A little earlier.
While A and Killer B were "raiding" the Land of Fire, the Third Raikage had led another group of the Land of Lightning's elite on a secret approach to the Land of Earth.
The Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth were old enemies.
Friction between them never ceased, and their grudges ran deep.
The Third Raikage had come in person to launch a sneak attack while Ōnoki led his ninjas against the Land of Fire.
Little did he know, Ōnoki had the same idea.
As long as the Land of Lightning also "joined the game" and attacked the Land of Fire, Ōnoki would immediately lead the Land of Earth's elite ninja forces in a raid on the Land of Lightning. The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it!
So when scouts from the Land of Earth sent word that a great army from the Land of Lightning was heading for the Land of Fire, Ōnoki leaped out of his chair with delight.
"Good! The heavens are on my side!" He made his decision at once, summoning his ninjas and preparing to deal the Land of Lightning a vicious blow.
But when only half the ninjas had been summoned, another report arrived.
The Third Raikage had already launched an attack with the Land of Lightning's elite ninjas.
Ōnoki froze. Hadn't the Land of Lightning sent a great army to attack the Land of Fire? Then what was the Third Raikage doing here?
But on second thought, he understood.
That guy had probably been thinking the same thing as him.
The ninja army attacking the Land of Fire wasn't led by the Third Raikage himself at all, but by someone else. Just like Ōnoki, who had sent out his son Kitsuchi and Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki.
"Well, well." Ōnoki rubbed his chin, taking a long time to speak. "Since when did that brute grow a brain?"
Despite his cursing, he didn't slow down for a moment. He continued to deploy his troops and set up defensive lines.
Before long, the two sides' ninjas clashed at the Land of Earth's border.
Over the next several days, both sides traded blows in a series of fierce battles.
After several "positional battles," both sides had suffered losses. As the casualties mounted, both sides' anger flared.
And at this point, the Third Raikage still didn't know...
That A and Killer B, along with the Land of Lightning's army led by his "trusted aide" Dodai, had been routed by Hatake Sakumo as soon as they encountered the Land of Fire's army.
None of the three leaders had escaped. All of them had been captured.
The Third Raikage directed his subordinates in another push against the Land of Earth's ninjas under Ōnoki's command.
As he fought, he cursed the short old man on the other side every way he could in his mind.
The Third Raikage's original plan had sounded perfect:
With the Land of Earth's mainstay absent, he would bring elite ninjas and a small amount of supplies for a swift raid!
They would loot and destroy everything in one sweep, then dust themselves off and leave. Quick and clean!
But what happened?
That old bastard Ōnoki hadn't even left Iwagakure!
At the start of the fighting, each side had probably had about an even chance of winning.
Both sides had elite ninjas and traded victories, with neither able to overpower the other. But as the battles dragged on, the Third Raikage's weakness became apparent...
His supplies couldn't keep up!
The other side, by contrast, was fighting on its own turf. Troops, ninjas, and reinforcements arrived in a steady stream, growing more numerous with every battle.
The Third Raikage knew full well that if this dragged on, his side would be worn down and wiped out here sooner or later.
He had to end it quickly!
Gritting his teeth, the Third Raikage unleashed the technique he'd been saving...
"Hell Stab: Three-Finger Nukite!"
Lightning Release Chakra gathered at his fingertips. The Third Raikage held three fingers together like a steel spear and thrust them straight at a Land of Earth jōnin in front of him.
"Pfft!"
That thrust pierced straight through the jōnin's body.
The attack continued without slowing in the slightest. A terrifying surge of electricity blasted through the jōnin's body, killing several Iwagakure Ninja behind him as well.
On the other side of the battlefield, Ōnoki wasn't idle either.
The short old man hovered in midair and brought his hands together. A beam of white light shot straight out...
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Wherever the light swept, the Land of Lightning's ninjas didn't even have time to scream. Their bodies gradually broke apart in the white light, dispersed, and turned into atoms.
The Third Raikage ground his teeth at the sight. In the distance, Ōnoki was watching him too.
The two stared at each other across the battlefield, neither looking away first.
The Third Raikage had always valued loyalty and bonds.
Seeing his subordinates fall one after another left him feeling miserable.
These were all old brothers who had faced life and death with him. How could he let them sacrifice themselves for nothing?
"Retreat!" the Third Raikage roared, his voice like a thunderclap. "Everyone, follow me!"
He ordered the entire army to retreat.
The Third Raikage led the Land of Lightning's elite in a fighting withdrawal. Ōnoki led his men in pursuit for a while, then, considering the wisdom of not pursuing a desperate enemy, stopped for the time being.
Several li from the Land of Earth's border, the Third Raikage ordered the force to halt and caught his breath.
He plopped down on a rock, pulled over a waterskin, and took a couple of swallows as he thought things over.
After all these days, he wondered how A and Killer B were faring in their attack on the Land of Fire.
With everyone attacking together, the Land of Fire probably... couldn't hold out, could it?
At that thought, the Third Raikage's shoulders, which had been tense all along, finally relaxed.
At least his son had made progress.
With that good news to fall back on, the Third Raikage's mind grew more nimble. He came up with another good plan!
They would eat and drink their fill and get some rest now, then tonight he would take a few elite ninjas into the Land of Earth for an assassination!
It would be best if he could kill Ōnoki. With the Land of Earth leaderless, wouldn't he be able to deal with it however he pleased afterward?
Once the assassination was done, he would go to the Land of Fire and join A and the others.
The more the Third Raikage thought about it, the more foolproof the plan seemed.
Baring his sharp teeth, he waved a hand at the subordinates around him. "Eat and drink your fill! Get plenty of rest!"
His subordinates answered and dispersed, some starting fires to cook and others cleaning their ninja tools. The atmosphere in the camp relaxed at once.
For once, the Third Raikage took it easy that afternoon, lying on a rock and watching the shadows of clouds drift overhead. He had already begun to plan:
When he saw his son, he would have to give him some praise.
As evening came and the sky began to darken...
An eagle came flapping toward them from the direction of Kumogakure.
The Third Raikage recognized the eagle. It was his secretary's summoning beast.
I reckon my son's made some progress. The village got word and passed it on to me.
Thinking this, he grinned even wider and sat up. He held out a muscular arm and caught the eagle as it landed in front of him, then removed the intelligence scroll tied to its leg.
"Let's see how big a feat that boy A pulled off," he muttered, unrolling the scroll.
The first line came into view.
The ninja army led by Lord A encountered resistance from the Land of Fire's Fourth Hokage, Hatake Sakumo, and suffered a crushing defeat.
The smile froze on the Third Raikage's face.
Suspecting he had misread it, he scanned further down.
A, Killer B, and Dodai had all been captured alive.
Only a quarter of the ninja force they had taken with them had made it back, battered and in disarray.
At the end of the report was an urgent order from his secretary, pressing him to return at once.
The hand holding the scroll began to tremble.
The son who was his pride and joy...
The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B...
Dodai, the senior official he relied on as a trusted aide...
Not a single one of them had escaped!
The Third Raikage stared at those lines for a long time, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his hand. After a while, he forced out a hoarse, cold sneer through his teeth:
"Very good."
His voice carried an oppressive sense of a storm about to break.
He suddenly clenched his fist and smashed it into a boulder beside him that stood half as tall as a man.
"Boom!"
The boulder burst apart, sending fragments flying and filling the air with dust.
The Land of Lightning's ninjas who had been busy around him all froze in place, not daring to breathe loudly.
They had never seen their usually bold Lord Raikage wear such a terrible expression.
The Third Raikage stood amid the dust, his chest heaving and the veins at his temples throbbing.
After a long while, he raised his hand again and swept it down sharply.
"Retreat!" His voice was hoarse, but perfectly clear. "Everyone, retreat!"
He stared fixedly in the direction of the Land of Fire, as though he could see what was happening there from so far away.
His gaze was filled with anger and killing intent he could no longer suppress.
Hatake Sakumo, just you wait!