Chapter 289: Leaving Triumphantly
The infiltration squad led by Nara Masato, with the help of the Nara clan's secret techniques, seemed like shadows themselves, silently moving forward along the cold walls of a narrow alleyway.
Not far ahead was one of the defensive hubs of the Cloud Village, the towering barrier tower. The body of the tower flickered with dense barrier runes, covering a large area with a powerful perception and defensive barrier. Below the tower, two squads of well-equipped Cloud ninja guards were patrolling vigilantly, their sharp gazes scanning the rain.
"Shadow Imitation Technique, target, guard captain and communications ninja. On my count," Nara Masato gestured tactical signals with his hands to the four Nara clan members behind him. Subsequently, he quickly formed several seals in front of his chest, his movements as slight as breathing.
"Three... two... one!"
Several long, thin, pitch-black shadows, like poisonous snakes poised to strike, suddenly shot out from under the feet of Masato and the other Nara clan members! They clung tightly to the wet ground, perfectly blending into the shadows of the buildings and the reflection of the rain. In the gap as the guards' gazes swept past, they accurately connected to the shadows under the target guards' feet!
"Wha...?!" The guard captain only felt his body suddenly stiffen, as if bound by invisible chains. Even turning his eyeballs became extremely difficult! The communications ninja beside him was also frozen in place, his fingers just inches from the alarm button on his waist, yet he could no longer press it.
"Success! Move!" A sharp light flashed in Masato's eyes. The moment he gave the command, several Hyuga clan ninjas had already silently appeared behind the guards. The Gentle Fist accurately struck the vital points of the stiffened guards. The guards didn't even make a sound before they fell limply to the ground.
"Barrier squad, take over the external rune defense within ten seconds! Perception squad, block the leakage of energy fluctuations from within the tower!" Nara Masato's commands were concise and efficient. Several Yamanaka clan ninjas pressed their hands on the cold, damp outer wall of the barrier tower. Their powerful spiritual energy instantly invaded the consciousness of the operators inside the tower. The flickering rune light at the top of the tower showed an extremely brief moment of disorder, and then returned to normal, but its coverage had been quietly reduced and its direction adjusted.
Masato raised his head and looked towards the Raikage Tower, which symbolized the command core of the Cloud. Although the Raikage himself had been tied down by Lord Sasuke, there must still be a command center in the building.
"Shadow Neck Binding Jutsu... prepare to cover," he ordered in a low, cold voice. The Nara clan members began to form seals. Countless pitch-black shadows, like living things, spread upwards along the shadows of the buildings, their target aimed straight at the windows of the command room on the top floor of the tower.
At the same time, in the lower-lying southeastern area of the Cloud Village, a dull vibration came from the earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of loud bangs, accompanied by the piercing noise of cracking rocks and twisting metal, drowned out part of the sound of the rain. Akimichi Ken's unbelievably massive body caused the ground to tremble violently with every step. After a furious roar, his giant fists, wreathed in visible chakra shockwaves, like two giant hammers falling from the sky, smashed hard towards a heavily guarded, fortress-like giant building—the Cloud Village's armory!
"Idiots of the Cloud! Taste the Akimichi clan's 'Human Bullet Tank'!!" Akimichi Ken's voice was like rolling thunder, exploding in the rainy night. His massive body suddenly curled up, turning into a super-giant ball covered in hard defenses, spinning at high speed. With the terrifying momentum of crushing everything, it charged hard at the thick, closed alloy gate of the armory!
"Stop him!" The commander of the armory guards roared hoarsely. Dense Lightning Release ninjutsu and explosive tag kunai poured down like a torrential rain on the rolling giant ball, creating deafening explosions and dazzling lightning. However, because most of the elites had been transferred to the front line, the attacks of these remaining guards could only leave shallow scorch marks on the surface of the giant ball and could not stop it in the slightest!
BOOM—!!!
A deafening loud noise! The armory's alloy gate, which could withstand the bombardment of large-scale ninjutsu, was like paper under this savage charge of Akimichi Ken's, which contained all his strength. It twisted inwards, shattered, and collapsed! Huge metal fragments mixed with rubble flew in all directions!
"Charge in! Destroy the core power furnace and the production lines! Leave no one behind!" Akimichi Ken deactivated his Multi-Size Technique and returned to his normal size, but that violent momentum did not diminish in the slightest. Chakra surged from his body. Like a human-shaped beast, he waved his giant fists and led the wolf-like Konoha army, meeting the panicked Cloud ninja guards inside the armory, and charged into the depths of the workshop filled with the smell of engine oil and metal. A fierce close-quarters battle instantly broke out. Roars, the sound of ninjutsu colliding, and the sound of tearing metal echoed in the huge workshop.
Further away, Konoha's sabotage squads moved as if through an undefended territory. The Aburame clan's insect swarm turned into a black storm, drilling into energy pipelines and precision instruments. The Inuzuka clan's ninja hounds cooperated tacitly, tearing at the Cloud ninja squads that were trying to organize a counter-attack. The ninjas who were skilled in Earth and Water Release wantonly destroyed roads, bridges, and the water supply system. The entire rear of the Cloud Village was filled with thick smoke rising up, alarms sounding one after another, and the light of fires struggling to dance in the rain, a scene of chaos and devastation.
In the sky above the village, the intensity of the battle had reached its peak.
Raikage A's chakra metal prosthetic limb, wrapped in ethereal blue lightning, transformed into a death blade that tore through the rain curtain. Every swing carried a piercing sonic boom and destructive power. On the surface of the prosthetic limb, the scorch marks left by the black lightning fought fiercely with the new lightning, emitting a crackling thunderstorm sound. At this moment, A was like a crazed wild beast, crazily attacking the massive Susanoo, leaving countless blue afterimages in the air.
Inside the crystal at the top of the Susanoo, Sasuke's eyes captured the Raikage's trajectory, his face full of gravity. It had to be said that this prosthetic limb of A's was really something, to actually be able to withstand the annihilation power of the black lightning created by his dōjutsu.
"Liger Bomb: Chiyo Dance!" Raikage's roar exploded. His entire person transformed into a huge, rotating blue lightning drill. The chakra metal prosthetic limb served as the sharpest drill bit, carrying a resolute will to pierce through everything, and slammed hard into the relatively weak connection point of Susanoo's waist and abdomen!
On the other side, Killer Bee, who had with great difficulty dispelled the Mangekyo's genjutsu, re-entered his Tailed Beast state. His massive octopus body brandished eight giant tails covered in hard shells. Each giant tail was wreathed in violent Lightning Release chakra, like eight giant whips of lightning, coordinating with the scorching ink and Tailed Beast chakra cannons spewed from his mouth, attacking the Susanoo from multiple angles without end!
The purple Susanoo, in the storm-like attack, was like a giant ship in a stormy sea. Its sturdy chakra armor was covered with cracks. Where it was hit hard by the Raikage's prosthetic limb, purple chakra fragments continuously broke and flew off. Sasuke stood in the crystal on Susanoo's forehead, his Eternal Mangekyo operating at high speed, pushing his dōjutsu to the extreme. He controlled the Susanoo to block with difficulty, dodge, and counter-attack.
"Futsunushi-no-kami!" A cold light flashed in Sasuke's eyes. The Susanoo suddenly opened its giant palm. In front of the palm, a mass of pitch-black lightning surged, and a purple-black giant arrow instantly formed! The space around the arrow's body was even slightly distorted by the violent energy!
"Go!" Sasuke said in a low voice.
The purple-black giant arrow left the string! It silently tore through the rain curtain, its speed so fast that it surpassed visual capture. Its target was not the Raikage or the Eight-Tails, but a huge factory on the edge of the Cloud Village below, which was spewing thick smoke and had a strong chakra reaction inside, obviously an important energy node!
This arrow was both a counter-attack and a way to point out the key target for the destruction troops below!
"Bastard! Don't even think about it!" Raikage A's eyes were about to split. He instantly understood Sasuke's intention. He forcibly twisted the momentum of the Liger Bomb's charge, and his chakra metal prosthetic limb erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling lightning, grabbing at that purple-black death arrow regardless of anything!
"Bee! Stop it!" Raikage roared.
The Eight-Tails Gyūki let out a heaven-shaking roar. Two giant octopus tentacles, with the force of ten thousand jun, wreathed in violent Lightning Release, whipped hard at that purple arrow like two lightning dragons!
BOOM—!!!
A terrifying explosion erupted in the sky above the edge of the Cloud Village! The purple-black lightning, the violent Tailed Beast energy, and the dazzling lightning frantically intertwined, annihilated, and expanded! A huge, incomparable ball of energy light instantly expanded, tearing apart the rain curtain and illuminating half the sky as if it were a purgatory! A terrifying shockwave swept down. The huge factory below, like an eggshell smashed by a giant hammer, its top structure instantly collapsed and shattered. An even more violent firelight and explosion erupted from within! Rolling thick smoke mixed with flames, like a ferocious giant beast, rushed into the sky, illuminating the three faces in the fierce battle.
Sasuke, Raikage A, and Killer Bee were each pushed back by the violent airwave from the explosion.
The purple armor of the Susanoo shattered even more severely, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of Sasuke's mouth. On Raikage A's chakra metal prosthetic limb, black lightning reappeared, devouring the metal and the internal energy circuits, emitting a sizzling wail. His entire right arm was trembling violently. The giant beast of the Eight-Tails, controlled by Killer Bee, had a section of one tentacle torn off by the explosion's energy. Viscous Tailed Beast chakra flowed from the broken end.
"Damn Uchiha brat!" Raikage A panted heavily, staring deadly at the figure in the Susanoo crystal, his eyes wishing he could swallow him whole.
He glanced at his own chakra metal prosthetic limb, which was wreathed in black lightning, its internal energy circuits crackling and on the verge of being scrapped at any moment. Then he looked at the village groaning in chaos and firelight below. An unprecedented rage and a trace of unnoticeable frustration churned in his chest.
[Losing to Uchiha Douhuan is one thing, but now even this little brat can make me so miserable?]
Just at this moment, Nara Masato's cold voice, through the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Transmission Technique, clearly echoed in the minds of Sasuke and all the Konoha unit captains, "Suppression complete! Target building Raikage Tower, shadow binding successful! Raikage Tower command level in chaos! Akimichi unit has broken into the core area of the armory!"
At the same time, Akimichi Ken's iconic loud voice, with a mix of wild joy and a trace of fatigue, also came through, "Done! The power furnace is blown! The production lines are all ruined! Haha! That felt great!"
The corner of Sasuke's blood-stained mouth pulled up ever so slightly.
He stood in the crystal on the forehead of the battle-scarred Susanoo, slowly raised his hand, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
The gaze of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan pierced through the residual smoke of the explosion and the still-pouring rain, coldly locking onto the Fourth Raikage A below, who was wreathed in lightning but could not hide his shock and anger.
"Face reality, Raikage," Sasuke's voice was not loud, but it clearly pierced through the wind and rain and the distant sounds of explosions, alarm bells, and the roars of battle, like a cold hammer of judgment, striking heavily on Raikage A's heart.
The light of the runes at the top of the command tower was dim and chaotic. The Raikage Tower, which symbolized the highest command authority, had several windows on its upper floors sealed tight by eerie, writhing pitch-black shadows. In the southeastern area, in the direction of the armory, a huge fireball, accompanied by rolling black smoke, shot straight into the rainy night, illuminating the silhouette of the collapsed workshop. Further away, the energy node factory was burning, roads were torn apart by Earth Release, bridges had collapsed, and the black insect swarm controlled by the Aburame clan circled over several important facilities like an ominous dark cloud... The entire heartland of the Cloud Village was a scene of chaotic ruins.
"Provoking Konoha was the biggest mistake you ever made in your life," Sasuke said coldly, then shouted loudly, "Everyone! Retreat!"
At this moment, the strategic objective of their trip had been basically achieved. The only thing that made Sasuke regret was that he couldn't directly kill the Fourth Raikage A. Although according to the teacher's statement, his current strength had barely surpassed the scope of a Kage, his chakra reserves were still limited by his age and were far from his own peak period. Therefore, when facing several powerhouses of the Kage level, he was still a bit outmatched.
However, whether it was Raikage A or Killer Bee, at this moment, they were already at the end of their rope. And the Cloud Village, which had been ravaged, could no longer organize any effective resistance. The real elite troops of the Cloud Village were either sent to the front line or were currently in the territory of the Land of Lightning searching for the traces of this isolated army. But they had not expected that Sasuke's guts were so big, to dare to go straight for their Cloud's old nest under such conditions of being heavily surrounded.
The troops led by Nara Masato were like a receding black tide, using the cover of the ruins to retreat with extreme efficiency. The Yamanaka clan's ninjas were responsible for the final consciousness interference, creating a chaotic illusion. The Aburame clan's insect swarm brought up the rear, forming a moving, scalp-numbing black barrier, blocking any possible pursuit lines of sight. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan saw through every possible blind spot.
On the other side, Akimichi Ken's massive body was particularly conspicuous in the rain. He deactivated his Multi-Size Technique, but he had also suffered many new injuries. His left arm hung unnaturally, obviously dislocated or fractured. He was being supported by two Akimichi clan comrades. While cursing, he didn't forget to turn back, and facing the still-burning ruins of the armory in the distance, he grinned, showing a smile mixed with fatigue and ferocity, and forcefully gave the middle finger.
"Idiot Cloud! Next time we meet, I'll smash your pants to pieces!" His rough voice traveled far in the rain, drawing suppressed chuckles from a few nearby Konoha ninjas, who were promptly silenced by the stern look of their squad leader.
The retreating column snaked through the ruins and the rain. Although they were carrying the wounded and the remains of some of their sacrificed, they maintained an astonishing order and speed.
(End of chapter)
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