Minato led his troops out of the battlefield. Although Onoki was somewhat dissatisfied with that, he wasn't in a situation to confront Minato at the time.
The 3rd Raikage was left on his own. To Onoki, this was a golden opportunity to kill him.
After Minato left, Onoki immediately let all his troops attack the 3rd Raikage.
The 3rd Raikage's face was heavy. Yes, he was seen as an invincible man. But was he really invincible? The Rock Ninjas were innumerable. Facing nearly 10.000 men along with Onoki, he realized that this might not end up well.
In fact, when Konoha and the Rock got united, that should have made him retreat already.
With Kushina's attack, the effect of having to perfect Jinchuriki on the battlefield was absolutely decimated, and the 3rd Raikage actually wanted to stop the fight. He was the village's Kage, so naturally he didn't lack wisdom. It was very clear to him that this battle was going to end in a double defeat.
He was actually waiting for a reason to retreat early, one that wouldn't hurt the Cloud Ninjas morale.
However, he didn't expect that said reason would actually be an attack on his village.
Under these circumstances, the 3rd Raikage chose to be left behind by his troops to block the Rock Ninjas, even at the expense of his life.
Even though he knew that his death might be the end, he did not hesitate. For the future of the village, he could sacrifice anything including his life.
In contrast to the Raikage's gloominess, Onoki had a smile on his face. He was about to get rid of one of his biggest worries; he couldn't help but smile.
Under his orders, the 3rd Raikage was rushed at by the Rock Ninjas. The Raikage's Lightning Chakra Mode seemed to have become ever more violent, and he started throw those rushing on him away.
The two Kages, along with the 3rd Hokage and Hanzo, were at the top of the scale when it came to power in world of Ninja. The ordinary Rock Ninjas were all jumping to their deaths.
A single strike from the 3rd Raikage was capable of throwing away dozens. Onoki saw that happening and his face became heavy. However, he didn't call for retreat. They had already started; they must end this and kill this enemy.
Over ten thousand of the Rock Ninjas kept coming in waves at the 3rd Raikage, who tirelessly waved his fists throwing them away.
As time passed, and after over two hours of constant attack, he still didn't have a scratch on his body, while corpses of the Rock Ninjas were paving the floors all around him.
Onoki was getting more and more frustrated, as the 3rd Raikage's power seemed to be beyond all imagination. And because of the corpses of his fellow Rock Ninjas surrounding his target, he couldn't just hit his foe with Dust Release without destroying them.
The 3rd Raikage's eyes were red, like a raging bull, while the Rock Ninjas who saw the corpses of their fellow Ninjas got more frustrated and enraged as well. They kept rushing at their target endlessly.
In the Cloud village, the troops finally returned, and Ryo who was well aware of their arrival had already left the village.
A looked at the ruins of his village, roaring in wrath, and everyone in the Cloud troops felt the same fury.
Compared to the 3rd Raikage, A had a much more aggressive temper, and was relatively simple minded at the time. If he wasn't reminded by a fellow Ninjas, he wouldn't even think about limiting casualties.
When the other Cloud Ninjas did their statistics, A and some of the stronger Cloud Ninjas were sitting side by side in front of the ruin of what used to be the Raikage's office building.
"Hey, you think that even this time, father will be okay?" A was worried about the 3rd Raikage, for he was facing over 10000 Ninjas on his own.
"Aniki, yo, the 3rd Raikage is too strong and very, powerful I you don't really have to worry, Bakayaro, Konoyaro!"
"Don't call me a baka, yaro!" A hit B's head.
But in anyway, B's words make A feel much better. Although he was reckless, he knew that his presence in the village was necessary, and didn't go back to the battlefield on his own.
In the Cloud's current state, they shouldn't be fighting.
As for Konoha, Minato returned to the camp after a while. Worrying about Kushina, he directly went to see her.
The 1st thing he saw was Kushina remaining upong Gamabunta's head. The latter felt ignored, for Minato didn't seem to even notice his presence. Without thinking, he jumped to the top of his head, and squatted down.
Kushina who was opening her eyes had her vision blurry, and she felt like she was on that night when Minato saved her in her childhood.
"Kushina, your red hair is still so beautiful."
She saw his bright smile and heard his praise, and her pale face turned red in an instant.
"Kushina, let's get married after this war!"
That, was the last thing she expected to hear under such circumstances. Her mind went blank, and Minato smiled and said nothing, he just used Flying Thunder God and took her to his tent so that she could rest.
The poor Gamabunta who had to endure their romantics just relieved himself from his duties and returned to Mount Myoboku.
The other Konoha Ninjas didn't hear Minato say a thing, as they were all too far away. However, they saw him hold Kushina and leave, and they all felt awkward.
An hour later, Ryo returned to the camp as well.
The 1st thing he did was going to Minato's tent; he had something important to immediately say to him.
When he arrived, all he saw was the couple kissing each other passionately.
He got intrigued and just stood there watching with a smile. And the two, with Kushina's enhanced senses and Minato's Yellow Flash awareness, were both so out of it that they didn't notice him.
As their kiss ended, Kushina opened her eyes and saw Ryo standing there, and her face turned as red as a ripe apple, and then she gasped and fainted.
Ryo had been a doctor in his past life, and great medical Ninja here. He could recognize someone faking fainting with ease, but he said nothing here.
Being a man, Minato didn't care as much, and his face didn't blush, nor did he gasp when seeing Ryo. He calmly asked: "Ryo, what do you want?"
Ryo was impressed by his calmness, while finding it funny as well. He felt like teasing him, but he didn't have time for that. He said: " Minato Ni-san, you and I should immediately attack the Cloud Village at once!"
"Attaking the Cloud? Why!" Minato didn't want to get involved with the battle between the Rock and the Cloud. If Ryo didn't have a convincing reason, Minato wasn't going for it.
"The 3rd Riakge is being attacked by Onoki's troops. While he's as strong as they come, it's only a matter of time before he's killed. We should just gain time for the Rock, and not let the Cloud rescue the 3rd Raikage. When their Kage dies, the Cloud would certainly want to wage war against the Rock again. With that, we could force the Cloud to sign a peace treaty, and the Lightning Country war-front will be over!"
Minato gave what Ryo suggested some thought, and then finally nodded.