While Hiruzen remained lost in thought, Konoha, which had been left in ruins, could slowly be seen rising once again.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield between Kumo and Konoha, the Raikage and his sworn brother continued cutting down Leaf shinobi without pause.
Konoha's forces had managed to gather enough troops to resist, though they were barely holding back Kumo's massive invasion. Fortunately for them, only one major direct confrontation had taken place over the last five days.
This was largely thanks to the remarkable abilities of the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan, which allowed Konoha's shinobi to detect the enemy's movements and decide whether to attack or retreat depending on the situation. Because of this, they had managed to buy enough time to gather reinforcements and continue holding the line.
—Those damned Konoha shinobi… It took us five whole days to force them into a direct confrontation. All because of that cursed Byakugan —the Raikage said angrily to his brother, Killer B.
—Yeah, brother, but with the two of us here, Konoha will disappear —Killer B replied while rapping.
As the two continued cutting down Leaf shinobi, the Raikage could not help but reflect.
"If we had a Byakugan—or better yet, an entire Hyūga Clan within Kumogakure—everything would be much easier."
As he continued slaughtering his enemies, something suddenly interrupted his thoughts: an enormous sphere of compressed air flying directly toward him.
A easily dodged the massive vacuum sphere. However, the moment he moved, he noticed a shadow racing toward his own.
Realizing what was happening, he leapt quickly to the side to avoid the attack, unaware that he had landed exactly where Danzō, Shikaku, and Inoichi had planned.
The moment they saw that the Raikage had reached the designated position, Inoichi immediately used the Mind Body Switch Technique, striking him directly.
A suddenly felt a foreign consciousness fighting to seize control of his body.
Enraged, he resisted with all his strength, refusing to allow the intruder to take possession of him while cursing inwardly.
"Damn Yamanaka Clan!"
However, because he was focused on resisting Inoichi's control, he could barely maintain his Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Little by little, the lightning armor surrounding his body faded, giving Danzō and Shikaku the perfect opportunity to attack.
—Lord Danzō! —Shikaku shouted.
Danzō simply nodded and began preparing his jutsu.
He rapidly formed a series of hand seals while gathering a quarter of his total chakra reserves.
—Fūton: Great Vacuum Cannon!
Danzō launched the attack directly at the Raikage, who remained motionless without his lightning armor while desperately struggling against Inoichi.
Before the attack could strike him, an enormous octopus tail appeared and saved the Raikage at the last possible moment.
At the same time, Killer B transferred some of his chakra to A, finally allowing him to force Inoichi out of his body.
—B! What took you so long? —A demanded angrily as he glared at his brother.
—Relax. I was ambushed too —Killer B replied.
As he spoke, he pointed behind him.
There stood Chōza Akimichi, using his expansion technique as he rapidly made his way toward them, though his body was covered in severe injuries.
Beside him was Baku, Danzō's summon. Its wounds were less severe than Chōza's, but it was also advancing quickly toward the two brothers.
When everyone finally came face-to-face, Kumo's side consisted of A and B.
On Konoha's side stood Danzō Shimura, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka—who was being supported by Shikaku after the violent backlash he had suffered upon coming into contact with a tailed beast's chakra—Chōza Akimichi, and Baku, Danzō's summon.
The shinobi from both sides quickly moved away, giving them enough room to fight without interference.
—Hahaha! Just look at what we have here. The old, rotten leader of Root, accompanied by three of Konoha's clan heads —A mocked them—. But I don't see the Hokage anywhere. What happened? Has he grown so old that he can no longer leave Konoha, or did his chair become stuck to him?
Before Danzō could respond in his own defense, the Raikage glanced around sarcastically.
—Oh… The Uchiha Clan isn't here either. Is something wrong, or do you simply not trust them?
Before the Raikage could continue, Danzō roared:
—We are more than enough to deal with you, filthy Raikage!
As Danzō shouted those words, the expressions of the three clan heads darkened.
Although Danzō truly supported—and even desired—the destruction of the Uchiha Clan, he knew it was unacceptable for an enemy to say something like that openly in front of everyone on the battlefield.
It was already obvious that not a single Uchiha was present, something that had caused complaints from every major clan in Konoha, including the Uchiha themselves, who had wanted to participate in the battle.
However, Danzō and the village elders had managed to prevent them from leaving Konoha, using the excuse that they needed to remain under observation.
Their true intention was to prevent the Uchiha from gaining any more prestige and to damage their reputation even further, though it had already suffered greatly after the Nine-Tails' attack.
—Hahaha! You truly believe the four of you are enough? Where are Jiraiya and Tsunade? Konoha really has fallen far —the Raikage continued mocking them.
—They are dealing with other matters that are none of your concern —Shikaku replied through clenched teeth—. And just as Lord Danzō said, the four of us are more than enough to keep you here.
—Are you certain about that? —the Raikage asked, pointing toward Konoha's rear lines.
The four of them turned around and felt an immense amount of chakra erupt from seemingly nowhere.
Then they saw the Two-Tails in its full beast transformation among Konoha's rear ranks, slaughtering Leaf shinobi.
The moment they witnessed it, all four attempted to retreat and go help the others, but they were unable to move past A and B, who immediately blocked their path.
The battle continued.
Danzō and the three clan heads could barely withstand the combined attacks of A and B, while the fully transformed Two-Tails continued tearing through Konoha's forces and reaping the lives of its shinobi.
With great difficulty, Kakashi, Guy, and a large number of Leaf ninja managed to hold the tailed beast at bay.
However, Konoha was forced to pay an enormous price to accomplish it.