Despite the Fourth Raikage's overwhelming killing intent, Uchiha Yuan showed not a trace of fear.
Instead, a faint smile appeared on his lips. "If I kill the Raikage today," he said calmly, "this war should come to an end, shouldn't it?"
The Fourth Raikage snorted coldly. "Hmph! As expected of an Uchiha brat—your arrogance knows no bounds. Seems that 'Feral Tiger' title has gone straight to your head. Don't forget who you're facing—I am the Raikage!"
A deafening crack of thunder answered his words.
Lightning exploded around his body as the Raikage surged forward, closing the distance in an instant. His leg swept out in a brutal horizontal kick.
Bang!
Yuan met the attack head-on, his right fist clashing against the Raikage's kick. The impact sounded like rolling thunder, and both men were blasted backward by the force.
The Raikage's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected the Uchiha to block him in a direct clash of strength.
Yuan landed and slid backward several meters, his boots gouging deep trenches in the earth. He exhaled slowly, battle spirit blazing in his eyes.
"Now it's my turn to attack!" he shouted.
Whoosh!
The Raikage's gaze sharpened—Yuan's figure had vanished.
In the next instant, he spun around and threw a powerful punch—just as Yuan reappeared, his leg whipping toward the Raikage's head.
Fist and kick collided with a thunderous crack. The air itself shuddered, pressure waves rolling outward like crashing waves.
Using the recoil to his advantage, Yuan flipped backward through the air and landed lightly, but the Raikage was already charging after him with a roar.
As he leapt, Yuan's hands flashed to his belt, drawing and throwing dozens of kunai in rapid succession.
The Raikage bellowed, swinging both fists and smashing the flying blades to pieces.
Then he froze.
Looking down, he saw thin red lines bleeding across his knuckles.
Ordinary kunai… yet they managed to break my Lightning Release armor?
The Raikage frowned. Every kunai had shattered under his blows, meaning they were nothing special—plain steel weapons. And yet, somehow, they had managed to cut him.
His killing intent flared higher. Before, he'd wanted to kill Yuan because of the boy's potential. Now, having experienced that strength firsthand, the Raikage understood the threat he posed—and killing intent turned to murderous resolve.
BOOM!
An explosion of chakra erupted from the Raikage's body, the ground around him fracturing and collapsing under the sheer pressure.
In the next heartbeat, he vanished in a burst of lightning and reappeared directly in front of Yuan.
So fast! Yuan's heart jolted. The Raikage's speed was even greater than before—his attacks fiercer, heavier.
A hurricane of force slammed toward him, each punch packed with crushing power.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of fist-shadows hammered through the air in a single instant.
Yuan had just landed and barely raised his left arm in time to block the first strike. The impact sent a jolt through his entire body.
Sliding backward, he swung his right hand like a blade, countering the Raikage's second punch.
Shockwaves boomed as fists and palms collided over and over, echoing like thunderclaps. Yuan met every strike, holding his ground against the Raikage's relentless barrage.
Suddenly, the Raikage shifted his stance—both fists hooking inward toward Yuan's ribs.
Yuan had no choice but to spread his hands wide to block, leaving his front exposed.
The Raikage lunged forward, right leg rising as his knee shot toward Yuan's chest like a battering ram.
"Heavy Flow Bomb: Knee Thrust!"
At the last possible instant, Yuan brought up his own leg, his left knee snapping up like lightning to meet the blow.
BOOM!
Knee met knee, and the shockwave detonated outward, shaking the battlefield. The ground beneath them burst open, leaving a crater over ten meters wide.
Both were forced back—Yuan sliding several meters, while the Raikage skidded to a halt dozens of meters away. The earth cracked in spiderweb patterns beneath his feet.
Every ninja—Leaf and Cloud alike—had frozen mid-battle, their eyes locked on the two figures at the center.
The Cloud Shinobi stared in disbelief. Their strongest warrior, Lord Raikage himself, had actually been stopped.
The Konoha ninja, on the other hand, burst into cheers. Their morale soared.
"Lord Yuan is incredible!"
"We won't lose!"
The Raikage's eyes glinted with savage light. He roared, lightning flaring violently around him, the air splitting with sharp, crackling explosions.
Almost simultaneously, Yuan let out a shout like thunder and charged forward once more.
The two collided again—and the battlefield trembled under their might.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Their exchange tore the ground apart. Explosions of pressure left a ring of empty space around them, the terrain collapsing in waves.
That was the scene the Konoha reinforcements saw when they arrived.
One ninja gasped. "Lord Yuan… he's fighting the Fourth Raikage himself?!"
"Is this all from taijutsu alone? They're monsters!"
"Looks like Lord Yuan single-handedly held the Cloud forces at bay long enough for us to arrive!"
Leading the reinforcements was Captain Iwamoku Sumero of the Fourth Division. Watching Yuan's fierce duel, he immediately gave orders: "Third and Fourth Squads—advance and support! Fifth and Sixth—flank from both sides!"
With Konoha's reinforcements joining the fray, the battle grew even more intense.
The fighting raged until nightfall, neither side yielding. When darkness finally descended, both armies withdrew slightly and entrenched themselves.
Everyone knew—once dawn broke, the fighting would resume.
High atop a tree, Uchiha Yuan stood silently, gazing toward the Cloud camp across the valley. The two forces were separated only by the gorge, close enough that he could feel the tension in the air.
Tonight, the stars were faint, the moon hidden behind heavy clouds. The valley below was swallowed in darkness.
But Yuan didn't need light—his chakra perception told him that new, powerful signatures were constantly appearing across the Cloud lines.
More reinforcements… Tomorrow's battle will be even fiercer.
His expression darkened.
A gentle breeze rustled the branches. A Leaf ninja appeared beside him, kneeling respectfully. "Lord Yuan, Captain Sarutobi requests your presence at the strategy meeting."
On the Konoha side, Captain Iwamoku's Fourth Division held the front line, while the Third Division under Sarutobi Shin'nosuke formed the rear guard, ready to reinforce at a moment's notice.
As Yuan made his way to the command camp, every passing Leaf ninja saluted him with admiration.
His feats on the battlefield had already become legend—
the Feral Tiger of the Leaf had become a symbol of hope.
At the meeting, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke first praised Yuan's valor before briefing everyone on the overall situation.
Only then did Yuan learn that the First Division had suffered a crushing defeat earlier that day. An entire squad had been obliterated by the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Bomb, and even Jiraiya had been injured after being surrounded by a group of Cloud Jōnin willing to die to bring him down.
When the meeting ended, the commanders left grim-faced.
The situation was dire. The Cloud forces were pressing forward relentlessly, their offensives pushing Konoha's entire front to the brink.
In the end, it came down to one simple truth—
Konoha had no Tailed Beasts, no Jinchūriki to counter the enemy's overwhelming power.
And without that kind of strength, the war was turning against them.
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