52 Chapter 52

Elder Karai couldn't help but comment, "I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Hiruzen, who had held a mild hope until the last second, now fully resolved himself to fight. He had no more consideration for the Kumo envoy team; they were no longer envoys but invaders who came to destroy what he held dear.

"Raikage, you shouldn't have done this. If you had faced me directly in battle, I would have respected you for your courage. But all I see before me now are a bunch of cowards." Hiruzen growled, wanting nothing but to tear apart the enemies standing before him.

"Heh, so what, Hiruzen? We are Shinobi. As long as we fulfill our mission, that's all that matters. As for the methods employed, they don't count. And you shouldn't have come to face us alone," Raikage grinned. In a one-on-one, he didn't have enough confidence to kill Hiruzen, but with Elder Kenji by his side and a dozen of Kumo's best elites surrounding the Hokage, he saw a chance to cut down the Leaf's leadership.

Hiruzen chuckled at Raikage's words, unfurled a scroll, and threw it on the ground. The scroll had a small slug over a fuinjutsu circle with 'human' written on the center of the scroll. "Who said I was alone?"

The Kumo elder, seeing the fuinjutsu scroll, instinctively clad his body in lightning and moved to intercept. However, out of a puff of smoke, the slug vanished, and Tsunade emerged, charging at the Kumo elder with a fully powered punch.

"Boom." The Kumo elder was lucky to be clad in lightning armor; otherwise, he wouldn't have survived that punch unscathed. The punch left a deep crater, with Tsunade's fist as the epicenter. Tsunade, after going through the ritual, carried such dangerous intensity that even with the lightning armor, a few bones in the Kumo elder's body broke.

Tsunade quickly fell back to Hiruzen's side, while the Kumo elder regrouped by Raikage's side, along with a dozen Kumo Shinobi and Mabui.

"It seems like I was right, Sensei. Kumo is nothing but a bunch of cowards. They must have lost their backbone after losing the Third Raikage." Now, with the peace talk ending in an ambush and Kumo attacking the Leaf Village, the only answer was war. Tsunade chose not to hold back her words and started blatantly insulting the enemy.

"Senju, I dare you to repeat that one more time. I will make sure to send you to hell." The Raikage, who never liked being insulted, couldn't control his anger.

"It seems Konoha wants to go to war with Kumo. You know, we can still talk this out peacefully. I am sure even the Leaf doesn't want to sacrifice innocent Shinobi life." The Kumo Elder, still feeling that something was odd, wanted to know if they could fall back under the name of peace.

Everyone who heard the Kumo elder's words couldn't help but give him a bland look. Tsunade even started laughing like crazy after hearing the Kumo elder's words, not caring that they were right in the middle of a battle. Even the Raikage couldn't help but give the elder a look of disbelief.

"[Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku]" (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)

Hiruzen, determined to put an end to the Kumo team's interference, initiated a powerful attack. He unleashed a sea of flames, enveloping the entire Kumo line in a raging inferno. In response, four Kumo Jonin quickly stepped forward, combining their water release jutsu to create a massive colliding wave.

"[Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha]" (Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave)

Fire and water clashed with tremendous force, creating steam that obscured the battlefield. Despite the Kumo Jonin's joint efforts, Hiruzen's attack began to overpower their combined water release. The Hokage, fueled by determination, poured more chakra into his technique, intensifying the flames.

Recognizing the dire situation, the Raikage, using his superior speed, flickered to the Hokage's side, ready to counteract and interrupt the Hokage's attack, cloaked in lightning armor, and launched a powerful punch towards Hiruzen. Before the punch could connect, Tsunade stepped forward and intercepted the Raikage's attack with her monstrous strength, blocking his punch with her forearm.

"Stay out of my sensei's way, Raikage. You're not strong enough to face either of us," Tsunade declared, her eyes filled with determination. She then retaliated with a swift counterattack, aiming a powerful strike at Raikage, who barely managed to dodge.

The Kumo elder, witnessing the situation, decided to intervene. He performed a series of hand signs and unleashed a powerful lightning technique. "[Raiton: Rairyū]" (Lightning Release: Thunder Dragon), targeting both Hiruzen and Tsunade. However, Tsunade, who had been observing the Kumo elder since the start of the battle, swiftly reacted and ripped through the incoming lightning dragon heads with sheer raw strength while being clad in chakra armor.

As the Kumo Jonin found themselves at a disadvantage, Tsunade covered her Sensei's flank against the combined assault of the Raikage and the Kumo elder. Tsunade, bolstered by her recent upgrade, easily matched the lightning-clad punches from the Raikage. Without this enhancement, she wouldn't have been able to withstand such devastating attacks unless she took additional precautions. The Kumo elder was still trying to pinpoint the reason for his odd feeling, so his focus was divided during the fight.

Hiruzen, as the battle progressed, drew a Fuma Shuriken and hurled it toward the Kumo Jonin team. While in the middle of its trajectory, he performed a series of hand seals, causing the single shuriken to multiply into hundreds of deadly projectiles. The Kumo Jonin used their speed to evade most of the projectiles, but they failed to notice that the shurikens were rigged with explosive tags. A massive explosion erupted through the Kumo line as the shurikens made contact with the ground.

The Raikage was eager to intervene in Hiruzen's rampage as he cut down one Kumo Shinobi after another. However, Tsunade successfully kept both him and the Kumo elder engaged, preventing the Raikage from supporting his Jonin. The Raikage wondered if all three Sannin were of equal caliber, considering Tsunade's seemingly unstoppable strength. He acknowledged that, if not for his sturdy armor, facing such a formidable opponent head-on would be impossible. Another Kumo Jonin fell victim to Hiruzen's fierce attacks, and the Raikage knew they couldn't afford to lose more ninja, especially with Leaf reinforcements on the way.

"Mabui, what's taking so long? Why have you not recalled our ninja from within the Leaf? We need to retreat now," the Raikage urgently demanded. He believed that, as long as he secured a few Kekkei Genkai, the assault would be considered a success.

However, Mabui, who had not engaged in the battle, was sweating profusely. She struggled to recall any of the suicide warriors sent into the Leaf.

"Raikage-sama, something seems wrong. None of their fuin tags are responding. I am not able to recall any of them," Mabui admitted. As soon as she conveyed this information, the Kumo elder, realizing the severity of the situation, fell back to her side and attempted to recall his comrades.

"Heh, still looking for those ninja you sent into the Leaf? Don't worry; you will not even be able to retrieve their corpses," Tsunade taunted the Kumo team while continuing her relentless assault on the Raikage.

The moment Hiruzen heard that the Raikage intended to retreat, he changed his plans swiftly and created four shadow clones of himself. "[Kage Bunshin no Jutsu]" (Shadow Clone Technique). The four new shadow clones rapidly shot out in four directions, moving a fixed distance, and then began weaving handsigns. "[Shishienjin]" (Four Violet Flames Formation) A massive barrier enclosed the entire battlefield.

The moment the barrier was completed, Hiruzen intensified his attacks, aiming to eliminate as many enemies as possible. With war now inevitable, one less Jonin on the enemy side meant fewer casualties for the Leaf during the upcoming conflict. However, the Kumo elder jumped in to support the Kumo Jonin, making it challenging for Hiruzen to pick off the enemies as easily as before.

As the Kumo elder left to support the other side, the Raikage found himself handling the entire pressure from Tsunade. The Sannin was on a rampage, destroying the surroundings with her monstrous punches. More than two dozen craters marked the battlefield, a testament to the sheer power and ferocity of Tsunade's assault.

As the battle raged on, a few more Jonin fell on the Kumo side. Their original number, more than a dozen, had been significantly reduced by Hiruzen. The Raikage, unable to wait for the ninja who infiltrated the village any longer, chose to believe Tsunade's earlier words and made a quick gesture for the Kumo elder to retreat. The elder immediately pulled out a large scroll and weaved handsigns.

Within moments of the Raikage's signal, the entire Kumo team vanished into thin air. "It seems like they have come thoroughly prepared, Sensei. It must have been a teleportation technique aided by fuinjutsu," Tsunade remarked as she reeled in her aura and landed next to Hiruzen.

"Hmm, there is not much we can do about such fuinjutsu techniques. They have always been techniques with no natural counters. We need to quickly get back to the village. I need to make sure the explosion did not do more harm than intended." Hiruzen undid the barrier around the battlefield and swiftly retreated back to the village along with Tsunade.

Back within the toad's mouth, the clash between the two Sannin had reached epic proportions. Orochimaru was battered, but he still held a sadistic grin.

"Jiraiya, it seems like you have grown quite strong these few years, but it's time that I take my leave." Just then, just behind the Hokage rock, a monstrous purple serpent made its appearance. It looked around for a second and noticed a fleshy prison that enclosed the two Sannin. The purple snake rushed forward and swallowed the entire flesh prison in a single bite.

Jiraiya, who was inside the toad's mouth, quickly understood the situation. He undid the seal and swiftly escaped from being swallowed by the gigantic snake. Before Jiraiya could summon his toads, the purple snake vanished with a puff of smoke, carrying Orochimaru within its belly.

A few miles outside Konoha's barrier, the Seven Tails was still struggling to break out of the barrier that the Leaf elites had deployed. Fugaku was almost staggering, trying to hold Susanoo's form. Just then, the sealing team that had been working tirelessly since the start of the battle completed their sealing.

"[Jūroku Renge Chōwa Fūin]" (Sixteen Lotus Harmony Seal). All sixteen sealing team members planted their palms on the ground at the same time. The jade container placed at the center of the circle glowed, and a huge lotus formed right underneath the Seven Tails. The fully bloomed lotus quickly enclosed itself around the Bijuu, and though the seven tails struggled with all its might, it was still not able to break free from the delicate-looking lotus petals, devouring the seven tails completely. Then, the huge lotus shrank to the size of a fist and got sealed within the jade container etched with fuinjutsu seals.

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The next morning, the shocking news of the Kumo envoy team's deceit spread throughout the village. However, even more startling news rocked the entire Shinobi world. Firstly, there was the fall of Takigakure village. Secondly, a full-scale offensive by the Iwagakure ninja on the Lightning Country had been launched. Kumogakure had suffered great losses as the Raikage was away, and the Tsuchikage himself led the assault, accompanied by their two Jinchuriki, the Four Tails and the Five Tails. In the end, with the intervention of the Eight Tails and numerous sacrifices from Kumo Shinobi, the Iwagakure assault was repelled, and the Iwa army retreated back to the territory of Takigakure.

Currently, Kazuki was walking through the hospital, heading to a specific ward to meet someone important. Upon entering the room, he narrowed his eyes at the sight of Danzo lying unconscious on the bed, half of his body missing. Kazuki understood that Danzo had survived by sacrificing a Sharingan, as indicated by the missing right eye. Although Kazuki had intended to kill Danzo during the explosion the day before, the resilient figure somehow survived.