White Fang stared solemnly at the man and the Tailed Beast before him.
"Konoha's White Fang!?"
The Third Raikage, A, locked eyes with White Fang.
"And an Uchiha brat."
A's gaze shifted to a concealed spot.
Kin emerged expressionlessly from the shadows, his hand resting on his sword hilt as he regarded the Raikage with a cold stare.
"Lord White Fang, the situation isn't looking good."
The title "Lord White Fang" made White Fang's lips twitch. Hearing such words from Kin's mouth was no small feat.
But.
He wasn't wrong.
According to Konoha's intelligence, the Third Raikage was a taijutsu specialist with immense destructive power, formidable defense, and remarkable speed. Speed-type ninja were notoriously difficult to kill in a single strike.
White Fang's strongest attack required charging time and left him drained afterward, making it impractical here. Without a guaranteed one-hit kill, he wasn't sure he could hold his ground.
"Have you two decided how you'll die here?"
A's sharp eyes bore into them, his overwhelming killing intent saturating the air.
Kin felt as if the space around him had turned into viscous glue, making even the slightest movement a hundred times more laborious. This was not an opponent he could face in his current state.
Under the Raikage's suffocating aura, Kin's ability to resist had been stripped away.
"So this is what it's like to face a Kage… terrifying."
Even Orochimaru in their first encounter hadn't been this frightening. Gritting his teeth, Kin drew his blade and slashed it across his thigh.
The pain snapped him out of his paralysis.
He quickly retreated behind White Fang.
No matter how fierce A's killing intent was, it dissipated the moment it reached White Fang. Sheltered behind him, Kin no longer felt the oppressive pressure.
"How decisive… for an Uchiha brat."
A gave Kin an appraising glance.
Using self-harm to break free from his killing intent wasn't something just any Uchiha could manage. This one had exceptional talent.
"Raikage-sama, your presence here suggests you're already prepared to engage Konoha."
White Fang seized the chance to recover his stamina during the exchange. The earlier battle with the Tailed Beast hadn't been easy.
For some reason, A allowed him this respite without interference.
"The title of 'Strongest Hidden Village' is quite the reputation. I believe Kumo could claim it just as well."
Even if Cloud wasn't at its peak now, that didn't stop A from voicing his ambitions.
As he spoke, A lunged forward, his body transforming into a streak of blue lightning. In less than half a breath, he was upon them.
Four fingers extended, crackling with concentrated Lightning Release chakra.
"Hell Stab! Four-Finger Hell Stab!"
White Fang was just as fast, intercepting the attack. By now, he had fully recovered.
But the sheer force behind A's strike wasn't so easily blocked. The impact sent White Fang skidding backward, a blue torrent carving into the ground behind him.
Left behind, Kin stood in silence.
His gaze shifted to the massive Matatabi beside him, its forked tails swaying as its enormous eyes locked onto him.
Kin's silence deepened.
You're not going to take this thing with you first?!
A gigantic paw descended.
"BOOM!!"
The ground shattered under the claw's impact, but Kin had already leaped away.
Then, Matatabi's maw opened, unleashing a colossal fireball.
At point-blank range.
Kin's hair curled from the heat, his newly replaced clothes singeing. The fireball loomed before him, filling his vision with an inferno.
It swallowed him whole.
The explosion gouged a massive trench into the earth.
From the shadows of a nearby rock, Kin's body slowly emerged.
Staring at the devastation, he muttered:
"Brute force crushes everything…"
He was beginning to question his life choices.
Matatabi's head turned, its gaze locking onto him again.
"This thing is way out of my league!!"
Meanwhile, White Fang and A clashed.
Both were speed-type shinobi, their movements evenly matched for now. Across the mountains, streaks of white and blue collided, separated, and collided again.
Their battle reduced boulders to rubble and trees to dust, clearing vast swathes of land in moments—and the devastation only expanded.
"Hell Stab! Three-Finger Hell Stab!"
A's fingers struck again, one fewer this time, but the power behind the attack intensified.
White Fang didn't block. Instead, his blade slashed toward A's neck.
Before the steel even touched skin, the razor-sharp edge made A's hairs stand on end.
In that instant, he knew: his strongest defense wouldn't stop this strike.
It absolutely wouldn't.
If A continued his attack, both would die.
He had no choice but to retreat.
White Fang's blade sliced through empty air.
But retreat wasn't surrender—it was preparation for a fiercer assault.
"Hell Stab! Two-Finger Hell Stab!"
A's speed doubled as he lunged again.
This time, White Fang hurled a small iron sphere.
He shut his eyes and turned away.
A product of Uchiha Kin's research:
"Strong! Flashbang!"
A blinding light erupted.
A's vision whited out as he shot past White Fang, his fingers piercing the mountainside instead.
"BOOM!"
Half the peak disintegrated under the force.
Blinking against the afterimages, A cursed:
"This White Fang!!"
Since when was he so underhanded?!
White Fang's counterattack followed instantly. Gripping his ancestral short sword with both hands, he appeared behind A.
"Konoha Taijutsu Secret Technique! One Thousand Years of Death!"
The infamous technique that struck fear into hearts.
A didn't recognize it, but he wasn't about to let it land. He stomped the ground, propelling himself forward at breakneck speed.
Nothing would stop him—not even the mountain itself.
White Fang couldn't keep up.
By the time A's vision cleared, he pivoted mid-slide, skidding to a halt and putting distance between them.
"Impressive, Konoha's White Fang."
A's expression was grave.
Though sneaky, this man undeniably had the makings of a Kage. Perhaps he'd become A's greatest rival in the future.
"One last strike! Face it head-on, White Fang!"
"If you survive this, I'll let you leave—on my honor as the Raikage."
This was his strongest attack. If it failed to defeat White Fang, that alone would prove they couldn't stop him.
"Fine."
White Fang sheathed his blade.
"Bring it."
He trusted a Kage's word.
A raised a single finger, Lightning Release chakra surging into it.
"Hell Stab! One-Finger Hell Stab!"
"Basic Internal Energy Technique: Third Layer! False! Guard!"
A blue streak collided with a towering white silhouette.
...
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(End of Chapter)