As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall erupted in a violent uproar.
Mei slapped the table and stood up abruptly, glaring at Naruto. "What is the meaning of this, Konoha delegate?"
"You damn Nine-Tails Brat!" Ay was utterly furious. He tried to slap the table again, but his heavy hand hit nothing but air, the wood in front of him had already been hammered flat by him earlier.
"At a time like this, is Konoha still clinging to petty grudges between villages?"
In contrast to the agitated reactions of Mizukage and Raikage, Onoki simply chuckled, watching the spectacle unfold from the sidelines.
'Interesting. This brat is truly interesting.'
'Let them fight. It's much better if they fight.'
"Don't speak so lightly, Raikage," Naruto said, glancing at him with cold indifference. "After all, it isn't your village's Kekkei Genkai that's leaking out."
"How foolish!" Raikage's mustache bristled with electricity. "You stand before Kage. You take us far too lightly."
"Don't think so highly of yourself, Raikage," Naruto retorted in the same icy tone, his gaze shifting back toward Kiri-nins. "Since you aren't willing to hand it over peacefully, we'll just take it ourselves."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a white figure flashed past Naruto at incredible speed, heading straight for the older man.
It was Neji, who had been completely unable to hold back his rage ever since he discovered Ao's right eye was a stolen Byakugan.
Naruto did not interfere. Hyuga matters were for the Hyuga to handle.
"So fast!"
Of everyone present, aside from Onoki, only Ay could clearly track Neji's blurring movements.
At this stage, Mei was still a cut below the older Kage. By the time she reacted, Neji was already standing directly in front of Ao, his left hand reaching like a viper for the stolen eye.
However, Neji's fingers stopped less than a centimeter from his target. The two paper talismans at Ao's ears moved as if conscious, suddenly blocking his eye and forming a transparent, defensive barrier.
A barrier?
It was that single moment of hesitation that gave Chojuro enough time to react. He swung the massive Twin Sword Hiramekarei and slashed heavily forward.
Chojuro was a prodigy who had only recently risen to prominence, being groomed as the next inheritor of the blade among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. However, he had only possessed the weapon for a short while, and facing a taijutsu genius like Neji, he was clearly outclassed. In just two rapid exchanges, he was kicked viciously backward.
But this slight delay allowed Mei's attack to arrive.
She took a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled forcefully. A spray of highly corrosive acid unleashed from her mouth, aimed directly at the boy's head.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
"Rotation!"
Neji's entire body transformed into a high-speed spinning dome of pure chakra, forcefully deflecting the deadly acid back outward. Fighting two opponents at once, he still comfortably held the overwhelming advantage.
"Hey Nine-Tails Brat! How dare you!" Raikage bellowed in pure, unadulterated rage. Blue lightning crackled violently around his body as he transformed into a living bolt of electricity and charged straight toward Naruto.
The two bodyguards behind him moved simultaneously, though they were a split second slower.
The exact moment Raikage moved, a flash of red light crossed Sasuke's eyes. He directly predicted the massive man's trajectory, drew his tachi in a single fluid motion, and unleashed a seemingly casual slash right across his path.
If Raikage continued his attack, he would inevitably be cut.
However, relying on the immense defensive power of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Ay neither dodged nor evaded, intending to withstand the thin blade head-on.
Unfortunately, he had overestimated his own defense and fatally underestimated the power of the blade in Sasuke's hand.
What appeared to be a casual slash was actually a strike fully charged with lethal precision. Striking before the enemy acts, cutting them before they even move!
The moment Ay looked down on Sasuke and chose to tank the hit, he had already lost.
The blade sliced through the chakra cloak as easily as cutting through butter. A thin, bloody line immediately appeared on his torso. Before the metal even made physical contact, the mere pressure radiating from it had already wounded him.
Being struck fully by that blade meant certain death.
This was an Iaijutsu Slash, defeating the enemy in a single, perfect strike!
Ay had, after all, once been second only to the Yellow Flash in raw speed, so his battle reflexes were incredibly fast. Seeing his armor breached, he hurriedly used his prosthetic to block the trajectory. Whatever that mechanical arm was made of, it actually caused a momentary pause in a blade that had easily carved through lightning. Utilizing that split-second buffer, Ay forcibly shifted his huge body, barely avoiding the fate of being sliced in two.
However, while he avoided death, his right arm went flying high into the air, having been violently ripped off by Naruto previously, it was now cleanly severed again by Sasuke.
"It's actually an Iaijutsu Slash!"
Mifune, who had been sitting calmly to the side, completely unfazed by everything prior, abruptly stood up and stared fixedly at the tachi.
This legendary general was a master of the technique himself.
'Although his level of mastery still leaves room for slight improvement, his speed and raw power are not far behind my own. Is the younger generation of Konoha truly this terrifying now?'
It wasn't that the entire younger generation of Konoha was terrifying, rather, it was these three specific monsters who were terrifying.
"Lord Raikage!?"
C and Karui hurriedly moved to shield the bleeding man, their eyes locked fearfully onto Sasuke, yet they were too afraid to step forward.
Defeating Ay in a single strike, the deep shock of it was simply too immense to process.
In truth, while Sasuke was incredibly strong now, he wasn't strong enough to casually one-shot the Kage in a drawn-out fight. The reason for his swift defeat was simply that the older man had grossly underestimated him.
Sasuke's age was simply too deceptive. No, the ages of all three possessed immense deceptive power.
"Raikage, this is a matter between us and Kiri. What business is it of Kumo?"
Of everyone present, only Naruto remained perfectly seated. He rubbed his fingers together, leaned his body slightly forward, and tilted his head back, looking down at the bleeding man with a superior gaze.
Due to the hall's lighting and the angle, the right side of his face was obscured in dark shadow, while the left side was bathed in light.
"Aren't you sticking your nose in a bit too far?"
Having run rampant for so long, do you really think of yourselves as the ninja world's police?
"And before meddling in others affairs, did you never consider whether you actually possessed the capability to do so?"
Meddling with overwhelming strength is called 'upholding justice.' Meddling without strength is just bringing humiliation upon oneself.
Ay stood up heavily. At this point, he bore not only previous scars but now a fresh, bleeding sword wound as well. After casting a deeply wary glance at Sasuke, he locked his glare firmly onto Naruto.
"What are you trying to do?"
"What do I want to do?" Naruto replied at a deliberately slow, mocking pace. "Raikage, I said it right from the very start."
"The Byakugan belongs to the Hyuga Clan."
"We merely want to take back what belongs to Konoha."
As he spoke those final words, his expression gradually turned unnervingly fanatical.
"This is the iron will of our great Fifth Hokage, Lord Danzo."
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A/N: A useless piece of trivia. Iaijutsu Slash first appeared during the Land of Waves arc, used by one of Gato's henchmen. To highlight Zabuza's strength, logic dictates that this technique should have been set as something common. But it seems Kishimoto forgot about that, as he also made it Mifune's ultimate move.
It's not just me saying Kumo is overly aggressive. Onoki mentioned at the Five Kage Summit that Kumogakure constantly expands its territory and collects secret techniques everywhere. How do you think they collect those secret techniques? They certainly don't pay for them.
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