With Kushina's abduction and the confirmed involvement of Tobi, Shimizu couldn't help but assume that this rescue mission would be anything but straightforward.
Carrying that quiet weight in his chest, he finally came face to face with the man who had willingly risked his life as bait for victory—the Third Raikage.
By now, the Raikage had been locked in continuous battle with Iwagakure for three days and three nights.
Fighting as he retreated, he stood unyielding, holding the line alone and ensuring that the thousand or so shinobi behind him were not swallowed by the tens of thousands of enemies before them.
His wild, brownish-yellow hair made him impossible to miss. Standing at the very front of the formation, he looked down upon the vast enemy force like a king surveying the world beneath his feet.
And that enemy force… had likely swelled to nearly twenty thousand.
The heaviness in Shimizu's heart was instantly replaced by sheer shock.
Even with such overwhelming numbers, they still couldn't bring him down?
This towering, broad-shouldered man before him—the very same Third Raikage Shimizu had once briefly encountered in Takigakure—was far more formidable than he had imagined.
He had known the man was strong.
But not this strong.
"Lord Raikage!"
"…Dodai, is that you?" the Third Raikage replied in a deep, steady voice. His gaze shifted slightly, landing on Shimizu. "Even Shunshin Shimizu is here…"
"Has something changed?"
Dodai gave a helpless sigh. "Yes…"
He quickly recounted everything that had happened.
When he finished, he lowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry… I failed the mission."
To his surprise, the Third Raikage burst into laughter.
"I thought it was something serious," he said, waving it off. "So these are the 'unexpected complications'?"
Then, without hesitation, he made his decision.
"In that case, we withdraw."
Dodai couldn't help but feel a trace of regret. "But this was our best chance… perhaps our only one…"
"The sealing array is still intact. If we miss this chance, there will be another," the Third Raikage said casually, waving his hand as if it were nothing. "At worst, I'll just act as bait again."
"As long as they still have the courage to come after me."
At the beginning, Iwagakure had believed this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate the Third Raikage once and for all.
They had gathered an overwhelming force, intending to surround him completely and end his life within the Land of Earth.
But reality had dealt them a crushing blow.
With his Lightning Release Chakra Mode activated, the Raikage's body was cloaked in a defensive lightning armor known as the "strongest shield," rendering every attack from Iwagakure's forces useless against him.
At the same time, wielding the "strongest spear"—his Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite—he had single-handedly carved his way through their army again and again, tearing through their ranks countless times.
The encirclement formed by tens of thousands of shinobi had become nothing more than a grim joke.
As long as his chakra held out, the Third Raikage was, quite simply, invincible.
Seeing the stunned expressions on the Konoha shinobi, Dodai continued his explanation.
"Lord Raikage possesses strength comparable to a tailed beast. In the past, he even fought the Eight-Tails head-on while it was in a berserk state."
A human… engaging a tailed beast in close combat?
That wasn't just strength—that was something beyond human.
Who could possibly defeat a shinobi like this?
"If not for Lord Raikage eventually collapsing from exhaustion, the Eight-Tails would have been completely defeated," Dodai added.
"Of course, the Eight-Tails also expended all its strength and fell unconscious."
Shisui and Amani instinctively swallowed hard upon hearing such a terrifying feat.
Even Satomi couldn't hide her shock.
This… had already crossed into the realm of the inhuman.
"Do you see that lightning-shaped scar on Lord Raikage's chest? That was—"
"Dodai…" the Third Raikage's deep voice cut in, firm and unyielding. "That's enough."
"…Yes, sir!"
A brief silence followed before the Raikage spoke again, his tone quieter, yet heavy with something unspoken. "That scar… is the greatest shame of my life. I have no wish to revisit it."
Dodai coughed lightly, then forced the conversation forward. "In any case, Lord Raikage's strength has far exceeded what those frogs in a well from Iwagakure could ever imagine. Frankly, I doubt we'll ever get another opportunity like this…"
"On the contrary," the Raikage replied, shaking his head. "They hate me to the bone. The moment they believe they've found a weakness, they'll come again without hesitation."
Shimizu found that easy to understand. He himself had slain countless shinobi from Sunagakure, yet that hadn't made them shy away from him. If anything, it only drove them to hunt him more relentlessly.
Hatred like that left no room for mercy—only the desire to eliminate the other side as quickly as possible.
"Lord Raikage, then we should withdraw immediately," Dodai urged.
Even if the Third Raikage himself felt no fear in the face of that overwhelming army, others couldn't help the chill crawling up their spines at the sight of that endless sea of enemies.
"We'll confuse Iwagakure," Dodai added, "make them believe our reinforcements have arrived and force them to pull back."
The other two units were already in position, awaiting only his command.
"…Then we withdraw," the Third Raikage said at last. He cast one final glance at the vast enemy force before turning and walking away without hesitation.
Shimizu watched him go, a question lingering in his mind.
Was this man truly unafraid of pursuit?
Dodai seemed to read his thoughts and explained, "As long as Lord Raikage still has chakra left, Iwagakure can't do anything to us."
"They know that. That's why they've been trying to wear him down all this time, waiting for the moment he's completely exhausted before making their move."
"But their hopes are doomed to fail."
Shimizu frowned slightly. "Aren't you worried they might panic… and lash out recklessly?"
From Iwagakure's perspective, this must have felt like a cooked duck flying right out of their hands. Desperation could drive people to irrational choices.
"I was worried at first too," Dodai admitted. "I thought Lord Raikage's condition might already be deteriorating. But after seeing him just now, it's clear he's still in good shape. That means the previous battles didn't drain him as much as we expected."
"If we can see that, then Iwagakure certainly can as well. They won't take that kind of risk."
"…Let's hope so," Shimizu murmured.
He watched as the towering figure of the Third Raikage steadily withdrew from the battlefield, while in the distance, Iwagakure's massive army hesitated, no longer daring to advance.
This… was one of the pinnacle powers of this world.
A single man, holding back tens of thousands.
Even in Shimizu's memory, the legendary feats of Hanzo the Salamander seemed to pale slightly in comparison.
Of course, the Third Hokage was no less formidable—he had once stood alone against thousands of shinobi from Sunagakure without flinching.
All of them were monsters sustained by immense reserves of chakra.
To fight for three days and three nights and still maintain such a state… the Third Raikage's chakra reserves likely rivaled that of a tailed beast.
Perhaps it was more accurate to say that Hanzo, the Third Hokage, and the Third Raikage had all surpassed the limits of ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
The subsequent retreat proceeded with remarkable smoothness. Upon seeing enemies converging from three directions and the Third Raikage still radiating overwhelming presence, Iwagakure finally abandoned their pursuit and began a slow withdrawal. Meanwhile, Kumogakure, having completed the rescue, split into three groups and retreated swiftly along their designated routes.
Throughout the entire operation, there were no unexpected complications, no sudden crises—everything unfolded flawlessly.
And so, together with the Third Raikage and Dodai, Shimizu and the others made their way to Takigakure.
...
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