However, in the next second, he was pierced through the chest by the Third Raikage, his eyes filled with disbelief. He had thought the Third Raikage was already unable to move.
"Fifty-sixth! Haha!" The Third Raikage's mouth split open, a stream of blood flowing out, his teeth stained with tangled blood, his eyes filled with mad resolve.
"Hmph~! Quickly~! I've got him, kill him quickly!"
The Jonin whose chest was pierced also had eyes full of fierce resolve. Even if he died, he would drag someone down with him, making the Third Raikage go to the Pure Land with him; it wouldn't be a loss.
So, even with his heart pierced, this Jonin still used his last bit of strength and Chakra, tensing his muscles, clamping the Third Raikage's arms tightly with his own.
This Jonin temporarily restrained the Third Raikage with absolute will, blood overflowing from his mouth and nose, but he was laughing heartily, even though his vision was already blurred and dark.
The surrounding Ninja immediately became extraordinarily excited, sweeping away their previous fear. One by one, they rushed forward as if injected with stimulants, like hyenas eager to dismember a lion king.
However, among these Ninja, there were also faster ones; they were hidden Jonin. They needed more merits, so they all made their move.
They all yearned for the honor of delivering the final blow to the Third Raikage, of killing him, as that represented a large number of rewards.
"Hmph, hahahaha! Come on, this old man only has one life! Let's see who's faster! Come! All of you!"
The Third Raikage felt no fear in the face of death, only extreme excitement. Born for battle, dying in battle, dying on the battlefield was the best destination.
More than twenty incredibly fast figures surpassed the Chunin and Genin at their fastest speed, arriving first beside the Third Raikage.
Their eyes were filled with the Third Raikage's head, thinking only of being faster, even faster, faster than others, unleashing Chakra without reservation to increase their speed.
Looking at the more than twenty Jonin rushing towards him, the Third Raikage sneered contemptuously and cruelly, mobilizing the extremely pure Chakra squeezed from his life force.
When he confirmed that everyone had reached approximately the same position, the Third Raikage injected all his Chakra into the Death Gate located in his heart.
After the violent yet pure Chakra was injected into the Death Gate, it abruptly opened the last restriction of the human body, and a large amount of Chakra surged out as if from nothingness.
However, the Third Raikage's tall and robust body rapidly shrunk and withered, transforming towards a mummified corpse, but terrifying Chakra surged out from his body.
"Come on! Taste the old man's swan song! Lightning Release: Raigyaku Kōga!"
The Third Raikage's vision was already blurred, everything was dim, but his own Chakra, under the control of his final will, transformed into ultimate Lightning Release.
A dark light flashed; this was Black Lightning, the ultimate nature transformation of Lightning Release, possessing stronger penetrative and control properties. Now, all Chakra was converted into Black Lightning.
How terrifying was the Chakra unleashed by the Third Raikage at the cost of his life? It was no less than that of a Kage-level Ninja, and now it was entirely converted into Black Lightning.
The Black Lightning, like the claws of a demon, erupted suddenly in the horrified eyes of everyone, like lightning, crisscrossing an area of five hundred meters.
The dazzling Black Lightning transformed into a giant black sea urchin, with dense lightning forming countless sharp spikes, piercing through all the rushing Ninja.
At that moment, the entire battlefield was incredibly dark, yet incredibly bright, like a black chrysanthemum blooming. This was a flower of death, shocking all the surviving people.
The Black Lightning eventually dissipated; it was, after all, water without a source, fading even faster than an epiphyllum. Everything dispersed, revealing the scene within.
The Black Lightning lost its high-temperature damage, transforming into ultimate penetration, so the area was filled with corpses, centered around the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage's body was incredibly emaciated, even worse than a mummy, but his tall, skin-and-bones figure still stood proudly.
Centered around him, within a five-hundred-meter radius, were the corpses of Ninja pierced by Black Lightning. A rough count showed one to two thousand people.
And the most tragically deceased at the center were more than twenty Jonin, counting those killed by the Third Raikage earlier and those assassinated by Ling's Ling.
It could be said that the two of them had almost wiped out the Jonin of Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure, with around one hundred Jonin dead, an average of fifty-plus per Village.
That was fifty percent of their Jonin! A Village losing so many Jonin meant many high-level missions would go uncompleted, and these mission shares would be taken by other Ninja Villages.
"Damn it! The Third Raikage is dead!"
Although the deaths of Chunin and Genin were not heartbreaking, this battle saw the Third Raikage kill nearly five thousand Ninja, plus the loss of over a hundred Jonin.
For Iwagakure, these were significant losses. Iwagakure had brought over fourteen thousand Ninja this time, and now only over eleven thousand remained.
Hidden Sand Village only lost over two thousand Ninja, but it was enough to cripple them, as Hidden Sand Village was not as wealthy as Iwagakure.
It was too astonishing, too incredible. One person had killed so many Ninja, even if the casualties caused by the Fourth Raikage A and Killer Bee earlier were included.
But it was still very incredible. Only Iwagakure could bear such losses, but it also greatly exceeded Ōnoki's expectations.
He thought that at most two thousand casualties would exhaust the Third Raikage, but in the end, the Third Raikage played a big one on him.
Now, his goal of participating in the Third Shinobi World War was half accomplished; at least the problem of too large a population was solved, but there were no battle achievements.
Rasa and Ōnoki both looked on with ashen faces as their subordinates sorted the bodies, one by one, dead, pale, yet young faces being carried out.
For a moment, both of them felt regret. Not only them, but even the surviving Ninja looked at them with slight doubt.
Clearly, a high-level combatant like the Third Raikage should have been stopped by the two Kage, but instead, they were forced to use these small fries, who couldn't even harm the Third Raikage, to wear him down.
In reality, no one was foolish. Once the initial fervor subsided, everyone would eventually understand the intentions of the two Kage, though they dared not say anything to their faces.
They didn't even dare to openly express dissatisfaction, but these feelings accumulated in their hearts, forming doubts, forming a dark resentment, no longer blindly obeying, no longer revering.
The Konoha and Hidden Mist Village reconnaissance teams all witnessed this scene and quickly sent this intelligence back to their respective Villages. They were also shocked by this battle.
Both Kirigakure and Konoha were somewhat restless, but they were still waiting, waiting for the Cloud Ninja army that was about to arrive.
The death of the Third Raikage heralded the climax of the Third Shinobi World War. Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure, having paid a huge price, were inclined to cease hostilities.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Ninja, who had preserved their strength, would launch limited attacks on Iwagakure and Hidden Sand Village, while Konoha and Hidden Mist planned to observe, choosing whether to kick a man when he's down or maintain the status quo.
In the original work, the Third Shinobi World War lasted for three years, but now, after only one year, the situation of the late Third Shinobi World War had formed. In retrospect, it was all Ling's doing.
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