As Tetsumaru emerged from the earth, looking down at the remains of his enemy, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.
Is that it? Chisago is just... dead? He had expected a long, grueling battle against a Magnet Style Jonin. Was it because his insects, reinforced by the runes, had truly become that powerful? Or was this opponent just a particularly bad match-up against his swarm?
Tetsumaru waved a hand, dispersing the swarm, and stepped forward to retrieve the bodies.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of lightning tore through the air. An attack erupted from outside the radius of his Secret Technique: Domain Field Barrier, crossing the distance in an instant. It slammed into Tetsumaru's chest with a thunderous bang, and a cloud of white smoke exploded.
The lightning didn't stop, plowing into the piles of insects and sending charred limbs and chitin flying in every direction. A shadow blurred into the clearing, hoisting Chisago's corpse onto its shoulder.
"Hmph. After all that, it was just a Shadow Clone. What a death-fearing little Leaf brat."
The "Tetsumaru" that had emerged from the ground was indeed a clone. The real Tetsumaru was still hunkered down in an unknown location.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Three clouds of white smoke erupted as three more Tetsumarus appeared. One of them spoke with a tone of irritated mockery: "When the Great Third Raikage himself decides to ambush a mere Chunin, can you really blame me for being a little 'death-fearing'?"
Tetsumaru looked at the corpse tucked firmly under the Raikage's arm and everything clicked. "I see. You're here to steal a bloodline. I shouldn't be surprised; the Hidden Cloud are notorious habitual offenders when it comes to that."
"Bastard. You dare slander the greatness of the Cloud? Die." The Third Raikage stroked his beard with his right hand, his face a mask of stoic indifference. He wasn't actually angry; he just wanted to silence the witness.
This was the Cloud's standard operating procedure: if something was good—be it a jutsu or a Kekkei Genkai—they wanted it. If they wanted it, they tried to steal it. If stealing failed, they'd try to take it by force. Once they had it, they killed the witnesses. And if they couldn't kill the witnesses, they'd act like the victims and demand compensation from the person they tried to rob.
BOOM!
The Raikage slammed a fist into the earth. The ground imploded into a thirty-meter crater riddled with radial fractures. The shockwave instantly dissipated two of the Shadow Clones. The last one used a pre-stored blood sample to perform a Summoning Jutsu, calling forth three Hives.
CRACK-BOOM!
The moment the Hives appeared, the Raikage struck again, shattering them into splinters. However, the majority of the beetles inside were unharmed. They unfurled their wings and took to the sky, forming a massive, irregular sphere around the Raikage before launching their assault.
These were Acid Beetles—a "trash-tier" insect with no chakra capacity. They possessed two internal glands containing harmless secretions that, when combined at the tail, became a potent, high-temperature acid.
They couldn't be engraved with runes or store chakra, making them an obsolete model in Tetsumaru's eyes. He used them purely as interference-based consumables—squeezing out the last bit of their value.
Against a high-offense, high-speed, high-defense monster like the Raikage, they were perfect. The acid couldn't hope to penetrate the Lightning Style Chakra Mode, but it could certainly blind him and fill the air with a foul, suffocating stench.
The Raikage roared, lunging left and right, but he found it impossible to break free of the living cloud. Every strike he landed killed dozens or even hundreds of beetles, but against a swarm of this magnitude, those losses were a drop in the bucket.
The Raikage's only real "weakness" was his lack of large-scale, area-of-effect ninjutsu. Tetsumaru exploited this ruthlessly, summoning wave after wave of his soon-to-be-discontinued bugs. He didn't care if they were effective; he just threw them onto the pile.
Go ahead. Scream. Kill. Rant. The legends said this man would eventually fight ten thousand Iwa-nin for three days and nights. Tetsumaru wanted to see how long he'd last against 280,000 insects.
If the Third Raikage actually worked himself to death fighting bugs, he'd become the biggest joke in the history of the shinobi world.
Lightning Style: Flowing Lead!
A fork of lightning suddenly arced through the swarm. It struck a few Flight-Locusts attacking the caster, then split and jumped along the swarm's density, jumping from one beetle to the next with surgical precision.
A second Cloud ninja had entered the fray. His chakra control was exquisite, transforming a single-target Lightning Style into a localized, precision-strike AOE. It was a level of mastery Tetsumaru had never seen.
Without a word, Tetsumaru deployed his Kikaichu. These were his bugs with the highest ninjutsu resistance—the culmination of the Aburame clan's centuries of breeding.
Once the Kikaichu took the front line, the second volley of forked lightning saw its kill count cut in half. Since the Kikaichu were much larger than his previous insects, the lightning's reach was reduced to less than a tenth of what it had been.
With the Kikaichu pinning down the second Cloud ninja, Tetsumaru was free to launch his most lethal units: the Combination Bugs and Landmine Insects.
The first wave of high-speed Combination Bugs streaked into the swarm with a collective whistle. But the Raikage was moving too fast; sensing the danger, he evaded the entire first volley. The second and third volleys followed, but none found their mark.
Tetsumaru clicked his tongue in disbelief. He knew the Kage were freaks of nature, and the Raikage's speed, defense, and power in his Lightning Mode were legendary. But the Third Raikage was supposed to be known for his defense, not his speed.
If his "secondary" stat was this fast, just how monstrous was his durability?
Finally, in the fifth wave, two bugs connected. As expected, they failed to break his defense, only managing to make the Raikage stumble slightly.
It all came down to the Landmine Insects. Tetsumaru didn't dare approach to plant them manually; the slow-moving bugs had only just reached the edge of the conflict.
The Raikage, lunging through the swarm, stepped directly onto a Landmine Insect. Squish. He moved so fast that he crushed the bug before its detonation mechanism could even trigger. It was a dud.
Tetsumaru's face twitched. Is this a Kage?
It was absurd. A Kage and a Jonin existed on completely different tiers. When he graduated, Tetsumaru felt his chakra was nearing the level of the Third Hokage, and he had subconsciously begun to look down on the title of "Kage." That was a massive mistake.
Fortunately, he didn't have to pay with his life to learn that lesson. Tetsumaru retreated while analyzing the situation. The Raikage was invulnerable to him; there was no point in further testing. The only thing left to do was use the swarm to buy time and create an opening to vanish.
He created three Insect Clones, then four Shadow Clones. Leaving the mob of doubles behind, the real Tetsumaru slipped away.
The Raikage didn't crush every Landmine Insect. Occasional explosions rocked the clearing, and the non-chakra-reinforced swarm was torn apart in the crossfire. Chitinous remains fell from the sky like rain.
As Tetsumaru disengaged, the Kikaichu followed. The Cloud subordinate was finally free to help clear the swarm, helping the Raikage break out of the enclosure.
The Raikage was physically unharmed. His greatest losses were his shoes, his pants, and his dignified image.
Emerging from the pile of dead bugs, the Raikage's hair was a mess of singed curls. His clothes were reduced to tatters, leaving him bare-legged and barefoot, with only his undergarments preserving a shred of modesty. He glared at his snickering subordinate. "Keep laughing and I'll cave your skull in."
Pfft. Hahaha!
Whack! Whack! Whack!
"Ow, ow, ow!"
The Cloud ninja, now sporting a swollen eye, sealed Chisago's body away. The Raikage changed into a fresh set of gear and fixed his hair and beard. He stroked his whiskers, looking at the thick carpet of dead insects with a thoughtful expression.
"Lord Raikage, everything is ready. Let's withdraw."
"Hmm."
After a few steps, the Raikage looked back at the battlefield once more. "Genami."
"Yes, my Lord?"
"Remind me when we get back. Establish a dedicated intelligence file for this Aburame from the Leaf."
"He is far too dangerous for a regular Jonin to handle."
"Understood, Lord Raikage."
"Say... next time we go to Konoha to stir up trouble, should we try to snatch an Aburame kid?"
"Is that necessary? Those bugs clearly aren't natural. Besides, I don't think we have the budget to feed that many mouths."
"You idiot. If they aren't natural, we steal the bugs too. We won't know if we can afford them until we have them. Then we'll see."
"Oh. Right."
As the two figures vanished into the distance, silence returned to the clearing. Before long, the carpet of dead bugs attracted a flock of birds, followed by other scavengers. The animals snarled and fought over the feast, and the battlefield became noisy once again.
A long time passed. Suddenly, a tall, sturdy figure rose from the pile of insect remains, sending the animals fleeing in terror.
The Raikage, looking as ragged as he had before his wardrobe change, spoke with a note of disappointment. "Looks like he really is gone."
Seconds later, Genami flickered into the clearing, handing him another set of fresh clothes. "Lord Raikage, we really should withdraw. We've delayed far too long."
"Fine. Let's go."
"Finally gone for real," a head popped out of the ground. It was one of Tetsumaru's Insect Clones.
Once he was absolutely certain they were gone, the clone performed a Summoning Jutsu to call an empty Hive. He began loading the bodies of the three Suna Genin inside. Just as he began the seals to unsummon the Hive, a blur of motion slammed into him. The clone exploded into a swarm of flying insects.
"Another Insect Clone? Is the brat still underground?"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Six identical figures leaped from the earth, bolting in different directions.
"Hahaha! Got you! I knew it! I knew you were still hiding here!" The Raikage laughed boisterously, his hair and beard bristling with excitement.
He transformed into a gray blur, smashing through the Shadow Clones and Insect Clones one by one. Every time he crushed a fake, the Raikage's mouth would twitch with anticipation, his hopes for the next one growing higher.
While the Raikage was busy hunting down the decoys, a pair of hands reached out silently from beneath the Hive. With a rapid sequence of seals, the Hive was unsummoned, taking the Suna corpses with it.
"You bastard!"
The cloud of white smoke from the unsummoning alerted the Raikage. He lunged instantly, slamming a fist into the hands before they could retract. The ground imploded, but all he hit was a cloud of white smoke as the last Shadow Clone dissipated.
"Bastard! They were all clones! That cowardly bastard!"
Having been robbed right under his nose, the "Thief-in-Chief" Raikage was furious. He slammed his fists into the ground repeatedly, venting his rage on the landscape.
But the Raikage wasn't a total brute. After a few hits, he reined in his temper, let out a sharp "Hmph," and finally left the battlefield for good.
"Next time I see you, I'm going to crush you."
Four Shadow Clones had been destroyed in quick succession. The feedback from their deaths stacked, and the dizzying surge of trauma caused Tetsumaru to suffer a severe Blackout Reaction.
Tetsumaru had known this might happen, which was why he had activated his Domain Field Barrier while retreating. He had assumed that the "Blackout" would just be a temporary blinding of his physical eyes, which he could bypass using the insects' collective perception.
He had been wrong. The feedback from a Shadow Clone acted directly on the soul. The "Blackout" was merely an external symptom of spiritual trauma.
Instead of helping, the Field Barrier actually magnified the effect because of the massive sensory load it placed on his mind. Tetsumaru was rendered completely incapacitated, curled on the ground and unable to move.
Fortunately, he had left enough decoys to play mind games with the Raikage for three hours. He was already at a very safe distance, and he essentially used the "forced downtime" to rest for half an hour.
Lying on the ground, Tetsumaru reflected on his encounter with the Raikage. It was his first time facing a hostile Kage, and it had fundamentally reshaped his understanding of the title.
The 'Brute' act that man puts on is incredibly convincing. He's so good at it he probably believes it himself.
The Third Raikage looked like the ultimate meathead: quick to violence, straight-line attacks, an invulnerable body, and a bulldozing combat style.
But it was all a mask.
First, he knew his own limitations perfectly. He never once left the cover of his subordinate, who excelled at area-of-effect suppression.
Second, the moment the swarm cut off his vision, the Raikage became extremely cautious. He relied on sharp instincts to dodge every meaningful attack, refusing to take unnecessary hits even though they likely couldn't have hurt him anyway.
Finally, when he failed to catch his target, he immediately deployed clones and hid himself. He even went so far as to "mess up" his own appearance to create a false sense of vulnerability to lure out the enemy.
Underneath that reckless exterior was a cautious, meticulous, and cunning mind. It was terrifying. If Tetsumaru hadn't developed the habit of fighting from a safe distance, he might have been crushed today.
Still, he had secured the three Genin corpses. He had the proof he needed to finish his mission.
Soon, Tetsumaru's body returned to normal. He stood up, stretched his limbs, and continued southeast. He intended to head straight back to the Konoha camp in the Land of Rain.
The Raikage's presence on the battlefield had left a massive trail. Once word reached the Sand and Stone, it would cause a sensation. The Kazekage and Tsuchikage wouldn't be able to sit still; they'd have to leave their villages.
Before long, the Land of Vegetables would be crawling with three Kage, their elite guards, and dozens of high-tier Jonin. When that many powerhouses gathered in one spot, a massive battle was inevitable. They had to fight, if only to save face for their respective nations.
The Land of Vegetables was about to become a meat grinder. It was no place for a sensible person to stay.
Tetsumaru decided to head back, turn in his mission, and find a nice, quiet corner to hide in for a while.