The Front Line Defeated

Ai was thrown by [Red], losing balance and flying back dozens of meters.

The Thunder Element Chakra surrounding him prevented him from bleeding like other Kumogakure ninjas, but he still suffered serious injuries.

The white vest on Ai's chest was shattered, and an ugly scar suddenly appeared on his chest.

Blood dripped to the ground, forming a pool of blood in front of him.

"Hah, hah, hah..."

Ai panted, finally realizing the kind of enemy Killer Bee had faced at that time.

He looked around and saw that the Kumogakure ninjas had been completely defeated.

But this was only to be Shintaro's target. For the large force to retreat successfully, he had to hold Shintaro back.

Ai activated Thunder Chakra throughout his body to the extreme, then turned into a shadow and began moving very quickly around his opponent.

This was still the old method, but it worked quite well.

Shintaro opened his three-tomoe Sharingan, partially colored blue by the Six Eyes. He could see Ai's figure clearly, but both [Blue] and [Red] found it difficult to hit him.

While moving, Ai picked up a fallen shuriken from the ground, injected it with Thunder Chakra, and threw it at Shintaro. At the same time, he moved behind him.

Ai's thunder shuriken struck the back of Shintaro's neck, and simultaneously, the thunder shuriken in front of him flew towards his face.

Ai knew the other party had the ability to block his attacks.

However, he didn't know the range and limitations of this ability, so he planned to test it one by one with his attacks.

Unfortunately, [Infinity] now not only had no shortcomings but couldn't even be turned off.

Ai's attack failed, and the strange feeling of pause made his heart sink.

He immediately retreated and prepared to escape.

He was now certain there was nothing he could do against Shintaro.

But Shintaro wouldn't allow Ai to come and go as he pleased.

"[Blue]."

A blue sphere absorbed Ai's foot from his soles.

"It's over!"

He was shocked, seeing Shintaro turn and attack with [Rasengan] in his hand.

Initially, Ai thought [Rasengan] would be blocked by him as usual, but he noticed the [Rasengan] looked darker than he had seen before.

"[Rasengan]."

*BANG*

The old [Rasengan] hit Ai's chest, and he flew back again.

The astonishing chakra from [Rasengan] broke through Ai's Thunder Chakra defense.

This time, a bloody hole was created in his chest by [Rasengan], and white ribs could even be seen through the broken flesh.

Shintaro clicked his tongue, "It seems the power still needs to be strengthened. It's not much stronger in close combat now."

The [Rasengan] just now was the size of a ball, and its compression consumed dozens of times the chakra of an ordinary [Rasengan].

But its power was unsatisfactory, at least for Shintaro.

However, this "unsatisfactory" attack nearly killed Ai.

In the critical moment of his life, he remembered his father's gentle teachings.

Though the Third Raikage appeared harsh, he was actually very gentle and loving in his teachings to his son.

Ai also thought of Killer Bee. They had a tacit understanding since they met, and the team they formed was even more famous in the ninja world.

Thinking of these two, Ai burst out with an extraordinary fighting spirit in desperate situations, completely ignoring the horrific wound on his chest, delaying the last evacuation time for the large force.

Seeing Ai not giving him a chance, Shintaro had no desire to continue the fight.

He condensed chakra in his hand, continuously injecting it. With the blessing of the Six Eyes, his chakra utilization rate was extremely high.

So he created an incredibly large [Rasengan], perhaps the size of a room.

Then Shintaro urged [Blue] to compress the huge [Rasengan] into the size of a basketball.

Under such compression, the core of this [Rasengan] even turned slightly red.

Shintaro lifted [Rasengan] and aimed it at the ground towards Ai, smashing it.

*BOOM*

The terrifying power easily tore apart most of the ground, triggering a massive storm of gravel.

The sky filled with debris and stones hurled forward, each carrying the power of bullets.

Shintaro turned and left without glancing at Ai.

If Ai could survive, that was his problem. Since Shintaro awakened the three-tomoe and mastered [Reverse Cursed Technique] and [Red] again, he no longer took the people of Kumogakure seriously, including Ai and Killer Bee.

After all, Shintaro appeared humble on the surface, but the arrogance in his heart could no longer be hidden.

However, if Ai could survive, Shintaro would discard some of his disdain.

After a long time, a dark hand suddenly emerged from there, covered with small scars.

Ai crawled out of the ruins with difficulty.

He looked at the rocky highland that had become ruins and fell into deep despair.

Indeed, Shintaro, who could kill Hachibi, could no longer be measured from a human perspective.

Ai supported his body and walked back. He felt slightly lucky that Shintaro spared his life, but he was soon filled with low spirits.

While Ai was walking to retreat, a young Kumogakure ninja wearing a high blue hat rushed in front of Ai.

"Ai-sama, why are you here?"

The Kumogakure ninja in front of him was named Dodai. He was a close subordinate of Ai's father, the Third Raikage. He had the Lava Kekkei Genkai and had already become a Jonin at a young age, entrusted to Ai by the Third Raikage.

"I lost... Go and tell father that I want to return to the village to train with Bee." Ai said lowly.

Along the way, Dodai saw the defeated Kumogakure ninjas, the ruins in front of him, and Ai's severely injured body, naturally understanding that the Kumogakure ninja's winter offensive had been defeated.

However, Dodai said nothing to Ai about this, instead telling him the shocking news.

"Iwagakure has invaded our homeland..."

He bowed his head, with an unbearable look in his eyes.

Dodai saw that Ai was already very low, so he couldn't bear to tell him the cruel truth, but for the sake of Kumogakure, he had to inform him.

Ai was in a daze, and Dodai continued, "The village is defenseless. To protect the village, Raikage-sama used [Tenso no Jutsu] to teleport to the Iwagakure forces to fight alone... This is already the second day..."

"Raikage-sama sent me to ask for support and request the large force stationed in Frost Country to return for defense immediately..."

"He also said... If unfortunately, he dies in battle, you will inherit the position of the Fourth Raikage."

Ai was stunned for a long time.

The front line was defeated, and his village was invaded. Successive blows made him faint directly after reacting.

"Ai-sama!"

Dodai anxiously held Ai's blood-soaked body.

"[Yōton: Gomudama]."

After forming a seal, Dodai released a rubber ball from his mouth, wrapping Ai inside, leaving a gap for breathing, and then rushed back as fast as he could with Ai on his back.