Chapter 97: The Crushing Defeat of the Cloud Ninja

"Fa... Father, how is this possible?"

The Fourth Raikage, who was already severely wounded, was struck with sudden terror upon seeing his own father killed in a single blow.

When it came down to it, it was because the Third Raikage was too confident in his own Strongest Shield; if it were the Fourth Raikage, he would never dare let Uchiha Feiyu's Kusanagi Sword pierce his heart, because his Lightning Release Chakra Mode could indeed have its defense shattered.

"Those who swim well drown in water... After the Strongest Shield was breached, the death of this strongest Raikage was a predetermined fate!"

Uchiha Feiyu let out a long breath; originally, with the Third Raikage's vitality, even if his heart were pierced, he might have lived for another ten minutes or so, and perhaps even fought a few more moves, but unfortunately, the Evil-Breaking Qi damaged both body and Soul, directly claiming the Third Raikage's life.

Reaching out, Uchiha Feiyu activated the ability of the Summoning Technique: Soul-Binding and directly summoned the Soul of the Third Raikage, who had a small wound in his heart.

Having retrieved the Soul, Uchiha Feiyu could feel that the Soul in his hand was slightly weakened by the damage from the Evil-Breaking Qi, but it was only weakened, not to the point of being unusable.

After finishing off the Third Raikage, Uchiha Feiyu turned his gaze toward the Fourth Raikage; the Fourth Raikage had been immersed in the grief and shock of his father's death, but upon seeing Uchiha Feiyu's gaze, his body suddenly shook, and he shouted loudly:

"Bee, take all the Cloud Ninja and retreat!! I authorize you to use the Full Tailed Beast Mode!!"

"Lord Third... how could it be like this?!"

That was because the body could no longer withstand the excessive Lightning Release chakra, leading to physical trauma and the verge of collapse.

Although the Fourth Raikage was now severely wounded—a state that might have caused an ordinary ninja to pass out—it was precisely because the wounds were hard to heal and he had resolved himself to die that the current Fourth Raikage was likely more dangerous than in his normal state.

"Take everyone and run; this time, we Cloud Ninja have been defeated... hurry and run!"

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at the Kusanagi Sword stuck in the Third Raikage's chest, resolving to engrave a summoning formula on this sword in the future, but for now, with no weapon in hand and most of his chakra consumed, it was better not to fight the Fourth Raikage to the death.

Killer Bee, who was already in a partial Tailed Beast state and fighting Minato, was also greatly shocked upon hearing his brother's voice, and when he turned his head, he saw the Third Raikage's standing corpse.

Although this could increase the Fourth Raikage's strength to its peak in a short time, it would leave endless Aftereffect in the future, but clearly, the current Fourth Raikage was no longer considering the future.

"Tsk, what a nuisance. Teacher Orochimaru, I'll leave this severely wounded man to you!"

The Fourth Raikage's expression was resolute; even though his bronze complexion had turned pale due to blood loss and Soul trauma, the lightning on his body became even more dazzling, and even his tempered body began to show signs of charring.

Orochimaru, with a pale face, twitched the corner of his mouth and wanted to say something, but he discovered that Uchiha Feiyu beside him had gradually disappeared into the air—it was his Camouflage Concealment Technique.

"Bastard, Uchiha brat, get out here! Fight me like a man, you damn coward!"

The moment Uchiha Feiyu's figure disappeared, a streak of blood-colored lightning flashed by; the Fourth Raikage punched at empty air, looked left and right, and then roared violently.

He truly had not expected that the Uchiha brat before him would be so shameless; seeing that he had unleashed a desperate Forbidden Technique, the opponent had actually used stealth to slip away!

Feeling the life force draining from his body and his body gradually going numb under the effect of the lightning, blood-red light emerged in the Fourth Raikage's eyes, and he suddenly turned his head to look at Orochimaru nearby.

Orochimaru twitched his mouth with a helpless expression, reached out his hand, and nine silver snakes slithered out from his sleeves to form a Silver Snake Sword, muttering:

"If I take on two more apprentices like this, I'll probably lose my own life!"

After turning invisible, Uchiha Feiyu immediately snuck back to the side of the Third Raikage, retrieved his Kusanagi Sword, and then, looking at the chaotic battlefield around him, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The Third Raikage was dead, and the Fourth Raikage was not far behind, but only some ninjas on the edge of this battlefield had seen it; it would take at least ten minutes for the news to fully reach every Cloud Ninja.

Even if the Cloud Ninja received the news and began to retreat, it would be difficult for them to shake off the Leaf Ninja entangling them in a short time; in short, for the more than 5,000 Cloud Ninja to truly retreat, it would take at least half an hour.

And this half hour was Uchiha Feiyu's best time for hunting!

Night fell quietly, and the battlefield that had been intense during the day had now turned into a silent graveyard.

Only Leaf Ninja remained on the battlefield, collecting the bodies of the ninjas from their own Ninja Village.

Orochimaru, with a pale face, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and even half of his long hair shorn off, looking quite disheveled, sat on a rock, directing his subordinate ninjas to clean up the battlefield.

A golden flash appeared before Orochimaru, and Orochimaru glanced at Minato and asked:

"How is it? Did you stop him?"

Minato no longer looked sunny; his golden hair was messy, his face was covered in sweat, and he was panting and pale, looking as if his chakra had been completely exhausted.

"No... the jinchuriki's defense is too strong; my attacks were basically ineffective."

Hearing this, there was no expression of regret on Orochimaru's face, and he said calmly:

"If you didn't stop him, then so be it. This time, the Third Raikage and his successor are all dead; if we really killed the Eight-Tails jinchuriki as well, it might not necessarily be a good thing for the Leaf."

The Leaf itself is located in the center of the continent, a place of constant warfare; in military terms, this terrain means that if you are strong, you swallow the world, and if you are weak, you are devoured by wolves, but unfortunately, since the civil war between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, the opportunity to truly swallow the world had already been lost.

If the current Leaf were to appear too powerful, the other large and small Ninja Villages would inevitably unite and attack together.

Even though the Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja had been crippled, the Leaf's losses were not small at all; while no Shadow-level powerhouses had suffered casualties, nearly half of the grassroots ninjas had been killed or wounded.

Otherwise, facing the nearly 4,000 invading Cloud Ninja, the Leaf would not have sent fewer than 3,000 ninjas to respond; it was truly because the grassroots level was in an emergency and there was no one left.

"Besides... that guy Feiyu hasn't come back yet; he's probably still hanging behind those Cloud Ninja. With that brat's murderous intent, the Cloud Ninja are definitely in for it!"

(End of chapter)