Chapter 181: Lightning Kage Harvester

"What are you still hesitating about?!"

Jin Jiao, seeing the opponent unmoved, couldn't help raising his voice.

No one knows how to run away better than him; he has successfully fled from Lian Ye's grasp four times, and his escape technique is now masterful.

If this brute doesn't retreat, he'll have to run on his own.

The long-haired strongman heard that, clenched his fists in unwillingness, but his chakra was now chaotic, and continuing the fight would only be more disadvantageous.

"Damn..." he growled low, suddenly unleashing his last chakra, and hammered the ground with a fist.

"Lightning Release: Thunderstorm Shock!"

"Boom—!"

The ground cracked, wild Lightning Radiance scattered, Lian Ye was forced to fall back, while Jin Jiao seized the chance to rush to the strongman's side and grab his shoulder.

"Go!"

"Swoosh—"

Jin Jiao, with the strongman, instantly turned into a red afterimage and sprinted toward the distance.

"Stop them!" Lian Ye's expression was icy, "Today, no matter what, we must leave one!"

The Cloud Hidden Village has two Shadow-levels on the battlefield; that's just too damn extravagant.

One must die today!

Better if both die...

Sarutobi Rizhan and the others, hearing the two's conversation, understood their plan.

The moment the two retreated, they sped after them.

Lian Ye didn't hesitate, using Instant Body Technique to keep up.

Jin Jiao's speed was extremely fast, perhaps honed by constantly running away during this period; in the blink of an eye he left the battlefield.

But Sarutobi Rizhan and the others pursued relentlessly, showing no intention of letting them go.

"Damn Konoha ninja!"

Jin Jiao knew very well that dragging the strongman as a dead weight would eventually get caught by a few, and then he'd be dead!

Thinking of that, a trace of malice flashed in his eyes.

He suddenly turned back, looked at the long-haired strongman whose shoulder he had grabbed, and a cold smile curled at his mouth.

The reason Jin Jiao took the strongman with him was actually to play this calculation...

If Lian Ye and his group truly caught up, he could discard the strongman to buy himself time to run.

"You stay behind to cover the rear, I'll go back to call for support!"

Saying that, he suddenly released his grip, and the strongman's running speed instantly slowed.

"What?!" The long-haired strongman's pupils suddenly contracted, his anger flared instantly, "Jin Jiao, you bastard—"

But Jin Jiao no longer paid attention to him, and the six chakra tails flicked sharply.

Without the dead weight, his speed surged again, and in a blink he widened the gap.

The long-haired strongman realized he had been abandoned.

At this moment, his internal chakra was chaotic; even ordinary Lightning Release Ninjutsu was hard to perform, let alone Lightning Style Armor.

His body was also burned by flames, greatly reducing his combat power.

And before him stood six elite Konoha—

Sarutobi Rizhan, Uchiha Jing, Mito Menyan, Zhuan Qin Xiaochun, Zhi Cun Tuan Zang, and... the Uchiha Lianye who had just suppressed him.

"Heh..." the long-haired strongman sneered, his battle spirit undiminished, "Cloud Hidden ninja won't beg the enemy for mercy!"

He took a deep breath, forced the remaining chakra in his body to surge, muscles tensed, ready to die in battle.

Lian Ye's gaze was icy, his Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated, instantly assessing the situation.

"You five go after Jin Jiao; this time you must not let him escape!" he ordered decisively, "I'll handle this guy."

Sarutobi Rizhan frowned slightly, but quickly nodded, "Alright, be careful!"

The five did not hesitate, immediately bypassed the strongman, and sprinted toward the direction Jin Jiao fled.

"I told you... your era has ended," Lian Ye repeated his earlier words.

Unexpectedly, the long-haired strongman offered no retort, his voice low as he said:

"I underestimated you..."

From the start he never took the boy before him seriously, never expecting things to turn out like this.

If he could start over, he would never be careless!

"My teacher, was he also killed by you like this?" the long-haired strongman asked, his confusion evident.

He knew he could not match Lian Ye, and wanted to know the truth before dying.

"I guess so, he died from poison..."

Lian Ye lifted his tachi, aimed at the strongman, and said coldly:

"Fine, you may die now."

He didn't want any more chatter; he still had to deal with Jin Jiao.

"Heh, I won't let you get him easily!" the long-haired strongman said seriously, swinging a punch hard.

Even without chakra enhancement, his physical condition still far surpassed ordinary people.

But Lian Ye merely tilted slightly; his Sharingan had already predicted the move, and the tachi's blade flashed coldly.

"Swoosh—"

The blade sliced across the strongman's arm, blood spattering!

He let out a muffled groan, but his assault didn't wane; his other hand clamped toward Lian Ye's throat like iron tongs.

Even if I die, I'll still bite off a piece of meat!

Lian Ye steps back half a pace, then swings his left hand, brandishing the Banana Leaf Fan fiercely.

"Fire Release: Grand Flame Blossom!"

Scorching flames burst forth, forcing the Long-haired Strongman to retreat, but Lian Ye gives him no respite; Shisui's Body Technique activates, and he instantly closes the distance.

"Sharingan!"

The Three Tomoe spin, and the Long-haired Strongman's movements momentarily falter; although he forces himself out of the Genjutsu with sheer willpower, that brief lapse is already enough…

"Puff!"

The Tachi pierces the Strongman's chest.

The Strongman's body freezes; he lowers his head to the blade in his chest, a trickle of fresh blood spilling from his mouth.

"I never thought… I would die… at your hands…" he says with difficulty, his eyes showing no fear, only resentment.

He had intended to avenge his teacher, but the revenge was never achieved, and instead he… was killed.

He doesn't even know how to report back to his teacher after descending.

He can't possibly tell the teacher, "I went to avenge you, and I was killed too," right?

That would be damn embarrassing,

In his final moments, he thinks not of fearing death, but of the teacher discovering the cause of his demise…

Lian Ye slowly draws the Tachi; the Long-haired Strongman's body wavers, then collapses heavily to the ground.

The future Third Raikage of Cloud Hidden Village, hailed as the strongest Raikage in history, the Third Raikage, falls here.

Lian Ye looks down at his corpse, and a complex feeling suddenly wells up inside him.

"Second Generation Raikage died by my hand, and Third Generation Raikage also fell at my hands…" he mutters softly. "If the Fourth Generation Raikage hasn't been born yet, then haven't I directly or indirectly killed three Raikage?"

Could I be— the legendary Raikage Reaper?!

The thought makes him pause briefly, but he quickly shakes his head, casting those stray thoughts aside.

War never has people who don't die, does it?

Since we chose to wage war, we must be ready to be killed.

He gives the Strongman's corpse one last glance, then pursues in the direction Yuanfei Rizhan and the others fled.

Now only Jin Jiao remains!

As long as Jin Jiao is killed…

Then that kid Qianshou Feijian wouldn't die, right?

"No matter what, Jin Jiao must die!"

…

…

ps: I planned to save three to five chapters yesterday, write five today, then post chapters eighty, ninety, but yesterday I went to play Delta and forgot, didn't write a chapter, spent the whole day gaming.

Wrote five chapters today, exhausted to death, eee…