"Lord Raikage, the Chakra Cannon isn't finished yet! If we activate it now, who knows what might happen!"
Tsuchikage stared at the half-finished Chakra Cannon, sweating profusely in his anxiety. Seeing the Third Raikage about to personally operate it, he hurriedly reached out to stop him, but the Third Raikage was already beyond caring.
"What half-finished? It doesn't matter!"
"Today, either he dies, or I perish!"
"Even if this Chakra Cannon is only half-finished, as long as it can fire, that's enough!"
"Even if it only has the power to shatter half the moon, it's enough to take his life!"
With those words, he leaped behind the Chakra Cannon's control panel.
This Chakra Cannon was still under development, with an incomplete charging system, flawed energy storage modules, and even the energy-gathering muzzle was just a crudely made prototype.
But in the eyes of the Third Raikage, Kumogakure had already run out of options. Only by risking his life to kill Aoki before him could Kumogakure have a glimmer of hope.
"Activate!"
The Third Raikage pressed the Chakra Cannon's activation button, and the energy source buried underground instantly began to gather.
But this half-finished Chakra Cannon hadn't stored much energy to begin with, far from enough to support firing.
Seeing the Chakra Cannon remain motionless, the Third Raikage immediately activated his Chakra Mode. Though uncertain if this method would work, he still thrust his hands directly into the Chakra Cannon's energy absorption port.
The previously stalled Chakra Cannon suddenly began to frantically absorb the Third Raikage's chakra, the charging progress bar rapidly jumping.
Seeing this scene, the Third Raikage was overjoyed, using all his strength to precisely aim the muzzle at Aoki's position.
Countless energies gathered wildly within the cannon's chamber, the light growing brighter and brighter.
"Hahahahaha! Fourth Hokage! I'll have this village buried with you!"
Amid the Third Raikage's hysterical laughter, the Chakra Cannon's charging was about to complete.
Whoosh—
Just as the muzzle was about to fire, a golden beam suddenly pierced through the Third Raikage's head.
Aoki slowly lowered his raised finger, looking at the Third Raikage collapsed before the control panel with an expression of utter exasperation.
"What are you doing? Did you really think I'm the kind of villain who just waits for the enemy to charge up?"
I've watched Dragon Ball and followed Phineas and Ferb. Any move, mechanism, bomb, or self-destruction with a charging countdown usually ends up as a joke.
How could he not know the Third Raikage wanted to sacrifice himself for mutual destruction? But Aoki wasn't a fool—why would he fall for that?
With the Third Raikage dealt with, the only ones still standing were Tsuchikage and the severely injured A. Tsuchikage was the Third Raikage's most capable right-hand man and Kumogakure's strategist, skilled and formidable, but leaving him alive would only be a hidden danger.
As for the Fourth Raikage A, he was just a young brat. With Killer Bee dead, his heart had already turned to ashes, making him utterly defenseless.
Aoki couldn't be bothered with words. He directly activated the Rinnegan's power, extracting their souls and thoroughly eliminating these remnants.
His gaze then fell upon the still-unconscious Kumogakure ninjas. Scanning the area, he unexpectedly spotted Mabui and Samui.
In the original story, aside from Naruto's generation, Kumogakure didn't have many capable individuals. But in Aoki's eyes, these two were the most suitable candidates to be made into Six Paths Puppets.
With these two women equipped with Six Paths Black Rods, they will surely become excellent puppets, and Hanzo will have a few more companions in the future.
With a flick of his wrist, a black rod appeared in Aoki's hand out of thin air. He then summoned countless tiny black rods, which pierced directly into Mabui's body.
The moment the black rods entered her body, Aoki felt he could control every aspect of Mabui.
However, recalling the drawbacks of this technique from the original work, he decided to use the Tenseigan's Autonomous Puppet Technique instead, as it would be much easier to manipulate.
With a thought, the Tenseigan's puppet technique activated. Surprisingly, the abilities of the Rinnegan and Tenseigan worked together seamlessly. Moments later, Mabui was completely transformed by Aoki and slowly awakened.
"Hokage-sama!"
Looking at the fully awakened Mabui, now a Rinnegan puppet obediently bowing before him, Aoki nodded in satisfaction. He then used the same method to transform Samui.
At that moment, outside Kumogakure, countless figures gradually appeared.
It was the Konoha army, having closely followed Aoki. Several figures quickly gathered around him, their faces filled with confusion.
"How is the situation? Fourth Hokage-sama, where is Kumogakure?"
"Something's off. According to the route, Kumogakure should be right here!"
"This is too strange!"
Jiraiya stared at the flat, empty land before him, looking around in bewilderment. Tsunade stood beside him, but her gaze fell on Mabui and Samui behind Aoki. She then looked at Aoki with a knowing, half-smiling expression.
Meeting Tsunade's gaze, Aoki awkwardly rubbed his nose before giving the order: "Alright, now that everyone is here, we will take over the entire Land of Lightning."
"Kumogakure shall henceforth only exist in history!"
Upon hearing Aoki's words, Jiraiya and the others finally noticed the lifeless bodies of the Third Raikage, Fourth Raikage, and others in the distance. Combined with the desolate scene before them, the group let out a collective gasp of astonishment.
"This place... was Kumogakure?"
"My goodness!"
"Did the Fourth Hokage-sama accomplish all this alone?"
"Incredible!"
At that moment, everyone gained a new understanding of Aoki's strength, and their respect for the Fourth Hokage deepened even further.
Without further delay, they immediately carried out Aoki's command. Led by the remaining Kumogakure ninja Aoki had subdued, the Konoha army swiftly began taking over the entire Land of Lightning.
Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, walked over to the Chakra Cannon beside the Third Raikage's body. After examining it for a moment, he remarked, "It seems this is just a prototype."
After his inspection, he directly sealed the Chakra Cannon into a scroll, intending to take it back to Konoha for detailed study.
Soon, the entire Land of Lightning was successfully taken over by Konoha and incorporated into the territory of the Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, in the Chat Group.
Uchiha Obito: Preparing to attack Kirigakure. Where's Kakashi?
Hatake Kakashi: We can only try to bring back Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama. Right now, we have no spare capacity for external military campaigns.
Madara Uchiha: Relying on begging them, huh? Still too slow and weak. I'm heading to the Land of Wind.
Senju Hashirama: By the way, that kid has already taken the Land of Wind and sent troops to the Land of Lightning. His speed is truly impressive!
Senju Tobirama: Brother, we need to pick up the pace. Aoki has already taken the Land of Lightning. If we're any slower, we really won't be able to catch up to him.
Group Leader Aoki: Taking the Land of Lightning was way too easy. Sigh.
Senju Hashirama: My goodness! You finished it in less than an hour?
Senju Tobirama: Not just that, Aoki crushed the Land of Lightning in less than two hours.
Madara Uchiha: Crushing Kumogakure is hardly difficult. The real challenge is bringing those stubborn fools under Konoha's banner.
Tsunade: That speed is terrifying! We need to pick up the pace!
Tsunade (with glasses): Indeed, otherwise the gap in the Chat Group will only widen.
Everyone who had been discussing their respective progress was stunned upon seeing Aoki's message. They had assumed that Aoki's campaign against the Land of Lightning would take at least a few weeks, but unexpectedly, in just one hour, the Land of Lightning was conquered and became territory of the Land of Fire.
This speed left everyone in the Chat Group secretly alarmed. Meanwhile, Madara, who was en route to the Land of Wind, felt a surge of fierce determination ignite within him.
"Speed up!"
The others in the Ninja World also dared not delay any further and began mobilizing their forces to attack other nations.
Elsewhere, as news of Konoha's successful annexation of the Land of Lightning reached Iwagakure, the army had just finished assembling. Ōnoki was personally leading the troops, preparing to rush to Kumogakure's aid.
"Tsuchikage-sama!"
"Latest intelligence from the Land of Lightning!"
Hearing the messenger's voice, Ōnoki felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
He took the report and quickly scanned through it. The moment he finished reading, he froze in place. Seeing this, Ōnoki and the others beside him couldn't help but look puzzled.
"Tsuchikage-sama, what happened?"
"The army is ready to march!"
"Let's set out!"
Listening to their words, Ōnoki weakly waved his hand and, with a resigned expression, handed the report over to them.
"Set out for what?"
"The Land of Lightning has already been taken by Konoha."
"Now, our Land of Earth has no way out."
Hearing Ōnoki's words, their expressions changed drastically. They hurriedly took the report to read it. After finishing, all the high-ranking officials of Iwagakure present fell into a dead silence.
"Prepare for peace talks with Konoha."