"Sister, Ichirō, Kabuto, I leave this place to you."
Sora spoke. "My shadow clone is still at the Kumo front line. My main body must return quickly. I cannot be away for too long and raise suspicion."
Nonō Yakushi looked at him with concern. "Be careful in everything."
"Yes, I know."
Sora nodded.
"In the short term, I should continue to operate as 'Green Snake' within Konoha for a while. After all, I still need to use Konoha's resources and research materials. When the time is ripe, I will completely break away."
After giving some more detailed instructions and finishing his explanations, Sora did not delay any longer.
He walked out of the laboratory. His figure shot into the sky, transforming once again into a streak of green light. He sped towards the direction of the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
This time, his mood was particularly light.
…
When night fell, Sora silently returned to the vicinity of the Konoha camp at the Kumo front line.
He carefully sensed his surroundings, confirming that there were no abnormalities at the camp during his absence. The shadow clone left behind in the tent as a decoy had also not been exposed.
He slowly infiltrated the camp, easily avoiding the patrolling sentries, and returned to his own tent.
The shadow clone saw him and nodded. Then, with a "poof," it turned into white smoke and disappeared. The memories and experiences from this period returned to the main body together.
Sora quickly received the shadow clone's experiences from the past few days. Most of the time was spent in quiet meditation, occasionally dealing with intelligence transfers from Fujiwara Kenta. Everything was normal, and no suspicion was raised.
He changed into his Anbu attire. From a scroll, he took out that "Azure Dragon" mask. He looked at it for a few moments, then directly put it on, as if he had never left.
Lifting the tent flap, the camp was orderly. The tense atmosphere of war still permeated the air.
But Sora knew that everything was already different.
He looked towards the direction of Konoha. His gaze seemed to penetrate the layers of mountains and rivers, seeing the village that had once given him a temporary place to stay.
There, struggles and conspiracies still existed. There were those he needed to temporarily deal with.
But that place could no longer bind his wings.
His roots, the people he wanted to protect, had already been moved to that free land called the Land of Whirlpools.
From this moment on, his body was in Konoha, but his heart had already flown far away.
The future path would be controlled by himself.
…
Three days later.
The dark clouds of war not only did not dissipate, but instead pressed down even more heavily on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
Everyone could feel an oppressive atmosphere, like a storm about to break.
Sure enough, at noon on the third day, Kumogakure launched a full scale attack.
A dark mass of Kumo nin, like a bursting dam, spread out in formation on the border plain.
Their numbers far exceeded any previous attack. A murderous aura rose to the sky.
Akimichi Torifu stood at the very front of the Konoha defense line. His expression was unprecedentedly grave.
"So it has come. The final decisive battle?"
He took a deep breath. His voice spread throughout the entire Konoha camp.
"Everyone. Kumogakure is making a desperate last stand. Today, there is no retreat. Behind us is our home. For Konoha."
"For Konoha."
The Konoha ninjas roared in unison. The sound wave shook the sky. Although slightly outnumbered, their morale was not weakened.
In front of both camps, the Third Raikage, A, slowly walked out.
The muscles on his bare upper body bulged. Lightning danced and crawled over his body like living things. His violent chakra pressure twisted the surrounding air.
He did not waste words. He simply swung his lightning wrapped arm forward with force.
"Attack."
Boom.
With his order, the Kumo nin, like a blue tide, fiercely charged towards the Konoha position.
The light of ninjutsu instantly lit up. Explosions, battle cries, and the clash of metal immediately filled the battlefield. The great battle instantly turned white hot.
The high level combatants also almost simultaneously found their respective opponents.
"Partial Multi Size Technique."
Akimichi Torifu's arms instantly expanded, like two giant siege hammers, smashing towards the charging Eight Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B.
"Yo. Fat uncle. Good power. Fool. Idiot."
Killer B spoke in his clumsy rap, but his movements were not slow at all.
A Tailed Beast cloak instantly covered his whole body. Vast chakra condensed into octopus tentacles, flexibly coiling towards Akimichi Torifu's enlarged arms. The two instantly became locked in battle. Every collision shook the earth.
On another side, a golden flash.
Namikaze Minato's figure appeared as if teleporting in front of the Fourth Raikage A, the future Fourth Raikage.
"Yellow Flash."
The Fourth A's pupils contracted. His entire body's Lightning Release chakra erupted to the extreme. His speed surged. He threw a punch.
"So fast."
Namikaze Minato thought with a trace of solemnity. Although this old opponent's speed was not as fast as the Flying Thunder God, his explosive power was extremely terrifying.
He dared not take it head on. His figure disappeared again, appearing at the side. The Rasengan in his hand was already formed. He precisely pressed it towards the Fourth A's ribs.
"Lightning Release. Lightning Bomb."
The Fourth A roared. He actually did not dodge or evade, forcibly taking the Rasengan. His lightning wrapped elbow smashed fiercely towards Namikaze Minato's head. It was a tactic of trading injury for a fatal blow.
Namikaze Minato had no choice. He had to use the Flying Thunder God again to evade. Their battle turned into an extreme contest of speed and reaction. Golden and blue lights flashed wildly, colliding everywhere on the battlefield.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
Orochimaru's cold voice sounded. Countless poisonous snakes shot out from his sleeves, ordinary snakes, not from Ryuchi Cave. They rushed towards one of Kumo's command cores, the one with the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai, Muchi.
"Lava Release. Rubber Wall."
Muchi reacted quickly. He clapped his hands together. A huge rubber wall rose, blocking the swarm of snakes.
His gaze locked sharply onto Orochimaru.
"One of the Legendary Three, Orochimaru. As expected, your reputation is well deserved. Your opponent is us."
Beside him, several elite Kumo jonin simultaneously spread out, vaguely surrounding Orochimaru at the center. Various ninjutsu were ready to be unleashed.
Orochimaru's golden snake like pupils swept over everyone. A trace of disdainful cold laughter appeared on his face.
"Just with you. Fine. Let me show you what fear truly is."
He formed hand seals. The ground instantly softened. Countless snakes surged out like a tide. At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat. The Kusanagi Sword, flashing with cold light, landed in his hand. The battle instantly erupted.
At the other end of the battlefield, the most eye catching confrontation had also already begun.
The Third Raikage, disregarding everything else, his murderous intent almost tangible, directly locked onto Sora wearing the Azure Dragon mask.
"Brat. This time, let's see where you run."
The Third Raikage's voice was like thunder. He walked towards Sora step by step. With each step, the ground cracked more. The lightning around his body burned even more fiercely.
If Sora had a choice, he would also like to take it easy like Orochimaru. But unfortunately, the reckless Third Raikage directly set his sights on him.
Taking a deep breath, Sora knew in his heart that this hard fight could not be avoided no matter what.
Moreover, Nonō and the others had already left Konoha. He also had the desire to test just where his current limits were.
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