The Black Lightning

"Hokage-dono?" The Third Raikage muttered while staring at the old man, Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!

The Third Raikage was an incredibly proud man, he stared at the Third Hokage right in his eyes and said, "I never expected you to come to the battlefield so early."

"I can say the same about you, Raikage-dono! Maybe I should just end the war against Kumo, right here!" With that, the Hokage threw several Kunai at the Raikage. He also made a single hand seal while speaking, "Ninja Art: Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In an instant, 10's of Kunai were split into 100's of Kunais as they targeted the Raikage's strong body.

The Raikage didn't fear any of them as these Kunais pierce his lightning armour. However, there were things he ignored due to his overconfidence.

As some of the Kunais came into contact with the Raikage's lightning armour, they immediately exploded. The explosion wasn't very strong, but its shockwave was enough to make Raikage back away.

The Raikage understood at that moment… Exploding tags were stuck onto these Kunais and hidden by a thin sheet of leather.

As he looked at the Hokage's location, the Raikage noticed that the old man wasn't there.

At that moment, the Raikage suddenly ducked and dodged a thrust from a kunai. As turned the Raikage turned his head to see the Hokage standing there, he immediately punched the Hokage. But… the Hokage puffed out with a burst of smoke.

At that moment, he felt another strange intuition. And following that intuition, the Raikage immediately jumped out of the way. He had narrowly dodged the Fire Dragon Bomb of the Hokage.

Not just that, the moment he landed, he was attacked with the Earth Dragon Bomb of the Hokage.

Perhaps the Hokage had been prepared for him to dodge. Although the Earth Chakra was quite effective against the Lightning Chakra, it still didn't manage to pierce the Third Raikage's Lightning Armour.

Just when the Raikage felt like he could take a break, he noticed that Sakumo was nowhere to be found.

Unconsciously, he turned his head up and saw Sakumo coming at him with full speed.

The Raikage understood that this could very well be the strike that could kill him.

So… The Blue coloured Lightning Armour faded… In place of that Blue Coloured Lightning Armour, a Dark Black Coloured Lightning Armour appeared!

The Raikage moved, but this time, he was so fast that even Sakumo's eyes had trouble following him.

Perhaps even the Hokage couldn't see the Raikage for some moments. This dark coloured lightning seemed quite troublesome.

This time, Sakumo was prepared for the Raikage to dodge. Not that he was counting on the Raikage to dodge but more that he was prepared.

Sakumo controlled the Wind Chakra around his body and forcefully spun his body.

As Sakumo gracefully landed on the ground, he noted that the Raikage wasn't anywhere to be found.

Suddenly, he felt someone grabbing hold of his arms and squeezing them tightly. Perhaps this was his answer.

Sakumo tried to resist, but in front of the Third Raikage's strength, his resistance seemed trivial.

Just when the Third Raikage was about to crush Sakumo's body against the ground, his chest was hit by a long staff of none other than the Third Hokage.

The Raikage was struck by the Hokage's staff, and he crashed into multiple trees before stopping.

The Hokage approached Sakumo and noticed that his arms had been badly burnt considering he was held by the Raikage when the latter was covered by Black Lightning Armour.

Although Sakumo's arms had blisters, the man didn't let out a wince of pain. He shrugged off the pain while staring at the Raikage before picking up his Chakra Sabre.

Noticing the Third Hokage and Sakumo standing there, even the Raikage experienced some terror.

"To think that the Third Hokage and White Fang are fighting together yet you aren't able to kill me. It must be embarrassing, right?" He asked with scorn in his voice.

He didn't fear anyone in one-on-one combat, but against these two, he couldn't help but back away.

To this, Sakumo replied, "We are Shinobi, not warriors. There is not a single code for combat. The only thing that matters is to achieve the objective. If I can kill you and save the lives of countless shinobi who will die in the future, I will gladly put my pride down for that." His voice was calm yet confident with a rare charm.

The Hokage stepped forward while glaring at the Third Raikage, "Even alone, you are not my match, Raikage-dono! I do admit that you might injure me with your fierce blow though… So, I don't mind Sakumo's assistance against you."

"Tch…" The Third Raikage couldn't help but click his tongue. He could let Killer Bee and Ay come here, but Killer Bee still hadn't completely mastered the Eight Tailed Beast's Power. Some more time; perhaps a few more months were needed.

"Consider this your victory then, Hokage-dono, White Fang!" With that, the Third Raikage disappeared with a black flash.

The Hokage knew well enough that the Raikage was trying to return to Kumo camp now.

There was no point in following after him as both, the Hokage and Sakumo, were well aware that they wouldn't be able to catch up to the Raikage.

For some time, they remained cautious and continued to observe their surroundings. A few moments later, they were sure that the Raikage had truly left.

Sakumo unconsciously let out a break he had been holding all this time before turning towards the Hokage, "Thank you for saving my life, Hokage-sama."

"The jounins who returned informed me that you had stopped to block some shinobi. I naturally don't want to lose a capable shinobi like you. Alright, let's return now."

With that, the Third Hokage and Sakumo returned to their camp.

Sakumo was asked to go to some medics to treat the blisters on his arm. After getting treated, Sakumo went to the Third Hokage's tent and requested him to move to Ame's camp so that he could protect his son, Kakashi.

Hearing Sakumo's words, the Hokage didn't make his decision immediately. Still, soon enough he said, "Instead of you going there, send a few experienced Jounin there and request for some of the academy graduates, including your son. You can protect them better here…"

Sakumo was satisfied with his response, and he soon left. Seeing Sakummo leave so easily, The Third Hokage let out a sigh…

He thought back to his fight against the Third Raikage. The Third Raikage was far stronger than his expectations. Maybe getting serious from the beginning would have been better.

In contrast, at the Ame side, the Third Tsuchikage and Hanzo never made a move against each other. It seemed that the two were not willing to show their true strength to the other person…

The battle between genins and chunins was unfolding at their side. This was also good for the Third Hokage, he would be hardpressed to assist the side fighting against Iwa right now.

Iwa was focusing on short-scale attacks while Konoha was focusing on defending their camp. Considering that they were simply defending, they had far fewer losses compared to Iwa.

This was the pace that Konoha wanted to maintain for some time, at least, until they managed to deal with Kumo. Once Kumo was dealt with, the Iwa's threat wouldn't be that significant.

Moreover, before having come here, the Third Hokage had sent the order to Jiraiya to go to Ame and assist the Jounins over there. Helping out their genins and chunins subtly…

Knowing Jiraiya's skill, he could save a lot of Konoha Shinobi. And just as the Third Hokage had planned, Jiraiya had already started moving towards the Ame.

He had already met up with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan and completed his reunion. After that, he even met up with Araki and heard him say that Jiraiya should follow the Hokage's orders for now. There was nothing else he needed to do.

Jiraiya was somewhat confused by his statement, but he didn't mind it. He had little to no idea of what Araki had planned for this war.