Chapter 185: I Beg You, Live.
"Alright, you... you cover the retreat. I'll take them and go." Uchiha Kagami didn't know how he managed to force those words past his lips; he only felt his entire body trembling.
"Kagami, take care." Stelle turned around and walked in the opposite direction of the retreat, actively moving to meet the encircling forces. But Kagami's hand fiercely grabbed her wrist.
Just like the countless times before when he tried to persuade her, he gripped her wrist. He gripped her so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged against his pale skin. The uncontrollable grief made his entire body shake. Although he tried desperately to restrain himself, it was entirely useless.
He wished he could, just like those countless times before, simply grab her hand tightly and pull with a little more force, as if that alone would be enough to drag her away from the abyss.
"Stelle..." He struggled to utter those two syllables, completely unable to voice the long, logical arguments he usually made. He simply stepped forward and fiercely pulled her into his embrace.
"I beg you, live."
It was a brief embrace, lasting only a fleeting moment. He wasted no more time. He turned and left, pushing the Body Flicker Technique to its absolute maximum speed to catch up with the rapidly retreating main force.
His vision involuntarily blurred. He blinked hard several times to clear the moisture from his sight, but he didn't even have the courage to look back one last time.
"Stelle, that's the sealing scroll Master just finished drawing. Don't tear it."
"Stelle, you broke the Clan Head's favorite vase! Run! I'll say I broke it."
"Stelle, we're not adults yet. We can't drink, we can't go in."
"Stelle, that's the Pleasure District. We can't go there, not even out of curiosity. The Clan Head will break your legs and then kill me."
"Stelle..."
...
In the suffocating darkness of the present, enemies continuously surged forward from all directions, their killing intent thick enough to choke on.
To make it easier for the enemy vanguard to find her, Stelle deliberately activated her Flame Release Chakra Mode. Brilliant, scorching purple flames erupted around her body, roaring to life with a deafening whoosh. Under the pitch-black night sky, the vibrant purple light flickered and danced, acting as a flawless beacon pointing the way for her executioners.
Stelle knew with absolute clarity that the Four Nations' ultimate target was her alone. They would focus every ounce of their military might on surrounding and killing her, willingly abandoning the pursuit of Konoha's elite squad. As long as she remained rooted to this spot, Kagami and the others would be perfectly safe after breaking out from the canyon.
The enemy forces stationed at the canyon were originally just an interception checkpoint, set up specifically to prevent her from slipping away with a large group. Their sole purpose was to stall her, meaning there wouldn't be many true elites blocking Kagami's path.
In the blink of an eye, a dense, dark mass of shinobi surged towards her position. The sheer volume of bodies shifting through the trees made it impossible to tell exactly how many there were.
Stelle raised her hand and swung it casually toward the sky. A massive purple fireball flew high into the clouds and detonated with a thunderous crack, its blinding purple light illuminating the surrounding landscape.
Figures were stirring everywhere. Those who arrived were all hardened elites from various nations, forming a dense, overwhelming crowd that stretched as far as the eye could see. Weapons glinted under the artificial purple moonlight.
It seemed that her Ninja World Peace Report truly had a massive, terrifying impact on the geopolitical landscape. All the nations had panicked. They were willing to pay an astronomical price in blood to kill her tonight rather than wait a single second longer.
Stelle folded her arms. Her expression remained utterly indifferent. She lightly tapped her fingers against her arm, keeping a rhythmic, almost bored tempo.
'This wasn't how the Third Raikage retired in the original work,'she mused inwardly.'Now it's become my grand exit.'
Wait, that wasn't entirely accurate. The Third Raikage only faced a ten-thousand-person siege team from Iwagakure back in his timeline, and the quality of those troops was highly mixed.
But right now? The Four Great Nations had deployed Jinchuriki, a terrifying mix of elite strike teams, and countless regular troops. They employed clever flanking tactics to hold back the main Konoha forces on the other three national battlefields, deliberately deploying all their absolute best units right here to surround and annihilate her.
A thirty-thousand-strong elite force, plus four Kage-level experts. This grand stage was far more spectacular than any previous historical battle. The Four Nations had practically emptied their hidden reserves, holding absolutely nothing back.
After all, when Tobirama was forcibly taken offline, she had been so enraged that she set her own threat level far too high. If the enemy alliance didn't do this, they wouldn't be able to kill her and would inevitably suffer even worse consequences down the line. They had no choice but to go all out.
She casually glanced at the increasingly close shinobi forces. Her gaze eventually settled on the floating, bandage-wrapped figure of the Second Tsuchikage. She spoke with a mocking, entirely unapologetic drawl.
"Isn't this Mu, the Second Tsuchikage? Long time no see. I heard you've been shaken down quite a bit by the Third Raikage and Hozuki Gengetsu over the years. Why the sudden interest in gathering today? Are you planning to hand over even more money to them?"
These words precisely struck a raw nerve. Mu's visible expression beneath his bandages turned incredibly ugly, his chakra spiking with irritation.
She actually had the nerve to say that! If she hadn't completely fleeced the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water during the negotiations in the Land of Rain back then, how would those two arrogant fools have ever teamed up to mess with him?
"Ida Mutzuki, your twisted ambition has been thoroughly exposed!" Mu's voice rasped through the air. "To delusionally attempt to rule my Land of Earth using a false Ninja World Peace theory is utterly ridiculous."
The Third Raikage stepped forward, sneering heavily as violent blue lightning flickered and cracked around his massive, muscular frame.
"As expected of the disciple of the Shura of the Ninja World. Uchiha Madara yearned to unify the shinobi lands and started a massive war, but you use an even more hypocritical, insidious method. Today, you can take your false peace theory straight down to hell with you."
Stelle shook her head slowly, her face a mask of mild disappointment. It was true that she had prepared that specific peace theory for Kazushi, but it certainly wasn't without genuine purpose.
That theory was, so far, the absolute most suitable political framework for the Ninja World. It was far easier for the masses to accept than brutal unification by force, and objectively the best way to develop their fragile economies.
Unfortunately, in this backward, blood-soaked era, where the chaotic Warring States Period had only ended relatively recently, no one possessed the vision to truly understand the rationality of her proposed system.
Her expression remained perfectly indifferent. Even surrounded by tens of thousands of killers, she didn't show the slightest hint of unease. She remained calm and composed, projecting an aura that suggested she was the one besieging them, not the other way around.
"I simply moved too fast," she said, her voice carrying clearly over the tense silence. "The era couldn't keep up with my pace."
Her tone gradually shifted, becoming dripping with scorn.
"How can frogs at the bottom of a well ever understand the vast ambitions of a swan?"
She swept her gaze over the assembled Kage. "Your vision is far too narrow, permanently confined to the pathetic, small scope of a single village and a single nation. How could you possibly understand my ideas? However, the seed of peace has already been planted. One day, someone will understand."
Those exact, similar words violently struck Chiyo's mind. The elderly kunoichi almost perfectly recalled the staggering, heartbreaking final sentence Kazushi had uttered right before her tragic death.
Grief and raw indignation surged into Chiyo's chest. She stepped forward, her voice breaking into a furious roar. "If you hadn't misled Kazushi, she wouldn't have died! You must pay for the life of our Third Kazekage with your own!"
Stelle's internal feelings were slightly complicated. She had actually been quite happy back when she was friends with Chiyo. Yet, Chiyo had already killed her once before in a previous encounter, and now the old woman desperately wanted to kill her a second time.
It seemed their fundamental auras simply clashed too hard.
Suddenly, a series of muffled explosions sounded from the distant horizon. A faint, bright yellow light rapidly flickered in the dark night sky. It was Kagami, fiercely fighting the enemy blockade.
It seemed he had already successfully led the main Konoha force deep into the canyon to execute their breakout.
Those distant explosions acted as a catalyst, making the atmosphere on this immediate battlefield incredibly heavy and suffocating.
War was imminent. The very first to act were the Iwa shinobi hidden deep underground.
A massive, large-scale Composite Ninjutsu suddenly appeared. In an instant, the earth violently shook and the surrounding mountains swayed. Giant Earth Flow Walls slowly rose from the dirt all around Stelle, aggressively confining her movement space in the center, acting exactly like a stone cage tightening around its prey.
At the exact same time, a thick, unnatural mist began to rapidly permeate the air. Countless Hidden Mist shinobi hidden in the tree lines were simultaneously activating the Hidden Mist Technique.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Flame Release: Flame Dragon Technique!"
Stelle didn't hesitate. She simultaneously formed complex hand seals with both hands, her fingers blurring into motion. A powerful, roaring hurricane materialized from thin air, carrying a massive, terrifying fire dragon made entirely of her signature purple flames. The blazing construct shot down from above, plunging directly into the dense crowd of enemies with apocalyptic force.
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