The Hidden Cloud likes to rank its elites with letters.
The codename "C" basically means "third place."
Of course, there are monsters who stand outside that ranking system, and each generation has its own "A, B, C…". So "third" just means "third among this generation of elites," not "third strongest in the entire village."
Still—if someone has actually been granted the title C, that alone proves his talent and potential are absolutely top-tier.
And that really was the case here.
After taking control of C's soul, Feiyu quickly realized that this guy wasn't just a sensor-type and a genjutsu user—he was also an extremely rare medical jōnin.
Sensor, illusionist, and medic.
Any one of those specialties would be considered precious in the ninja world. This kid, still young, already had jōnin-level skill in all three. No wonder he'd been awarded the letter C.
Feiyu, up to now, had killed plenty of ninja.
His own sensory ability, medical ninjutsu, and genjutsu were all solid—but most of the people he'd harvested souls from had been… average. Lots of quantity, not much "peak quality." That let him build a very solid foundation, but in those three "high-end" domains, he'd still had gaps.
Now that he'd gotten his hands on C's soul, those gaps were suddenly much narrower.
"Bit of a shame I didn't manage to grab the Fourth Raikage's soul, though…
Whatever. Safety first. That brute isn't exactly easy prey—and his raw speed really is a notch higher than mine."
Feiyu sent C's corpse to Ryūchi Cave, keeping only the head to rummage through later for intel.
Among the next generation of Cloud shinobi, the A–B duo were pure musclebrains. Saying they were "all brawn and no brains" was a bit unfair—but not that unfair.
In that environment, C pretty much filled the "tactician/brain of the team" slot. There was no way he didn't have a truckload of useful information in his head.
When Feiyu got back to Konoha's field camp, he went to report to Orochimaru. This time, he'd killed fewer ninja overall, but C's head alone was heavy enough on the scales.
This was the #3 talent of Cloud's next generation—a tactical type on top of that. His strategic value was obvious.
"So you ran into the future Fourth Raikage," Orochimaru asked, a hint of curiosity in his golden eyes, "and he actually caught up to you?"
"How strong is he? Do you think you could beat him?"
Feiyu shrugged lightly.
"Odds aren't great. If we really went at it head-on, I might be able to drag him down with me."
He paused, then added lazily:
"But that guy's personality is pretty hot-headed. If he's ever caught out with no backup around him, there is a window to kill him."
This time, A had fallen for Feiyu's Sharingan trick. If C hadn't thrown himself in the way to take the blow, Feiyu figured he'd had at least a fifty percent chance of taking the future Fourth Raikage's head.
Of course, a "first-time kill" like that only works once.
Once the intel spreads, the value of that trick drops fast.
"And if that opportunity came again," Orochimaru asked, "would you actually take the shot?"
"You're kidding, right? Half my methods are already exposed," Feiyu said, shaking his head like a rattle drum. "If I go at him again now, there's no way I come out ahead."
Orochimaru wasn't surprised. He knew his cheap disciple's personality very well by now.
Forget hard bones—don't even think about asking Feiyu to chew them. Picking off soft targets and bullying the weak was clearly his favorite way of living.
"Even if you don't want to fight the Fourth Raikage directly," Orochimaru said, "the Cloud ninja have a very strong impression of you now. I'd say you're second only to Minato in their nightmares."
"I'm guessing that the next time you show your face, their Kage-levels are going to come looking specifically for you."
That made Feiyu sigh in turn.
In the end, what he'd accepted was a demonic path inheritance, not some peaceful sage tradition. If he wanted power, it had to be built on a mountain of corpses. If he slaughtered enough people, how could he not end up on every major village's kill-on-sight list?
Otherwise, why would he be living like a schizophrenic—constantly wanting to play it safe and hide, yet at the same time going out of his way to provoke every other village by killing their ninja?
If he truly wanted to turtle, it wouldn't be hard.
He could just hide half his strength, show only jōnin or special jōnin level, and pick some random Cloud jōnin to "fight seriously" while secretly holding back. No matter whether Konoha won or lost, he'd be able to slip away conveniently afterward.
Seeing Feiyu slip into a thoughtful look, Orochimaru waved his hand.
"Anyway, I've said what I needed to say."
"You've made a name for yourself on this battlefield. If you think you can keep casually farming ordinary ninja like before, you're dreaming."
"The moment you step onto the field, the enemy's Kage-levels will come for you. It'll be general versus general, not you mowing down their rank-and-file. There's no chance they'll let you just cut their troops like grass."
"I don't know why your strength spikes every time you go on a killing spree, but as your teacher I'll say this much: there are some fights you don't get to avoid just because you want to."
Maybe he'd noticed the connection between Feiyu's slaughter and his rapid growth; maybe he hadn't. Either way, Orochimaru had chosen to say something today—and he'd hit the bullseye.
For all that he wasn't a good man, as a teacher he honestly wasn't half bad.
Feiyu mulled it over seriously.
"Yeah… those two Raikage are both the charge-in-head-first types. There's practically no way I get to slip around them and just farm their ordinary troops at will."
"Back in the Sand front, I was able to run wild partly because White Fang's fighting style naturally countered Sand's lineup, but more importantly—Sand just didn't have real monsters."
Among the Five Great Villages, the Sand were dead last, forever fighting Mist for the title of "worst Kage village." Their overall strength was… not impressive.
As for their three Kage-level fighters—Rasa, Chiyo, and Pakura—they were all basically the floor of the Kage tier. That's why Feiyu could dance across that battlefield however he liked.
"Now that it's Cloud, it's a different story. Hidden Cloud's overall power isn't any weaker than Konoha's right now. Third Raikage, Fourth Raikage, and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki… all of them are top-tier even within the Kage class."
"And their Lightning Chakra Mode is a direct counter to my style. Tch… looks like if I want to keep playing 'Musou' and cutting down armies, I'll have to solve the Raikage problem first."
Of course, thinking big was one thing.
Feiyu was very aware that, as of now, he absolutely couldn't beat the Third Raikage.
Facing the Fourth, the best he could hope for was mutual destruction—and that was if everything went his way. If he slipped even a little, he might not walk away at all.
As for the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, Feiyu hadn't seen him yet.
But the words "perfect jinchūriki" weren't something you casually picked a fight with.
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