Chapter 351 — Iwagakure's War to Topple a Nation! The Gatekeeper, the Third Raikage!
"—Boom!"
An endless sea of fire swept across the landscape, igniting everything it touched.
The entire mountain was engulfed in thick, black smoke.
From within the flames, two soot-covered, battered figures stumbled out—it was the A-B Brothers, supporting each other as they emerged.
At this moment—
The younger A was being held up by Killer Bee, a dazed expression on his face as he stared blankly at the scene before him.
Across a battlefield spanning 100,000 square meters, countless Cloud shinobi were scrambling like headless chickens, caught in a wide-reaching genjutsu of unknown scale. Their once-formidable, tightly-defended formation collapsed entirely in an instant.
Beneath the oppressive sky—
Everyone looked up and saw it: a pair of enormous, scarlet, cold, and indifferent Sharingan eyes—three-tomoe—looming above, staring down at all living things.
"We haven't even truly faced him yet, and we're already in this state…"
"Does the number of troops even matter against someone like him?"
"Can we… really win?"
Killer Bee, still holding up the young A, stared at the sight, his eyes dulling and unfocused. His pupils trembled slightly.
Every time— Every single time they crossed paths with that brat named Uchiha Ci—
He'd bring out some new, overwhelming technique that left them completely helpless.
What's more—
In less than half a month between each encounter, the brat's power had skyrocketed like a rocket launch!
From their first clash, when Bee could still claim a slight upper hand...
To the second time, when he was crippled by a single blast of Lightning Release: Kirin...
To the third, where he was torn apart barehanded in less than 30 seconds...
This perfect jinchūriki had been utterly reduced to a background character.
And now—
He hadn't even seen the brat's face—
Yet several seemingly ordinary chakra-enhanced tomoe had been lobbed from thousands of meters away, and he was already completely overwhelmed!
At this point, Killer Bee was on the verge of a mental breakdown. The repeated defeats had shattered his confidence in ever overcoming Uchiha Ci.
In fact, just thinking of that brat's face was enough to make his hands tremble uncontrollably.
"There's still a way!" the younger A snapped back to his senses, gritting his teeth and speaking with unrelenting determination.
He gazed into the distance, eyes fixed on the foundation of the first defensive wall. Clenching his fists, he growled word by word:
"This genjutsu is cast through a barrier. In theory, if you can't see the sky above, you should be immune to it."
"So…"
"If he breaks through the two defensive lines and reaches the Tenshukaku, we still have one last shot!"
"And right now, we need to find that Hyūga kid!"
"His eyes… are of great use to us!"
But just then—
A thick, blinding fog suddenly rose around them, dense enough to obscure even an outstretched hand.
Moments later—
"You… you! Who are you!?"
"Get away, get away aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
A gut-wrenching scream—like someone having their heart ripped out—echoed from the distance.
Within the fog, a voice of surprised delight from a Kirigakure hunter-nin rang out,
"This eye hasn't been sealed by the Caged Bird Seal... He's from the Hyūga main family?!"
Young A's expression changed dramatically. He instantly recognized that the scream had come from Hyūga Shota—the very person they were looking for.
"Damn it—it's Akatsuki!"
"They've already used Uchiha Ci's genjutsu as cover to break through the second defensive line?!"
"Rasa didn't intervene?!"
Hearing this disastrous news, A immediately tried to charge toward the source of the scream.
At the very least, he had to retrieve the remaining Byakugan!
But at that moment—
Unbeknownst to them, a steady set of footsteps rang out just ahead.
A red-haired youth in a black cloak with red clouds emerged slowly from the white mist, blocking their path.
The thick fog, so dense it was nearly liquid, didn't seem to affect him at all. His uniquely patterned eyes calmly stared at the A-B Brothers, who had begun to ready themselves for combat.
Then—
He drew a deep breath, raised his palm, and his eyes widened sharply:
"Universal Pull!"
At the same time, elsewhere—
After launching the first round of attacks against Uchiha Ci, the Iwagakure forces atop the wall began to execute their preplanned maneuver: Earth Release: Earth Dragon Concealment, tunneling beneath the wall.
Leading them was an elite jonin named Magari—renowned for his swordsmanship, Earth Release techniques, and scouting prowess.
He was a top-tier reconnaissance jonin highly valued by the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, and had been entrusted with a "crucial mission" to operate in the Land of Lightning.
Right now—
"Strange… Why haven't we received the signal from Kumogakure yet?"
Magari frowned slightly, staring up at the black stone foundation overhead.
They were positioned directly beneath the first defensive wall of Kumogakure, inside a tunnel excavated using Earth Release: Earth Dragon Concealment.
Suddenly, a fierce-looking Iwa shinobi burst in through a side tunnel, his face showing clear signs of fear as he breathlessly reported:
"Captain! Kumogakure has collapsed!"
"Uchiha Ci used some kind of… demonic technique that caused an army of ten thousand to scatter like insects—they couldn't even form a proper formation."
"The first and second defensive lines have already been broken by Akatsuki! They're almost at the Tenshukaku now!"
"What did you say? They're already defeated?!"
Magari was stunned by the report.
He had expected Kumogakure to lose—Tsuchikage-sama had accounted for that.
But he couldn't wrap his head around it—
How could they already be defeated?!
They had an army of ten thousand!
Even if they all lined up to get their heads chopped off, that should at least take the whole morning, right?
How long had it been now?
Ten minutes?
Magari's expression twitched. Thinking of the mission Tsuchikage-sama had entrusted to him, he asked urgently:
"Then—where is Uchiha Ci right now?"
Ōishi licked his lips nervously, and as soon as the question was asked, his eyes went vacant. Driven by instinct alone, he tilted his head upward slightly, an expression of deep fear surfacing on his face.
Seeing this, Magari's brows tightened, and he quickly formed the "Ram" hand sign to begin sensing.
Seconds later, his expression turned to horror as he looked up at the rock ceiling overhead.
"This chilling chakra… He's right above us?!"
"Yes, Captain. What do we do now?" Ōishi leaned in and asked.
"Do we still proceed with the plan?"
"At this rate, after Uchiha Ci's rampage, I doubt Kumogakure has any strength left to stop us."
Magari hesitated briefly, then his gaze hardened.
The task assigned to them by the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was—on the surface—to assist Kumogakure on the battlefield and engage Uchiha Ci.
But in truth—
When Kumogakure's elite troops tried to trap Uchiha Ci with an iron wall, they themselves were stepping into a trap.
Magari's real mission was to reinforce that trap to the extreme—to completely imprison Kumogakure's eight thousand elite troops, preventing them from aiding any other front, and to provide critical support for Iwagakure's forces elsewhere.
This was a premeditated ambush against Kumogakure, exploiting their desperation to kill Uchiha Ci and inserting Iwa's operatives deep into the heart of Kumogakure under legitimate cover!
Just like the ambush they'd carried out against Kirigakure at Green Slope Reef!
This operation had even been personally named by the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki—
Iwagakure's War to Topple a Nation!
Its goal: to deal Kumogakure a decisive blow and sweep them off the board in the Third Great Ninja War!
With this in mind, Magari took a deep breath and solemnly addressed his subordinates:
"Proceed with the plan and carry out the mission!"
"Uchiha Ci and the Third Raikage—both are targets that must be eliminated. Since Kumogakure wants us to help weaken Uchiha Ci, we'll do just that."
"Let them tear each other apart. May they all die!"
"Besides… at the Tenshukaku, we have a second trump card."
"That is all."
Magari's eyes gleamed with menace. He immediately began forming hand seals with both hands:
"Begin operation!"
With his command—
The Iwa shinobi hidden in the tunnels sprang into action, forming a collaborative jutsu:
"Combined Earth Release: Earth Dragon Concealment!"
This technique used flowing chakra to turn soil into fine sand, allowing it to burrow underground like a dragon. It was excellent for surprise attacks and escape, especially from unreachable depths.
But when applied at extreme subterranean depths—
And combined with the massive pit formed by Earth Release: Earth Seismic Core not long ago—
It could cause the earth to collapse, turning billions of tons of stone into flowing rivers of destruction—
To bury even the most arrogant of enemies completely.
At this moment—
Atop the wall, Uchiha Ci stood on Susanoo, overlooking the entire battlefield.
Though he appeared still, he was constantly projecting genjutsu through a barrier technique.
At the same time, in places invisible to the average person, vast natural energy was spiraling into his body, then flowing out again into the sky, merging into the barrier and replenishing its Yin Release components.
Casting genjutsu over tens of thousands required a scale of effort proportional to its effect.
Even the most basic illusions required chakra to sustain.
And though Sage Art: Genjutsu: Sun-Mirror Illumination didn't consume chakra, it required a massive amount of natural energy to maintain.
To keep ten thousand people hypnotized for even a few moments demanded a staggering amount of natural energy.
But Uchiha Ci didn't plan to just stand here as a glorified energy converter.
If he continued this way, he'd eventually exhaust the reserves in his Sage's Heart and drain the natural energy from miles around.
So, once the barrier held just enough natural energy to maintain the hypnosis for three more minutes—
He immediately cut off the supply.
Three minutes—
Without interference from chakra cannons—
Would be enough for him to break through both defense lines and reach the Tenshukaku.
With all preparations complete, Uchiha Ci took a deep breath and raised his gaze to the towering Tenshukaku thousands of meters away.
"Inhale."
Then, he closed his eyes and drew in a stream of air like a coiled white dragon!
His body sank slightly into Susanoo—
And in that moment, the eyes that had fused and perfected themselves during five days of training on Turtle Island finally completed their evolution!
[Bloodline Selection evolution complete!]
[The Blood Dragon Eye has been discarded. The Sharingan has fully ascended!]
[Now, with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, you can unleash even stronger blood-style ninjutsu and summon an even more powerful Susanoo.]
[You have mastered: Human Bomb, Blood Dragon Technique, Blood Manipulation Illusion, and Dojutsu: Ninefold Blood Dragon Seal.]
[Susanoo (Third Stage): Flesh Susanoo. Legs formed of skeletal structure sprout, over which blood-infused flesh—generated through the Blood Dragon Eye's blood manipulation—grows. As long as blood is continuously supplied, the flesh body's defense can be maintained without consuming ocular power. This is truly worthy of the title—God of War Galloping Across the Earth!]
Darkness all around. Lines of text streaked across the void.
"Warm-up's over. Now then…"
Uchiha Ci abruptly opened his eyes—scarlet snake-like pupils, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
"Now, the real war begins!"
At the same time—
At the very heart of the battlefield, before the towering Tenshukaku that stood proud upon the earth.
Mabui, the young, dark-skinned, white-haired secretary of the Hidden Cloud Village, ran forward clutching a piece of intel in her arms, her face twisted in despair.
"Lord Raikage!"
"Lord Raikage!"
Panting heavily, she leaned weakly against the towering and luxurious gates of the Tenshukaku, her hand feebly slapping against its surface.
With a voice that sounded as if she were about to burst into tears, Mabui cried out:
"Please, I beg you—come out and take command!"
"Abi and the others… they…"
"They can't hold on much longer!"
"That man… he brought down nearly our entire two-layer defense line with just a single technique!"
"Are you really going to keep turning a blind eye, Lord Third!?"
Five days ago, the Third Raikage returned from outside the village, only to shut himself away within the Tenshukaku, entrusting all of Cloud's authority to the young A.
To be precise—Hidden Cloud had no third defensive line.
Young A had gambled everything—every soldier and all available support—on the first two defensive lines. He crafted a wide array of joint tactics specifically to counter Uchiha Ci.
And as for the Third Raikage, he had simply requested one person from young A before withdrawing into the Tenshukaku—never leaving again.
It was as if he had removed himself from the entire affair.
Or perhaps—
The third and final line of defense for Hidden Cloud… was the Third Raikage himself.
But now—
All of young A's carefully devised strategies—
In the face of those eyes,
Beneath that sky that trapped even their own comrades—
Under the terror evoked by that thousand-year-old surname—
Were reduced to a farce!
Forget coordinated ninjutsu—standing atop the fifty-meter-high wall that marked the second line of defense, the Hidden Cloud elite didn't even dare to release a single jutsu.
Their vision, hearing, and touch—three core senses—had been warped beyond recognition. The consequences were terrifying.
The only reason they hadn't already begun killing each other was due to their intense training and discipline as elite shinobi.
Despite how dire the situation was—
Mabui, relying on her formidable professionalism as a secretary, pieced together all the available intel and ran blindly toward the Tenshukaku, stumbling along the way.
Now, all she could do was pray this information reached the hands of the Third Raikage—to beg the village's true pillar to bring order to the chaos.
Just then—
"Sigh…"
A deep and somber sigh echoed from behind the door.
"My child… you still don't understand the path this old man laid for you. Under this pressure and sense of responsibility, you could have taken another step forward over these five days…"
"But… sigh…"
"The fate of the Hidden Cloud should be decided by its own."
"Outsiders… cannot be relied upon."
And then—
BOOM! BOOM!
The pair of towering doors, over three meters tall and weighing nearly a thousand pounds, burst open with a deafening crash, slamming against the walls on either side.
A figure stepped out slowly—like a beast emerging from the wild. His body was drenched in blood, covered in deep and jagged wounds, radiating savagery.
His long, graying hair and beard fluttered, though there was no wind.
In his fierce and terrifying gaze, it was as if two figures—one large, one small—were locked in furious combat deep within his soul…
Until one was utterly vanquished.
His overwhelming aura condensed around him like a blood-red cloak.
The Third Raikage, A,
Finally stepped forward before all.