"It's Two-Tails!" someone shouted.
"Yugito-sama..." another voice trembled.
"Tear that cat apart!" a third voice snarled.
Inside the camp, cheers mingled with bitter curses. Many still clung to their hatred of the Tailed Beasts, but neither Yugito nor Two-Tails gave a damn about the opinions of these nobodies. They had only one target in mind.
Not far off, the Third Raikage's mood darkened. While Yugito possessed considerable talent for controlling her Biju, she had never fully unleashed it. Now, he couldn't tell if Two-Tails had sensed the chaos and taken over, or if Yugito had willingly released the beast...
'If it's the former,' he thought grimly, 'we're in deep trouble.'
Reality offered no time for contemplation. Two-Tails's Tailed Beast Ball collided with the Flying Thunder God Rasenshuriken. Third Raikage bellowed, frantically directing everyone to retreat.
*BOOM!*
The massive chakra forces crashed together. Ground cracked, mountains crumbled, and the resulting shockwave swept across the landscape. Two-Tails roared, its tail lashing out and scattering the camp.
Remarkably, few were seriously injured by the blast. In fact, had the tail not cleared the area, the entire Kumogakure camp would have been engulfed in the chakra storm. Yugito, however, was sent flying.
Rocks rained down on her. Just as her tailed beast transformation began to fade and she was about to be buried, the Third Raikage was there in a flash.
His hand like a spear, he shattered the falling rocks with a wave. The swirling chakra turbulence crashed against him but couldn't break through, the mere aftermath of the power couldn't touch him. After all, the Raikage wasn't even afraid of the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball.
'Whew, good thing Yugito is alright,' he thought, sighing in relief. Yugito was still young, and he hadn't expected her to fully control the Two-Tails. During the transformation, he'd feared she'd lost control entirely. But when she cleared out the camp, he knew she hadn't been completely controlled.
Of course, Two-Tails hadn't completely yielded, either. It saw the black cat retreat after their initial clash and immediately cut off its power, hoping to get Yugito killed in the aftermath.
In the distance, another swirling vortex appeared out of thin air, and then those two figures disappeared in a flash.
The Third Raikage felt a surge of frustration.
"Raikage-sama..."
"Rescue the injured! Take a head count! What are you all standing around for? Move!" he roared.
"Yes, Raikage-sama!"
The scattered ninja sprang into action.
Before long, the casualty count came in. Not counting the injured and disabled, the second Rasenshuriken alone had decimated six teams. Some hadn't died, but their injuries were terrifying. Even if they were healed, most probably wouldn't return to the battlefield.
The Third Raikage's face hardened. This was Konoha's counterattack. He'd anticipated it. After all, the Eastern Front was commanded by the renowned Tsunade. Give her an opening, and she'd never pass up a chance to counterattack and assert her authority.
He'd considered everything, but he hadn't expected Konoha to send two Flying Thunder God users at once, or that they could wield such powerful jutsu.
Konoha lost four teams, and they had come to wipe out six of Kumo. The simplest revenge. But with the Flying Thunder God, it felt impossible to defend against.
"Father."
"It was my carelessness this time, but it won't be so easy next time."
The Third Raikage handed Yugito over to the medical-nin and took a deep breath to control his rage, calmly considering his options. That Wind Release jutsu was terrifying. Wind countered Lightning... Whether it could damage him personally was debatable, but avoiding it was the only option. Still, that cat's speed, coupled with the Flying Thunder God... it gave him a headache.
The Third Raikage racked his brain, but no solution presented itself. The problem was unsolvable. Especially that cat. His power was so great that even Two-Tails had been caught off guard.
Though the attack looked like a cat fight, he couldn't miss that the attacker more than held his own. The cat possessed strength comparable to Tsunade in close combat. And according to the Kiri-nin, it also wielded Ice and Water Release. Try as he might, the Third Raikage couldn't devise a way to fight that.
'What the hell am I supposed to do?' he thought seriously.
"Yo! Raikage-sama, check the mic, yeah!" Killer Bee's voice cut through the tension, finding an obnoxious rhythm. "Lookin' all stressed, pulled out your hair! That goddamn cat, fast as fuckin' lightning! Got your brain tightenin'! Tryna figure the move, lost your groove! Ain't no solution, just confusion! Yeah, it's a straight-up pickle! Makes your ass tickle! What you gonna do, my dumbass dude? Stuck in this attitude!"
The Raikage and his son stared at Killer Bee. Then, father and son punched him down to the ground.
--**--**
Inside Tsunade's tent, Takeshi and Minato gasped for air. After swallowing the military ration pills Tsunade provided, their strength slowly returned.
"Meow!"
"Tsunade-sama, the Raikage brought the Jinchuriki!" Minato said looking quite annoyed.
"Damn it, those Kumogakure bastards," Tsunade cursed, slamming her fist on the table. But this time, she held back, not smashing it. The camp was chaotic enough. What infuriated her wasn't Kumo's incursion into the Land of Fire, but the Jinchuriki's involvement.
A war involving Jinchuriki was entirely different. It meant the conflict was escalating toward all-out war, perhaps one with no end. Was the Third Raikage willing to make that choice?
'That crazy barbarian!' she thought. "How effective was that ninjutsu against the Raikage?"
"Don't know," Takeshi said, a soft meow following. "I didn't pay attention."
Takeshi shook his head gently. The pace of the battle was too fast. He unleashed a jutsu, immediately used the Flying Thunder God to teleport, then unleashed another. From start to finish, he didn't have time to see the effect of his attack, only that a mountain range was leveled.
It was similar for Minato. He didn't have time to see what was going on. He only saw the Wind Release Rasenshuriken thrown, and quickly grabbed Takeshi, after he deactivated his Sage Mode looking exhausted, to get away before the furious Third Raikage could chase.
"Forget it. It doesn't matter whether it's effective or not. Continue harassing Kumo, but only fire one Rasenshuriken at a time, holding the other as a deterrent... Um, try to avoid a head-on fight with the Third Raikage."
Tsunade paused, adding, "Without testing it, nobody knew whether it could harm the Third Raikage. It was best to keep the ace in the hole."
Takeshi nodded. He understood the strategy. It was best to keep the ultimate move in hand. Until they clashed head-on, they'd keep each other guessing. Although he felt the Rasenshuriken could cause damage, he didn't know how much. If it wasn't effective, the Third Raikage wouldn't have anything to fear anymore.
'According to what I recall from canon, Iwagakure defeated the Third Raikage by swarming him at cost of 10,000+ ninjas,' he mused. Despite Earth Release's natural weakness against Lightning Release, Iwa's success proved the Raikage's taijutsu and chakra reserves were extraordinary. Iwa had the manpower to throw at the problem, but Konoha didn't.
The Kiri-nin's movements starting tonight showed that they had some kind of agreement with Kumo. News from the Western Front also reported ongoing battles. Besieged on all sides, Tsunade wished she could charge into the fray herself.
In the following days, Takeshi and Minato remained active in the north. Kumo-nin launched several attempts to advance, but whenever their vanguard took a few steps, they encountered Minato and the black cat.
With no way to counter the Flying Thunder God, the Kumo-nin retreated. Only the Third Raikage could stand against Minato and Takeshi.
Even the Fourth Raikage Candidate Ay wouldn't dare to tangle with the cat. Having felt that cat's paw, he understood that he couldn't match its speed. Now, he was sitting in the camp, trying to find solution to this issue and teaching the brat Killer Bee to mind his manners, though this is minor issue.
The Raikage Candidate knew that he couldn't do fight the black cat alone, but he should be able to do it with Bee's combined Lariat.
That's because his injuries had healed, so he felt like he could do it again.
He deserved to be taught a lesson.
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.