Chapter 99 – Decisive Battle at the Border of Fire (1)
Against enemies who lacked powerful offensive ninjutsu, someone at Kazane's level could often completely ignore their attacks in battle.
But compared to the Complete Susanoo of Uchiha Madara or the Sage Art: Wood Release of Hashirama Senju, his current strength still had clear limitations.
One could say that Kazane had surpassed the average Kage, but not yet reached the true apex beyond Kage-level.
However, in his last battle against the Third Raikage, Kazane had awakened the power of Demonic Aura. This time, he was fully confident that he could defeat the Raikage head-on.
Especially now that he wielded the Black Blade: Shusui, a sword worthy of its title as one of the 21 Great Grade Blades. After extensive testing, Kazane discovered that every slash made with this blade was inherently more powerful.
What's more, it could devour and merge with the flying slashes from his other two swords, enhancing their destructive power even further.
Only now did Kazane understand just how crucial a good sword was for a swordsman.
Hearing Kazane's confident response, Jiraiya finally let out a breath of relief. He had done everything he could to prepare. Now, it was up to them—the battlefield would decide the rest.
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At the camp gates
Over ten thousand Konoha shinobi, fully armed and battle-ready after extensive preparation, stood like drawn arrows on taut strings, poised to strike.
At the front stood Jiraiya, face steeled with determination as he roared to the crowd:
"For Konoha! For our families—we will win this battle!!"
All the shinobi responded in unison, voices thunderous:
"For Konoha! For our families! Victory at all costs!!"
Each of them held firm resolve in their hearts.
Even if it meant dying, they would take as many Kumogakure shinobi with them as they could.
With that, Jiraiya gave the order to march, dashing out at the front of the formation.
The other ninja, led by their respective jonin commanders, followed behind.
The final march to the decisive battle had begun.
Their goal: to drive the invaders away from the Land of Fire.
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What Jiraiya hadn't anticipated was that at the same time, from another direction, the Third Raikage had made the exact same choice.
Freshly healed, the Third Raikage had no intention of being patient or diplomatic.
And just like Konoha had spies within the ranks of Kumogakure, Kumogakure also had their own agents hidden among Konoha's ninja.
After the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha had taken in countless children from other villages—orphans of war. How many of those were actually spies from other nations? No one knew.
But such risks were unavoidable.
After all, every village needed fresh blood. And those children—robbed of their families by war—were the perfect candidates.
With no loved ones, raised under the Will of Fire, and aided by Konoha's excellent orphan assistance programs, many of them grew up more loyal to the village than those born in it.
Yet not every child could be interrogated or subjected to genjutsu upon arrival. Doing so would only instill hatred and suspicion in their hearts.
Through one such spy, the Third Raikage learned of Konoha's planned movements.
Jiraiya had simply taken too long to prepare.
And when it comes to ambushes—speed is everything.
Unfortunately, this was Jiraiya's first time leading as a commander. And while Nara Shikaku may have suspected the truth, trying to convince Jiraiya that one of his own comrades might be a traitor was… simply impossible.
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When Jiraiya's forces finally reached an open plain, they were met with an unexpected sight:
The Kumogakure army was already waiting.
This battlefield had been hand-picked by the Third Raikage himself.
In truth, the Raikage's purpose in launching this war was less about conquest, and more about seeking worthy opponents—a series of exhilarating, no-holds-barred fights.
Unlike the other great villages, Kumogakure's motivations were unique.
The Land of Lightning was nothing like the desolate Land of Wind or the craggy, stone-filled Land of Earth. With its rich coastline, booming hot spring industry, and abundant resources, the Lightning Country had no real need for war.
Nor was it surrounded like the Land of Fire.
They were free to act, rarely harassed by others.
But prosperity had made them restless.
With nothing but training and… procreation to occupy them, Kumogakure became a nation of martial fanatics.
From the Raikage down to the academy students, the entire village embraced strength—swordsmanship, taijutsu, and raw power.
What else were muscle-bound warriors going to do with too much time? They started picking fights.
Just look at Ginkaku and Kinkaku.
Even the Third Raikage was like this.
With no proper outlet, he spent most of his time sparring against the Eight-Tails.
But when the Third Kazekage went missing, the opportunity he'd been waiting for arrived.
He didn't just declare war on one village—he decided to attack three.
The battle-hungry shinobi of Kumogakure couldn't have been happier.
At last, they had something worth fighting for.
They rallied en masse—allowing the Raikage to mobilize the full might of the village.
Originally, his plan was to fight Iwagakure—but after hearing about Kazane's defeat of Hanzō in the Land of Rain, he changed course.
He would challenge Konoha instead—to fight Kazane.
So when his spy told him Jiraiya's plans, the Raikage didn't bother with traps or ambushes.
He simply waited on the battlefield—grinning.
This kind of thing might seem absurd in a real war, but this?
This was classic Kumogakure.
This was pure Raikage.
Seeing that Kumogakure had not ambushed them, Jiraiya was surprised—but had no time to dwell on it.
They had to act fast.
He immediately ordered his troops into formation, preparing for a full-scale engagement.
At the head of the Kumogakure forces stood the Third Raikage, calm and imposing.
He stared straight at Kazane, who stood opposite him, also at the front of the Leaf forces.
The two locked eyes.
The tension in the air seemed to still the wind.
Clouds above began to churn violently.
Kazane's robes fluttered softly at his waist.
Then—he grinned.
Wild. Arrogant.
Seeing that, the Third Raikage grinned back.
He understood.
Kazane got it.
The reason he hadn't moved yet…
Was because he'd been waiting for him.
Today, the Raikage had only one goal:
Either kill Kazane, or be killed by Kazane.
At that moment, the twenty thousand shinobi on both sides no longer mattered.
In the eyes of these two monsters, the armies existed solely to witness the outcome of their battle.
And at last, Kazane moved. The Third Raikage also moved.
Two streaks of blue lightning tore across the battlefield.
They collided with explosive force.