who had not formed a combat formation with the others.

Chiba Shun's entire body went rigid.

That was right. The change in terrain just now had been his doing.

He had used every ounce of his strength to cast Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique.

However, this Mountain Earth Technique differed from the one he had used against Akira Hyuga and the others.

Normally, Mountain Earth Technique raised two hemispherical rocks from the ground, which then closed together and crushed all enemies inside to death.

But because the Eight-Tails was too large, Chiba Shun had no way to trap it between them.

So, he had merely raised the two hemispherical rocks beneath one side of the Eight-Tails' body.

The rocks did not rise very high, but they still caused the Eight-Tails to lose its balance.

Chiba Shun's attack had not hurt the Eight-Tails in the slightest, but his goal had been to interrupt its attack.

Without question, Chiba Shun had succeeded.

He had exhausted every bit of chakra he had recovered over the past few days, and even after using an incomplete ninjutsu, all he had achieved was making the Eight-Tails stagger.

But the timing of that strike was too crucial. The Eight-Tails' enraged attack was interrupted outright!

Now the Eight-Tails had turned its furious gaze toward Chiba Shun, while Chiba Shun no longer had the strength to resist.

At this point, the Eight-Tails only needed to sweep lightly at him, and Chiba Shun would be finished.

Fortunately, Chiba Shun was not alone.

Taking advantage of the opening, another wave of powerful Lightning Release struck the Eight-Tails.

Most importantly, this time the Third Raikage did not waste the opportunity. He landed a direct blow on the Eight-Tails' vital point.

The Eight-Tails cried out in pain again and again, completely unable to bother with Chiba Shun.

Sakai Yushi was also a taijutsu user, so he was helpless in this situation. He took the injured Yozuki A and Chiba Shun, whose chakra had been completely exhausted, and retreated far away.

The rest of the battle had nothing to do with the three of them.

Long afterward, the Eight-Tails was sealed again by the Third Raikage and the others.

However, before being sealed, it still killed several hundred Kumogakure shinobi.

Fortunately, those several hundred Kumogakure shinobi were mainly Genin and Chunin, with relatively few Jonin and Elite Jonin among them.

Jonin reacted quickly and managed to evade the Eight-Tails' final rampage in time.

In addition, many taijutsu users, like Sakai Yushi, rescued quite a few ninjutsu users at critical moments.

Thus, Kumogakure's losses remained within an acceptable range.

However, the combat strength of this Kumogakure army had dropped by more than half in a short time!

If Hiruzen Sarutobi had led people over to attack at that moment, Kumogakure would have been finished.

The Third Raikage had expended an enormous amount of chakra and was likely no match for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Not only had the Kumogakure army lost several hundred people, but the remaining ninjutsu users were nearly as depleted of chakra as Chiba Shun.

The Konoha army likely only needed one charge to rout the Kumogakure army.

The Third Raikage heightened the army's vigilance, and everyone spent their weakest night in fear and trepidation.

The next day, the Third Raikage finished tallying the losses from this incident.

Although losing more than three hundred people pained him, it was already far fewer than during previous Tailed Beast rampages.

Most importantly, the Eight-Tails had rampaged in the wilderness this time. It had not damaged the village, nor did they need to restore various barriers, so the economic losses were not great.

The army rested in place for several more days before the Third Raikage gathered all the Jonin for a meeting.

At the meeting, the Third Raikage rewarded the shinobi who had performed well during the sealing of the Eight-Tails.

Among them, Chiba Shun received special commendation.

According to the post-battle analysis, without Chiba Shun's Mountain Earth Technique at that moment, the Eight-Tails' attack would have killed at least a hundred shinobi.

More importantly, the rhythm of the many ninjutsu-type shinobi's attacks would have been disrupted, and the Third Raikage could not have found an opportunity to severely wound the Eight-Tails so quickly.

Perhaps the Kumogakure army's losses that night would have exceeded a thousand.

Many Jonin and Elite Jonin would likely have had to risk their lives, and the final losses would surely have been devastating.

Before the many Jonin and Special Jonin, the Third Raikage directly announced Chiba Shun's official promotion to Jonin.

He also awarded Chiba Shun an S-rank Mission Record.

Besides Chiba Shun, many others were promoted as well. After all, Kumogakure had lost many Jonin this time and urgently needed new Jonin to replenish their ranks.

After rewarding the shinobi who had rendered great service this time, the Third Raikage led everyone back to Kumogakure.

Of the 1.4 billion ryo he had extorted from Hiruzen Sarutobi, a considerable amount had been spent this time, which pained the Third Raikage somewhat.

Chiba Shun, on the other hand, was delighted. He had finally become a Jonin and even received credit for an S-rank Mission. He had struck it rich!

Kumogakure withdrew its entire army and returned to Kumogakure, then dispersed most of its shinobi, keeping only a small portion behind to guard against the possible outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War.

On Konoha's side, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to Konoha, but he divided the other shinobi into three groups. One remained behind to guard against Kumogakure returning, one went to support Danzo, and the last went to the Land of Whirlpools to join Orochimaru's command.

Kumogakure and Konoha suddenly signing a treaty nearly threw the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki's old back out.

He had thought Kumogakure was going to wage a great war against Konoha!

Had they mobilized their entire army merely to gain more leverage at the negotiating table?

Since when had the Third Raikage grown a brain?

But now Ōnoki felt that he was the one without a brain. Kumogakure had used him as a weapon, and now he was caught in an awkward position.

He was unwilling to withdraw just like that. Mobilizing so many shinobi had cost them greatly.

Yet continuing the standoff seemed unlikely to yield any gains.

After thinking it over, he also sent an envoy to Konoha's army camp, intending to imitate Kumogakure and squeeze Konoha for a payout.

However, the one facing him was Danzo of the war faction.

Danzo had just openly berated Hiruzen Sarutobi's cowardice before the upper ranks of this Konoha army. How could he possibly compromise with Ōnoki now?

When he heard that the envoy he had sent had been killed by Danzo, Ōnoki was furious enough to stomp his feet. But he was not an impulsive man, and after hesitating for a day, he still withdrew his forces.

Ōnoki remained rational. Kumogakure had not merely fallen back; it had formed an alliance with Konoha.

What if Kumogakure attacked their Land of Earth at this time?

Seeing Ōnoki withdraw his forces, Danzo was overjoyed and immediately spread the word that he had frightened off the Iwa Shinobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had needed to sign a humiliating treaty to make the enemy withdraw, while Danzo had driven off a powerful enemy without paying anything at all.

The difference between them was obvious.

Danzo thus gained a group of followers among the ordinary shinobi whose minds were not particularly sharp.

But more intelligent shinobi did not see it that way.

They also knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi must have sold out the village's interests by signing an alliance treaty with Kumogakure at this time.

But they understood even better that without the treaty, the two sides would have gone to war, and the losses would have been even greater.

Moreover, even if they did not go to war and merely remained in a standoff, Konoha's expenditure would likely have exceeded the rewards for the several hundred S-rank Missions Hiruzen Sarutobi had paid.

And Danzo's so-called victory had actually been built upon Hiruzen Sarutobi signing the alliance treaty.

Without Kumogakure withdrawing its forces, the Iwa Shinobi certainly would not have withdrawn so easily either.

But Danzo did not think so. He believed that if he were given more time, he could win over even more shinobi.

Unfortunately for him, after Hiruzen Sarutobi heard that the Iwa Shinobi had withdrawn, he immediately sent Tsunade to convey his orders.

Thus, Danzo's army was disbanded as well.

Of the war that had nearly erupted this time, only the front in the Land of Rivers resembled an actual war somewhat. The army led by Jiraiya fought a major battle against the army led by the Third Kazekage.

Although neither side suffered many losses and it only counted as a probing engagement, with neither side's Kage Level fighters personally taking the field, it still looked slightly more like a war than the other two fronts.

But that was all. After hearing that the Iwa Shinobi had withdrawn as well, the Third Kazekage sighed and led his army back to the Land of Wind.

Jiraiya did not pursue. He had originally been teaching three disciples in the Land of Rain, but had suddenly left. He did not know how the three children were doing now and needed to go check on them.