No one could have predicted in advance that Kumogakure's attack on Kirigakure would begin from the open sea.
Because no one could have imagined that Kumogakure would take out the power hidden at the bottom of its chest and risk it.
According to the Kirigakure shinobi's description, Kumogakure's attackers consisted of only four shinobi.
But their strength overwhelmingly crushed the shinobi left behind to guard the fleet.
Those four Kumogakure shinobi were—
The Third Raikage.
The Raikage's son, A.
A's brother, B.
And the most important main force—
The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Blue B.
This combination could casually take down any small shinobi village.
Against a Kirigakure fleet without Kage-level shinobi, the effect was just right.
The Raikage's son A and his brother B were the AB Combination that was about to mature.
The Double Lariat they performed together sliced off the bow of the largest warship in a single strike.
The Third Raikage always fought alone.
Lightning flashed across his entire body. Raising four fingers, he charged directly into a warship.
With one strike, he pierced through four decks and directly broke the ship's keel.
But no matter how powerful Kage-level shinobi were, as humans less than two meters tall, destroying enormous warships over a hundred meters long was still very difficult.
At the very least, they needed to spend quite some time accumulating enough damage.
At moments like this—
The value of a tailed beast was fully displayed.
The Eight-Tails jinchūriki was the absolute main force in Kumogakure's surprise attack to destroy Kirigakure's fleet.
Blue B released the Eight-Tails as much as possible.
Eight enormous octopus tentacles wrapped around one warship at the same time. With one brutal exertion of force, two sturdy warships were turned into wreckage.
Even then, the Eight-Tails found it too slow.
Because even ships damaged into wreckage could still float.
So after charging for several seconds, it fired a Tailed Beast Ball, blasting that warship into wooden strips flying across the sky.
When the mushroom cloud raised by the Tailed Beast Ball rose high into the air, the shattered warship had completely vanished from the sea.
This time, the Eight-Tails was truly satisfied.
It did the same to the final warship—
Of course, skipping all the previous steps and directly launching a Tailed Beast Ball.
With one shot, complete destruction was achieved.
After that came a crazed Tailed Beast Ball giveaway.
One enormous white mushroom after another erupted across the sea.
By the time the Third Raikage and the others completely sank two warships, the Eight-Tails released by Blue B had already turned every floating object on the sea into wooden planks.
The power of a tailed beast was displayed to the fullest in this surprise attack.
And Blue B, who could perfectly use the Eight-Tails' power, received the Third Raikage's satisfied praise.
"A perfect jinchūriki. This should already count as a perfect jinchūriki, right?"
"Third Raikage-sama, I am still not a perfect jinchūriki. My physical quality is still lacking, and it seriously limits how much of the Eight-Tails' power I can bring out."
"Hahaha, this is already very good. I'm very satisfied."
"This kind of combat power is what deserves the name of a battlefield weapon of mass slaughter."
"Previous jinchūriki were simply trash."
The events afterward were not something the Kirigakure shinobi saw.
But they could guess.
Four top-tier shinobi walked from the sea to the shore, cooperating with Kumogakure shinobi attacking from land. Together, they surrounded and eliminated the Kirigakure shinobi guarding the temporary docks on the beach, seizing large amounts of supplies.
Under the Third Raikage's leadership, Kumogakure always managed to seize key nodes, using enemy supplies to make up for the shortcomings of their own national strength.
But what Kirigakure could not imagine was this—
The Third Raikage was not satisfied with this harvest from Kirigakure.
Kirigakure…
Was simply too poor.
Since the spoils could not satisfy his appetite, the Third Raikage led Kumogakure's elite shinobi and followed the surviving Kirigakure fleet shinobi fleeing south in chaos, hoping to destroy as much of Kirigakure's remaining living strength as possible.
If they could drive Kirigakure out of the Shinobi World War in one stroke, Kumogakure would be able to concentrate even greater strength westward against Iwagakure.
They rapidly approached the regrouped Kirigakure shinobi from the north.
Konoha shinobi were also quickly closing in from the west.
The three Great Shinobi Villages were about to converge.
…
Uchiha Yoru followed Orochimaru as they tracked Kirigakure shinobi onto the sea.
Naturally, on the vast ocean, there were no traces to find.
But the Inuzuka clan shinobi and Aburame clan shinobi showed their value.
The ninja dogs and kikaichū of the two clans could actually rely on smell to track scent trails left in the air.
Ninja dogs were skilled at tracking changes in enemy routes.
Kikaichū were skilled at reconnecting broken scent clues.
When the two worked together, Konoha's shinobi were actually able to track all the way without being shaken off by Kirigakure.
It truly opened Yoru's eyes.
He couldn't help saying,
"Rika-chan, it looks like the ninja dog clan does have something worth congratulating after all. We should pay more attention to them in the future."
Miwa Masayo, however, said indifferently,
"What's there to pay attention to about the ninja dog clan, nya? They no longer count as an independent ninja beast race. They're not the same as us, nya."
"Usually, I mess around with that stupid dog Kuromaru because Yoru and Inuzuka Tsume are classmates. That's why I have a connection with Kuromaru."
"The Cat Castle and the ninja dog clan no longer have any relationship, nya."
"The ones our ninja cat clan needs to be careful of are the Kongō ape clan, the giant toads of Mount Myōboku, the giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave…"
Yoru understood what Miwa Masayo meant.
So from the perspective of ninja beasts, ninja dogs no longer counted as a clan.
They were just like kikaichū—
A part of the Inuzuka clan's strength.
They had withdrawn from competition among ninja beast races.
But this could not be considered the worst choice.
To a certain extent, the ninja dog clan had also domesticated the Inuzuka clan.
With this human shinobi family worrying about them, everything from food, clothing, housing, travel, to giving birth had been settled.
Ninja dogs only needed to focus on battle to ensure survival.
And they could survive very well.
That saved the ninja dogs enormous resources and strength.
It was similar to wheat domesticating agricultural humans.
With the help of ninja dogs and kikaichū, Konoha's tracking route became a straight line.
On top of that, those Orochimaru selected to follow him onto the sea in pursuit of Kirigakure shinobi were all elite jonin.
Their speed naturally surpassed the large group of Kirigakure shinobi.
After a full day of pursuit, Konoha's shinobi finally caught up with Kirigakure.
But from far away, they saw enormous octopus tentacles.
A full eight massive tentacles were attacking Kirigakure shinobi.
Even from such a distance, that cold, vicious, resentful feeling carried by massive chakra fluctuations could be sensed by Konoha's shinobi.
So everyone knew—
That was the chakra of a tailed beast.
Yoru and Miwa Masayo looked at one another.
Compared with this tailed beast's chakra, the chakra emitted by the giant octopus whose eight legs they had cut off before was as thin as soaked toilet paper.
Miwa Masayo felt the violent fluctuation of the tailed beast chakra.
Unknowingly, strange associations formed in her mind.
Unpromising tears flowed from the corner of her mouth.
She murmured,
"This octopus seems even bigger, nya. Its chakra is so strong it makes me shiver, nya."
"I really want to taste this bigger octopus leg, nya…"
Yoru had the same train of thought as Miwa Masayo.
He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
Only after several rounds of breathing did his emotions stabilize again.
Wiping away suspicious moisture from the corner of his mouth, Yoru said regretfully,
"The Eight-Tails' chakra volume really is huge. Flesh and blood formed from chakra like this must be delicious."
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to eat it today."
"Can we leave a mark, nya? Then we can go find it in the future when we have the chance, just like with the giant octopus."
"Alright. I'll try later."
Orochimaru chuckled.
"So Kumogakure's Third Raikage thinks the same as me."
"He also wants to kill as many Kirigakure shinobi as possible, and he also deployed elite shinobi to pursue them."
"Our luck is decent. Kumogakure caught up to Kirigakure one step ahead of us, and they started fighting first."
"Now our choices have increased."
Orochimaru looked at the battlefield meaningfully and quietly thought.
All of Konoha's shinobi stood silently on the sea, waiting for Orochimaru to make the final judgment.
No one noticed that every time Orochimaru's gaze swept over the Eight-Tails, greed and curiosity made him unconsciously stare for several extra moments.
Fortunately, the title Cold Lord was not given for nothing.
Orochimaru quickly suppressed his greed, gathered his mind, and focused on thinking through the next battle plan.
After finally tracking down Kirigakure's army, it was impossible to turn around and leave without doing anything.
"I've decided."
Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
"We won't wait."
"We'll shift direction slightly and charge in, joining Kumogakure to attack Kirigakure from both sides."
"Yes!"
"Uchiha Yoru."
"Here!"
"Your Fire Release ninjutsu has the greatest spectacle. Even on the sea, it is enough to shake people's hearts."
"You will carry out the opening attack."
"You must suppress the Eight-Tails jinchūriki for me and stop him from being too arrogant."
"I understand, Orochimaru-sama. I won't disappoint you."
[Damn it. In front of so many people, he praises me first, then uses me to death without giving me any chance to refuse.]
[I'll have to find a way to extort Orochimaru later. Otherwise, this will bother me.]
…
Kirigakure's army was completely different from the Kirigakure fleet.
Although the number of Kirigakure shinobi was far lower than expected, the number of jonin, elite jonin, and Kage-level shinobi among them had not decreased at all.
So many powerful shinobi cooperating could completely kill the Eight-Tails.
Thus, when facing Kirigakure's army, Blue B did not dare fully release the Eight-Tails.
He had to maintain his own initiative and avoid the Eight-Tails, because of its size difference and insufficient understanding, falling into a shinobi trap.
Even in a half-released state, the eight enormous tentacles still caused huge casualties among Kirigakure's ranks.
Every swing sent large groups of Kirigakure shinobi flying across the sea surface.
Even beneath the sea, the Eight-Tails' tentacles were more agile than Kirigakure shinobi.
With a casual coil, several Kirigakure shinobi would fall into the tentacles, be fixed tightly by the suction cups, and crushed alive into meat paste.
But Kirigakure shinobi were not easy prey either.
Very soon, they blasted pits large and small into the Eight-Tails' tentacles.
Especially the large chunks of ice caused by Ice Release.
Not only could they slow the Eight-Tails' tentacles, they could also continuously make it bleed.
The deep blue-purple blood flowed out, then quickly turned into dense chakra and dissipated.
The tailed beast chakra sensed by Konoha's shinobi originated from this.
Blue B soon felt that the attacks he was suffering were becoming stronger and stronger.
Gradually, they were becoming difficult to endure.
Suddenly, the seawater on his left side surged upward out of nowhere, forming a mountain of seawater taller than the Eight-Tails.
At the highest point stood a group of Kirigakure shinobi.
The leader was a steady middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi.
The Eight-Tails felt nothing.
But Blue B immediately sensed that this middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi was the center of all the shinobi's chakra circulation.
He was responsible for balancing and coordinating all the shinobi's ninjutsu.
Without the slightest hesitation, Blue B commanded the Eight-Tails' tentacles to lift high and smash down toward the middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi.
As long as he killed him, the balance between Kirigakure shinobi would break.
The huge mountain of seawater would lose control and fall vertically back into the sea under gravity, posing no threat to the Eight-Tails or Kumogakure.
The middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi smiled coldly.
His hand seals suddenly changed.
At that moment, every Kirigakure shinobi also changed, but their seals were different from his.
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
The enormous mountain of seawater erupted.
Hundreds of millions of tons of seawater poured and sprayed toward the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, battering the Eight-Tails' tentacles so they couldn't fall at all.
It even became unstable and toppled backward.
Kumogakure shinobi were powerful.
But facing this man-made tsunami dozens of meters high, they had no ability to resist and were scattered in all directions.
The Third Raikage stood in place and fiercely shattered the seawater rushing toward him.
But the shattered seawater closed together again behind him, preventing him from protecting the Kumogakure shinobi behind him.
The Third Raikage, known as the strongest shield, could only retreat helplessly, following the impact of the seawater backward.
At the moment Kumogakure shinobi were too busy to take care of themselves, the middle-aged shinobi appeared atop the wave.
His steadiness had turned into pride.
"Kirigakure is not only the three great clans."
"Bloodline limits are not only Ice Release and Shikotsumyaku."
"There is also the Boil Release of my Terumī clan."
At this time, light flashed in the middle-aged Kirigakure shinobi's emerald-green eyes.
His reddish-brown hair whipped violently in the sea wind.
His chakra boiled completely as he performed his proudest ninjutsu.
Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique.
The Kirigakure shinobi pressed both hands onto the wave.
The acidic mist did not spread at all.
It quickly merged into the seawater, changing its nature.
Even the sea's color became pale blue.
Very soon, the Kumogakure shinobi tumbling in the seawater felt the change.
Their weapons, clothes, and skin began dissolving in the seawater.
The pain brought by corrosion made the shinobi scream continuously.
Screaming beneath the sea was not a good idea.
Some immediately felt their breath running short and instinctively struggled upward desperately, trying to regain air.
But they had been swept under by Water Release ninjutsu in the first place.
They couldn't distinguish up, down, left, or right at all.
To avoid making another mistake, they had originally been waiting in the seawater for the ninjutsu's effect to pass.
The sudden lack of breath forced Kumogakure shinobi to struggle ahead of time.
Then they could only rely on luck.
Some were lucky and found the right direction, returning to the sea surface alive.
But others chose the wrong direction and drowned miserably in the sea.
Their bodies sank to the bottom, becoming a feast for benthic creatures.
There were also unlucky fools whose swimming ability was so poor it made one dig their toes into the ground.
After crying out in pain, they began gulping down mouthfuls of water.
They swallowed corrosive seawater into their stomachs, burning their throats and internal organs.
Before they drowned, their organs had already been corroded to death.
With one jointly cast ninjutsu from Kirigakure, sixteen Kumogakure shinobi died.
The Third Raikage's heart ached terribly.
These shinobi were all elites he had selected.
The lowest among them were veteran chunin about to be promoted to tokubetsu jonin.
Losing so many was equivalent to fighting a major campaign.
It was truly a heavy loss.
Kirigakure shinobi saw this scene, and their morale immediately surged.
They cheered and spontaneously charged toward the enemy.
The depression brought by repeated defeat and large-scale death finally dissipated.
The three Kage-level commanders had complicated feelings at this moment.
This was not the result of their command.
Just now, the three of them had each faced their own opponents, yet none of them had successfully completed the task.
Instead, a jonin from a minor clan had done it.
Especially Kaguya Ren.
Throughout the entire battle, he had been suppressed by the Third Raikage.
In his senses, that man covered in lightning was too fast.
As for the so-called strongest shield, he had no chance to verify it at all.
From beginning to end, he was beaten down, relying entirely on his hard bones to withstand the damage.
As a result, when the Terumī jonin led a group of Kirigakure shinobi to launch the attack, Kaguya Ren could not stop the Third Raikage at all.
He allowed the man to return at the first moment and organize defense.
Although they failed to block the tsunami of Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave, they also failed to scatter Kumogakure's shinobi.
If he had been able to hold back the Third Raikage, then right now, it would not be Kirigakure shinobi surrounding Kumogakure with soaring morale.
It would be Kirigakure shinobi chasing down scattered Kumogakure shinobi fleeing for their lives.
Truly regrettable.
Kirigakure's encirclement beat Kumogakure so badly they could not raise their heads.
Even though the Third Raikage and the AB Combination were strong enough, there were too many subordinates they had to look after.
All of them were flustered and unable to open the situation.
At that moment, the Third Raikage roared,
"Blue B! I need a huge explosion! Give me a Tailed Beast Ball!"
If anyone else had said this, Blue B would certainly have hesitated, worrying whether he might blow up their own people too.
But the Third Raikage's order was beyond question.
Without hesitation, he fully released the Eight-Tails and shouted with wild laughter,
"Gyūki!! Let the shinobi world witness your power!"
The Eight-Tails said in a muffled voice,
"You said that yesterday. Use a different line next time."
After saying that, the Eight-Tails' huge ox head opened its mouth, raised its face toward the sky, and roared.
Eight octopus tentacles rose high.
Countless high-density Yin and Yang chakra gathered at a single point in the center of its mouth.
Suddenly, a black energy sphere appeared at the gathering point.
As chakra continued pouring in, the ink-black energy sphere expanded sharply, growing larger and larger.
Tailed Beast Ball.
This was the strongest attack method of the tailed beasts.
But not every tailed beast knew this skill.
It was said that the One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Seven-Tails did not.
The Tailed Beast Balls of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails were the strongest.
These two tailed beasts' Tailed Beast Balls could continue charging, producing Tailed Beast Balls with power amplified a hundredfold or a thousandfold.
Kirigakure had two tailed beasts.
They had a sensory understanding of the Tailed Beast Ball as well.
The moment they saw the black sphere appear, they knew they absolutely could not allow the Eight-Tails to fire it.
Countless Kirigakure shinobi rushed forward.
One water pillar after another stabbed toward the Eight-Tails' mouth like giant spears, trying to interrupt the Eight-Tails' charging.
But these efforts were all broken by the Third Raikage and the AB Combination.
Even if a few slipped through the net, they could not affect the Eight-Tails' charging at all.
Very soon, the Tailed Beast Ball expanded to its limit.
Then it was fired by the Eight-Tails.
Amid Kirigakure's screams and Kumogakure's cheers, the Tailed Beast Ball fell into the center of the Kumogakure shinobi.
Boom—
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