Locke was blasted dozens of meters by the air currents caused by the collapsed ball's explosion. The damage feedback from his two shadow clones left him in so much pain he didn't want to move, to the point that falling from such a height felt like a massage.
Feeling the presence of an extra shikigami in the shadows, Locke realized it was over. His entire body suddenly relaxed, collapsing straight to the ground. He looked up at the sky, the clouds dispersed by the shockwaves, and felt an immense sense of relief in his heart.
But in the eyes of Akimichi Choza and the others, this was somewhat alarming—like watching the old man start smoking after getting on a plane, it was hard not to wonder if he was going to crash.
"Locke!!"
So Akimichi, along with two ANBU and Hyūga Hizashi, who had just arrived, rushed to Locke as fast as they could.
"Mega kid! Are you alright!"
"Cough, I'm fine. Just a little tired. I think two or three ribs are broken. Nothing serious."
After recovering some of his cursed energy, Locke immediately used the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his wounds, then stood up.
Seeing the scrapes on Locke's body heal almost instantly, the three, who hadn't sensed any chakra fluctuations, were stunned. Akimichi Choza, who had been shocked by Locke from beginning to end, was already used to it and didn't think much of it. He asked nervously:
"Are you sure you're okay? That shikigami—is it gone?"
"It's fine. I've taken care of it. It won't happen again."
Hearing Locke's personal confirmation, Choza finally relaxed. He sat down on the ground, let out a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grumbled:
"A day with you is more exciting than all the battles I've fought over the years. Boy, you'd better explain to me what's going on when we get back!"
"Hey, well... so what exactly happened?"
Just as Locke and Akimichi were being casual, Hyūga Hizashi beside them looked at the body of the Third Raikage lying nearby. Suppressing the shock in his heart, he asked with a slight tremor in his voice:
"Lo... Lord Locke, Lord Choza, how should we handle this?"
Following the direction of Hizashi's finger, Locke realized that the Third Raikage A wasn't dead.
It seemed that because Mahoraga had taken most of the attacks (Ox: so my love was for nothing, huh?), A had been left with just a corpse.
Akimichi was about to speak directly, but then turned to Locke, ready to ask his opinion.
After all, he had saved over three hundred people in the supply unit, completely wiped out Kumogakure's elite forces, and even killed the Third Raikage A. Locke was already a war hero of Konoha.
Locke, who just wanted to wrap things up quickly so he could summon Mahoraga and have some fun, naturally handed everything over to Choza.
Seeing this, Choza stood up, his expression becoming serious. He ordered the ANBU to step aside:
"Seal the body and immediately report the briefing to the Third Hokage. Say..." After a pause, Akimichi glanced at his old friend and, after a moment's thought, changed his words:
"Say: Nara Locke, a genin of the Nara clan and a graduate of the Ninja Academy, during a blocking engagement, voluntarily broke through the enemy line, single-handedly annihilated forty-seven Kumogakure forces, captured three, and..."
"Defeated the Third Raikage of Kumogakure, A, and killed him."
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The next day, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat in the Hokage's office in Konoha, meticulously reviewing battle reports from the front lines. He marked the relevant positions on the map for troop deployment, tactical development, and coordination across the four main battlefields.
Now, with Tsunade having left the village and Sakumo having taken his own life, Konoha was simultaneously fighting against the four great ninja villages. The pressure was immense—to put it mildly, it was overwhelming.
To replenish the already dwindling forces, he had even sent early graduates of the Ninja Academy to the front lines to ease the pressure there.
Aside from the core members and the old, weak, sick, and disabled, everyone who could be sent had already been sent. They were truly running out of ammunition and provisions.
If it weren't for his student Namikaze Minato coming of age and being able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to act as a firefighter across multiple battlefields, he would have risked being outflanked by Kumogakure on the battlefield.
In the last ninja war, A had led his men to steal Iwagakure's techniques. Sarutobi Hiruzen remembered this well.
Speaking of the Third Raikage A, Sarutobi's head began to ache. This old man had put immense pressure on their front line in the Land of Tang, not to mention the sneaky raids from the eastern front, leaving him unable to make decisions.
In the end, it was all due to the severe disadvantage on the Kumogakure front line due to a lack of combat power. They could only rely on their numerical advantage of mid-level ninja to maintain stability on the front.
Just as Sarutobi was hesitating whether to call for Tsunade or transfer his other two students, a panting ANBU appeared before him.
"Third Hokage-sama, urgent military situation from the Kumogakure front line in the Land of Tang!"
Hearing the news from the Cloud front, Sarutobi's hand tightened, and his pen accidentally left a blot on the map.
A sense of foreboding surged from deep in his heart, making him lift his throat and ask anxiously:
"Who sent it? The daily patrol? Or Choza?"
"It's Lord Choza."
Taking the secret letter from the ANBU, Sarutobi immediately pulled out the codebook. The real information, after the ciphertext was decoded, fell onto the paper one piece at a time. But as the transcription progressed, the speed of his hand gradually slowed. In the end, it stopped completely. Even his breathing unconsciously grew lighter.
"Is this intelligence correct?"
"Third Hokage-sama, this news is from Green Sprout. The code and the mark are correct. There is no mistake."
Hearing the news from the eldest son, Sarutobi Hiruzen collapsed into his chair and clutched his chest, feeling his heart pound.
"A... is dead?"
The immense surprise instantly overwhelmed Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had to admit, this was the best news he had heard since the war began.
"Owl."
"Your subordinate is here."
"Bring me Nara Locke's files. Transmit this information to Jiraiya as is. Have him pass it on to Nara Shikaku."
After the surprise, Sarutobi Hiruzen's wisdom returned. After a moment's thought, he changed his mind.
"No, have him tell Shikaku first. Have Minato put aside his current mission and go to the Land of Tang to verify this intelligence."
Immediately, Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly wrote a promotion order, saying:
"If the information is confirmed, immediately promote the genin Nara Locke to elite jonin and..."
"Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Kumogakure Front."