About a hundred miles from Kumogakure, in a low mountainous area, a battle was reaching its conclusion.
On one side were Kizaru's teammates, Shinnosuke and Sakumo, and on the other side was a ten-person elite squad led by the Third Raikage.
Half an hour ago, after receiving the news of the village being attacked, the Third Raikage ordered this elite squad to continue towards the border while he returned to the village.
Shinnosuke and Sakumo, who had been hiding in the Land of Lightning's heartland, ambushed this squad decisively upon discovering them and confirming that the Third Raikage was not present.
A skilled assassin of Jonin level paired with an all-around elite Jonin created a devastating ambush with both planned and unplanned elements.
In just the first wave of attacks, two elite members of Kumogakure's ten-person squad were killed, one was heavily injured, and three were lightly injured.
In the subsequent frontal battle, Shinnosuke, relying on his excellent all-around ninjutsu, directly engaged the enemies, creating opportunities and time for Sakumo, who had been circling around the enemies.
With his lightning-fast body flicker technique combined with a fierce swordsmanship, Sakumo effortlessly performed a series of five consecutive strikes.
In the end, only two elite Jonin with expertise in ninja body techniques remained with combat capabilities for Kumogakure.
Standing back to back, the two elite Jonin from Kumogakure, both relatives of the Third Raikage, had Lightning Release Chakra Mode activated, covering their bodies with lightning.
"Are you Konoha ninjas trying to provoke a war?" One of the elite Jonin spoke with a definite tone.
The Land of Fire has always been the Land of Lightning's biggest enemy, and they invested heavily in intelligence gathering on Konohagakure.
Through the recent battle, this elite Jonin from Kumogakure roughly guessed the identity of the enemies.
Blocked from both sides, Shinnosuke and Sakumo didn't speak. After exchanging a glance, they tacitly launched their attacks simultaneously.
Sakumo's Body Flicker was extremely fast, ranking top-tier even in Konohagakure. He almost instantly appeared in front of the enemies.
However, there was someone even faster at this moment.
A golden light flashed in the sky, and just as Sakumo was about to swing his sword to attack, the golden light descended rapidly.
Two large metal legs with a black metallic luster appeared out of thin air and stomped on the heads of the two elite Jonin from Kumogakure, directly crushing them into the ground.
Jumping into the air, preparing to swing his sword, Sakumo, seeing Kizaru suddenly appearing, had a stunned expression and immediately halted his attack.
"I didn't come too late, did I?" Standing in the large hole he created, stepping on the reddish-brown soil, Kizaru, with yellow hands in his pockets, looked up at the two teammates above the pit.
Silently retracting his chakra blade, Sakumo first observed Kizaru's physical condition.
Performing almost the same action, standing on the opposite side of the pit, Shinnosuke was also observing Kizaru.
Clothes covered in bloodstains, but upon closer inspection, there were no signs of injury on Kizaru.
Seeing this, both of them couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Come up, Kizaru!" Shinnosuke spoke.
Bending his knees, Kizaru jumped out of the pit, landing next to Shinnosuke.
"You're not injured, right?" Shinnosuke asked with concern as he looked at Kizaru, who had jumped to his side.
Turning his head slightly, Kizaru smiled and replied, "No."
Nodding, Shinnosuke looked at Sakumo on the opposite side, who was now finishing off the injured Hidden Cloud Village ninja lying on the ground.
"Let's retreat!"
"Understood!"
As the words landed, the three figures disappeared instantly.
...
In the entire abdominal area and left chest, wrapped in bandages, the upper half of the body exposed, the Third Raikage stood angrily on a pile of ruins.
"Damn it! I'm going to kill that bastard!"
Veins popped up on his face, and his fists, as big as cooking pots, clenched tightly. The Third Raikage's heart was filled with rage.
This attack had caused severe losses to Kumogakure.
Hundreds of ninjas were killed or injured, and a large number of buildings and facilities had turned into ruins.
Among these sacrifices, what pained the Third Raikage the most was the loss of the village's young talents, the carefully nurtured internal affairs ministers, and the death of Dodai!
Since taking the position of Raikage at the end of the First War, the results of the hard work and development over the past 20 years under the Third Raikage's governance were lost in less than an hour.
"Do you have any clues about the enemy's information?" Turning his head to the elders and other high-ranking officials beside him, the Third Raikage asked, suppressing his anger.
After exchanging glances, the high-ranking officials all shifted their gaze to the elder.
Facing the numerous stares, the elder, who had experienced many major events, remained calm.
"As for the identity of the enemy, I have a speculation."
"What?" The Third Raikage asked urgently.
"The enemy is from Konohagakure." Although it was a guess, the elder's tone was very affirmative.
"Konohagakure?" Thinking of the personality of the Third Hokage in Konohagakure, the Third Raikage was not very confident in the elder's speculation. "Do they have the guts?"
"The ninja who attacked the village this time had the ability to fly, and the ninjutsu they used, I have never seen before. Those jutsu were extremely fast, powerful, and emitted dazzling light." The elder reminisced about the previous battle while speaking.
"The performance of this person is very close to the intelligence we collected about Konohagakure's recent genius, Shimura Kizaru! And having been targeted by our assassination twice, both he and Konohagakure have reasons for retaliation!"
"Konohagakure... Shimura Kizaru!" Recalling the scenes of the battles with the enemy, the Third Raikage compared the sporadic information he had about Shikimaru Naruto. It seemed to match!
But there was still a question that the Third Raikage could not completely confirm.
That is, according to the information, Shikimaru Naruto from Konohagakure is not even ten years old this year.
How could a little devil under the age of ten not only single-handedly attacked the village, killing hundreds of ninjas, including more than ten Jonin, including Dodai, and also ambushed himself after attacking the village?
Is this possible? Is there really such a monster-like genius in the world?
"That Shikimaru Naruto is not yet ten years old this year!" Looking at the elder, the Third Raikage reminded.
"That's a village established by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha." With a tone of both sigh and solemnity, the elder reminded.
Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha!
Just the mention of these two names made the Third Raikage feel pressured.
Those were two monsters who had dominated the entire ninja world with their strength several decades ago!
Could it be that within less than 30 years since their deaths, Konohagakure is about to give birth to a third monster?
Moreover, this monster possesses mysterious ninjutsu that includes flight, high-speed movement, and the ability to either genjutsu or body light transformation, rendering them immune to attacks.
A chill rose in his heart, and at this moment, the Third Raikage really hoped that the enemy did not truly come from Konohagakure!