Chapter 123: Decisive Third Kazekage, Ruthless Kaito
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"UCHIHA KAITO!
"Get out here! I'm going to kill you!"
The Third Kazekage roared as he shot into the air, iron sand swirling above his head. As he rose, he quickly expanded the range of the iron sand to cover more ground, all while shouting into the sky.
He was trying to buy time, but he also truly wanted to kill Kaito as soon as possible.
At the same time, a question nagged at him—why was Uchiha Kaito here?
Shouldn't he be with Konoha's main forces attacking Amegakure right now?
Was there a leak in their intelligence?
Or had he overlooked something critical?
He could never have imagined that Kaito and Kushina's sensory range was terrifyingly vast, capable of spanning several dozen kilometers.
"Boom!!!"
But before he could think further, thousands of bolts of lightning struck down again.
"Argh!!!"
In an instant, another six hundred Sunagakure shinobi were killed.
The two waves of lightning strikes had been separated by barely two seconds, leaving no time for lower- or mid-ranked shinobi to react or defend themselves.
— — —
"Unbelievable! K-Kaito… Lord Kaito actually wields such terrifying Lightning Release jutsu? In just a few breaths, over a thousand Sand shinobi were killed? That's insane!"
"He's so strong! So he wasn't bluffing before—everything he said was true!"
"Long live Lord Kaito! Lord Kaito is invincible!"
"Does this mean… we can win?"
"Lady Tsunade, when can we jump in? I can't wait anymore! Haha!"
About a thousand meters away, on a hillside overlooking the battlefield, thousands of Konoha shinobi were watching Kaito obliterate the enemy with what seemed like divine judgment. Excitement rippled through the crowd.
By now, there were no more doubts about Kaito's strength.
Only fervent admiration and respect remained.
Kaito's reputation among these shinobi soared, and so did their affection for him.
Many of them now held him in such high regard that they had met the criteria for forming a bond or contract.
Unfortunately, Kaito had no time to check on such things at the moment.
— — —
Meanwhile, on the Sand side
"Argh!!!!"
The Third Kazekage's rage was boundless. He wanted to launch his iron sand at the storm clouds in the sky, hoping to disrupt them.
But he held back.
It wasn't realistic.
"Retreat! Fall back immediately!"
He took a deep breath and expanded the iron sand barrier further to shield the remaining 2,000 Sand shinobi, issuing a retreat order.
"Zzzzt!"
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot down from the storm clouds, landing on a nearby hillside.
There stood Uchiha Kaito, about a hundred meters away from the Third Kazekage. With a faint smirk, Kaito taunted, "Third Kazekage, pulling back already? Aren't you being a little too cautious?"
"You dared to ally with the Iwagakure forces to surround Konoha's troops, and now you're suddenly afraid for your life?"
"What's wrong?"
The Kazekage, who had been focused on leading his troops in retreat, froze upon hearing this. He turned sharply and spotted Kaito.
In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to rush over and kill Kaito.
But in the end, he forced himself to hold back, his face twisted with suppressed fury.
He ordered the retreat to continue.
Using his iron sand, he constructed a dome-like barrier to shield his troops as they withdrew.
The Kazekage couldn't be sure if this was some kind of trap laid by Kaito to provoke him into staying, giving him time to unleash more of his terrifying Lightning Release techniques.
Or perhaps Kaito was stalling for time, waiting for Konoha's forces to arrive from the distant hillside.
Indeed, the Kazekage had noticed the Konoha army stationed on the nearby hill.
Konoha hadn't even bothered to conceal their presence.
Maybe it was because the terrain made it hard to hide.
Or maybe it was because Sand had sensory shinobi who could detect them regardless.
Most likely, it was deliberate.
But for what purpose?
The Kazekage couldn't figure it out.
This whole situation was a disaster of his own making. Knowing that Kaito seemed to have a technique capable of summoning lightning from the clouds, he had still chosen to lead his army deep into Amegakure to attack Konoha's forces.
It was a catastrophic miscalculation.
"As long as we get out of Amegakure, out of the range of these storm clouds, we won't have to fear Uchiha Kaito. We'll have another chance to kill him in the future. No need to risk it all here!"
Resolving to prioritize survival, the Third Kazekage ignored Kaito. He remained on high alert, prepared for any sudden attack, while hastening the retreat of the Sand forces.
"Shwoom!"
Moments later, Tsunade appeared alongside Hatake Sakumo and others, teleporting in using a Space-Time Gate technique—not the Flying Raijin.
She hadn't mastered Flying Raijin yet, but she let others believe she had.
After all, only those bound to Kaito by contract would know the truth.
And there was no need to expose it now.
"What's the situation? Are the Sand forces retreating?" Tsunade asked Kaito as soon as she arrived.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Kaito shrugged. "The Kazekage isn't an idiot. He knows he can't win against me in these storm-filled skies. Staying would only mean total annihilation for the Sand forces. Of course, he's retreating."
"But we can't just let them escape unscathed!"
"Tsunade-sensei, you need to lead our troops and follow them. We'll let the Sand forces get twenty kilometers away before making our next move!"
Tsunade frowned. "Twenty kilometers? That's practically the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain."
"There won't be many storm clouds left in that area," she pointed out.
Without the storm, Kaito's lightning would lose its power.
He could still rely on his Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities to fight, but the range and power wouldn't compare to what he had just unleashed.
Kaito sighed. "True, my ability to use the lightning from the clouds will diminish. But there's no choice—the charge in this area's clouds is almost completely drained. It'll take time for them to recharge, and the enemy won't give us that time."
"So, we'll have to wait until they're out of this depleted zone to attack. Or... should we just abandon the Sand Ninja and focus on Iwa instead?"
Tsunade shook her head. "No, we can't let them off that easily. We need to inflict enough damage to ensure they won't pose a threat to Konoha for years."
"I'll give the orders. You and the others stall them." With that, she vanished.
Kaito turned to Sakumo and Jiraiya. "Let's do this!"
He tossed a few Flying Thunder God kunai toward the retreating Sand Ninja, then grabbed his companions.
"Swish!"
In an instant, they teleported into the midst of the Sand Ninja forces.
"Damn it!" The Kazekage had been on high alert, and as soon as he saw Kaito throw the kunai, he knew what was coming.
He used his magnetic abilities to manipulate the kunai mid-flight and sent iron sand to attack.
But before he could move them far, Kaito, Sakumo, and Jiraiya appeared 100 meters away.
The Kazekage wasted no time, sending a storm of iron needles their way.
"Susanoo!"
Kaito activated his Susanoo, shielding them from the barrage.
The giant construct's arms formed enormous chakra blades.
With a single swing, Kaito slashed at the Kazekage.
"Not good!" The Kazekage felt the danger and quickly used his iron sand to form a shield while dodging to the side.
"Crack!"
"Boom!!!"
The chakra blade cleaved through the iron shield with ease, leaving a massive gash in the ground and cutting through the retreating Sand Ninja forces.
Blood and wreckage littered the battlefield.
"Damn it!"
The Kazekage was livid, but he redirected his focus toward defending against Kaito, Jiraiya, and Sakumo.
Meanwhile, a Sand Ninja commander ordered: "Keep retreating! Elite squads, follow me and assist the Kazekage!"
A dozen Jonin broke off from the main force and charged at Kaito's group.
"I'll handle the Kazekage. You two take care of them," Kaito told Sakumo and Jiraiya.
"Got it. Be careful!" They nodded before splitting off to engage the reinforcements.
Kaito advanced toward the Kazekage, his resolve unshaken.
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