Three days and three nights! The Third Raikage, A, had withstood the siege of ten thousand Iwa ninjas for three full days and nights.
The battlefield had shifted several kilometers, and the terrain was completely altered wherever they fought.
If the Third Raikage, A, didn't fall soon, the Iwa ninjas would be unable to hold on any longer.
The same was true for Onoki. He had been flying in the sky for the past three days, tirelessly interfering with the Third Raikage and reducing casualties on his side.
This had been a very mentally taxing task for an old man like him.
Now, seeing the Third Raikage becoming increasingly weak, Onoki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had never expected the Third Raikage to be so tenacious. Which normal ninja could fight for three days and nights?
He hoped that the next generation's A wouldn't be as stubborn as him after the Third Raikage was taken down.
Surrounded by the Iwa ninja army, the lightning aura around the Third Raikage completely dissipated, and the Lightning Release Armor automatically deactivated. The Raikage's remaining chakra was no longer sufficient to maintain the armor.
With a deflection of his hand, he repelled a ninjutsu attack. The Third Raikage, A, assessed his physical condition.
His chakra was completely depleted, his stamina exhausted, and his physical state was in dire condition. Not only had the energy of all 120 trillion cells in his body been drained, but even his life force had been depleted.
Even if he were to receive the best medical treatment now, the Third Raikage, A, was already destined to die. This was the price he had paid for forcibly draining his life force to fight for three days and three nights.
Unless he had access to Six Paths-level Yang Release chakra to prolong his life, but that was impossible.
However, despite all of this, the Third Raikage, A, smiled.
"Haha... Hahahaha... Onoki, you old geezer, just you wait! One day, the Hidden Cloud will come for revenge!"
"Heh, the wail of a defeated dog. A, you really look pathetic like this. But don't worry, one day, I will lead the Iwa army and completely wipe out your Hidden Cloud, just like we're besieging you today. It's just a pity you won't live to see that day."
Flying in the sky, Onoki mocked the Third Raikage, A, from his elevated vantage point.
The Raikage didn't respond, because he was already dead.
All vital signs had completely disappeared. His body fell backward with a thud. The words he had just spoken had completely exhausted his last breath.
Seeing the Third Raikage, A, fall, the Iwa ninjas who had been besieging him completely relaxed.
Attacking day and night for three days, everyone's minds were on high alert. Now, seeing the Third Raikage fall, these people were too exhausted to even celebrate.
The last bit of energy they had been holding onto also dissipated.
Flying in the sky, Onoki even saw some ninjas lying directly on the ground, completely disregarding their image.
If he had seen such ninjas in normal times, he would have severely reprimanded them. But now, with no more worries about his own image, he would have gladly lain down himself.
Now that they had defeated the Third Raikage, he would let them rest well.
In the distance, Kawaki Aoba's main body smiled.
The Third Raikage had died from exhaustion, and a large number of Iwa ninjas were worn out, but his condition was excellent.
Before, he even had a Shadow Clone watching the battlefield while he himself had taken a good sleep.
"Now, it's time for me to make my entrance." Kawaki Aoba ascended into the air, his hands slightly raised.
The mountain he had just been standing on emitted a rumbling sound and slowly began to float into the air.
The sound of the mountain rising from the ground was extremely loud, no less than the sound of muffled thunder.
Even the Iwa ninjas on the distant battlefield were startled by the sound.
"Look! What's that in the sky?" One ninja exclaimed in shock, unable to believe his eyes.
The other ninjas looked up, and their pupils involuntarily constricted.
"That mountain is flying?"
"Impossible, am I seeing things?"
"There seems to be a person in the sky over there. He's the one doing it. He's bringing the mountain over here."
Despite carrying a large mountain, the speed at which the Float-Float Fruit moved objects was impressive. It quickly arrived above the Iwa ninjas and stood opposite Onoki, who was also flying in the sky.
"Hello, Lord Tsuchikage. I'm here to negotiate. I wonder if the Hidden Rock will do me a favor and hand over the Third Raikage's body for me to dispose of."
In Kawaki Aoba's imagination, even if his reputation wasn't as good as that red-haired guy next door who ate the Reputation Fruit, Onoki should still talk to him respectfully, considering he had brought such a big mountain.
However, the reality was that he had thought too highly of himself.
The little old man narrowed his eyes, but his hands were already secretly forming seals.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
Seeing the little old man's hand movements, Kawaki Aoba turned around and fled without hesitation. It turned out that the prototype of Dust Release in Onoki's hand wasn't a cube at all, but a disc shape.
Compared to normal Dust Release, which only destroys the target wrapped in the Dust Release cube, the thing in Onoki's hand now was no exaggeration to say that it was like Sun Wukong's golden cudgel. It would truly mean death upon contact.
The only way to deal with it was not to get hit.
Seeing that Kawaki Aoba reacted so quickly, Onoki was obviously surprised, but his hand movements were not slow.
White light bloomed from his hand, and a beam of light shot straight toward Kawaki Aoba.
The speed of Dust Release was very fast. Even though Kawaki Aoba was prepared, he couldn't avoid the beam in time with the speed of the Float-Float Fruit.
At the critical moment, a layer of flames erupted from his body, and his speed soared, narrowly dodging the attack of the Dust Release beam.
However, this was far from over.
In the distant sky, Onoki quickly adjusted the direction of the Dust Release in his hand. The Dust Release beam followed his movements, sweeping toward Kawaki Aoba.
"Damn it..." Kawaki Aoba cursed under his breath, but he didn't dare to be careless with the threat of Dust Release in front of him. He had no choice but to fly at full speed, evading the attack.
He hadn't expected Onoki to attack so decisively without warning. After all, he had transformed into Smoker's appearance, so there should have been no reason for Onoki to target him.
Kawaki Aoba was in an extremely precarious situation, flying erratically to avoid Onoki's Dust Release attacks. Onoki only needed to move his fingers to adjust the beam's angle, but Kawaki Aoba dared not be complacent.
Moreover, he wasn't someone to take such an offense lying down. Being made to look so foolish by Onoki right from the start, he couldn't resist retaliating.
While dodging the Dust Release beam, Kawaki Aoba raised his hand and directed the mountain he was controlling to crash directly toward Onoki.
Attacking Onoki wasn't the primary goal—forcing Onoki to dispel the Dust Release was his true objective.
Someone as powerful as Onoki wouldn't necessarily be harmed by a mountain strike. Below him, there was still a large group of Iwagakure ninjas. Unless Onoki was willing to allow his own forces to suffer heavy casualties, he had no choice but to either block or avoid the incoming mountain.
As expected, Kawaki Aoba's plan was spot-on. As the mountain approached, Onoki had no choice but to retract the Dust Release with a grim expression and shout toward the Iwagakure forces below, "Get out of here, everyone scatter!"
In fact, the Iwagakure ninjas had already started to move away quickly, even before Onoki's order.
Onoki, however, still had to buy them time. Instead of evading or dodging, he positioned himself directly in the path of the mountain, relying on his formidable power to stop it.
Flying beneath the mountain, Onoki performed a gesture as though supporting the sky with both hands. "Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique."
It was as if the scene from the future Fourth Shinobi World War, where Onoki held back a meteor, was playing out ahead of schedule. The object he was holding with both hands wasn't a meteor, but a mountain.
In the distance, Kawaki Aoba's expression remained unreadable, though his killing intent was palpable.
"Heh, as expected of the Third Tsuchikage. Truly impressive. However, the volume of this mountain is far inferior to the meteor of Heavenly Obstacle Star, and the shockwaves are nothing compared to that. But what if...?"
Kawaki Aoba opened his arms and gestured as though lifting something with both hands.
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and the commotion was so intense that the very earth seemed to tremble.
The faces of the Iwagakure ninjas below changed. After hearing such a sound, they had just seen a mountain flying overhead. What did it mean now...?
Their suspicions were confirmed. At the ravine where they had initially ambushed the Third Raikage, the mountains on both sides began to shake. The tremors grew stronger with each passing second.
When the shaking reached a critical point, the mountains seemed to break free from the earth's grip, lifting into the sky.
Upon seeing these two massive ravines floating toward him, Onoki's face paled. If he had known just how strong this opponent was, he wouldn't have attacked so recklessly.
But there was a reason why he had acted without hesitation. When he first saw Kawaki Aoba, he had noticed a strange mark on his body.
It was a colorless, odorless powdery substance—a rare marker used in Iwagakure to identify important individuals. The mark was short-lived, and only the most crucial figures in the village received it.
That's why, upon seeing Kawaki Aoba carrying a mountain and demanding the Third Raikage's body, Onoki had acted so decisively.
What he hadn't anticipated, however, was Kawaki Aoba's surprising speed in the air, nor that dragging a mountain was far from his limit.
Seeing the two familiar ravines heading toward him, Onoki decided to soften his tone.
"That guy over there, don't you want the Third Raikage's body? We can talk about this. After all, you probably don't want it to be destroyed, right? If that happens, you won't get anything."
Onoki's plan seemed sound. Though he didn't know what Kawaki Aoba wanted with the Third Raikage's body, he immediately saw it as a bargaining chip.
However, Onoki had clearly underestimated his opponent. Kawaki Aoba was not someone who could be easily manipulated.
"Talk? Now you want to talk to me nicely? It's too late."
Kawaki Aoba didn't entertain the offer. One ravine crashed toward the most densely packed area of Iwagakure ninjas, while the other barreled toward the Third Raikage's body.
This time, it was Onoki's turn to curse inwardly. He hadn't expected Kawaki Aoba to act so decisively, cutting off any opportunity for negotiation.
Thankfully, most of the Iwagakure ninjas under the mountain had already evacuated.
Onoki quickly withdrew his hand and rushed to intercept the mountain aimed at the Iwagakure forces.
As for the ninjas under the original mountain, their survival depended purely on luck.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Iwagakure ninjas beneath the mountain descending toward the Third Raikage's body scrambled to flee in panic. Their eyes betrayed their fear and desperation as they tried to escape.
But one exception stood out—an elite Iwagakure Jonin.
When Onoki had threatened Kawaki Aoba with the Third Raikage's body, this Jonin had been stirred. He reached out to grab the body, intending to secure the bargaining chip for his Tsuchikage.
But what he didn't expect was that Kawaki Aoba didn't seem to care about the Third Raikage's body at all. Instead, he sent the mountain crashing toward it.
The Jonin, closest to the body, was directly in the path of the falling mountain. Despite his best efforts to flee, he was unable to outrun the massive rock above.
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