"Heh, has Konoha run out of people?"
The Raikage's voice exploded across the battlefield like muffled thunder.
Dark clouds covered the battlefield.
The Third Raikage stood proudly like the God of Thunder himself, his entire body wrapped in dazzling Lightning Style chakra.
He led the Kumogakure forces straight toward the team led by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
Unexpectedly, they encountered each other in less than two hours.
His gaze swept across their formation.
He frowned slightly.
Why were there so few ninjas?
Was Hiruzen Sarutobi really that confident?
His suspicious eyes locked onto the two people standing at the very front of the Konoha force.
Looking at the aging Third Hokage and Danzo, a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"So they really sent two old men with one foot in the grave to die?
"Just look at yourselves. Hiruzen Sarutobi, your beard is already completely white. Can you still swing that staff?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi tightened his grip on the Adamantine Staff, his knuckles turning slightly white.
A trace of cold malice flashed through Danzo's lone eye, and the veins beneath the bandages on his arm bulged.
"Raikage, after all these years, you're still just as ignorant."
Hiruzen said in a deep voice, speaking softly, yet every person present heard him clearly.
"Raikage, do not be so arrogant!"
Danzo coldly echoed his words.
"Arrogant?"
The Raikage suddenly burst into booming laughter. His Lightning Style Armor erupted with blinding blue light, illuminating the entire battlefield.
"Then let you Konoha people witness what true power is!"
In an instant, the Raikage became a streak of blue lightning, moving so fast that even his shadow was impossible to catch.
A piercing thunderclap exploded through the air, and the ground beneath his feet cracked apart.
In the blink of an eye, his fist had already reached Hiruzen's chest.
Hiruzen hurriedly raised the Adamantine Staff to block.
Bang!
The Third Hokage was blasted dozens of yards away, carving a deep trench across the ground.
As dust filled the air, Hiruzen knelt on one knee, a trace of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
"Lord Hokage!"
The Konoha ninjas cried out.
Danzo quickly formed hand seals.
"Wind Style, Vacuum Wave!"
Sharp wind blades howled toward the Raikage.
He casually shattered them with a Reverse Lariat, but the wind blades still knocked him backward.
"Is that all?"
The Third Raikage landed firmly.
He looked down at the two of them from above, the contempt in his eyes almost becoming tangible.
"The legendary Professor of Ninjutsu? Is this all Konoha's Hokage can do? Where's the glory you once had? Hm?"
He slowly walked forward.
Every step made everyone's hearts tremble.
"You were impressive when you were young. But now? You're old! Now you're nothing more than two rotten pieces of wood!"
Hiruzen slowly stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Danzo also climbed back to his feet, cold fury burning within his lone eye.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded in perfect understanding.
"It seems we've been underestimated, Danzo."
Hiruzen suddenly smiled.
That smile gave the Raikage an inexplicable sense of unease.
"Indeed."
Danzo replied coldly.
"It's time for certain people to remember Konoha's strength."
The two bit their fingers at the same time and rapidly formed hand seals, their movements perfectly synchronized like mirror images.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Huge clouds of white smoke exploded outward.
Enma and Baku appeared before them at the same time.
The Raikage's pupils shrank, but his mocking expression quickly returned.
"Summoned beasts? They're just making one last strugg..."
His words stopped abruptly.
"Enma!"
"Baku!"
The two summoned beasts immediately sprang into action.
Baku opened its enormous mouth first.
A terrifying suction force appeared.
The Third Raikage immediately felt the overwhelming pull restricting his movements.
Before he could react.
A sharp sound of rushing wind suddenly came from behind him.
The Third Raikage forcibly turned around.
Enma's iron fist was already right in front of him.
The tremendous force caught the Third Raikage completely off guard.
"Wind Style, Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Danzo unleashed a powerful blast of wind from his mouth.
"Five Style, Great Combo Bullet Technique!"
The two shouted as they attacked from opposite sides.
Their teamwork was flawless, as though they had returned to the days when they fought side by side.
Five elemental ninjutsu combined under the enhancement of the powerful Wind Style, forming a devastating elemental storm.
For the first time, cracks appeared in the Raikage's proud Lightning Style Armor.
His eyes widened in shock, his face filled with disbelief.
"How... How is this possible?!"
Even when fighting the Eight Tails, his body had always held the advantage.
Yet now, these two men had actually broken through his defense.
Although they were only tiny cracks, it proved that these two were not opponents he could casually overpower.
They posed an enormous threat.
What shocked him even more...
Was the coordination between these two old men.
From this moment onward, the battle had begun to turn around.
The moment Hiruzen's Earth Style restricted the Third Raikage's movement, Danzo's Wind Style immediately followed.
The instant he prepared to counterattack with Lightning Style, a combined Fire Style and Water Style attack slammed into him head on.
Every attack struck the weakest point of his Lightning Style Armor with perfect precision.
Every defense perfectly neutralized his deadly attacks.
"Damn it!"
The Raikage roared in frustration as Lightning Style chakra surged wildly.
At this moment, he felt like nothing more than a target.
If this continued...
He might actually lose!
"Lightning Style Armor, Full Power!"
Blinding lightning shot into the sky.
But this time, his attack was perfectly blocked.
The Adamantine Staff transformed by Enma precisely blocked his heavy punch, while Danzo's Wind Style shuriken left several shallow wounds across his body.
Blood flowed down the Raikage's powerful muscles and dripped onto the scorched earth.
"Damn..."
The Raikage staggered backward.
For the first time, panic flashed across his eyes.
These two old men...
Were actually becoming stronger as the battle continued?
Shouldn't they already be old and weak?
Why was their teamwork still this perfect?
Why was their chakra still so abundant?
"So this is all the Raikage amounts to!"
Shimura Danzo did not forget to continue his psychological attack.
"Tsk, tsk. Where did all that confidence from earlier go?"
"Kumogakure really has declined!"
...
The Third Raikage was now suffering both physically and mentally.
His face became darker and darker.
At that moment, earth shaking battle cries echoed from the distance.
Kumogakure's reinforcements had finally arrived.
Hundreds of elite ninjas surged forward like a tidal wave.
Joy had just appeared on the Raikage's face when Hiruzen suddenly shouted.
"Retreat! Full retreat!"
The Konoha ninjas had already prepared for this and immediately began an orderly withdrawal.
Before the Raikage could react, the two old men had already escaped with their troops.
For a moment, he felt completely played for a fool.
His anger instantly overwhelmed his reason.
"Chase them! Chase them! Today I will kill those two old bastards! I'll personally twist off their heads!"
He failed to notice the cold smiles that appeared on Hiruzen and Danzo's faces as they retreated.
Nor did he realize that the direction of their retreat was the carefully prepared northern battlefield...
On a distant cliff.
Uchiha Chiya's Shadow Clone silently watched everything unfold.
The three tomoe in his crimson eyes slowly rotated as his quiet whisper drifted away with the wind.
"The prey has taken the bait."
"What a pity the Third Mizukage didn't come."
Watching the two old men running into the distance, Chiya looked slightly surprised.
"The Third Hokage and Danzo have retained their strength. That's truly unexpected!"
At the edge of the battlefield, the Third Raikage continued roaring as he gave chase, completely unaware that he was walking step by step into Konoha's carefully prepared death trap.
Behind him, the Kumogakure ninjas blindly followed their Kage, rushing toward an unknown fate.
The setting sun stretched everyone's shadows longer and longer.
As one side chased and the other fled, it was as though it foretold an even greater storm that was about to arrive.
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