The Valley of Clouds and Lightning was the highest region in the entire shinobi world, one of the very few plateau areas that existed.
Naturally, Kumo's stronghold had been established atop these towering mountains.
"Bastard! Who told you to come here?!"
With a thunderous BANG, the future Fourth Raikage, A, slammed his palm down, shattering yet another table inside the Kumogakure command center.
The scene made Darui's eyelids twitch violently, but in the end, he still didn't dare say a word.
"Big bro smashes tables, power supreme,baby, Killer B at your side, rhythm so mean, oh yeah!"
Killer B, completely unfazed, continued dancing and rapping at the side.
"It was Dodai-sama who ordered me to come."
A crisp, pleasant voice sounded from the person standing opposite A. She had beautiful blond hair—she was Kumo's Two-Tails jinchūriki, Yugito Nii.
A scratched his head irritably and barked out,
"What else did that Dodai guy say?"
Knowing A's temper, Yugito didn't get angry. Instead, she calmly relayed Dodai's message.
"Dodai-sama said that the ninja Konoha sent as reinforcement is Shimizu Mitsuki. He's an extremely troublesome enemy."
Hearing that name, A's temper flared again. He instinctively tried to slam the table — only to realize it had already been destroyed. With no choice, he dropped heavily back into his chair.
"If he knew it was Shimizu Mitsuki coming, then he absolutely shouldn't have let you come here."
In A's view, Mitsuki's threat on the battlefield was manageable — but his threat to Kumogakure's rear lines was S-rank.
The intelligence about Mitsuki wiping out Kirigakure couldn't be hidden — at least not from the intelligence networks of the other great villages.
Yugito understood A was worried about the village.
"Don't worry. Dodai-sama already ordered the Barrier Team to deploy a village-wide barrier capable of detecting space–time fluctuations. The moment a space–time marker appears inside the village, it'll be detected immediately."
Across the entire shinobi world, only Konoha and Kumogakure possessed any real countermeasures against space–time ninjutsu.
A snorted coldly.
"Hmph. He'd better."
"Raikage-sama!"
A Kumo ninja rushed in anxiously.
"Konoha has made a move!"
"What?!"
A never imagined someone would dare to attack him proactively. He sprang to his feet in rage.
"Engage immediately! Minato and Mitsuki are mine! The rest of you—go slaughter every Konoha ninja you see!"
"Yes, sir!"
The ninja immediately withdrew to relay the orders.
Seeing his big brother preparing for battle, Killer B waved his arms and tested the waters with a rap.
"Killer B wants the battlefield, fighting proud and strong, Tailed Beast power unleashed, enemies won't last long!"
"Bakayaro… konoyaro."
Killer B shot A an expectant look. Ever since the Third Raikage-sama's sacrifice, he hadn't fought side by side with his brother even once.
"Idiot, B!"
A suddenly erupted with terrifying killing intent, scolding him mercilessly.
"You stay far away and fire Tailed Beast Ball! No matter what happens, you are not allowed to enter the battlefield—got it?!"
With that, A turned and left the room with the others, heading to prepare for battle, not sparing his brother another glance.
Killer B's rapping pose froze in midair for several seconds before slowly dropping.
His gaze lowered, his expression hidden behind dark sunglasses, his thoughts unreadable.
"…Big bro."
At that moment, a deep, muffled voice echoed from within him.
"B, your brother is just worried about your safety."
"I know."
Killer B spread his hands, slapped his cheeks hard with a loud smack, and strode out with his signature swagger.
"Big bro says be careful, baby, but I ain't afraid, oh yeah! One Tailed Beast Ball, the heavens break,enemy lines — completely obliterated!"
"Bakayaro! Konoyaro!"
...
On the other side, Konoha held the advantage of striking first.
Minato Namikaze maintained tight formations. Group coordination better showcased Konoha's diverse ninja specialties.
Previously, they had been forced to scatter to reduce losses from Tailed Beast Ball bombardment.
But now, with Mitsuki present, the combat system Konoha had cultivated for years could finally display its true strength.
"Third Combat Unit, move at full speed toward the nine o'clock direction. Secure the marked point two kilometers ahead!"
"Minato, watch your front — A is leading a Kumo unit straight toward you at high speed!"
"Be alert! The enemy may have deployed a second jinchūriki—chakra fluctuations are extremely large!"
"Second Combat Unit—"
Order after order flowed from Inoichi at Konoha's rear command post, transmitted through sensory and communications ninjas embedded in each unit.
This was the command system Minato had hastily established.
By fully utilizing the Yamanaka clan's Mind Techniques, it functioned effectively — though it still had room for optimization.
"With A's personality, he'll definitely lead Kumo's main force straight into a frontal clash," Minato had predicted during planning.
Konoha was well-prepared — but Kumo was no less so.
Before the two sides even collided, Killer B had already taken position atop a mountain dozens of kilometers away.
Click—clack—clack.
With the sound of rotating gears, over a dozen Kumo ninja rapidly assembled a massive cannon.
They were Killer B's Tailed Beast Ball Artillery Unit, carrying advanced storage scrolls containing the cannon's components.
Though called "components", most were semi-assembled sections, allowing the base to be adjusted for different terrain.
The Tailed Beast Ball Cannon was still a prototype. In its original design, it was meant to have two modes:
The currently deployed "Dispersal Tailed Beast Ball Mode" and a far more powerful "Space–Time Cannon Mode".
The former provided wide-area saturation bombardment; the latter was designed for pinpoint, single-target annihilation.
However, the Space–Time Cannon remained purely theoretical.
To speed up charging, Killer B performed a backflip, his body rapidly expanding—
Until he transformed into a massive creature with the head of an ox and the body of an octopus.
The Eight-Tails had entered the battlefield.
A Kumo ninja observed the distant battlefield through a chakra telescope, continuously calling out numerical data.
Others recorded it, calculating optimal firing angles and relaying them to the targeting team.
"Charging at ninety-nine percent… one hundred percent. Charging complete!"
"Killer B-sama! Ready to fire!"
Hearing the report, Killer B snapped a control lever with one tentacle, shouting his rap all the while.
"Yo, yo, this is Killer B, baby! Get ready for the show — Dispersal Tailed Beast Ball, oh yeah!"