After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 179

Chapter 179: Raikage Assassinated, Tsuchikage Attacked

For Obito now, trying to delay or even completely stop Naruto was no longer so easy.

The scene of that previous energy breath attack was still vivid in his memory. Even compared to the Tailed Beast Ball that Nine-Tails had fired years ago, it was no less impressive.

At least judging from the destructive power Naruto had shown, he had to some extent already surpassed his father, Minato Namikaze.

Hmm—Minato Namikaze...

At the thought of his former teacher's name, a string of memories resurfaced in his mind.

How had he forgotten this?

Clapping his hands, Zetsu emerged from the ground.

"How's Nagato's situation?"

"Nothing serious. A new Asura Path has been replenished."

After saying this, Zetsu added another sentence.

"As for Konan, she returned to normal after the ink on her body was removed."

Speaking of which, although the special ability Jiraiya had suddenly displayed was more concealed than ninjutsu, it was much more convenient to remove. Unlike those various sealing jutsu that required corresponding unsealing formulas to break.

After a moment of silence, Obito dismissed the idea of having Nagato act again.

This plan would be difficult for him to explain.

Might as well do it himself.

In the Land of Lightning, Hidden Cloud Village perched atop towering mountain peaks, its buildings disappearing into the thick clouds that perpetually shrouded the heights.

Compared to Konoha's fertile valleys and temperate climate, this mountainous fortress was far less hospitable for daily life.

No wonder the Raikage had always coveted the Hidden Leaf's territory. Perhaps this envy had forged the bitter 'bond' between their villages since their founding.

At nightfall, the Fourth Raikage A was still sitting in his office handling official business.

Don't let his usual carefree and rough appearance fool you—he often handed his work over to secretaries to handle. But when it came to key matters, he still needed to make the final decisions as Raikage.

Unlike other hidden villages, the Hidden Cloud Village's power was highly centralized, truly achieving militarized management with the Raikage personally issuing supreme commands.

In this regard, he did much better than the Hokage system and others. At least he wouldn't be interfered with by so-called senior advisors on key matters, thus missing certain opportunities.

Similarly, after the appearance of the two powerful rogue ninjas, the "Gold and Silver Brothers," Hidden Cloud Village had also increased surveillance and maintained "zero tolerance" for rogue ninjas.

This could be seen from the fact that the famous rogue ninja organization "Akatsuki" had no members from Hidden Cloud.

In any case, successive Raikage could be said to have worked diligently, forcibly developing the now powerful Hidden Cloud Village under such living conditions.

Their aggressive style was largely influenced by their leaders.

But this vertical management model resulted in all important events piling up on the Raikage alone. These decisions couldn't be delegated to secretaries.

That's why A had to handle official business so late at night.

Think of a certain old man who used his crystal ball to peep at others whenever he had time. Tsk tsk.

The mountain valley winds continued blowing, their sound reaching A's ears through the window gaps.

Hmm—

It seemed quite late already.

After A finished processing the last frontline document, he finally stretched his muscles a bit.

Silence surrounded him.

So silent it was unusual.

He possessed far superior chakra reserves and terrifying reaction speed compared to ordinary people, but "sensing" was his weakness, requiring specialized sensor ninjas to assist him.

This led to today's situation, where enemies had reached his doorstep before he noticed them.

As the Fourth Raikage stood and assumed a battle stance, thin mist began spreading throughout the Raikage's office.

"Mabui! Darui! C!"

Raikage A's voice echoed through the entire building, but no one responded.

This made his heart sink slowly.

Honestly, Raikage A wasn't afraid of assassination attempts—he had absolute confidence in his own strength. But he also knew that those around him didn't possess his kind of power.

Battle intent mixed with anger rose together, and Raikage A's body surface directly manifested a crackling Lightning Release chakra cloak.

This was the legendary jutsu of the Raikage lineage, 'Lightning Release Chakra Mode.'

Through lightning-attribute chakra stimulation of his body's cells, his already powerful physical strength was enhanced to another level.

Swoosh!

A kunai flew from the Raikage's blind spot behind him, aimed straight at his head.

"Got you!"

Don't underestimate his reflexes—at this distance, with Lightning Release Chakra Mode activated, A could dodge real lightning, let alone an ordinary kunai.

Within a thousandth of a second, he completed turning around and counterattacking in one fluid motion.

He finally saw the attacker's appearance.

A cloaked figure whose face couldn't be seen.

"Sneaky bastard, you think you can kill me with something like this? Who do you think I am!"

Raikage A directly extended his fist.

"Lightning Straight!"

The Lightning Release Chakra Mode enhancement was instantly maximized, his fist moving at teleportation speed and even breaking the sound barrier.

Boom!

After the punch was thrown, an air blast directly scattered everything in the office, and the mist completely disappeared.

This punch created tremendous momentum, even punching a large hole in the wall.

The surrounding buildings lit up one by one, and noisy voices quickly resumed. Those were the Hidden Cloud jōnin who had been alerted.

But even this punch failed to harm the intruder.

"Genjutsu?"

With his enhanced dynamic vision, Raikage A clearly saw that his fist had indeed hit his opponent but had passed through the side of his body.

After the body separated from the overlapping state, the guy's hood was blown away by the wind, revealing a face very familiar to the Raikage.

It was the Konoha jinchūriki "Naruto Uzumaki," whom he had sent people to secretly assassinate a month ago!

"This is payback from last time. We're not done yet."

This "Naruto Uzumaki" smiled at the Raikage, then fell backward.

Below was a cliff.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

Raikage A also recalled that when he had sent out ninjas to track him down, they ultimately hadn't found his whereabouts, instead ending up fighting with another group skilled in water jutsu.

While reminiscing, he came to the room downstairs, where he saw three people unconscious from serious injuries.

Fortunately, none were dead.

Revenge came quickly, kid.

As the one who proposed the assassination plan, Raikage A was naturally prepared for retaliation.

As expected, Konoha guys can't be trusted!

In that case, this was officially war!

Similar events occurred in the Hidden Stone Village. The Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki was also attacked.

Though the opponent escaped unharmed under Ōnoki's Kekkei Tōta "Dust Release," they exposed their appearance.

It was the "Naruto Uzumaki" from their previous intelligence reports.

However, the cunning Ōnoki sensed something amiss and immediately restrained his restless subordinate ninjas.

"I'm afraid things aren't that simple."

He had no grudge against this person—why would he target him? This didn't make sense upon closer thought.

Moreover, Konoha had sent messages to their side recently.

Someone was probably trying to use him.