Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 430 Killer Bee: I'll give my brother face, and I'll take care of Konoha's ter

With his perception, comparable to that of a precision instrument, he could clearly distinguish the main components it contained: radium, used to stimulate the nerves, and even a small amount of saliva, used to numb pain...

Each of these materials is not rare, but the fact that they are blended in such a perfect ratio and refined using an extremely skillful technique has concentrated the medicinal effects to the extreme.

They may be facing an enemy far more formidable than they imagined.

Minato's expression instantly turned serious. He clenched the soldier's ration pill in his palm, feeling its cold texture.

She slowly stood up, her previous gentle aura vanishing without a trace, replaced by a sharpness like a drawn sword.

A makeshift command post set up at the border of the Land of Lightning.

"boom--!"

With a loud crash, the war conference table, carved from a single massive rock, broke in half, sending shards of rock flying everywhere.

Maps, scrolls, and chess pieces representing troop deployments were scattered all over the ground.

The air inside the tent froze because of the sudden explosion.

Several Cloud Village Jonin subconsciously tensed up, even their breathing became cautious, and they dared not look at the figure in the center that resembled a furious lion.

The Fourth Raikage, Ai, had bulging bronze muscles, with veins throbbing and knotting on his neck and arms, as if lava were flowing beneath his skin.

His fist was still wreathed in lingering blue arcs of electricity, emitting a soft crackling sound.

His roar made the entire tent buzz.

"The Iwagakure demolition squad, the Sunagakure puppet army... are we just going to let them rampage across our land like this? Are those guys on the front lines using their ninja swords like firewood?!"

The aide-de-camp, Tsuchishiro, stood to the side, his face etched with deep sorrow.

He didn't look at the scattered battle reports, because every word on them was already etched into his mind.

The northern front collapsed, the western front was cut off, and the battle situation became extremely precarious.

Those madmen from Iwagakure have developed Earth Release into the most barbaric art; their large-scale explosive ninjutsu can turn half a mountain, along with the ninjas inside, into dust.

Meanwhile, the Sunagakure puppets, those lifeless, tireless wooden puppets, moved through the wind, reaping the lives of the Cloud Village ninja.

Ai's chest heaved violently, his eyes burning with rage as he stared intently at the tattered map of the ninja world on the wall.

What flashed through his mind was not strategy or tactics, but the names of his fallen comrades, the figure of his father, and even more so, the letter of appeal for help that he had recently signed and sent to Konoha—a letter that could be described as a great disgrace.

"Onoki... and that treacherous bastard Retsumon... I'll personally twist their heads off!"

Ai gritted his teeth, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Raikage-sama,"

Tsuchishiro finally spoke, his tone steady yet carrying an undeniable heaviness. "Now is not the time to vent our anger. Our enemies are better prepared than we imagined. Their coordination... is flawless."

"Anger won't win a war. We need a breakthrough."

Just when the atmosphere inside the tent reached its most oppressive point, the tent flap was suddenly flung open.

A ninja in charge of sensory perception walked in, his face filled with excitement.

"Raikage-sama!"

Ai's impatience was practically overflowing: "What bad news is it now! Tell me!"

The ninja swallowed hard, trying to calm his rapid breathing, and reported at top speed, "No...it's not bad news! It's...it's from the southwest! Our reconnaissance team has just sent back urgent intelligence!"

He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts.

"That elite squad nearby... led by Iwagakure Jonin Oishi... was completely wiped out!"

"What?"

Ai's anger froze instantly.

Tsuchishiro's one eye suddenly lit up.

Ai pressed, "Completely wiped out? When did the village ever have someone like that?"

"No...no..."

The sensory ninja shook his head. "According to the information relayed by the surviving ninjas... the one who made the move was a small team... they... they were using a banner..."

"What banner!"

"Konoha... Peacekeeping Forces."

The words "Konoha" resounded like thunderclaps in the minds of everyone inside the tent.

Ai's body stiffened.

That overwhelming rage was replaced by a more complex emotion at this moment.

It was a sigh of relief, but also a deeper humiliation.

coming.

The straw he least wanted to face, yet which was the only thing he could grasp in his despair, finally arrived.

His father's enemy has come to save the village his father left behind.

What is this?

Is it ironic?

"Peacekeeping forces..."

Tsuchishiro chewed on the unfamiliar name, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his single eye. "Such arrogance...such a domineering title...Sarutobi Hiruzen, what are you thinking?"

This is a turning point.

Without a doubt, this is the only chance!

Just as Tsuchida was about to press his advantage and persuade Ai to react immediately, a rhythmic melody, completely out of place with the somber atmosphere, came from afar.

"Boom! Yo! Listen to me! Don't get angry, bro!"

A figure carrying a huge speaker slid sideways into the tent in an extremely exaggerated manner and came to a steady stop in the center.

Short white hair, signature sunglasses, bronze skin, and a seemingly carefree smile that's always on his lips.

Chirabi.

He pressed the speaker button with one hand and made a hip-hop gesture with the other, swaying his body to the rhythm.

"The enemy's plan is like a tattered pair of underwear! The Konoha ninjas have already crushed them! Yeah!"

The entire command center fell into a deathly silence.

All the Cloud Village ninjas, including A who was on the verge of exploding with rage, looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Has this guy gone mad?"

Only Tsuchishiro's face seemed to have lessened in sorrow.

"Killer Bee!"

Ai's temple throbbed with a bulging vein. "Turn that thing off right now!"

"Okay! Okay!"

Killer Bee pressed the pause button, and the tent instantly fell silent. He took off his sunglasses, and his eyes, which bore a resemblance to Ai's, held no hint of jest.

"Brother, it seems your letter worked."

Ai's cheek twitched.

Tsuchishiro immediately seized the opportunity and took a step forward.

"Lord Raikage, Killer Bee is right. Regardless of Konoha's motives, their actions have objectively bought us valuable time and relieved pressure on the southwestern front. We must immediately send someone to contact them to confirm their intentions, scale, and subsequent action plans!"

Ai fell silent.

His tall figure stood beside the broken stone table, like a rock sculpture lost in thought.

He was torn between his inner thoughts and his own conscience.

The list of fallen soldiers that Tsuchishiro had just submitted flashed through his mind—rows of young names, each one of whom had once vividly sworn allegiance to him.

He then thought of Chirabi.

The village's jinchūriki, his younger brother with whom he shares an ironclad relationship.

If the war continues to escalate, the enemy's ultimate target will certainly be the Eight-Tails.

His father's words echoed in his ears once again.

"Protect the village, protect Bi..."

responsibility.

The weight of responsibility was almost crushing his pride.

After a long while, Ai finally exhaled a breath of stale air.

That fury, which threatened to consume everything, was suppressed by a deeper resolve.

He raised his hand and pointed to his younger brother.

"Kirabi".

"Yes, big brother." Killer Bee straightened up, abandoning all his cynicism.

"You take a team with you."

"Go find that so-called Konoha Peacekeeping Force."

He paused for a moment, seemingly considering his words.

"Tell them our latest intelligence. Tell them everything we know: the key attack points of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, their troop deployments, and all the details we have."

This is an order, but also a disguised gesture.

Sharing intelligence means coordinating operations.