The Raikage and Killer B stood on separate trees, waiting for the surviving Cloud shinobi to arrive.
Barely ten minutes passed before rustling came from the woods. A bedraggled Cloud shinobi appeared in the Raikage's view.
At the sight of the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, hope flooded the shinobi's once-bewildered heart. His eyes even reddened.
"Lord Raikage! Every ninja in my squad was killed. I never thought I'd see you again."
He shouted the words. The Raikage nodded grimly but said nothing.
After the first Cloud shinobi arrived, more and more followed. Two hours later, over two hundred had gathered, but that was all there were.
Many had fled from the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Rice, escaping Fugaku's pursuit. Others had been recuperating in caves.
The Raikage looked over the shinobi one by one. Every hopeful gaze turned toward him, weighing heavily on his shoulders.
"Scout Ninja, tell us what's happening on Konoha's side."
One shinobi nodded. "Lord Raikage, our infiltration operation suffered devastating losses. Even if any shinobi are still alive, there can't be many.
"Konoha has four Uchiha Mangekyo users leading its forces. Kenichi Uchiha and Matsudaira Uchiha each took a team into the Land of Rice and the Land of Waterfalls to search for shinobi from our two villages.
"Uchiha Jin and Hitoshi are leading nearly five hundred shinobi to hunt us down in the Land of the Moon. At their current pace, they'll probably reach this area in another four hours."
The Raikage nodded. "It seems we have no way out. This failure is my fault. Retreat toward the Land of Lightning as quickly as you can. B and I will stay here and hold off Uchiha Jin and Hitoshi.
"Without the Uchiha Mangekyo users, you should be able to handle the