Chapter 355: Giant Offensive and Defensive Battle! Bewildered Rasa
"Hm?"
Uchiha Ci suddenly felt something hard—like a stone—trip him up.
At that very moment, a thunderclap-like figure sprang forward with terrifying impact, using a single arm to seize the giant Susanoo's massive foot just as it was about to be raised and swept down.
"That's Lord A!"
"Lord A actually stopped that giant!"
"Everyone, reform the formation! Give Lord A an opening!"
Amid the shattered ground, a man under two meters tall had halted the advance of a seventy-meter-tall monstrous giant—an utterly fantastical sight!
Seeing this rousing scene, the elite Cloud ninja, like swarming ants, couldn't help but tear up with emotion.
They had thought—the moment that terrifying entity descended, it was all over.
But then—
"Tch. Where'd these ants come from?"
Above in the sky, a voice suddenly rang out, sounding puzzled and mildly annoyed.
Immediately after, Uchiha Ci slightly raised his foot, bent his leg, and, as though shaking off something filthy, gave it a firm flick.
With that movement, the giant Susanoo suddenly lifted its leg, massive as a semi-truck, while the young A—who had been clutching the foot with one arm—was hoisted into the air like a bug, hanging ten meters above ground.
Young A's pupils contracted sharply. If he were stomped like this, he couldn't be sure whether his current mastery of the Lightning Release Armor could withstand such crushing force.
He promptly let go and dropped straight down.
From the earlier test of strength, it was clear—he couldn't shake the standing Susanoo at all.
However—if it were standing on one leg, and he landed and quickly dashed away before the other foot fell, flanking to the right—
He was confident that, by bursting into his most powerful Lightning Release Armor state, he could bring the giant Susanoo down with one solid elbow strike!
"I can win!"
With that thought, young A clenched his fist, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes!
However—his every move was completely within the field of vision of Susanoo.
Uchiha Ci, arms crossed and lips curved in a playful smirk, watched him intently.
After all, what normal person randomly lifts their leg that high?
He had deliberately exposed this opening, baiting the still-young Fourth Raikage into believing he could achieve the glory of toppling the giant Susanoo alone—luring him straight into Ci's carefully laid trap.
Then—
Susanoo's twin eyes—resembling those of Ultraman Zero—suddenly narrowed, shining with divine light!
Its body leaned back slightly, and one leg shot out—straight toward young A, who was still midair and hadn't landed!
"Screeeee!"
The foot thrust forward with such speed and force it tore through the air, shrieking like a jet engine.
"PONG!!"
In this precisely set trap, in midair and with no footing—even if Newton himself were here, he'd still have to abide by Galileo's law of falling bodies!
In that instant—
Susanoo's 42,000-ton foot slammed squarely into young A's face!
His whole body was stomped down like a bug, flattened under the foot, eyes wide with shock and horror.
Then, Susanoo—raised one arm, leaned back, and stomped forward with full force!
Young A was blasted away like a bolt of lightning, slamming straight into a fifty-meter-high wall behind the army—his fate unknown!
[Ding!]
[You crushed the son of the Third Raikage, A, in an overwhelming counterstrike. He is severely wounded and unable to continue. You've obtained a random skill from him: Lightning Release: Chakra Mode (B, Mastered).]
[The strength of your counterattack triggered a critical reward!]
[With your "Master of All Martial Arts" trait, this skill's proficiency increased by two levels, upgrading to: Lightning Release: Chakra Mode (B, Superb).]
[Combined with Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, you can now flawlessly execute the Hell Stab: One-Fingered Assault.]
[Your "Heartsteel" stack has increased.]
With young A—the final commander of the elite Cloud forces—crippled by a single stomp from Uchiha Ci, this prolonged battle officially came to an end!
Before him, battle result notifications rapidly popped up on screen.
Aside from young A's Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, which was worth noting, the rest were all minor Lightning techniques not compatible with Uchiha Ci's current system—he quickly skimmed and dismissed them.
As he scanned the text, one line caught his attention:
[Combined with Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, you can now flawlessly execute the Hell Stab: One-Fingered Assault.]
Seeing that line, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Uchiha Ci like lightning.
All the techniques he'd mastered until now clashed together in his mind, producing a brilliant idea!
But then—
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening cannon blast erupted from the top of the wall!
A specially crafted armor-piercing shell tore through the air with a blazing tail, rocketing forward!
A five-meter-wide tungsten cannon shell shot like a javelin, piercing straight through one of Susanoo's legs, causing it to stumble and tip forward!
"BANG!"
A massive impact exploded a cloud of sand and dust as the giant collapsed!
And with that thunderous cannon shot, the next phase of the war began—
The Giant Offensive and Defensive Battle!
Now, everything centered around Susanoo: the Cloud side defending the fifty-meter wall, and Uchiha Ci who needed to breach it and reach the Tenshukaku.
There was no room for compromise.
From atop the fifty-meter wall,
"Big bro…" Killer Bee stared down at his brother A, now lying motionless like a discarded doll.
He clenched his fists tight, one hand resting on the chakra cannon that Cloud had fiercely protected.
Fury twisted his face into a mask of winter frost, his eyes blazing with fire.
"I'll avenge you!"
"Uchiha Ci…" The anger welling up in him momentarily drove out the deep fear he'd always had toward Ci.
He stepped forward, staring across hundreds of meters into the eyes of the boy within the fallen Susanoo.
"I'll kill you!"
"Kill you!"
"KILL YOU!!"
With the chakra cannon that could pierce Susanoo's defenses, the precise plans to pin down and restrain his movements, and the arrival of unexpected reinforcements—
"Oi, oi, oi…"
"This isn't what we agreed on!"
At the side, a young man in a black inner shirt and white cloak, a green [Kage] hat on his back and short brown hair, frowned slightly.
Even the calmest person would be a bit dumbfounded by the scene before him.
"Did you guys mess something up?"
"You invited me here just to deal with that guy?"
This man—was none other than the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa of the Hidden Sand Village.
He had secretly accepted the invitation to support the Cloud Village in exchange for financial aid, forming a military alliance in return.
All they'd told him beforehand was that they needed help using his Magnet Release to urgently transport a weapon to Cloud Village.
It seemed like a simple enough task, and with the promise of alliance and generous financial support, he had agreed.
But only now, after arriving—did they finally reveal the truth: if he wanted the money, he had to join their attack...
And fight Uchiha Ci?