"What the hell did you just say?!" A roared furiously.
As the son of the Third Raikage, once this war with Konoha ended — regardless of the outcome —he was destined to inherit the title of Fourth Raikage. The implication behind Mitsuki's words was unmistakable:
That he would die here.
A's already volatile temper instantly hit critical mass.
"Don't let him provoke you," Yugito-san warned quickly. "This Mitsuki can also use the Flying Thunder God Technique. He's probably here to stop our retreat."
"Little Yugito."
A calm, mature female voice echoed from within Yugito's body.
"Did you notice something, Matatabi?" Yugito asked inwardly.
Matatabi's voice responded, tinged with uncertainty.
"The tanuki on the enemy's shoulder is definitely the One-Tail, Shukaku… but it doesn't feel like it's sealed inside him."
In other words, assuming the worst-case scenario, it was safest to treat Mitsuki as a perfect jinchūriki—just like herself.
It couldn't possibly get any worse than that.
…Except it could.
Mitsuki glanced around at the Kumo ninja converging on him and let out a soft sigh before addressing the more level-headed Yugito.
"Is that really all the intel Kumogakure has on me? Just that I can use Flying Thunder God?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yugito activated her Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak, dropping low to the ground like a predatory feline. Her voice was cold, composed, and regal.
"You're referring to your kekkei genkai, Blaze Release, aren't you? That is indeed a technique well-suited for group combat."
"But you've overlooked one thing."
"Oh?" Mitsuki genuinely sounded intrigued. "Please, enlighten me."
Hidden beneath the crimson chakra cloak, the corner of Yugito's mouth curved upward slightly.
"As long as we kill you, Kumogakure's objective will be achieved—at least in a certain sense."
As mentioned before, Kumogakure's sudden declaration of war against Konoha was never truly about conquest. It was a desperate move to divert internal conflict, meant to prove to the citizens of the Land of Lightning that the Cloud Village was still strong.
Defeating Konoha outright was now extremely unlikely.
But killing Konoha's Gale?
That alone would be enough to prove Kumogakure's might.
Mitsuki had severely underestimated just how famous he'd become.
Forcing one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Kirigakure, to kneel and surrender through sheer personal strength — and executing the Mizukage face-to-face — was a feat matched only by Hashirama, the First Hokage who ended the Warring States Period.
And even then, part of the reason Hashirama's record wasn't more oppressive was simply because he was too kind-hearted to bully other villages.
Under the coordination of several Kumo communication ninja, more and more shinobi gathered from all directions.
Mitsuki had already done his best to reflect the Tailed Beast Ball barrages into areas where Cloud forces were relatively concentrated.
However, unlike Konoha's tightly coordinated formations, Kumo's units had been deliberately dispersed from the start.
Their original plan was to let the Tailed Beast Balls smash Konoha's forces into chaos — then surround and harvest the survivors.
They never imagined that this very tactic would end up preserving a portion of their counterattacking strength.
Moreover, the terrain of the Valley of Clouds and Lightning simply wasn't as ideal as open plains for maximizing the lethality of shockwaves.
"Don't blame us for ganging up on you," Yugito said coldly. "After all, you're the monster who single-handedly suppressed Kirigakure and personally killed the Mizukage."
It seemed Yagura's concerns back then were spot-on.
Kirigakure truly was nailed to the pillar of shame—never to come down.
As she watched ninja layer upon layer encircle Mitsuki, Yugito finally relaxed a little.
Truth be told, she had lied earlier.
Between Mitsuki's mastery of Flying Thunder God and the possibility that he was also a perfect jinchūriki, sparing his life was never realistic. Her earlier words were merely an attempt to scare him off so A and the others could retreat safely.
Now, however, Mitsuki's arrogance seemed excessive.
He had willingly allowed Kumo forces to regroup instead of striking first.
If he continued to underestimate them…
Maybe — just maybe — they could really kill this terrifying enemy.
Casually twirling Mistcutter in his hand, Mitsuki showed zero concern over Yugito's threat.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm the type who fears being surrounded the least."
"It seems the Third Raikage being beaten to death by Iwagakure made you people develop some strange misconceptions."
"So let me teach you a simple truth."
As he spoke, Mitsuki formed several hand seals with his left hand, then extended two fingers and slowly drew them along the blade of Kubikiribōchō.
"That is—a true powerhouse never cares how many ants there are."
Dark-purple blaze release chakra flowed from his fingertips like a tangible substance, coating the blade. At its tip, the chakra extended outward, shaping itself into a straight Tang-style sword of moderate length.
Every Kumo ninja who heard Mitsuki's words immediately showed expressions of rage.
The death of the Third Raikage at Iwagakure's hands was a taboo topic within Kumogakure at this point in history.
And now Mitsuki had not only exposed it — but used it as a cautionary example.
That was utterly unforgivable.
Especially for one man.
"Bastard!!!"
A charged again.
This time, he did not coat his entire body in Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Instead, he reinforced only his legs and parts of his torso, wielding the massive armored bracers on his arms like weapons.
He rushed forward like an out-of-control truck.
"Guillotine Drop!"
By using ultra-high-speed movement, this taijutsu transformed the user's arm into a blade capable of devastating cutting power.
In less than a fraction of a second, A's Guillotine Drop was already about to touch Mitsuki's nose. The pressure from his movement whipped Mitsuki's hair violently in the wind.
"Whoosh—"
As expected, A missed again.
Mitsuki activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, vanishing instantly and reappearing several meters away on an empty patch of ground.
During their conversation, Mitsuki had already covertly used the Shadow Manipulation to scatter multiple Flying Thunder God formulae throughout the area.
This battlefield—
Had long since become his domain.
"Attack!" Yugito shouted.
At her command, a massive wave of Kumo ninja surged forward, launching a human-sea assault toward Mitsuki.
All kinds of ninjutsu, shuriken, and kunai rained down in overwhelming numbers.
A battlefield was not a martial arts duel. No matter how skilled you were, blades dulled, stamina ran dry.
But shinobi were not wandering swordsmen.
And Mitsuki's chakra was no mere internal energy.
With Shukaku's support and the extreme control provided by the Six Eyes, even reckless spamming of high-tier techniques posed no burden at all.
Just like now.
Facing the encirclement of thousands ninja, Mitsuki raised Mistcutter overhead.
A truly monstrous amount of Shukaku's chakra was converted into Blaze Release chakra and funneled into the blade.
Dark-purple flames surged across the sword like tidal waves, layering again and again as the blade itself expanded—
Until it reached a staggering forty meters in length.
Spinning in place, Mitsuki swung the blade in a full rotation.
The blaze release flames traced a massive circular ring of fire through the air.
Within a forty-meter radius, the Kumo ninja closest to Mitsuki were "lucky" enough to be struck directly by the massive blade.
They were instantly carbonized by the intense heat accompanying the slash.
In a single exchange, over a hundred Kumo ninja at the front line were erased just like that—without even leaving complete corpses behind.
Before such overwhelming power, the difference between genin, chūnin, and even jōnin felt almost meaningless.
At the same time, the circular blaze release sword aura continued to expand outward in layered waves—
Forcibly carving out a nearly five-kilometer-wide hollow zone in the Kumo army's encirclement from the inside.