The Third Raikage was simply too fast. Sarutobi Shinnosuke didn't even have time to react before a brutal elbow strike sent his head flying.
With Shinnosuke's death, the Konoha ninja army erupted into chaos.
On one hand, as the supreme commander, his death meant the Konoha forces were now leaderless.
On the other hand, no one had expected the Third Raikage to personally enter the battlefield.
And not only that—he had charged straight into their ranks alone!
But it didn't take long for the Konoha ninja to react.
Excitement lit up their faces as they shouted at the top of their lungs.
"This is our chance! If we surround and kill the Third Raikage together, Kumogakure will definitely collapse!"
"He's too arrogant—charging alone into a force of over two thousand!"
"Hurry! We have to kill him before enemy reinforcements arrive!"
The ninja who had come as reinforcements with Namikaze Minato were all elite shinobi personally selected by Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo from the various clans.
Seeing the Third Raikage charge in alone, they weren't afraid—instead, they were delighted.
If they could kill him, it would deal a devastating blow to Kumogakure.
It might even turn the entire battle around!
Seeing the murderous intent in their eyes, the Third Raikage broke into an excited grin.
He tore off his upper garments, revealing a body of muscles like solid steel.
"Hahahahaha… come on! Let me fight to my heart's content!"
As a born battle maniac, he hadn't experienced this kind of slaughter against enemies in a very long time.
The more enemies there were, the more excited he became.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode was pushed to its absolute limit. The Third Raikage became like an ancient lightning beast, tearing through the Konoha ranks without restraint.
He carried no weapon—because his body itself was the strongest weapon of all.
In the face of absolute speed and power, any Konoha ninja who was even brushed by him met only one fate: death.
Most terrifying of all, the Third Raikage didn't dodge or evade their attacks at all.
Even when struck head-on by coordinated combination ninjutsu, he looked completely unfazed.
Amid the ruins of Kikyo Castle, Minato watched as the Third Raikage single-handedly smashed apart a Konoha force of over two thousand. Every moment, someone died by his hand.
At this rate, the reinforcements Minato had brought would all be slaughtered by the Third Raikage alone.
Just as Minato couldn't help but prepare to intervene, Uchiha Yuzuru's voice sounded beside him.
"Minato, if you move... I will move too."
"And if I move… the number of people who die won't be this small."
Though Yuzuru's tone was calm, Minato clearly heard the threat beneath it.
After a long silence, he abandoned the idea of acting.
After all, he had personally witnessed Yuzuru in battle before. Those terrifying techniques of his were more than enough to wipe out the entire Land of Fire.
Minato sighed and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Yuzuru, why go this far?"
"With your strength, killing Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo should be effortless, shouldn't it?"
Yuzuru snorted coldly. "Do you really think those two alone were enough to force the Uchiha clan into exile?"
"Everyone in Konoha is an accomplice. They should all pay for what they did back then."
"Only by truly experiencing pain will they understand who it was that gave them their so-called happiness."
"Our Uchiha clan conquered the most fertile lands for them to enjoy, yet they never felt even a shred of gratitude."
"Since that's the case, we'll start over—together with those who acknowledge us—and take back what was always ours."
Trying to reason or appeal to emotion with ungrateful wolves was nothing but a waste of breath.
Only by making them feel true pain would they repent for their past actions.
Knowing further words were pointless, Minato directly used the Flying Thunder God Technique and chose to leave.
Since he couldn't save the comrades before him, he didn't want to watch them be slaughtered one by one.
Not long after Minato's departure, every Konoha ninja originally stationed at Kikyo Castle was wiped out.
Seeing the Third Raikage still fighting, the others moved to support him, only to be stopped by a wave of his hand.
"No need to worry about me. Go take care of your own business."
"Dealing with these guys—I'm more than enough on my own."
With that, he extended his arm straight out. "Hell Stab: Three-Finger Thrust!"
Pshhk!
Pshhk!
Pshhk!
…
Like a blue lightning spear, the Third Raikage pierced straight through the Konoha formation.
Every Konoha ninja in his path was torn to pieces.
"Run! This guy isn't human at all!"
"Why does he still have so much stamina and chakra after all this time? He's a monster!"
"This is the power of a Kage-level fighter… how can it be this terrifying?"
"Damn it! If the strongest Third Hokage were here, we could definitely win!"
The Konoha ninja completely broke.
After more than half an hour of nonstop fighting, all they had to show for it were piles of fallen comrades—they hadn't even scratched the Third Raikage's defenses.
And worse still, over two thousand Kumogakure ninja were watching from all around.
They no longer thought about killing the Third Raikage. All that filled their minds was how to escape alive.
Everyone fled toward the rear in unison, terrified of being the next prey.
Seeing the enemy rout, the Third Raikage waved a large hand toward the Cloud ninja behind him. "Go after them. Kill as many as you can."
He'd already had more than enough fun in this battle and had no interest in chasing down enemies who had lost the will to fight.
Flashing to Yuzuru's side, the Third Raikage laughed loudly. "Yuzuru, this battle was unbelievably satisfying!"
Yuzuru nodded and asked, "Why did you come alone? What about the Fire Temple…"
The Third Raikage grinned. "We've already taken the Fire Temple. A and Killer B are guarding it, so I rushed over immediately."
"I've heard the fighting at the Valley of the End is nearly over too. Obito, Guy, and Kakashi—all three youngsters showed impressive strength."
"Pakura, Karura, and Kushina were amazing as well. They helped us break through several major bottlenecks."
"And Tsunade… having a powerful medical ninja system is really something. With their support, our casualties were reduced by at least thirty percent!"
At that point, the Third Raikage couldn't help but curse. "I've never fought such a well-funded war in my life—this feels damn incredible!"
"Now all that's left is Tanzaku Town. Once we take it, we can push straight through and slaughter our way to Konoha!"
After giving a brief overview of the battlefield, he asked excitedly, "Should I go reinforce Tanzaku Town right now?"
Yuzuru shook his head. "Third Raikage, you've been fighting continuously for over a month. You're bound to be tired."
"Rest and recover here. Prepare for the final battle."
"As for Tanzaku Town…" Yuzuru said calmly, "I already have arrangements in place."