Chapter 26: Developments Unfold
"Those BASTARDS—!!"
A furious roar shattered the silence of the Raikage's office. The Fourth Raikage, A—that towering giant draped in white robes and bamboo hat—slammed his fist down with devastating force.
CRASH!!
The heavy solid wood desk exploded into splinters under his monstrous strength, wood fragments flying while documents scattered like falling snow. Lightning Release chakra still crackled around his fist, electric arcs dancing through the air and displaying their master's uncontainable rage.
'Complete annihilation... even an elite jounin like Zurui...'
A's chest heaved violently, veins bulging at his temples, but he quickly took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
This wasn't the time for venting. As Raikage, he had to prioritize damage control.
He slowly withdrew his fist. "Have we finished tallying the victims' families?"
His secretary, Mabui, had long grown accustomed to the Raikage's explosive temper. She calmly opened the file folder in her hands. "All accounted for. Besides the casualties, compensation for the twenty-seven Kumogakure shinobi who died in the delegation has been calculated and is ready for distribution."
A nodded, his gaze darkening as he stared out the window.
'Twenty-seven elite shinobi... This debt will be repaid.'
He suddenly remembered something and turned back. "What's Rachii's situation?"
The sole survivor who'd returned alive—the only witness to the entire incident.
Mabui's expression shifted slightly, her gaze complex.
"Chuunin Rachii has gone to the shinobi records office to request cancellation of his ninja registration number."
"According to the medical team's psychological evaluation... the overwhelming power displayed by the 'masked man' mentioned in intelligence reports seems to have caused severe psychological trauma. I'm afraid... he can no longer carry out shinobi missions."
"Also, the messenger bird sent to inform Konoha has already departed. It should reach the Land of Fire's border within two days."
Mabui's finger lightly traced the timeline in the documents. "Bee-sama and Yugito-sama have both received word—during the time Raikage-sama is in the Land of Fire, if the village comes under attack, the two Jinchuuriki will jointly handle defense."
"The specific arrangement: Yugito-sama will command the Kumogakure forces while Bee-sama stations himself at Unraikyo Gorge, ready to deploy Bijuudama against powerful enemies at any time."
Lightning Release chakra flickered uncontrollably across A's body surface, creating faint crackling sounds.
"Good!"
"Since that skulking masked bastard dares provoke Kumogakure and even specifically challenged me to find him—"
"Then I'll personally go to the Land of Fire and drag that son of a bitch from whatever rat hole he's hiding in!!"
Before his words finished echoing, A had already spun around with decisive authority, sweeping his arm forward. "We leave now! Let's go! C! Darui!"
Inside the office, two elite shinobi who'd been standing ready immediately responded.
The sensory ninja C stood at rigid attention, answering with crisp respect.
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, the Storm Release user Darui scratched his messy white hair and drawled lazily.
"Alright~"
"Keep up!"
A didn't wait for either response, charging straight at the window in a single bound—
CRASH!!
---
Glass shattered instantly under the Raikage's brute force charge, countless crystalline fragments glittering in the sunlight as A's form became a streak of lightning, leaping from the Raikage building in one bound.
C followed without hesitation, his figure flashing through the broken window and disappearing.
Darui strolled leisurely to the window's edge, looked down at the dust cloud rising below, and sighed. "Ah... another long journey. What a pain... guess I'll take the front door."
In the office, Mabui gazed at the wreckage scattered across the floor and sighed wearily while massaging her temples. "Here we go again..."
She expertly flipped open her logbook, adding new entries to the "Raikage Office Damage Record" column:
Today's Damage: Solid wood desk, reinforced blast-resistant window.
Clearly, she'd grown accustomed to such sudden incidents long ago.
---
Land of Fire, Konohagakure
After the Kumogakure delegation's departure, Konoha had seemingly returned to its usual tranquility.
While villagers remained furious about Kumogakure's despicable actions, since the leadership had already compromised, ordinary people could only swallow their discontent and continue their daily lives of basic necessities. After all, complaining wouldn't change anything.
The only obvious change was within the Hyuuga clan's atmosphere.
In the main branch compound, clan head Hyuuga Hiashi's normally stern expression had grown even more somber than usual.
In the branch family's quarters, four-year-old Hyuuga Neji had cried himself into a state of exhaustion.
"Father... where is Father...?"
Little Neji's swollen red eyes were filled with confusion and fear. No one had told him the truth, but a child's intuition let him vaguely sense that the figure who'd been by his side since his earliest memories would never return.
No one expected that two days later, this fragile peace would again be shattered by earth-shaking news.
"Have you heard?! The Kumogakure convoy was attacked!"
"That Hyuuga shinobi was abducted!"
The news spread like wildfire, instantly igniting all of Konoha.
According to reports, the Kumogakure delegation had been assaulted by a mysterious ninja while returning to the Land of Lightning.
A black-robed figure wearing a fox mask.
Single-handedly annihilated Kumogakure's elite forces.
Abducted the Hyuuga clan member who'd "murdered their envoy" on the spot.
Even more shocking, the perpetrator had publicly declared before leaving:
"The power of the Byakugan—I'll take it."
"If you want it back, have the Raikage come find me in the Land of Fire."
Initially, most Konoha shinobi couldn't help but cheer when they heard this news. Long-suppressed resentment finally found an outlet.
However, this brief satisfaction was quickly extinguished by new developments.
Kumogakure publicly accused the masked man of being a Konoha shinobi. Konoha had apparently compromised on the surface while secretly orchestrating the rescue, intending to shield the real culprit.
If they didn't hand over both the original perpetrator and the masked man, Kumogakure would declare war.
Konoha's shinobi exploded in outrage.
"Are you kidding me?! They're the ones who kidnapped the Hyuuga in the first place!"
"Now they're turning it around on us? Does Kumogakure have no shame at all?!"
Waves of anger swept through the entire village, but beneath this uproar, a deeper unease began to spread—the fear of impending war.
***
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