Rumble—!!!
Heavy dark clouds rolled overhead.
Bolts of lightning—thick as pythons—split the sky, illuminating the cloud layers.
Rain pounded the ground like dull drums.
Each drop slammed down hard, as if expressing silent rage, as the dense stormwater carved streams through the muddy ruins of a battlefield.
Ei…
No—more accurately, the Fourth Raikage, A, still knelt by his father's side.
The Third Raikage—bisected at the waist.
A said nothing.
Fury brewed in his eyes, as if he were waiting for something.
At last, dozens of figures appeared on the ruined horizon.
Sensing them, the silent A slowly raised his head, a flicker of hope in his gaze.
B returned—with grief and shame carved across his face.
With him came more than ten of Kumogakure's top elite jōnin—the ones who had joined the pursuit of the Raikage's killer.
"B… what happened?"
A's voice was hoarse, like sharp gravel scraping across smooth stone.
Under his brother's hopeful stare, B's face went paler.
His lips moved weakly, and finally he lowered his head in guilt.
"I'm sorry, big brother."
What followed wasn't the scolding he'd expected.
Not rage.
Not loss of control.
Only dead silence.
In the ruins, beside the Third Raikage's corpse, there was nothing but the dull sound of raindrops striking the ground.
After a moment, A rose slowly, expression blank.
"Failed…?"
"Tell me the details."
His aura was completely different now—like night and day compared to before.
As the "A–B" partner, B could clearly feel it:
His big brother had changed.
As if he had grown up in an instant.
"We chased him all the way out of the village, and then…"
B hesitated, choosing his words.
"He disappeared. No warning. No trace."
"Like he evaporated."
"Gone in an instant—like he'd vanished from the world."
"Flying Thunder God?"
A frowned. That was the only possibility he could imagine.
"Raikage-sama—there was no residual chakra trace at all."
A sensory-type shinobi continued.
"From that alone… he didn't use any ninjutsu. He simply vanished."
Instant disappearance.
No omen.
No chakra left behind.
In theory, such a thing was impossible.
And yet it happened.
"Raikage-sama… should we continue searching?"
Someone offered.
"We can lock down the borders. If it wasn't Flying Thunder God, then he must still be in the Land of Lightning."
"If we increase manpower, we'll definitely find him!"
A clenched his fist, madness flashing in his eyes.
"Whether we find him or not… Konoha is the priority!"
"Big brother…"
B's heart sank. He jerked his head up.
"But the previous Raikage-sama said… this isn't the time for us to enter the war—"
"Now I am the Raikage!"
A's face twisted, almost manic, as he hurled a gaze full of rage and hatred toward Konoha's direction.
"I'm going to crush Konoha—completely!"
…Big brother.
B's pupils sank.
He suddenly realized something was wrong with his brother.
Yet even knowing it was wrong, in that moment no one dared oppose the order.
Some even agreed.
Meanwhile—
After shaking off Kumogakure's pursuit, Sogetsu finally had time to breathe.
He'd done what needed doing.
There was no need to rush back immediately, so he sat on a rock to rest for a while.
But then—
Blood suddenly streamed from his right eye.
Drip. Drip.
Bright-red droplets splashed on the ground like blooming petals.
"So the side effects are already starting…"
Sogetsu frowned as he sensed his right-eye vision had noticeably deteriorated.
"Only three uses, and the backlash is already this severe…"
"As expected—this ability is powerful, but the risk is enormous."
"After this is over… I'll need to find White Zetsu."
The first time had been used to analyze a Bijūdama.
The second and third times had been used in this battle—
To analyze Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Hell Stab: One-Finger Thrust.
That was why, at a speed normal people couldn't comprehend, he had "learned" and "understood" the core mechanisms of those techniques—
And in only a few minutes, created Storm Mode: Infinite Shunkō and Wind Release: Vertical Guillotine Blade.
Fortunately, he had White Zetsu—
An infinite "battery" of First Hokage cells.
While he was thinking, he spotted more shinobi appearing in the distant valley, sweeping the area like a carpet search—determined not to stop until they found him.
"Heh… still not giving up?"
Sogetsu shook his head helplessly, then stood.
"Forget it. No point wasting time with them. I should head back."
One Cloud shinobi after another ran past him, teeth clenched, faces full of rage.
Yet not a single one noticed the man sitting on the rock.
Psychological Invisibility—
By grasping the target's mental body and exploiting psychological blind spots, he placed himself in an "awareness dead zone."
He could stand right in front of them—
And they wouldn't see him, and they wouldn't sense him either—achieving a pseudo-invisibility effect.
Of course, it had flaws.
If he interacted with the environment, it would inevitably expose him.
"Next, I need to focus on digesting the 'potion.'"
Sogetsu walked silently—like a ghost—under the noses of those Cloud ninja.
The tide of war had already begun.
He had to fully digest Sequence 5 before that "node," and prepare his promotion ritual—
Sequence 4: Manipulator.
Konoha Village.
Unlike the usual peaceful scene, the village was tense.
The Hokage—rarely seen in recent times—Sarutobi Hiruzen, had actually donned full shinobi armor and stood in battle-ready form, his expression grim.
Jōnin, chūnin, genin—
Even academy trainees—
All gathered in the plaza, faces tense, serious, fearful, staring at the Hokage on the platform.
Thousands stood in silence, the air thick and heavy.
"Konoha is about to go to war with Kirigakure!"
The Hokage's gaze swept the shinobi below as he got straight to the point.
"The Hidden Mist has dispatched a large force and is closing in."
"This battle is unavoidable!"
Most had already heard rumors.
But hearing it confirmed from the Hokage's mouth still made the crowd erupt.
"I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage, hereby issue the order!"
His voice was loud enough to drown out the chaos, and his powerful chakra swept outward.
"Konoha formally enters war with Kirigakure!"
At that moment, an ANBU quietly approached him and whispered into his ear.
"…What did you say?!"
The Hokage's eyes widened, horror flashing across his face.
His voice—his expression—was so loud and visible it couldn't be hidden from the thousands below.
"Calm down, Hiruzen!"
The two advisors jumped in immediately and scolded him.
"As Hokage, no matter the situation, you must remain calm! Showing everyone this face is unacceptable—Hiruzen, reflect on yourself!"
But Hiruzen still looked like a wooden puppet, pupils shaking violently, as if he'd been struck by lightning.
"What happened, Hiruzen?"
Koharu Utatane sensed something was wrong and stepped forward, patting his shoulder as she said sternly,
"It's only Kirigakure. So what if it's war? When has Konoha ever feared war?!"
"N-no… not Kirigakure, Koharu."
Hiruzen turned his head stiffly and stared at her with dead eyes. His lips trembled, face pale.
"We just received word…"
"Not only Kirigakure…"
"Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure have also dispatched large forces to press toward Konoha."
"They…"
"They've declared war on us."
Clang!
A cane slammed heavily to the ground.
Koharu's pupils shrank, deep terror on her face.
"Y-you said… what?!"
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