"Lord Raikage, one of the teams has lost contact."
The jōnin from the Yotsuki clan in charge of security hurried over to the Third Raikage and reported in a low voice.
So they found us.
After hearing the report, the Third Raikage gave a calm nod.
"Tell everyone to prepare for battle. We move out in five minutes."
He was never worried about being discovered in the first place.
This operation had always been meant to hit Konoha's border defense hard, force them into panic, and tie down their fighting strength.
And just thinking about how he had personally led troops all the way here for something like this—just to keep that lunatic Hanzō in check—
The Third Raikage felt his temper flare all over again.
Damn it...
He cursed Hanzō in his heart one more time before forcing himself to settle down.
The battle was right in front of them. There was no room for carelessness now.
At the same time, back at the border stronghold, even Kizaru had put away his usual lazy expression and turned serious for once.
For all his bad habits, his love of slacking off, and how much he hated trouble, he was not the kind of man who would gamble with the lives of his comrades.
"Count everyone again. Once you're sure, retreat immediately."
Kizaru stood facing the nearly hundred shinobi gathered in front of him and gave the order calmly.
Standing beside him, Hyūga Nagayasu said nothing at first. He simply checked the numbers one more time in silence.
"The count is correct," Nagayasu reported quickly once he finished.
"Good. Fall back."
After giving the final order, Kizaru stepped down from the tree stump and walked forward beneath the eyes of the gathered shinobi.
Some looked at him with admiration.
Others looked at him with trust.
Everyone present understood what he was doing.
Kizaru intended to stay behind with Hyūga Nagayasu and buy enough time for everyone else to withdraw.
The jōnin and elite chūnin who led the patrol squads were the most levelheaded among them.
The moment they heard the order, they didn't hesitate. Each one immediately began leading their men away.
In a little over ten seconds, the clearing in front of the stronghold had emptied out.
Only Kizaru, Hyūga Nagayasu, and Kakuzu remained.
Kakuzu, of course, wasn't staying behind to help Konoha.
He was staying for money.
Kizaru still hadn't finished paying him for the patrols and for capturing enemy shinobi alive.
And beyond that...
Kizaru himself had a bounty of 750 million ryo.
There was no way Kakuzu was going to ignore that.
His plan was simple: stay hidden, watch how the battle unfolded, and act accordingly.
If Kizaru lost, then save him if possible.
If that wasn't possible, grab the body.
And if even that failed... run.
"Well now, you're staying too? How touching, scary fellow-san~."
Kizaru glanced at Kakuzu and spoke in his usual lazy, teasing tone.
"You still owe me money. Don't die before you pay it back."
After saying that, Kakuzu gave Kizaru one long look, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Kizaru watched the direction he disappeared in. With his Observation Haki, he could tell Kakuzu hadn't actually gone far.
"How cold... that really hurts, y'know."
He was smiling as he said it.
Hyūga Nagayasu, standing beside him, could only complain inwardly.
If it hurts, then why are you smiling like that?
Still, that small bit of ridiculousness helped ease the tension in his chest, even if only a little.
"Uncle Nagayasu, stay back and watch the battle with your Byakugan."
Kizaru turned slightly and looked at him.
"If you get too close, you might end up caught in it. That'd be a pain."
Before Hyūga Nagayasu could respond, Kizaru's body flashed into golden light and vanished.
Nagayasu, who already had his Byakugan activated, only managed to catch sight of a streak of golden radiance shooting into the sky.
And then... nothing.
He couldn't track Kizaru anymore.
Looking up, Nagayasu suddenly realized something that made his scalp go numb.
Kizaru could fly.
That definitely made Kizaru much harder to kill.
But him?
He couldn't fly.
For a moment, Hyūga Nagayasu felt his whole body go stiff.
Even so, stiff or not, he had already taken over the mission after the others withdrew.
He knew he couldn't run now.
Clenching his teeth, he kept his Byakugan active and headed into the forest alone, rushing toward the border.
"Stop."
At the very front of the formation, the Third Raikage suddenly raised a hand and barked the order.
The Kumogakure shinobi behind him came to a halt immediately, their movements sharp and disciplined.
"Oho... long time no see."
Kizaru stepped casually out of the woods, wearing that same infuriating smile.
"Shimura Kizaru...!" the Third Raikage growled, eyes blazing. "So it was you who attacked the village last time."
Kizaru gave a slow nod and smiled faintly.
"Well, you people from Kumogakure are all built like monsters. Hard not to remember."
The Third Raikage's face darkened.
"Are you mocking us?"
The memory of more than three hundred Kumogakure shinobi falling in that attack lit his anger all over again.
Kizaru tilted his head slightly.
"You're angry? How scary~."
"Bastard!"
With a furious roar, the Third Raikage instantly activated his strongest form of Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
His hair shot upward wildly, his body wrapped in crackling lightning as he burst forward like a bolt tearing across the battlefield.
He crossed the distance in an instant and drove a heavy punch into Kizaru—
Only for it to pass straight through him.
A mirage!
The Third Raikage's eyes sharpened. The moment his fist met nothing, he turned at once—
Kizaru was already behind him, completely unharmed.
The Third Raikage did not linger. He bent his knees and sprang backward, landing once again in front of his troops.
Kizaru looked at him and sighed in that same easy tone.
"Ooh... scary old geezer."
"You bastard! If you've got the guts, fight me head-on!"
As he shouted, the Third Raikage signaled the shinobi around him to stay alert and watch the surroundings carefully.
Behind him, the Kumogakure shinobi had already drawn weapons and taken battle stances. Their eyes were filled with killing intent, eager to avenge the comrades they had lost.
Kizaru's lazy voice drifted through the air again.
"But I'm already right here, aren't I?"
As soon as the words fell, his figure appeared right in the middle of the Kumogakure formation.
"No—!"
The Third Raikage's warning came too late.
Startled, several shinobi had already thrown kunai and shuriken at Kizaru.
But every last one of them passed straight through his body.
And flew into their own allies behind him.
A number of Kumogakure shinobi were cut down or wounded on the spot, either because they reacted too slowly or because there was no time to avoid the attacks properly.
Cries of pain rang out at once.
"Spread out!" the Third Raikage roared immediately. "All shinobi below jōnin rank, fall back!"
Hearing the order, the Kumogakure shinobi moved fast, dragging their injured comrades as they tried to pull away from the center.
Then Kizaru's voice echoed from above.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
He had already risen into the air.
Crossing his hands in front of him, he formed two masses of light in his palms—
Then countless beams rained down from the sky.
They fell at terrifying speed, piercing straight through the bodies of multiple Kumogakure shinobi before slamming into the ground and exploding.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of violent blasts erupted one after another, and the battlefield beneath Kizaru was swallowed by smoke and fire.
"Bastard!"
A furious roar burst from within the smoke.
The Third Raikage blasted straight through it and launched himself skyward. His right hand thrust forward, only one finger extended.
Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite!
From the very beginning, faced with the losses among his men, he had already used his strongest spear.
He came in absurdly fast—
But Kizaru was faster.
Thanks to Observation Haki, Kizaru had already read the movement before it fully came.
His body dissolved into light, and in the next instant, he appeared behind the Third Raikage.
He twisted in midair and brought down a brutal kick from above.
The Third Raikage was slammed straight into the ground.
Boom!
The earth exploded on impact, and a massive crater opened up several meters wide where he landed.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 200 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.