"Yo, big bro, I'm with the flow! I'll follow your lead and make it show!"
Killer Bee was clearly hyped by A's proposal to take the fight directly to the Kazekage. The thrill of the hunt was in the air.
"Lord A! Lord Bee! An urgent message from the Raikage!"
Just as the AB Duo were preparing to abandon their post and plunge into the heart of the Land of Wind, a lone figure crested a dune, sprinting toward them with frantic speed.
"Cee?" A's eyes narrowed, but he relaxed his guard slightly. "Has my father sent new orders? Does he want us to take out the Fourth Kazekage, or is Chiyo finally on the menu?"
Before the messenger could even catch his breath, A was peppering him with excited questions.
"Neither," Cee replied, his voice heavy. He looked at A's eager face and felt a pang of hesitation.
"Then what is it?" A pressed, his impatience bubbling over.
Cee let out a long, weary sigh. "Lord A... I assume you've heard the news that 'Iron Fist' Ikki has come out of retirement."
A snorted. "The 'Ninja Hero,' right? I heard. Some fossil from the old days. I don't care how much 'background' or history he has—is he actually worth the hype? Why? Did my father send you here so Bee and I can go assassinate him?"
A looked at Cee expectantly, his hands crackling with residual lightning.
"No," Cee said, his expression darkening. "Not long ago, Lord Raikage engaged the Iron Fist on the front lines of the Land of Fire."
A smirked. Like father, like son. One had called Ikki a "remnant of a dead age," while the other dismissed him as a "fossil."
"Well, then it's obvious," A said confidently. "My father must have crushed him. I'm almost disappointed—I wanted to be the one to put a blade through a legend."
"No, Lord A," Cee said, shaking his head. He delivered the news that left the AB Duo frozen in their tracks. "Lord Raikage lost."
"Impossible! My father is invincible!" A roared, his voice echoing across the desert. He glared at Cee, searching for any sign of a joke, but Cee's face was like stone. "How could he lose to some ghost? He must have been ambushed! There's no way he lost a fair fight!"
"There was no ambush, Lord A. In fact, it was the opposite. Hundreds of our elite shinobi stood with the Raikage against him. And yet... with a single kick, the Iron Fist wiped out over two hundred of our brothers. And then... the Raikage himself..."
Cee trailed off, his voice cracking.
"What happened to my father?" A's voice was low now, a cold dread seeping into his bones.
"The Iron Fist picked up a pebble from the road. With a single toss, he shattered the 'Strongest Armor' that we all thought was impenetrable. Then, using only one finger—and without a single drop of chakra—he snapped the Raikage's 'Strongest Spear' like a dry twig."
Cee recounted the details of the slaughter in one breathless, agonizing rush.
A's mind went blank. He stood there, the desert wind whipping his hair, unable to process the scale of the defeat. The idea that his father—assisted by a small army—could be dismantled by a man using a pebble and a finger was too much to bear.
"Big brother..." Bee muttered, looking at A with uncharacteristic concern.
"My father's condition... tell me!"
"It's dire. He's clinging to life by a thread. Before he lost consciousness, his final command was for me to find you and Lord Bee and bring you back to the village immediately."
The news hit the duo like a physical blow.
"I'm not going back!" A's grief finally exploded into a blinding rage. Lightning Style chakra erupted from his body, coiling around him in violent, blue streaks. The sand beneath his feet began to swirl in a localized storm. "Bee, with me! We're going to find that bastard and kill him!"
"Lord A! Lord Bee! You can't!" Cee shouted, throwing himself in their path.
"Get out of my way!" A seized Cee by the collar, hoisting him into the air with one hand. His eyes were shot through with blood, his gaze murderous.
"It's not my order you're defying—it's the Raikage's!" Cee met A's gaze without flinching, despite the lethal pressure. "Lord Raikage gave his word: no Cloud shinobi is to set foot in the Land of Fire as long as he lives! If you go now, you aren't just a fool—you're a traitor!"
Cee's voice grew desperate. "I want revenge as much as you do! But look at the facts! If even the Raikage couldn't touch him, what will you do? You'll just go there and die! Konoha and the Rock will hear of this defeat within the day. The Land of Thunder will be vulnerable. We need you back home to take the mantle and protect our borders. Do you want to throw away a century of progress and our entire village's foundation just because you can't control your temper?"
Every word hit A like a hammer.
"Ikki Shinomiya!"
A panted, his chest heaving as the torment of his father's defeat and his duty as a leader warred within him. After a long, agonizing minute of hysterical roaring at the sky, he finally began to calm. The lightning around him flickered and died. He set Cee back on the sand.
"Bee... we're going back," A muttered, his voice hollow.
"Whatever you say, big bro," Bee nodded. He would have followed A into a suicidal charge without a second thought, but he knew Cee was right. The village needed a Raikage.
"The Raikage made the right choice in appointing you his successor, Lord A," Cee said, relief flooding his system. He turned and began the trek back to the Hidden Cloud, keeping a close eye on the duo.
He knew the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree. A had inherited all of the Third Raikage's monstrous talent, but he had also inherited every ounce of his staggering arrogance. If they didn't get him back to the village soon, Cee was worried that the fire in A's heart would eventually burn everything in its path.