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When the smoke cleared, the ground was littered with the bodies of Kumogakure shinobi.
Gyūki's Tailed Beast Ball was far too lethal for ordinary shinobi. They had no defense against it, regardless of their numbers.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly! Now!" The leader of the Kumogakure shinobi had suspected the Raikage's defeat since witnessing Yuta's return. Seeing the rampaging Gyūki jinchūriki, his suspicion solidified into certainty.
Since their defeat was inevitable, they had to conserve their remaining strength to minimize losses and preserve their forces for future engagements against other shinobi villages.
Seizing the opportunity while Gyūki was charging another Tailed Beast Ball, the Kumogakure shinobi swiftly evacuated the battlefield, abandoning even the corpses of their comrades.
The Konohagakure troops watched the retreating Kumogakure shinobi and erupted in loud cheers.
They had endured so much frustration. Since the Raikage's arrival at the front lines, they hadn't secured a single victory against Kumogakure. This time, they had finally repelled the Kumogakure attack. Moreover, judging by the situation, their Lord Yuta had also defeated the Raikage. How could they not be ecstatic?
"It turns out we weren't incapable of defeating the Kumogakure shinobi; it's just that no one before could defeat the Raikage." This was the prevailing thought among the Konohagakure shinobi.
"Don't be careless! There is a more troublesome opponent over there!" Yuta, seeing their excessive excitement, immediately cautioned them.
"Quickly! Earth Release shinobi, establish defenses! The rest, take a supporting position and prepare to attack at any moment."
Following the commands of their respective captains, the Konohagakure troops instantly ceased their cheering and swiftly followed their captains' arrangements to prepare for Gyūki's assault.
"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Demolisher!"
This was Konohagakure's contingency plan, originally intended to counter the Raikage, but it had never been deployed. Now that Yuta had defeated the Raikage, it was the perfect opportunity to use it against Gyūki.
They believed that as long as they could stall until Yuta recovered, dealing with a weakened Gyūki would be manageable.
As a large number of shinobi bit their fingers and pressed them onto the blueprint, a semicircular mountain range rapidly rose between them and Gyūki.
"Boom!" At that moment, Gyūki's second Tailed Beast Ball slammed into the mountain range with tremendous force. The Konohagakure shinobi witnessed a large section of earth erupting from the mountain's rear, followed by a massive mushroom cloud.
"That was a close call. If we had been hit directly, only a fraction of our forces would remain here."
Someone sighed audibly.
"See? If we had just recklessly charged forward, how could you have withstood such a powerful ninjutsu?" Homura was also shaken by the Tailed Beast Ball's power.
Although he had always heard tales of the tailed beasts' might, he had never witnessed it firsthand. After experiencing the raw power of a tailed beast this time, his admiration for the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara deepened, while a sense of fear also gripped him.
If Gyūki was already this formidable, wouldn't the Third Raikage, who could fight it alone, be even more powerful?
"Fortunately, I didn't engage the Raikage directly earlier; otherwise, wouldn't my demise have been utterly unfair?" Homura wiped the cold sweat from his brow, thoroughly shaken.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Seeing its attack blocked, Gyūki took massive strides and lumbered to the mountain's summit.
"Ah!"
Standing atop the mountain, Gyūki roared towards the heavens, its thick tails lashing against the ground.
"It's almost time. Otherwise, if the jinchūriki dies soon, Gyūki will also have to be reborn." With the aid of the beads, Yuta's chakra had recovered more than halfway.
Observing the roaring Gyūki and the shinobi who had lost their will to fight, he decided not to delay any longer.
"Back off!" Yuta shouted.
The shinobi on the wall cheered upon seeing Yuta's recovery. They had braced themselves for a prolonged resistance, prepared for potential sacrifices.
Fortunately, Lord Yuta hadn't let them down and had indicated his readiness to confront the beast.
Yuta leaped off the wall and appeared beneath Gyūki in a few swift movements.
Gyūki, at this point, seemed to have a question mark hovering over its head: "What's wrong with this little guy?" Aside from those two fools, Hashirama and the Third Raikage, this was the first human who dared to charge at him alone.
But even in its bewilderment, Gyūki didn't hold back. It raised its two tails and attacked Yuta from both sides.
"Boom!" Yuta dodged Gyūki's attack in an instant. The missed strikes left two large, intersecting craters in the ground.
By this time, Yuta had already reached his attack position.
"Electromagnetic Release: Strange Force Acceleration!"
"Boom!" Yuta jumped upwards and delivered a powerful, circular strike to Gyūki's chin.
"Ugh!" Gyūki's head snapped back from the force of Yuta's attack, momentarily stunned.
How could this guy be stronger than that fool from the Land of Lightning?
"It hurts!" The jinchūriki completely lost consciousness, and Gyūki's own consciousness began to reassert itself.
Struck by Yuta's heavy blow, Gyūki couldn't help but bellow in pain. Then, it felt its massive body lift off the ground and fall backward.
"Boom!" Gyūki's enormous form crashed onto the ground, generating a large cloud of dust.
"How could it be?" Everyone who witnessed this was utterly shocked. Just moments ago, they had been terrified by the power of Gyūki's two Tailed Beast Balls, believing it was an insurmountable force for humans.
As for the First Hokage, Madara, and the Third Raikage, they had automatically excluded them from the realm of ordinary humans.
"Damn it! Has he grown to this point? It seems I have to change my attitude towards him in the future. Even if I can't forge a friendship, I definitely can't afford to offend him." Homura was also frightened by the power of Yuta's attack and resolved to maintain a clear distance from Danzō in future dealings with Yuta.
He no longer believed that Danzō and his Root organization could stand against Yuta.
Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that he hadn't yet launched the planned attack on the Kumogakure shinobi as discussed with Yuta, but directly contradicting himself wouldn't look good. So, he waved his hand.
"Everyone attack! Cut off the Kumogakure shinobi's retreat and leave none alive!"
At this point, this was the only course of action he could take. Further inaction would only incur Yuta's greater displeasure.
"Kill! Avenge our fallen comrades!"
"Destroy these barbarians! Their Raikage has been defeated by Lord Yuta!"
Initially, witnessing Gyūki's strength, these shinobi had hesitated about attacking. But when they heard Homura merely instructing them to intercept the fleeing Kumogakure soldiers, their weariness vanished. This was a guaranteed victory!
The Kumogakure shinobi had lost all morale and fled in disarray. They were no match for the recuperated Konohagakure troops. Many were cut down as soon as contact was made.
"Konoha! Don't push your luck!" Just as Homura was leading the ambush troops to reap the rewards of victory, an unwilling roar echoed from behind.
The Konohagakure army, in a bloodthirsty frenzy, ignored it and continued to pursue and slaughter the fleeing Kumogakure soldiers.
But Homura broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing the voice. Why had he returned?
Turning his head, Homura saw that the Raikage had only one arm remaining, and fresh blood still trickled from the severed end, a clear testament to his recent brutal fight with Yuta.
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For those who think that the mc is letting Danzo get away, do not worry. Danzo will get his due, and it will be satisfying. Sorry for my irregular posts; my translations depend on the income from patreon as I have to earn money to make a living, if the income from tl is not enough, I have to go out and work. Thank you to all those who stuck with me during this time.