In the Land of the Moon, the combined forces of the three Great Ninja Villages each occupied a side, and it was vaguely apparent that the Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure were wary of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Rasa, Ōnoki, and the Third Raikage had been in a standoff here for most of the day, but it felt like they couldn't agree on anything.
The main reason was that the Raikage claimed the Hidden Cloud Village had been attacked by Iwagakure, suffering heavy losses, and that confidential Hidden Cloud Village intelligence had been sold at the Underground Exchange.
Ōnoki, however, flatly denied it, stating that no such thing occurred, and instead, a Hidden Cloud Ninja attacked the Iwagakure main camp, assassinating numerous Jonin in key positions.
The Third Raikage said they were true men and would not engage in such underhanded assassinations, and that Iwagakure was purely slandering them.
Rasa said it was indeed a Hidden Cloud Ninja without a doubt, as they used Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Black Lightning, and their appearance was not a transformation Jutsu.
The Third Raikage said it was impossible; if such a person existed, he would have long since protected him and trained him to be the Fourth Raikage, rather than letting him carry out assassinations.
The three each stuck to their own version of events; although all three understood that it was somewhat possible someone was framing them, they didn't know who could achieve such a feat.
It was highly probable that the other side was responsible, and to verify the authenticity, Rasa and Ōnoki each provided an injured Ninja who had witnessed that Hidden Cloud Ninja, allowing the Hidden Cloud Ninja to inspect their memories.
Although they couldn't use methods that damaged the brain to examine Chakra memories, with the cooperation of the two, they still saw a large amount of memories regarding that Hidden Cloud Ninja.
At this point, the Third Raikage was truly stumped; with such proficiency in Lightning Release Chakra Mode and the masterful Black Lightning, he even suspected it was one of his own people who had acted.
However, he didn't remember anyone like that, and even Dodai didn't know of such a person, yet it was indeed the style most representative of his Hidden Cloud Village.
The Third Raikage was somewhat at a loss for words; he suspected it might be some individuals who had defected during the Second Raikage's era due to internal strife, intentionally framing the Hidden Cloud Ninja to retaliate against the Village.
But would Ōnoki and Rasa believe that? Now that the Hidden Cloud Ninja's identity was confirmed as a Hidden Cloud Ninja, then the attack on the Hidden Cloud Ninja must be pinned on Iwagakure.
So the two sides started bickering like this, and seeing the Third Raikage unwilling to concede benefits or compensation, Ōnoki and Rasa were also extremely frustrated.
The two exchanged glances, both understanding the other's intention, and thus, they unhesitatingly overturned the table. One immediately used Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly up, then formed hand seals, intending to unleash Dust Release.
Rasa also stood on a Sand Gold platform and flew up, using Sand Gold to form a surrounding circle to block the Third Raikage's escape route. Both erupted simultaneously, but the Third Raikage had already anticipated it.
With a single gesture, he issued the pre-arranged command, telling Dodai to lead several thousand Hidden Cloud Ninja to retreat, while Killer Bee and Fourth Raikage A would block the allied forces of the two Villages and then escape.
He, on the other hand, personally stayed behind to block Ōnoki and Rasa. If he could kill them both, there might still be a glimmer of hope, but the Third Raikage was already prepared for death.
This was a large-scale melee. Fourth Raikage A faced the encirclement of Karura and Chiyo, while Killer Bee faced the encirclement of the Four-Tails Jinchuriki Roshi and a large number of Ninja.
Dodai led the Hidden Cloud Ninja elites in retreat, planning to link up with the Hidden Cloud Ninja border guards and then return to rescue them. Fortunately, the Land of the Moon was not large, and they could reach it in at most half a day.
The Third Raikage was still very powerful; Rasa's Sand Gold could only slow down the Third Raikage, and Ōnoki's Dust Release basically couldn't hit anyone.
Later, when the Third Raikage actively charged into the combined Hidden Sand Ninja and Iwagakure forces, Ōnoki and Rasa were even more hesitant to unleash large-scale killing techniques.
However, letting the Third Raikage slaughter their Ninja was not an option, so both decided to trade. They flew towards the direction of the Hidden Cloud Ninja's retreat.
A Third Raikage, who specialized in single-target attacks, facing tens of thousands of Ninja, and the two of them, who specialized in large-scale Ninjutsu, strangling the Hidden Cloud Ninja, they definitely had the advantage, first crippling the Hidden Cloud Ninja.
The Third Raikage observed their movements and instantly understood their sinister intentions, so he no longer relentlessly attacked these ordinary Ninja.
He grabbed Ninja one by one and threw them towards Rasa and Ōnoki in the sky. The two saw that they were their own Ninja and couldn't use Ninjutsu to kill them.
They understood the Third Raikage's purpose in blocking them; constantly catching their own Ninja was also not an option. Finally, the three looked at each other and returned to the initial situation.
What kind of situation is it when two flying people fight one who cannot fly? The Third Raikage could be said to have no effective means to harm the two of them.
This despicable fighting style almost made the Third Raikage vomit blood; he could only constantly attack with rocks or Ninja tools imbued with Lightning Release Chakra.
The Third Raikage didn't even dare to jump up, because if he jumped, he wouldn't be able to leverage himself in the air, and if he were hit by Dust Release, his Lightning Release Chakra Mode wouldn't be able to defend against it.
Fortunately, Dodai was very fast. The Hidden Cloud Ninja, skilled in Lightning Release, relied on body activation and this speed to shake off the pursuit of Iwagakure and the Hidden Sand Ninja.
So, next to retreat were Fourth Raikage A and Killer Bee. Their respective opponents were not to be underestimated, though Killer Bee was slightly better off.
Although Fourth Raikage A had lost an arm, his combat power had not significantly decreased. Chiyo and Karura's attacks could not harm him, nor could they easily trap him.
However, Karura and Chiyo still used flying tactics; Fourth Raikage A also couldn't harm them, but if Fourth Raikage A wanted to run, the two couldn't stop him.
As for Killer Bee's side, who was stronger between the perfect Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails and the perfect Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails? The Eight-Tails was undoubtedly a step stronger; although the Four-Tails' Lava Release damage was also quite good, it didn't have much effect on the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast cloak.
Instead, the battle between the two resulted in heavy casualties for the Hidden Sand Ninja and Iwagakure, and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki continuously fired small Tailed Beast Balls, killing one after another.
The two behemoths thus rampaged across the battlefield, constantly firing small Tailed Beast Balls in all directions, making the Hidden Sand Ninja and Iwagakure miserable.
Iwagakure was better off; they could block some attacks by using collective Earth Release Ninjutsu, while most Hidden Sand Ninja specialized in Wind Release, but the cunning Hidden Sand Ninja would also choose to hide behind Iwagakure to avoid attacks.
Seeing that they had the advantage, the Third Raikage no longer mentioned letting Fourth Raikage A and Killer Bee retreat. As long as they held out for half a day, they could launch a counterattack once the Hidden Cloud Ninja army arrived.
Rasa and Ōnoki were anxious as they watched their own Ninja being continuously slaughtered by the aftershocks of the Eight-Tails and Four-Tails' battle. Fortunately, they were smart enough to withdraw from the central area of the fight.
As a result, only the Kumogakure's Ninja and Iwagakure's Roshi remained on the ground. Iwagakure immediately used large-scale collective Earth Release Ninjutsu.
The Earth Mountain Technique used by tens of thousands of Iwagakure directly created a mountain over five hundred meters high, intending to trap the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. The eighty-meter-tall Eight-Tails looked extremely small beneath the five-hundred-meter mountain.
Fortunately, although this move had a large range, its speed was not fast. The Eight-Tails escaped using both its hands and tentacles, but then it crashed head-on into a Tailed Beast Ball fired by the Four-Tails.
At this moment, it was too late to condense a Tailed Beast Ball, but the Eight-Tails was not without a way to deal with this small Tailed Beast Ball.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"