+1 extra chapter because you surpassed the goal
(I think so. Actually, I scheduled the chapters for the whole month to have more time to write, so whether we reach the goal or not, two chapters will be published on the first day of each week. I trust you all.)
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"The Third Raikage. The monster who fought a tailed beast and won. Who endured a battle against ten thousand ninjas at the same time before dying... from exhaustion."
Kushina said with a bit of admiration as she looked at the man in front of her, huge and muscular, with a white mane that resembled an enraged lion. He could only be described as imposing.
Hearing her words, the Third Raikage A laughed softly.
"I do not remember fighting ten thousand men, and above all... I do not remember dying."
"It does not matter, it was just nonsense" Kushina said without giving it much importance.
[Please do not go around revealing the future].
'It does not seem important to say it now,' Kushina thought, and since he would die today anyway, 'By the way, what are the chances?'.
[None, he would completely crush you]
"I figured as much" Kushina sighed in disappointment.
'By the way, what do we do about the rats?'.
[Kill a few, but remember to let them escape, we cannot kill Danzo yet]
'I think it would be better if you let me kill that dark old man right now'.
"Miss..." while Kushina was speaking in her mind, the Third Raikage interrupted her. "Although it is fun to see your beautiful face change expressions for no reason, I came here for a fight."
"Ah, sorry!" Kushina apologized before adding, "By the way, I already like someone, so I cannot accept your compliments" she said, returning to reality.
"Ha ha ha, I was not flattering you, I was just telling the truth. A beautiful and strong woman like you will be popular throughout the ninja world in the future.
At least... if you survive."
After those last words, the Raikage became serious, his body becoming enveloped almost instantly.
Lightning crackled intensely as it formed an armor that protected him from head to toe. Not only would anyone who tried to touch him be terribly injured, and his endurance increased, giving him unmatched defense, but his speed also rose to levels impossible for the human eye to follow.
Without saying another word, the Raikage advanced, disappearing into the air.
Kushina reacted immediately. She became serious and accelerated her body as much as she could with wind magic.
But even though her speed had increased greatly due to leveling up recently and with wind magic, she was still nowhere near the speed A reached using his lightning chakra armor.
Kushina barely managed to dodge the Raikage's strike, which destroyed the ground, opening huge cracks exactly where she had been half a second earlier.
"You do not seem as strong as the rumors say" the Raikage said, turning toward her with disappointment.
"I am sorry. Even though I would like to fight you, I am not strong enough" Kushina apologized, also disappointed in her own strength.
A straightened up, standing firm, placing an arm on his neck and cracking it loudly.
Now that he knew Kushina's strength, he was not as serious as before.
"No matter what tricks you used before, I will not let you leave here alive" the Raikage replied, believing that Kushina was planning to run away.
"You are very serious, Third Raikage," Kushina said, dodging another attack. It struck the ground where she had been, splitting it apart and opening a large crater.
In reality, Kushina was not dodging through reaction, but because she could see his movements before he started moving and guess where he would go.
Before Kushina's eyes, chunks of ground rose into the air due to the attack. She raised a hand and used wind magic to send them all toward the Raikage.
He did not dodge. He allowed all the chunks of earth to hit him directly as he advanced. They did not even scratch him, turning into dust on contact, not even enough to block his view.
'He really is a monster!' Kushina exclaimed in her mind, watching as if she were a third party.
"As expected of the monster who defeated a tailed beast."
The Raikage did not respond with words. Instead, several bolts of lightning shot out toward Kushina.
Kushina raised large walls of earth around herself to absorb the impact.
But it did not work.
The one in front of her shattered, and what passed through was not lightning, but the Raikage himself. He broke through with pure brute force, appearing in front of her like a cannonball and striking her directly, leaving no chance to dodge.
Kushina was pushed back violently, but she managed to stop midway. She used water magic to create a large bubble that held her in the air and prevented her from crashing into another surface.
[Amazing, being sneaky, as expected of a ninja], Kaito commented sarcastically. Truly stealthy ninjas were rare in the Naruto world, he did not expect someone like the Raikage to use it.
'Is that all you have to say?' Kushina complained.
[No, also: are you stupid? Did you seriously wrap yourself in water against someone who uses lightning?].
"Dam...gggggggghhh!"
Kaito was not the only one who thought that. The Raikage had already used several basic ninjutsu to electrify the water, causing Kushina to be interrupted by electricity running through her body before she could finish speaking.
The reason A did not advance himself or use stronger ninjutsu was because he thought it might be a trap, since no one would be stupid enough to use water against lightning.
But to his surprise, Kushina really was.
With a *Pop*, the water bubble burst after a few seconds, and Kushina fell to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Is that all? You are a complete amateur when it comes to tactics" the Raikage said, with no mockery in his voice, only disappointment.
"Ha ha" lying on the ground, Kushina laughed. "Sorry, my master is a complete monster who defeats his enemies instantly, so he never learned that stuff, and I am the same."
"I do not know who your master is or what awaits him, but you ran into someone stronger than you cannot overwhelm. What will you do now?" A asked with genuine curiosity.
He knew Kushina would not have come if she were not confident in winning, but any trap she could think of was useless, none had the power to defeat him.
"Isn't it obvious? I will just call someone who can" Kushina smiled confidently.
As soon as she finished speaking, A felt unimaginable pressure. The air around him became denser and more lethal. Soon, three powerful chakra sources appeared around him, overwhelming the Third Raikage.
In each of the three directions appeared enormous beasts that looked capable of crushing him with a single step.
To his left, a huge horse with dolphin-like skin and five tails.
To his right, a massive red gorilla with horns and four tails.
And worst of all, right in front of him, behind Kushina, appeared a gigantic nine-tailed fox whose shadow covered the entire battlefield.
"So the Nine Tails is still with you. You must be part of that strange organization" the Raikage said with interest, looking at the beasts. "I always wondered why a group of people that powerful does not try to conquer the world."
"Because that is not the method we chose. We will destroy the ninja world, create a world where chakra is not used only to kill, but we will do it in another way, not through war" Kushina said.
"A world without war? Without fighting?" The Raikage blinked in surprise for a moment before mocking her. "How boring that would be"
"I figured" Kushina said, looking at him with disappointment.
Despite the difference in size, since Kushina was closer, from the Raikage's perspective her body overlapped with the Nine Tails behind her, making it seem as if she were the bearer of those tails.
Suddenly, the nine tails that had been swaying behind her moved forward.
"Attack" Kushina said, and the nine tails advanced while she calmly retreated, like an actor leaving the stage to make way for the main performers.
While Kushina withdrew calmly, the Third Raikage was not so calm. The three massive beasts roared as they advanced toward him.
The Four Tails was the first. It advanced confidently, its massive limbs shaking the ground with every step.
It raised its front legs like fists and slammed the ground where the Raikage stood, again and again and again.
After about fifteen seconds, during which the ground trembled like an earthquake and the earth cracked, it stopped, confident that it had crushed him.
But to the beasts' surprise, the Raikage was still alive. He even seemed completely intact after enduring the barrage.
'Good, I can use their pride to my advantage' the Raikage thought, hoping he could at least escape alive.
"It is strong, get serious"
But his hopes were immediately shattered by Kushina.
No matter how proud the tailed beasts were, it meant nothing if they died, and all three knew that disobeying Kushina meant death.
Although Kushina did not believe the Third Raikage could survive an assault from three tailed beasts, if they played around, taking turns like before and not even using chakra, it was not impossible for him to escape or even kill one of them.
"You do not have to tell me" Kurama said, as a huge violet energy sphere began forming in front of one of his tails, growing exponentially.
At the same time, the surrounding temperature rose rapidly. Trees within about one hundred fifty meters began to catch fire and turn to ash.
Finally, the previously calm sea began to rage, forming massive waves and whirlpools, but just when it seemed they would rise and attack like living beings, they began to evaporate at impossible speeds.
Boiling steam, created by the fusion of water and fire, covered more than one hundred meters around, and the lava element along with the Four Tails' steam abilities raised the temperature even further, making the air completely unbreathable. A single breath was enough to burn the internal organs of any ordinary person.
In this white hell, the only thing visible was the Tailed Beast Bomb in the air, still spinning and growing rapidly, like a violet sun threatening to become a supernova that would wipe out all life.
'Maybe too serious' Kushina thought as she ran toward the forest.
But she had no time to worry. Instead, she looked around among the trees.
"Five hundred seventy three. Looks like Danzo is really trying" she said without much surprise.
"They noticed us."
"What do we do?"
"The orders are to kill her"
"Then there is only one choice, follow the orders"
By mutual agreement, all the ninjas hiding in the shadows came out, surrounding Kushina with various weapons.
During the time it took them to reach her, Kushina had not only been watching them, she had also been preparing.
From both the sea and the spreading fire behind her emerged two enormous dragons, one of fire and one of water, attacking from the sides toward her position.
Just before they hit, she teleported away, making them collide and causing an explosion that wiped out the area and killed the hundreds who rushed forward, thinking they could kill her by surprise or relying on numbers.
"She uses space time ninjutsu, be careful!" one warned.
The others did not care about the dead. Instead, they used their deaths to analyze Kushina's tactics, adjusted their methods, and attacked again.
Seeing her long range attacks and teleportation, they decided to split into small groups spread across almost the entire area.
The "almost" was because four powerful beasts were fighting nearby, whose attacks and aftereffects made approaching them suicidal.
"Jun, you are the fastest. Go back and report everything to Lord Danzo"
Not too close but not too far, two ninjas spoke while the others fought, quickly deciding that one should escape to inform Danzo.
As this happened, Kushina repeated her tactic countless times, appearing and disappearing in different places.
Of course, she was not fleeing.
Each time, she appeared in the center of a Root group and used Rasengan.
Because of its small size, they often dodged it or only one was killed, but Kushina still disappeared instead of continuing to attack, regardless of casualties.
"She is playing with us. No matter the reason, attack with everything"
They all reached the same conclusion and ignored her motives.
After years of brainwashing, their only instinct was to follow Danzo's orders no matter what.
No matter her reasons, Kushina holding back meant that their mission, killing Kushina, would be easier.
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Hey, I just published the first chapters of a new fic: To Love Ru: Chaos.
If you're interested or want to support me, go read it and leave some Power Stones.
But it's literally the complete opposite of this series, so I recommend reading the 'Before You Read' section to see if you'll like it.
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)