On the other side, Kabuto's clone disappeared, and Minato also left the battlefield right away.
To be exact, it wasn't really a battlefield, just a first meeting.
Where Kabuto left, lightning flashed from the sky. Sasuke felt the natural energy that was left behind.
To be exact, he saw Naruto's power and realized that there were enemies, so he came back.
"A Sage?".
Sasuke's senses are strong. Only Toneri's sense of natural energy is better. In other areas, Sasuke's senses are much better than others.
"Shikamaru, is Naruto okay?".
Sasuke used Ino's "takeover fruit" power to talk to Shikamaru from far away. Ino's fruit power comes from a reversed version of the Yamanaka clan's "Mind Body Switch Technique." She has no trouble with any kind of secret art that's been created.
Long-distance calling is one of her powers.
"He's okay. Naruto is a little hurt, and one of the lieutenants is injured, but not badly."
"But…"
"But what?"
Sasuke frowned. His situation was also difficult. This kind of thing happening as soon as they showed up wasn't a good sign.
"The one who attacked was the Forth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, brought back with Edo Tensei."
"He's very strong, much stronger than the old-time powerful people. I didn't expect the Fourth Hokage to be this strong."
Shikamaru remembered all of Konoha's records. Konoha didn't write as much about Minato as about other Hokage, but still more than about normal ninja.
Shikamaru knew the Fourth Hokage was a very talented genius, maybe even Konoha's best, because he was so young.
As for the "Third Hokage," who was mentioned the most in Konoha's records, well…Shikamaru just thought it was hard to say. The Third Hokage represented the strong people of the old times, who Shikamaru looked down on a little.
The more he knew, the clearer the difference between the new and old times.
But now, suddenly, a strong person came up, and was from the old times, but he was so strong. It completely broke Shikamaru's idea of the old times.
"The Fourth Hokage, Kakashi-sensei's teacher?".
"The man Shanks called Yellow Monkey."
After hearing Shikamaru's surprised tone, Sasuke wasn't surprised at all. Even though he was from the old times, he was a strong person that Shanks remembered, so he couldn't be normal.
"What about your side?"
Shikamaru asked. He knew Sasuke had found something too.
"There's natural energy left, but I didn't find anyone's personal information, and no personal spiritual power was left.
I can't find anything."
Sasuke wasn't stupid. His brain worked better than Naruto's when he was thinking clearly.
When Sasuke said he couldn't find anything, he was really aiming at the World Government's Sages.
Except for the top Sages of the World Government, normal ninja using Sage Mode would leave traces of themselves, like some spiritual power or a strong will.
This shows a lack of control over Sage Chakra, but Sages don't have this problem.
"If there's no proof, don't keep looking.
But be careful. The enemy is here. Everyone except the people inside Konoha could become our enemy."
After Shikamaru said that, he shook his head at Naruto and Toneri.
"We don't know who the enemy is. Be careful. The war has started."
Shikamaru was sure that since there were other enemies here, there would be many in other places.
The war had started.
As for why the war started, who would care?
Like in World War I, after the Sarajevo incident, who cared about the killer who killed the dead person?
Shikamaru didn't care, and the people taking part in this war wouldn't care either.
Moryo was extra, not a small extra, but just extra.
The next day, at the border between the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons, the sand around Gaara slowly broke apart, and Gaara felt the will in the sand fading away.
Now, Gaara felt that will. It wasn't spiritual power. The existence of will was very unclear, like a strong thought.
After the sand disappeared, his mother's will was gone too.
Gaara had no Chakra at all. He couldn't use any ninjutsu, or borrow any Chakra either.
Now, Gaara was the second person in the ninja world besides Shanks to refine all the Chakra he had gathered back into its original form.
If top Sages saw Gaara's state, they would see how strong his life force was.
Even if he did it by cheating, Gaara now had the right to become one of the top strong people in the ninja world.
Not to mention, he also had a devil fruit made from a tailed beast, still in the gourd on his back, but…enough to face the enemy in front of him.
Gaara, with deep black circles under his eyes, looked at the familiar figure not far away.
"Third Kazekage-sama, it's been a long time!"
Gaara's voice was calm, but you could feel the terrible killing intent coming from him.
Third Kazekage Rasa, Gaara's father, the one who turned Gaara into a heartless killing machine.
Gaara only felt hate for his father.
He could be sorry to everyone, but not to his father, and he could never forgive the man in front of him.
"Ha! You don't have any Chakra at all. I was hoping to see some improvement."
"I shouldn't have expected anything from a disaster like you."
Rasa said mockingly.
Gaara didn't get angry like he used to. As he grew up, the man in front of him got weaker and more…useless.
"Everyone's expectations of you, Kazekage-sama, are pretty high.
But if you hadn't died at Orochimaru's hands, you would be nothing."
"Not being forgotten, and even being worth being brought back with Edo Tensei, is because Orochimaru is strong enough. Dying at the hands of the strongest living thing is the best thing you ever did."
"But me…I won't die. I will live well in this new era."
Gaara's words were also very harmful.
The Fourth Kazekage, his father, was killed by Orochimaru.
This was like a disgrace for Sunagakure Village, but as Orochimaru got stronger, the value of the Fourth Kazekage kept going up.
After all, not that many people were killed by Orochimaru.
Sometimes, being partly bad is still being known, and they couldn't let everyone lose faith in the village, right? So there wasn't a big problem with the Fourth Kazekage being killed by Orochimaru.
Even later, everyone felt it was normal for the Fourth Kazekage to be killed by Orochimaru. The difference in strength was too big.
And Orochimaru, at the cost of his hands, angrily killed two Kage. This result was actually scary.
But it was normal in this time.
But Gaara wouldn't be nice to his father.
"Looking for death!"
Hearing Gaara's words, Rasa got angry in an instant.
"Magnetic Release: Sand Shuriken!"
Rasa made hand signs, and the ground around them instantly turned into sand. Dozens of huge shuriken attacked Gaara.
The spinning shuriken were very sharp, and almost blocked all of Gaara's ways to dodge.
"Without Chakra, how will you deal with this!"
Rasa made hand signs again.
And Gaara…
"Bang!!"
A small wave appeared on the ground under his feet. Gaara disappeared.
In that instant, the power in Gaara's body exploded completely. The muscles in his arms and legs and waist, all of his body's muscles were activated.
The strength of his body and his control over it reached a terrifying level.
"Ninjutsu? I don't need it."
"I just need to walk the path that the strongest person in the ninja world has created."
"No one in this world can fully master the Six Styles of the Navy, except for that man."
"And now, there's someone else, that is…"
Gaara appeared in front of Rasa. He looked down at his father with cold killing intent.
"That is…me, this disaster."
Gaara's gaze, looking down like at trash, was a strong contrast to Rasa's shocked look. The next moment…
"Rankyaku: Breaking Wind!"
Countless slashes appeared from under Gaara's feet.
Rankyaku, one of the Six Styles of the Navy, requires a high level of control over Soru and a good understanding of swordsmanship to use.
It's called a fighting skill, but everyone thinks it's just Shanks' understanding of swordsmanship.
Gaara knew he couldn't compare to Shanks, but using the strongest person's fighting style to deal with the enemy in front of him was enough.
"Buzz!!"
The air cracked, and the sand under his feet was cut apart. The slashes hit Rasa directly, cutting his chest open.
At the last moment, Rasa's figure disappeared.
"Sand Replacement Technique!"
"Boom!!"
Where Rasa was, several deep cuts stretched for more than ten meters. Gray ash floated in the air, the remains of the wounds he got hit by.
Rasa was still scared. If he had been kicked directly, he would definitely be gone, one hundred percent gone.
Such a terrifying fighting skill, no, this was beyond fighting skill.
"How could he be, so strong."
Rasa thought Gaara would get stronger, but not this strong. Even fighting skill ninja couldn't have that speed and attack.
But Gaara wouldn't give Rasa any time to be surprised.
Gaara disappeared again. Rasa could only see a shadow, but he reacted quickly.
"Magnetic Release: Sand Shield on All Sides!"
As the shields on all sides appeared, Rasa aimed at the sky, the only gap, also the only direction to attack.
"Without any ninjutsu, and unable to even control sand, being in the air means being helpless."
"Magnetic Release: Gold Dust Wave!"
The next moment, a lot of gold dust flew into the sky, attacking the place in the air that was empty before, but now, someone was there.
As expected, Gaara had jumped into the air.
Even though Rasa was angered by Gaara's words, he still saw the killing intent in Gaara's eyes. Under such naked killing intent, people would make mistakes.
And most importantly, not everyone can afford to make mistakes.
"Bang!!"
The huge amount of gold dust almost covered the sky. This was a ninjutsu comparable to Shukaku's attack, and its range was beyond what a normal ninjutsu could compare to.
Not to mention, there was no place to get support in the air.
"Kami-e: Sky Step!"
Kami-e: Sky Step.
A combination of Kami-e and Moon Walk. Using Moon Walk in Kami-e state allows you to dodge larger attacks without support.
This was the most Gaara could do. He hadn't reached this level long ago, but he was well prepared.
After having a fighting skill that could put the theories into practice, Gaara's fighting power increased by more than one degree.
What? Why was Gaara's fighting skill so great?
Don't forget who beat Gaara when he was in Konoha. Karin never played around with you. She just used her strength to beat Gaara, and almost killed him.
Gaara's fighting skill was not one bit worse now.
The moment Rasa's attack arrived, Gaara's body dodged a lot. The whole body became like paper, the surface caved in, and the pressure from Rasa's attack pushed him away, putting Gaara's body outside the range of the attack.
Rasa really did feel a little when he saw Gaara floating in the air…
"How, how is it possible!!"
"Nothing is impossible."
Gaara's figure became stable, standing on the gold dust. The gold dust attacking Gaara in the air turned into an arched bridge.
The arched bridge made of gold dust was falling down, but Gaara was standing on the bridge.
"Soru: Double-Speed Impact!"
A huge force stepped on the gold dust, and a ripple appeared in the air, creating an ear-splitting sonic boom.
The bridge made of gold dust instantly broke apart and fell straight to the ground. Under the collapsing gold dust, a black shadow tore through the air and came quickly.
"No one in this world would look down on a ninja who has refined all their Chakra back into their body."
"Because the last person who did that was Shanks!!"
"Iron Fist…!"
Gaara pulled his hands back in the air. At that moment, the muscles on his body started to move. Veins appeared on his face, and all the twisted veins on his arms showed up. The wide sleeves broke apart the moment he pulled back.
The air became hot. Even though there was nothing in his fists, no Chakra, no natural energy, you could see countless hot airflows on Gaara's fists.
Finally, the power seemed to reach its limit. Gaara's fists became black, and the hot airflows outside his body turned into white spears.
"Gun of the Era!"
His fists shot out at that moment. Blood burst from his fists, and the terrible attack went to the top of Rasa's head.
At that moment, Rasa really felt the terrifying power coming from Gaara.
Death!!
He would definitely die.
This attack made Rasa feel like he was facing an incredibly terrifying beast, with terrifying power, an unstoppable attack, and a determined will.
His ninjutsu protected him, but also trapped him. There wasn't enough time to dodge.
And defense…
"Can I block it?"
Rasa could use defensive ninjutsu, but…could he block it?
The moment the attack arrived, a layer of gold dust covered the gap above Rasa's head. The thick gold dust gave a completely different sense of security than normal sand.
But…in less than half a second, it broke.
The bright yellow gold dust shattered. With hot fist wind, and Gaara's figure after that.
"Duet: Golden Echo!"
Rasa's body was already mostly broken in the first attack, but would Gaara give the enemy a chance?
No, especially since he wanted to kill the enemy.
"Clang!!"
His fists slammed onto the ground, and the gold dust ground sank several points. A deafening sound came from the ground.
The ground made of gold dust was shaking, like a big bell ringing.
Blood streamed from Gaara's hands. Around him, countless ashes floated in the air.
Under the shaking, Rasa's body disappeared layer by layer.
Gaara's hair stood on end, his face like a hungry wolf seeking revenge.
He wasn't excited at all, only crazy, a suppressed craziness, as if suppressing his remaining reason.
He couldn't forgive his father. People like that were better off dead.
"Disgraceful…trash!"
Gaara snorted and looked into the distance. A team led by a devil fruit user from Kirigakure appeared.
"Has it started?".
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