Chapter 145: Hiruzen Sarutobi—Impossible! Absolutely Impossible!
Did I lose?
The Raikage looked up at the sky, a bitter expression flashing across his face.
In a life-or-death battle, the slightest mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences.
"Lord Raikage!"
"Third Raikage!"
"Raikage-sama!"
The Cloud shinobi watching from afar were horrified at the sight.
The Raikage, whom they thought would never lose, had not only been defeated in battle but had actually been cut in half at the waist!
It all happened so suddenly!
No one could have predicted that the Raikage—who had clearly held the advantage just moments before and was about to end the battle with his ultimate technique—would suddenly be defeated.
They were too far away to see clearly what had happened on the battlefield.
However, the bloody reality was right before their eyes, and no matter how unwilling they were to believe it, the result could not be changed.
The Third Raikage had been cut in half at the waist!
In an instant, the immense mental shock almost made A faint.
If it weren't for B stepping forward and supporting his partner who was about to collapse, A would probably have hit his head on the ground.
"Kill him! KILL HIM!!!" A, slightly recovered, revealed a ferocious and terrifying expression—a mixture of rage and hatred. His twisted eyes stared straight ahead, and he clenched his fist, slamming it into the ground, letting out a hysterical roar. "Kill him at all costs! Don't let him leave the Hidden Cloud Village alive!"
As he said this, his other hand gripped B tightly beside him.
His fingers turned white from the pressure, squeezing B's arm so hard the bones creaked, but B gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in silence.
"Brother..."
Seeing the furious hatred burning in A's eyes, B seemed to understand his meaning and nodded heavily. "Don't worry, bro—I won't let him leave Kumogakure alive!"
Cloud shinobi from all directions began rushing toward the center of the battlefield.
Every face was filled with deep hatred, as if they wanted to tear the one who killed the Raikage to pieces!
The first to charge was naturally the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, his entire body enveloped in the Tailed Beast Cloak—a crimson chakra shroud with four tails lashing through the air, creating deafening sonic booms.
"It was my carelessness..."
The Raikage, severed at the waist, managed to hold onto his last breath through sheer life force. "I actually forgot you're an Uchiha."
Although he had lost, there was no regret on his face—only a hint of exhilaration and satisfaction.
Since his battle with the rampaging Eight-Tails, he hadn't experienced such a thrilling, evenly matched fight in far too long.
"Well done, Konoha shinobi." The Raikage, now mortally wounded, gazed at Uchiha Kazuki as if trying to imprint his image deeply into his memory. "You are the only one who defeated me in direct combat. Leave your name."
"Uchiha Kazuki."
Uchiha Kazuki remained silent for a moment before giving his name.
"Uchiha Kazuki... hahahaha!"
The Raikage savored the name, a hearty smile spreading across his face despite his condition. "Good! Uchiha Kazuki—as the shinobi who defeated me, your name will surely be remembered in this new era!"
Watching the approaching Cloud shinobi, Uchiha Kazuki slowly turned around, uttering a strange phrase: "Farewell, Third Raikage."
Farewell?
Hearing this, the Raikage couldn't help but laugh despite everything.
There would be no farewell for him. He knew his injuries all too well—there was no surviving this.
Watching the departing figure, the scenery before the Raikage's eyes grew increasingly blurry. A cacophony of sounds surrounded him, and he could vaguely hear A desperately shouting.
"Don't cry, A."
The Raikage, clinging to his last breath, gazed at the blurry figure in his vision. "The Hidden Cloud Village will be yours from now on."
A, kneeling on the ground with his face streaked with tears, roared in anguish.
However, the Raikage could no longer hear him. He slowly closed his eyes, uttering his last words before his life ended.
"From this day forward, you are... the Fourth Raikage."
"NO!!!"
A—no, from this moment on, he had officially inherited the title.
Kneeling in a pool of blood before the deceased Third Raikage, A officially became the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village!
And the first order the Fourth Raikage gave was to kill that Uchiha at all costs!
Holding the Third Raikage's broken body, A—his face covered in mud and tears—seemed to suddenly become much more composed.
However, within those eyes burned an inextinguishable rage, a hatred so intense it seemed capable of igniting everything, enough to twist one's very will. He stood among the ruins, his gaze fixed on the figure being chased by Cloud shinobi in the distance, and in a hoarse voice filled with intense hatred, he declared:
"In the name of the Fourth Raikage, I declare war on Konoha!"
At that very moment, far away in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
He sat up abruptly in bed, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.
"What's the matter, Hiruzen-sama?"
A voice came from beside him, but Hiruzen wasn't in the mood to respond properly.
"Nothing... probably just caught a chill."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling deeply uneasy but unable to pinpoint the cause. "What's the latest situation with Kirigakure and Iwagakure?"
"Kirigakure is amassing forces on the border. As for Iwagakure, we don't have clear intelligence yet. That old Tsuchikage is too cunning—our operatives can't infiltrate easily. But I'd guess they're also gathering troops."
"It's not Kirigakure, and it's not Iwagakure either..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking when a name suddenly flashed through his mind. His eyes widened in realization. "Oh no—it's Kumogakure!"
He suddenly stood up from the bed.
"Don't be ridiculous. That's impossible."
Hearing the concern in his voice, his companion sneered dismissively. "Kumogakure isn't some pushover village. They have two Jinchuriki and the Third Raikage himself. Even you might not be a match for them, let alone that Uchiha brat. What kind of trouble could he possibly cause?"
Thinking about it that way... it did make sense!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's previously frantic movements immediately calmed down, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. "That's right—we're talking about the Third Raikage, someone who can suppress Tailed Beasts. There's no way something could have happened to him."
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
It must be because he'd been overworking himself lately and was getting paranoid.
Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to shake off the ominous feeling and lay back down, attempting to rest.
But deep in his gut, that inexplicable sense of dread refused to fade...
[End of Chapter 145]
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