"What kind of joke is this? Why are these guys so strong?!"
"Damn it, I need reinforcements! Where are the powerhouses from our village?!"
"These Cloud ninjas are a pack of rabid dogs! How are they still holding on?!!!"
As time dragged on, the morale of the Iwagakure ninjas began to crumble.
Even though they outnumbered their enemies dozens to one, they had already lost over a hundred comrades—and still hadn't managed to kill a single opponent…
With such a casualty ratio, the fact that they hadn't collapsed on the spot was already proof of their iron will.
In contrast, under the leadership of the Third Raikage and A, the Kumogakure ninjas fought like men possessed, charging wildly through the ranks of Iwagakure.
Compared to Iwagakure, their numbers were like a lone boat adrift on a vast ocean. Yet through flawless coordination and overwhelming strength, they withstood wave after wave of enemy assaults without faltering.
"Hahahahaha! This is what I call living! Now this is a real fight!"
"These Iwagakure trash finally understand the price of provoking us!"
"For the glory of the Uchiha clan, we'll fight to the very end!"
"They're just a mob of genin thrown together. Before our Sharingan, they're nothing but lambs waiting for slaughter."
After Uchiha Yuzuru returned to Konoha, most of the Uchiha clan had followed him back. However, a portion chose to remain in Kumogakure.
Thus, among the thousand-plus ninjas the Third Raikage brought with him this time, the overwhelming majority were elites of the Uchiha clan.
Every single one of them possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan, bolstered by clan entry draws such as [Robust and Vigorous], [Tailed Beast Without a Tail], and [All-around Development].
Not all of them had Kage-level strength—but even the weakest among them were elite jōnin.
And the strength of an elite jōnin needed no explanation. Each one was terrifyingly powerful.
In the past, even Konoha—once hailed as the strongest shinobi village—had fewer than a hundred elite jōnin.
Now, eight hundred elite jōnin fighting side by side turned the slaughter of Iwagakure's forces into a one-sided massacre.
Floating in the sky, Ōnoki felt as though he might grind his teeth to dust at the sight unfolding below.
Before laying siege to the Third Raikage, he had already prepared himself to expend the lives of his village's shinobi to wear the man down.
In his estimation, no matter how powerful the Third Raikage was, a taijutsu specialist had limited killing power. Even if he exhausted his chakra, he wouldn't be able to kill that many.
But now, with over eight hundred Uchiha elites added to the equation, everything was different.
Every second, they inflicted nearly a hundred casualties upon Iwagakure.
At this point in the battle, the losses had already surpassed what he could bear.
He had calculated everything—except the true combat power of the Uchiha clan.
A wave of regret surged in his heart.
If he had been willing to offer the Uchiha better terms back then, perhaps the one standing victorious today would have been him.
Regret was useless now. For the sake of their respective interests, they were enemies on the battlefield.
Suppressing his emotions, Ōnoki slowly raised both hands high in the air.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A transparent pillar of light shot downward in an instant—but the Third Raikage seemed to have eyes on his back, dissolving into lightning and vanishing from his position.
Silently, a massive crater appeared on the ground.
Looking up at Ōnoki, the Third Raikage threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahahahaha! Ōnoki, you old fossil, always relying on sneak attacks! If you've got the guts, come down here and fight me face-to-face!"
Ōnoki sneered.
"I've heard that the Third Raikage's defense is unmatched in this world—that no one can break it."
"If you're truly so bold, stand still and let this old man strike you once. If even I can't pierce your defense, I'll withdraw my forces and stop interfering with Sunagakure's affairs."
The Third Raikage roared, "Do you take me for a fool?!"
His Lightning Release chakra did grant him extraordinary defense—but Ōnoki's Dust Release was a kekkei tōta that transcended even bloodline limits.
Anything it touched would be disintegrated at the atomic level.
Stand still and take the hit?
Just how thick-skinned did Ōnoki have to be to say something like that?
Seeing that his provocation had failed, Ōnoki wasted no more words and unleashed Dust Release several more times at the Third Raikage.
But the Raikage's speed was simply too fast. Every attack was avoided.
Realizing it was futile, Ōnoki decisively shifted targets.
Fixing his gaze on the clustered Uchiha shinobi below, he murmured coldly:
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
While his Dust Release couldn't keep up with the Third Raikage's speed, ordinary shinobi could not evade it so easily.
The Uchiha on the battlefield still wielded their three-tomoe Sharingan, but after fighting for so long, exhaustion had set in.
And because they maintained formation, staying grouped together, it became even harder to dodge.
As the beam flashed, two Uchiha shinobi vanished from where they stood—reduced instantly to dust.
The Third Raikage's expression darkened.
"Spread out! Mix in with Iwagakure's ranks!" he shouted.
At his command, the Kumogakure shinobi scattered into smaller units, plunging into close-quarters combat among the Iwagakure forces.
Ōnoki had long anticipated this. He remained unconcerned.
Though their dispersion forced him to hesitate when using Dust Release, it also isolated them.
Without teamwork and mutual coordination, even immense power would become rootless water.
Surrounded by enemies dozens of times their number, they wouldn't last long.
Sure enough…
Just as Ōnoki had predicted, once separated, the Kumogakure shinobi's combat strength diminished significantly.
Without coordinated defense, they had to guard against attacks from every direction.
The mental strain was immense, and both chakra and stamina were consumed at double the rate.
After holding on for roughly another half hour, aside from the Third Raikage, A, Killer B, and a few others, most of the shinobi were visibly fatigued.
Seeing this, the Third Raikage grew anxious. He rampaged through Iwagakure's forces in a desperate attempt to relieve pressure on his comrades.
But there were simply too many enemies. His efforts achieved little.
From the sky, Ōnoki sneered.
"Third Raikage, it is because of your recklessness that all these people will die here today."
"You… are the sinner of Kumogakure."
"And after so many Uchiha have fallen, Uchiha Yuzuru will not let you off lightly."
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##Discount##
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