Seeing that Hinata had not yet taken down the Fourth Raikage, Makoto spoke up, "Hinata, step back."
Hinata was slightly startled, but still obediently nodded and retreated behind Makoto.
"I'm sorry, Makoto-kun, I..."
"It's fine, after all, you just awakened the Tenseigan."
Makoto interrupted her and stepped forward himself.
Makoto's pace was leisurely, but the intangible pressure made fine beads of sweat appear on the Fourth Raikage's forehead. A instinctively clenched his fists, lightning Chakra dancing violently across his skin.
At the same time, the already demoralized Kumogakure army felt another chill run down their spines. The Ninjas from small countries among the government coalition forces, like those from the Land of Snow and the Land of Grass, had their eyes light up with anticipation.
"Finally, it's the Supreme Commander's turn?"
"It's my first time seeing him..."
Many of them had only heard of Makoto's reputation and witnessed the terrifying strength of the women around him during this war, but they had never seen his personal fighting style.
Their reason for joining the Ninja World Government was mainly that, as small nations, they were used to surviving in the gaps between the great powers.
The government's publicly declared purpose was... whoever starts a war gets crushed.
This was a perfect choice for small countries.
After all, they never had the right to initiate a war in the first place.
If paying an annual protection fee could guarantee peace, then why not be happy about it?
But there was one prerequisite for this...
Their own leader had to be strong enough.
Makoto stopped ten meters in front of the Fourth Raikage, looked at this 'NTR' element-filled A, and suddenly said with some emotion:
"If I had been born in Kumogakure, we probably would have worked together quite well."
These words surprised everyone.
'Why was he suddenly praising the enemy?'
Even the Fourth Raikage, who was prepared to die, looked bewildered.
He could tell that Makoto's words weren't sarcastic, but came from the heart.
A frowned, unsure how to respond.
Truth be told, Makoto had a deep impression of the Fourth Raikage, one of the few characters in the original work who wasn't successfully Talk-no-Jutsu'd by Naruto.
Especially the scene where Naruto said, "When you kill Sasuke out of hatred, then our comrades might not be able to stand by, and they will strike back. That cycle will repeat endlessly, and everyone will start killing each other."
If it were Nagato or Obito-kun, they'd probably hear the usual BGM and start kneeling in repentance.
But the Fourth Raikage countered with, "Then after I kill Sasuke, you can forgive me."
That was indeed badass.
And regardless of anything else about Kumogakure, looking at the original work, they never seemed to turn on their own people.
If a Reincarnator was born in this village, although the environment was harsher, at least they wouldn't have to constantly guard against the Elder Council like in Konoha.
Thinking of this, Makoto couldn't help but sigh. Then, shifting the conversation, he shrugged slightly helplessly:
"Unfortunately, the Ninja World Government urgently needs a sacrifice to establish its authority right now, and I really can't turn a blind eye to the things Kumogakure has done in the past."
As he spoke, Makoto revealed the Flying Thunder God kunai. The trident-shaped kunai gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the sunlight.
"Sorry, but Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning will become history today."
"Shut up!"
The Fourth Raikage roared.
Lightning Chakra Mode fully activated, his burst speed rivaling the Flying Thunder God.
He vanished instantly, reappearing right in front of Makoto.
His right arm muscles bulged, and a violent blast of lightning Chakra exploded from his fist—
Lariat!
The fist swung down.
But it didn't hit Makoto at all.
Makoto simply vanished.
The Fourth Raikage's pupils contracted sharply.
Missing the punch sent his body lurching forward two steps due to momentum.
Dodai, the Raikage's assistant, was also shocked, "What happened? He didn't throw any kunai!"
As someone who had also participated in the Third Great Ninja War, Dodai was very familiar with the Flying Thunder God Technique used by Minato.
The user of that technique could instantly teleport to a kunai's location.
But just now, Makoto hadn't thrown any Flying Thunder God kunai.
So how did he teleport?
"Idiot."
Seeing the confusion on Dodai's face, Beam immediately guessed his thoughts and couldn't help but mock.
In an instant—
Makoto appeared out of thin air directly above the Fourth Raikage.
In his right palm, a blue Rasengan formed, spinning rapidly and emitting a sharp buzzing sound.
With a mid-air flip, he slammed the Rasengan hard into the Fourth Raikage's back.
This scene was strikingly similar to the famous moment when Minato faced Obito during the Nine-Tails incident.
Boom—!
The Rasengan struck the Fourth Raikage's back.
The Lightning Release Armor vibrated violently, blue lightning and blue Rasengan light intertwined, emitting a blinding flash.
The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth, his feet planted firmly on the ground, leaving two deep craters.
But the impact of the Rasengan still pushed him several steps forward.
"Ugh—!"
The Fourth Raikage roared abruptly, swinging his arm back to knock Makoto away.
He turned around, panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot.
"Such attacks can't hurt me!"
He had seen both the Flying Thunder God and the Rasengan during the Third Great Ninja War over a decade ago, wielded by Minato.
After more than ten years of training, his speed and defense had reached new heights.
The Fourth Raikage was confident that these two techniques were no longer enough to handle him.
But just after he spoke, his body suddenly staggered.
"Cough—"
A mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, splattering on the ground.
The Kumogakure's side was startled.
"Raikage-sama!"
"What's going on?!"
Samui and the others stared intently at the Fourth Raikage's back, noticing that the Lightning Chakra Armor seemed undamaged.
The small cracks were still there, but there were no new breaks.
'Why was Raikage-sama injured?'
"It's Ryuo."
Hanabi said, arms crossed, with an understanding look. "To think he could infuse Ryuo into a Rasengan. As expected of Makoto-nii."
"Ryuo? What's that?" Konohamaru asked curiously, since he was also training in the Rasengan.
Hanabi glanced at her classmate, too lazy to explain, and turned back to watch the battlefield.
The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth against the pain and attacked Makoto again.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal!"
He swung his hand like a blade, tearing through the air.
Makoto dodged sideways, vanished, and reappeared to the Fourth Raikage's left.
Rasengan, slammed down.
"Lariat!"
Elbow strike, missed.
Makoto reappeared to his right.
Rasengan, slammed down.
The Fourth Raikage pushed his speed to the maximum, the lightning from his armor scorching jagged marks into the ground around him.
But he couldn't keep up with Makoto's speed at all.
And Makoto only used the Rasengan to attack throughout, without any other moves.
It was a complete mismatch.