Chapter 105: The Raikage Attacks

The Cloud ninjas—the faction despised most in the entire shinobi world. Barbaric, violent, profit-driven, reckless, unruly, and insatiably greedy.

Every negative trait a faction could possess could be found in them.

Since the founding of the Hidden Cloud, they had absorbed or wiped out at least twenty small shinobi clans and villages, all for the sake of potentially useful secret techniques or bloodline limits.

In the original story, every appearance of the Cloud ninjas involved either kidnapping women and children, breaking promises, or framing others. They were the epitome of a plague on the shinobi world.

The day after Konoha was attacked, Kakashi and Shikaku urgently assembled patrol squads to guard against forces from the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone.

It seemed the Cloud was more impatient, directly launching an attack on Konoha.

The Konoha team that encountered the Cloud ninja squad included Shiranui Genma, Iwashi Tatami, and Hayate Gekkō's squads.

Or rather, it started with Shiranui Genma's team. Iwashi and Hayate's squads came as reinforcements.

But even with additional support, the Cloud ninjas' numbers kept increasing, surpassing a hundred, all at least of chunin rank.

"This isn't reconnaissance; this is a direct invasion. Are you Cloud ninjas trying to start an all-out war with Konoha?"

"Hmph. Konoha's been on top for years, hoarding the best resources. It's time for a change."

The leader of the Cloud ninjas didn't bother hiding his desire for Konoha.

On Hayate's side, the three newly promoted jōnin were strong, but against over a hundred Cloud ninjas, it was impossible to hold the line.

"Don't fight them head-on. We've already sent the signal. Let's retreat."

The three squads withdrew quickly, with the Cloud ninjas in hot pursuit. Cloud ninjas were known for their taijutsu, so they had a speed advantage.

With their numbers, Hayate's group soon couldn't keep up.

"Damn it, we can't keep running like this. The Cloud ninjas are deliberately exhausting our chakra. If we keep running, we'll be done once our chakra runs out. We need to fight and buy time."

"Head southwest. There's a team from the morning patrol over there."

"Got it. Let's move."

At this time, Aoba had already arrived near the battlefield. With the Flying Thunder God technique, travel was no issue for him.

In fact, each squad carried a secret Flying Thunder God mark Aoba had left on them. However, he wouldn't teleport directly to them unless absolutely necessary, especially when he didn't have a clear view of the situation.

He still hadn't completely overcome the dizziness that came with teleporting after crossing over. If he teleported into a battle while disoriented, it could be a fatal mistake.

So he had already placed numerous Flying Thunder God marks in the patrolled areas around the village.

Each squad had a limited patrol range. When a squad sent a signal, Aoba would choose the Flying Thunder God mark closest to them and teleport there.

Shortly after Hayate's team began retreating, Aoba was already following them from the shadows, but he didn't engage immediately, instead trailing them to see if a bigger fish could be caught.

Seeing that Hayate's team changed direction, Aoba quickly understood their strategy.

That area was within the patrol range of the Byakuma's team. Byakuma was one of Konoha's few sword-wielding ninjas, with the title of "Vacuum Sword."

However, he couldn't change the tide of battle alone. But his team included an interesting special jōnin named Shukyūno.

As a jōnin, Byakuma was skilled at sensing. From a distance, he could detect Hayate and the others approaching.

"The Konoha signal—it's our people. They're being chased. Shukyūno, get ready."

"Understood."

Shukyūno held a large bundle of very fine steel wires. Unlike the precision wirework of the Uchiha clan, who manipulated shuriken with fine steel wire, Shukyūno's style was more thorough. Dragging the wires, he quickly set up a steel wire net around the area.

The wires were very fine and had some form of camouflage applied, making them difficult to spot without close inspection.

Among the grasses beneath this wire net, more wires lay hidden, each strung with a number of explosive tags.

That's right, Shukyūno was an explosive tag specialist, and he had integrated his tags into wire traps, creating a unique trap-based combat style.

Hayate's group had headed this way, knowing Shukyūno's patrol area would be full of these traps.

This was their way to ensure they could hold their own against a larger force.

By now, the patience of the Cloud ninjas chasing them was wearing thin.

"Judging by their movements, there should be other Konoha ninjas up ahead."

"Perfect. Let's wipe out these border guards and head straight into Konoha's heart."

"That's the plan. We're close enough now. Shi, lead the team and finish off these Konoha ninjas. The rest, come with me, we need to prepare to welcome the Raikage."

The Raikage? From a distance, Aoba heard this through wind-based perception. He recalled that, apart from Konoha's Flying Thunder God, the Cloud also had a long-distance teleportation technique called Heavenly Transfer.

However, this technique was primarily for transporting supplies, as most people couldn't withstand the pressure of the transfer.

But this pressure was no issue for the Raikage. His Lightning Release Chakra Mode granted him tremendous physical defense, making him one of the few who could withstand it.

Meanwhile, the Cloud ninjas ahead had already clashed with the Konoha shinobi.

As soon as they stepped into the grass, the Cloud ninjas sensed something was off.

"Careful, there's a trap." But it was already too late—about a dozen Cloud ninjas at the front had already rushed in, getting caught in the wire trap like flies in a web.

As Cloud ninjas, these wires wouldn't be fatal to them. But Shukyūno hadn't achieved special jōnin status just by chance. From a distance, he controlled the wires.

The wires hidden in the grass vibrated slightly, and, most importantly, the explosive tags strung along them began moving along the wires, as if alive.

The Cloud ninja at the front had just cut himself free from the wires when he saw an explosive tag slide right in front of him.

"Damn it…"

A chain of explosions blasted a dozen Cloud ninjas, causing a brief pause in their advance.

"Well done."

"Don't let your guard down; they still outnumber us."

More Cloud ninjas began surrounding them. But now, the advancing Cloud ninjas stopped.

Hayate's group immediately sensed something was wrong. Before they could react, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky.

Along with it came a towering, dark-skinned man.

"Raikage! This is bad!"

Everyone's hearts sank. Facing the Raikage, they knew they were outmatched.

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