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The Shadow Guard—simply put, was a special operations squad dedicated to protecting the "Kage."
Their strength and loyalty were beyond question, and many of them possessed rather unique abilities.
Take, for instance, the Gold and Silver brothers of the Raikage's personal guard—two young but immensely powerful shinobi.
"Boss, the enemy camp is just ahead," said Kinkaku, gripping his Bashō Fan tightly. His eyes gleamed with anticipation, eager for battle.
"Heh, you're not scared, are you, Kinkaku?" Ginkaku taunted from the side, his right hand holding the Shichiseiken while a red gourd was strapped to his back. His expression was wild, filled with bloodthirsty excitement, as if he were already reveling in the slaughter to come.
"Scared?" Kinkaku scoffed, a smirk playing on his lips. "If I'm with the boss, I'd even charge straight into Konoha's main camp without a second thought."
At his words, the surrounding shinobi burst into hearty laughter, showing not a shred of concern for the enemy.
Konoha's basic military strength was limited. At most, their so-called First Legion numbered around two thousand men, though in reality, their actual numbers were likely far lower.
To achieve the strategic goal of "stalling the enemy," they had no choice but to spread their forces thin, adopting a general-purpose strategy—reinforcing defenses wherever trouble arose.
While this approach was effective in preventing enemy advances, it also inadvertently increased the risk of their main base being ambushed.
This was Konoha's first time facing off against the forces of Kumogakure. They had no understanding of the Raikage's tactics.
Not in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that the enemy's supreme commander would lead a direct assault himself, engaging in a battle of kings and a duel of generals right from the onset of war.
"Out of my way! Don't get in my path!" With a powerful swing of his Bashō Fan, Kinkaku unleashed a raging firestorm, instantly engulfing the enemy squad ahead.
Bashō Fan—one of the treasured tools left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. A formidable weapon that ignored the user's natural chakra affinity, capable of unleashing powerful Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-based ninjutsu all at once.
As long as the user possessed sufficient chakra, they could transform into a living artillery platform, bombarding the battlefield with devastating techniques.
The Raikage's surprise attack did not rely solely on his own strength but also on the overwhelming firepower that Kinkaku provided.
In the blink of an eye, their squad was a mere two kilometers from their target.
But at that very moment, the Raikage's expression changed drastically. His Lightning Release Armor flared to life in an instant, and he grabbed Kinkaku and Ginkaku, leaping high into the air.
And then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of terrifying explosions erupted, engulfing an area of eight hundred meters in a storm of fire and destruction.
"Konoha, those bastards... They actually dared to set up such a dense web of explosive tags right outside their own camp?" The First Raikage's disbelief was evident.
Under normal circumstances, no one would set up such an extensive explosive trap near their own base.
One careless trigger could lead to unintended casualties, and more importantly, it could expose the location of their camp.
"According to intelligence, the leader of the First Legion is a woman who has a rather... 'intriguing' relationship with the Hokage." As he recalled the information he had received, a sneer formed on the Raikage's lips.
So much for the so-called "God of Shinobi." In the end, he was nothing more than a fool blinded by desire.
This battle today—he would take that woman's head and present it as a celebratory gift for the founding of Konoha.
"Be careful." With that brief warning, the Raikage became a streak of blue lightning, hurtling straight into the enemy ranks.
In an instant, several shinobi fell to his overwhelming speed.
Guillotine Drop!
Gathering an immense surge of Lightning Release chakra into his leg, he brought it down with brutal force—reducing the unfortunate shinobi beneath him to nothing but a splatter of blood.
Before enemy attacks could even reach him, the First Raikage had already shifted position. As he advanced, every Konoha shinobi who came into contact with him met the same fate—mercilessly torn apart by his sheer strength and unparalleled speed.
Invincible. Unstoppable.
That was the only way to describe the First Raikage in battle.
A growing sense of fear spread among the defenders. Only now did they finally understand why a leader of a Hidden Village would dare to charge into enemy territory alone.
"Small fry should stay out of my way!" Blinding arcs of lightning danced through the battlefield, and the casualties within the First Legion skyrocketed.
Until—
A crescent moon shimmered in the air beside the Raikage.
Phantom Moon Slash!
A blade traced a gentle arc, almost ethereal in its movement.
It was soundless, emotionless—so serene that the target often wouldn't even realize they had been cut.
Only when their throat was already split would they be left mesmerized by that cold, beautiful moonlight.
However, the Raikage was no ordinary man.
As a warrior who believed that a man with no distractions—no women in his heart—could channel his full strength into Lightning Release, he would never fall prey to the illusions of the enemy.
Hell Stab!
With a precise motion, his fingers formed a deadly spear, shattering the blade before him in a single strike. Without losing momentum, he lunged toward the woman whose form had just appeared in the distance.
As his attack was about to land, a soft pink glow suddenly enveloped the target.
Susanoo!
BOOM!
The sheer force of his strike sent her body reeling backward. On the rib-like structure of the pink Susanoo, spiderweb-like cracks spread across its surface.
"So he's just a brute after all," Uchiha Kochou muttered darkly, her expression grim. She had no desire to face such an opponent.
But there was no choice. The command post hadn't yet dispatched reinforcements.
Either she had to defeat the enemy, or she had to hold out until backup arrived.
Those were her only two options.
"You all deal with those men. Leave him to me."
Dismissing the guards at her side, Uchiha Kochou took a deep breath. In an instant, the pink glow around her intensified several times over.
Chakra veins spread, flesh and blood surged, and her hollow pupils flickered with a strange radiance, resembling flames.
As the Tengu armor manifested, the figure that appeared before the Raikage was none other than a towering giant, standing over ten meters tall.
Susanoo—Third Stage!
Wielding a massive twelve-meter-long great naginata, Kochou launched a powerful horizontal sweep with all her might.
Before the blade even reached its target, the very air let out a shrill, wailing howl—like the cry of a sea demon.
"This damn woman..."
The Raikage's eyes widened slightly in astonishment.
A true expert's skill was evident from the first move alone.
Witnessing the sheer ferocity of the Uchiha's attack firsthand, A instantly discarded his previous assumptions.
Without fully grasping the enemy's strength, he had no intention of taking the attack head-on.
He swiftly increased his cellular activation by twenty percent, his body moving in preparation to evade the incoming strike.
Suddenly—
CRACK!
A sharp sound came from beneath his feet.
The once-solid ground unexpectedly collapsed, crumbling into a pitfall beneath him.
As the saying goes, power rises from the ground—without a foothold, the Raikage had no way to evade the incoming attack.
"Damn it!" Realizing the danger, he immediately pushed his cellular activation to its absolute limit.
For an instant, he seemed to transform into a golden Super Saiyan suspended in midair.
BOOM!
The great naginata's blade was about to strike its target—
Yet, there was not a trace of excitement on Uchiha Kochou's face.
Because her Third-Stage Susanoo's mighty strike had failed to cut through the enemy's layer of Lightning Release Armor.
"So this is the Raikage's Lightning Cloak... The one that Lord mentioned before. What a troublesome ability."
Fully aware that the situation was far from optimistic, Kochou silently pushed her ocular power to its very limit.
She had yet to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, meaning her ocular power was insufficient to manifest the Complete Body Susanoo.
Even with the added strength of the Sage Body's cells, it was simply not enough.
That last strike had already been the peak of her offensive capabilities. Against an ordinary Kage-level foe, it would have been more than enough.
But this was no ordinary Kage.
This was the First Raikage—the man who had the strength to unify the Land of Lightning and put an end to an era of chaos.
This battle… would be a difficult one.
—
Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers away, Uchiha Izuna was leading his elite guard unit as they rushed toward the battlefield.
"Hold on," he murmured under his breath.
"Just hold on a little longer."
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[Chapter End's]
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