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[U.G] Ch 206: The Death of Third Raikage
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 16:09:58 +0000 UTC— — — — — — —
The Iwa shinobi quickly came up with a plan.
In the end, Ōnoki decided to personally lead an elite force of over ten squads consisting of jōnin and elite chūnin to the northern region of the Land of Earth. Their goal was to intercept and halt the rampaging Raikage and his forces as swiftly as possible.
The main army, meanwhile, would gather supplies and set out soon after.
A few days later, Ōnoki and his elite Iwa Ninjas successfully intercepted the Third Raikage, putting a stop to the attacks from him and the Kumo forces. They managed to engage him in battle and hold him back.
By the time the main Iwa forces arrived, it was already too late for the Raikage and the Kumo Ninjas to retreat unscathed.
In the end, just as fate had originally intended, the Third Raikage chose to stay behind alone, buying time for his comrades to escape.
He single-handedly held off an army of over ten thousand Iwa Ninjas, engaging in an intense battle that lasted three days and three nights.
Eventually, he succumbed to exhaustion and fell in battle—worn down to death.
However, despite successfully taking down the Third Raikage, Ōnoki didn't feel any joy.
For one, Kumo had been utterly ruthless in their attacks.
Every city they captured was immediately looted to the bone, with every valuable stripped away at top speed.
The stolen resources were then transported back to Kumo through maritime routes.
They had left no stone unturned.
As a result, over a dozen cities in the Land of Earth had been reduced to ruins, and countless civilians were displaced, plunging the country into chaos.
It was clear that it would take years, if not longer, for the Land of Earth to fully recover from these losses.
Secondly, although the Third Raikage had been slain, Iwa had suffered massive casualties in the process.
In total, they had lost at least one to two thousand Ninjas.
Adding that to the losses suffered at the hands of Kaito in the Land of Rain, as well as the failed ambush against Suna, Iwa had lost nearly four to five thousand shinobi overall.
That was a devastating blow to their forces.
Ōnoki felt even more frustrated knowing that by killing the Third Raikage, Iwa had now created an unresolvable blood feud with Kumo.
It was inevitable that the two villages would engage in constant shadow warfare in the future.
This was completely different from what Ōnoki had planned.
After suffering a major setback against Kaito, he had realized the immense threat posed by both him and Konoha.
His initial plan was to wrap up the war with Suna and then reach out to both Kumo and Kiri, proposing an alliance to deal with Uchiha Kaito and Konoha together.
But now, with the Third Raikage dead by his hands, things had changed.
Even though Kumo had been the aggressor, killing a Kage-level figure was not something that could be brushed aside so easily.
For the next few years, any possibility of collaborating with Kumo to counter Konoha was nearly impossible.
"Damn it… this is such a mess."
With a long sigh, Ōnoki waved his hand and instructed his subordinate, Kitsuchi, "Send the Raikage's body back to Kumo. And while you're at it, try to probe them for peace talks."
"We can't afford to keep fighting Kumo."
"Uh…"
Kitsuchi hesitated. "But will Kumo even agree? The one who's likely to take over as the new Raikage is the Third Raikage's son. This hatred runs deep."
Kumo had a well-established system for training future Raikage candidates.
The Third Raikage had started grooming his son for the position years ago.
So, despite his death, Kumo wouldn't experience major internal turmoil.
At most, there might be some political power struggles, but nothing that would be publicly visible or out of control.
This level of stability was precisely what made Kumo, and by extension the other major villages, so wary.
However, at this moment, Ōnoki was far more concerned about Konoha.
And yet, he had no way of dealing with them.
To make matters worse, recent news from Konoha revealed that Uchiha Kaito had officially become the Fourth Hokage.
Not only that, but he had the full support of the entire village, securing an unshakable position.
Even more terrifyingly, he had used the Edo Tensei technique to resurrect Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, and Senju Tobirama.
This information gave Ōnoki an even bigger headache.
"Kumo was the one in the wrong this time. Given Konoha's growing threat, they should agree to negotiations."
"The only question is… will the Five Kage Summit still happen?"
"Try to find out when the time comes."
"As for Konoha's use of forbidden techniques to desecrate the dead… we need to do everything we can to suppress and prohibit that. Otherwise, they'll become even harder to deal with."
After giving his instructions to Kitsuchi, Ōnoki couldn't help but complain internally about the Third Raikage's actions.
The man had already sent out invitations and even dispatched messengers to discuss hosting a Five Kage Summit.
And yet, he still launched an invasion into the Land of Earth.
All for the sake of a few mines?
Completely ignoring the bigger picture!
Ōnoki was beginning to regret fighting Kumo over those mines.
It had been a costly mistake.
And in the end, those mines were lost anyway.
What a disaster.
"I understand. Should I set out now?" Kitsuchi asked after nodding in understanding.
"Yes. Leave immediately. The longer we wait, the more complicated things will get."
Ōnoki waved his hand in dismissal.
"Yes, sir!"
Kitsuchi immediately had the Third Raikage's body sealed within a scroll, took the letter from his father, and prepared to depart with a few elite shinobi.
Several days later, Kitsuchi arrived at Kumogakure.
There, he was received and summoned by the newly appointed Fourth Raikage, Yondaime Raikage.
Faced with the overwhelming hatred and killing intent in the Fourth Raikage's eyes, Kitsuchi presented his father's letter and the sealed scroll containing the Third Raikage's body.
He also conveyed the purpose of his visit.
Although the Fourth Raikage was extremely reluctant to negotiate peace with Iwagakure at this moment, he ultimately agreed for the sake of the bigger picture.
As for the Five Kage Summit, when Kitsuchi brought it up, the Fourth Raikage responded bluntly:
"Of course, the Five Kage Summit will proceed as planned! The time remains set for one month from now, and the location is still the Land of Iron. I fully expect the Tsuchikage to be there!"
He was looking forward to confronting the Tsuchikage in person! Even if he couldn't take revenge right now, he was going to make sure to verbally lash out at him as a way to vent his anger.
And when the opportunity came, he would absolutely avenge his father.
Besides, what was happening in Konoha was even more concerning to him and all of Kumogakure.
That was why the Five Kage Summit had to go on.
And they had to achieve their goals there.
"Understood! Before I left, the Tsuchikage specifically told me that as long as Kumogakure is willing to proceed, he will definitely attend!" Kitsuchi immediately nodded in response.
After that, Kumogakure and Iwagakure spent several days going back and forth in negotiations before finally signing the peace treaty.
— — —
Back to the present timeline.
That day, Nara Shikayama entered the Hokage's office, holding an invitation letter, and said:
"Lord Hokage! The new Five Kage Summit is happening in five days. Shouldn't you start preparing for departure?"
After all, traveling to the summit location would take some time.
"No need!"
Kaito paused for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. "I'll just teleport there when the time comes. The map for that location has already been marked. You should know this well, Shikayama."
Indeed, Nara Shikayama had been successfully contracted by Kaito some time ago. He had earned enough favor points with Kaito back during the battle in the Land of Rain, so there was no issue discussing such things with him.
Technically, Shikayama was part of the previous generation of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
Among that generation, he was the only one who had gained enough favor to be contracted.
However, after forming the contract, he had changed his approach, frequently gathering the new generation of Ino-Shika-Chō for special training and constantly instilling in them tales of Kaito's greatness.
His goal was to accelerate the process of getting the next generation contracted by Kaito as well.
Because only those who were contracted truly understood how great the benefits were.
For the sake of the future of the Ino-Shika-Chō clans, this was a necessary step.
And so far, it was going well.
Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chōza's favorability levels were steadily rising.
Even though he couldn't see their exact stats, he could feel the progress.
That was enough.
"Uh... Yeah, I know," Shikayama sighed and nodded. "But is it really okay to just teleport there like that?"
"What's the problem?" Kaito said nonchalantly. "Everyone already knows I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"As for the fact that I left a Flying Thunder God marker in the Land of Iron, I doubt they'll care too much about that."
"Even if they did care, there's nothing they can do about it."
"True! In that case, we can just go on the day of the summit. No need to rush!" Shikayama nodded in agreement before asking, "So, who will be accompanying you to the summit?"
A Hokage needed guards for such an important event.
"Hmm..." Kaito stroked his chin thoughtfully. "How about I bring the Second Hokage, Uchiha Madara, and the First Hokage?"
Shikayama was momentarily stunned before letting out a bitter laugh and shaking his head. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"From what we've gathered, the main reason they're calling this summit is to unite against Konoha and, more specifically, to ban the Edo Tensei technique."
"If you bring those three along, it's like a direct slap in their faces!"
"It'd be satisfying, sure, but I'm worried they might just decide to join forces and start a war with us on the spot!"
"We can't rule that out."
"At this point, they've probably seen Konoha's recent developments and are extremely wary of you. They might even be looking for an excuse to rally everyone against us, treating Konoha as a major threat."
Shikayama honestly didn't think they stood a chance against Konoha.
Even if all four major villages teamed up with smaller hidden villages to form a grand alliance, Konoha wouldn't be afraid.
Victory was guaranteed!
Just the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara alone could easily take care of any so-called "Allied Shinobi Forces."
Not to mention Kaito himself, the Fourth Hokage, who wielded the terrifying powers of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit combined with his mastery of Lightning Release.
As long as he had a bit of preparation time, he could unleash a massive lightning storm capable of wiping out thousands in an instant, even without a naturally cloudy environment like the Land of Rain.
And he was still improving.
His development of Lightning Release and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was constantly progressing.
"Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they did unite against us," Kaito said with a grin. "That way, I could settle everything in one decisive battle and unify the Ninja world in a single stroke."
"But for now, Konoha still has areas that need improvement."
"The training of new talent and the reformation of the Will of Fire are far from complete."
"And if we wiped out the other villages too quickly, it would create deep-seated hatred and slow down the process of contracting more people."
"So, for now, we should avoid triggering a new Shinobi World War."
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Comments
Silver_meteor0418
Huh, only two this time? I'm assuming it's to buy time for the author to dish out more chapters for now since the previous update schedule wouldn't last.
matt
more🥺
