No one understood the Raikage's strength better than Aoba. One of his eyes was still covered, a gift from the Raikage himself.
Moreover, the Raikage was the type of opponent Aoba least wanted to face.
Most ninjas were high in offense but low in defense. The Raikage was different—high in both offense and defense, essentially a human tank.
Even with a divine weapon like the Kusanagi Sword in hand, Aoba couldn't guarantee he could deal a fatal blow.
Most crucially, the Raikage was faster than him.
For ninjas, who were high-agility assassins, superior speed was an unparalleled advantage.
Additionally, the Raikage possessed the ability to deliver one-hit kills, something most taijutsu specialists lacked. Facing him, a single misstep could mean death.
If Aoba entered Sage Mode, he might be able to match the Raikage's power. But in a prolonged battle, he'd fall short—his Chakra reserves were far inferior.
Using Lightning Release Flash, the Raikage naturally wouldn't be able to block it. However, this technique wasn't instantaneous; it required charging time. Against an opponent like the Raikage, that was fatal.
The only reason Aoba had managed to sever one of the Raikage's fingers in the past was because the Raikage had underestimated him, believing Aoba's Lightning Release couldn't harm him, thus giving him time to charge.
But after that failure, the Raikage would surely be on guard. This time, he wouldn't give Aoba the chance to charge so easily.
This highlighted how crucial intelligence was in ninja battles. If Aoba hadn't fought the Raikage a year ago and his Lightning Release Flash remained unknown, he'd have at least a 70% chance of permanently ending the Raikage today.
But reality offered no "what ifs." Now, even with all his cards on the table, his odds of victory were only around 30-40%.
Aoba felt some regret. If he had completed the Hashirama Cells transplant and overcome his weaknesses, he wouldn't be in this predicament today.
The Raikage's appearance undeniably placed immense pressure on Konoha. The crux was that Konoha lacked anyone of equal status or strength to counter him.
Then, an unexpected figure appeared—Danzo.
Aoba hadn't anticipated that the reinforcement squad would be led by him personally. But considering his earlier absence, it was classic "Hokage of Shadows" behavior.
"Raikage, this is the heart of the Land of Fire. Daring to come here alone—are you declaring all-out war on Konoha?"
"Tch. A rat hiding in the gutter has no right to speak to me. Where's Sarutobi Hiruzen? Has he grown too old and feeble to face me?"
At this point, Hiruzen likely couldn't defeat the Fourth Raikage in a fight. Age had caught up to him.
The Third Hokage was a ninjutsu specialist, but with advancing years, his Chakra reserves were nowhere near what they'd been in his prime.The Raikage was in his prime, full of energy. The key was his speed and high damage output. If the Third Hokage made even the slightest mistake and got grazed by him, he'd likely be done for.
Even if the Third had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, techniques like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal might not be enough to catch the Raikage.
Regardless, the current situation was extremely awkward. Konoha had over three times the number of people, yet they were the ones being suppressed in terms of momentum.
As the saying went, there wasn't a single Kage-level shinobi among them who could stand toe-to-toe with the Raikage. Naturally, their morale couldn't rise.
Shinobi were super warriors whose strength resided in themselves, and shinobi villages were purely military organizations. The Konoha shinobi couldn't help but wish their own Kage was standing before them now.
"Raikage-sama, does your hand still hurt?"
At this moment, Aoba stepped forward. He understood Danzo's intention—buying time. He could do that too.
In this situation, whoever stepped up would gain prestige. Danzo had wanted to boost his reputation, only to be shut down by the Raikage's remark about being a "rat in the gutter."
This was the Shadow of Darkness's greatest weakness. Because the Raikage wasn't wrong—Danzo truly was a rat in the gutter. Root's actions were all classified, and while Danzo had some recognition among the Jonin, most of the village didn't even know he existed.
Aoba genuinely couldn't comprehend it. How could someone like this even consider the Hokage's seat as a goal?
If you wanted to rule the village, at the very least, the villagers should know who you were. Forget about "winning hearts to win the world"—in the Shinobi World, where power resided in the individual, that saying wasn't entirely accurate.
Not that it mattered, since Danzo had neither.
Aoba's appearance caused a stir among both the Cloud Ninja and Konoha shinobi.
The Cloud Ninja were agitated—understandably so. Dozens of their comrades had died at Aoba's hands.
The difference was, this wasn't wartime, where countless lives were lost and most casualties didn't even know who killed them. Aoba had personally slain a group of Cloud Ninja in the past three years, and those shinobi undoubtedly had relatives and friends back in their village.
As a result, nearly half of the attacking Cloud Ninja had personal grudges against Aoba. Not to mention his history with the Raikage himself.
In fact, Aoba's feat of escaping the Raikage's grasp and even breaking one of his fingers was an outstanding achievement by Shinobi World standards.
It might not compare to the Yellow Flash's direct defeat of the Raikage, but it was still an impressive record.
In today's Shinobi World, anyone who could face the Raikage head-on and even injure him was undoubtedly a notable figure.
Yet, interestingly, Aoba had earned the title "Wind Chasing Sword"—but it was only used outside Konoha. Few within the village even knew of it. In fact, after three years, barely anyone in Konoha even recognized him anymore.
Forget the title—within Konoha, he was practically invisible.
It went without saying whose handiwork this was.
Come to think of it, Aoba bore some resemblance to Konoha's White Fang of the past. Both wielded swords and were high-speed assassination-type shinobi.How afraid Shimura Danzo must be of Konoha producing a second Sakumo Hatake. He directly suppressed all of Aoba's achievements.
Aside from the files seen by the Hokage, only a few friends like Kakashi and Might Guy knew about Aoba's history with the Cloud Ninja.
Aoba originally had no intention of standing out. But seeing Danzo's frustration suddenly made him change his plans.
Since no one was going to claim this wave of reputation, he might as well take it himself. Though in Konoha, reputation wasn't necessarily a good thing—especially for civilian-born shinobi, it could be a death sentence.
But Aoba wasn't the White Fang of the past. Danzo's old tricks wouldn't affect him the same way they did Sakumo.
Moreover, Aoba had already planned to cultivate his own influence within Konoha. He might as well use this opportunity to make a start.
If things dragged on, he had already decided to activate Sage Mode and confront the Raikage head-on.
If they were going to play, they might as well go all out.