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

Chapter 466 Countdown in a Desperate Situation!

The air inside the tent was heavier than the torrential rain outside, almost solidified.

As Tsuchishiro finished speaking, each word felt like a cold stone striking the heart of the Fourth Raikage, A.

We... no longer have the strength to launch a direct attack.

This statement is more destructive than the Dust Release of Iwagakure, because it directly shatters the last pillar of the Cloud Village ninja's spirit—the will to fight back.

Ai's tall body froze on the spot, and the surging lightning chakra instantly dimmed.

He slowly turned his stiff neck, his bloodshot eyes, which looked ferocious, lost focus and stared straight at Tsuchishiro.

"You've...lost your power?"

His voice was very soft, almost swallowed up by the sound of rain outside the tent, carrying a hint of childlike confusion that he himself was unaware of.

This is completely different from the war we imagined.

In his view, war should be a contest of wills and a clash of forces.

Like his father, he used his indestructible lightning release to protect himself and single-handedly fought against the tailed beasts.

The ninjas of Kumogakure are born to be thunder on the battlefield, lightning that destroys everything.

But now, the person who had always assisted him like an elder told him in the calmest way that they no longer had the strength to struggle.

Tsuchida did not avoid Ai's gaze.

He saw collapse, doubt, and, more importantly, fear—an emotion forcibly suppressed deep within those young eyes.

He knew he had to expose this final cruelty as well.

"Lord Raikage, please look here."

Tsuchishiro bent down and pulled another document from under the wreckage of the broken table. This document was relatively well-preserved, but the edges were still soaked with blood, making them soft and wrinkled.

He unfolded the documents and laid them flat on a relatively intact wooden crate.

It was a map of the defense zone of Kumogakure, marked with dense numbers and arrows in different colored pens.

However, at this moment, large swaths of red ink, like splashed blood, covered most of the western and northern areas of the map.

"This is the defense setup that Onoki and Retsumon deployed yesterday afternoon."

Tsuchishiro's fingertip pointed to the north side of the map, where there was a glaring red cross.

"Onoki's demolition team spread out in a fan shape, completely blocking all our routes to the north."

Ai's breathing became heavy, and he could feel his heart pounding wildly, each beat pulling at his wounds and causing intense pain.

He remembered his father's dying words.

"Ai, protect the village, protect Bi."

But now, he can't protect anything.

He was a failed Raikage, an incompetent older brother.

I don't even dare to think about what would happen to Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, if the defenses completely collapsed.

That indescribable fear finally broke through the last dam of reason.

"Why……"

A long, powerless sigh escaped from the young Raikage's mouth.

It was as if all his strength had been drained away. His tall and burly body could no longer support him, and he slumped backward, landing heavily on the only intact chair behind him.

The chair groaned under the weight.

Ai held her head in her hands, burying her face deeply in her arms, her broad shoulders trembling violently.

He didn't cry, but his suppressed, trapped sobs were more heartbreaking than any cry.

The other high-ranking members of the Cloud Village inside the tent had already lowered their heads, unable to bear to look any longer.

They were all veterans who had served three generations of Raikage, and they had never seen the Kumogakure Raikage show such a vulnerable side.

Tsuchishiro watched him silently.

This impulsive, irritable, yet equally loyal young man finally had all his hard shell shattered in the face of the harsh reality, and was forced to begin growing up.

This is a painful transformation that every film must undergo.

Although, the price was far too high.

Tsuchishiro turned around, gently patted Ai's trembling shoulder, and didn't say anything to comfort her.

At such a moment, any words seem pale and powerless.

All he could do was stay here with him and let him know that he wasn't fighting alone.

Just then—

"Report—!!!"

A roar suddenly came from outside the tent, filled with unbelievable ecstasy.

The tent flap was suddenly flung open by a muddy hand, and a ninja responsible for sensing rushed in. Overwhelmed with excitement, he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.

But he completely ignored the pain, raised his face—a mixture of rain, mud, and tears—and spoke towards the direction of the head of the table:

"Raikage-sama!!"

"Due east...due east! A...a massive chakra reaction has appeared!"

Ai suddenly raised her head, and a glimmer of hope instantly ignited in her bloodshot eyes.

"?!"

The sensory ninja was breathing heavily, his voice sharp and distorted with excitement.

"It's...it's Konoha!! It's a Konoha ninja!"

"Their march is too fast! Like...like a lightning bolt tearing through the rain! They have...they have already broken through the first puppet blockade line set up by the Liemen on the southern front and are advancing at high speed towards the main battlefield!"

"Konoha..."

"They're here..."

The entire camp fell into a deathly silence in that instant.

Ai froze on the spot, her expression frozen.

It wasn't ecstasy, nor excitement, but an extremely complex expression that was difficult to describe in words.

Hatred, humiliation, resentment, and a sliver of hope that he himself was unwilling to acknowledge, so faint as to be almost invisible.

Countless images flashed through his mind.

The devastating news that my father had died in battle in the Land of Whirlpools.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, that figure standing on the sea like a god or demon.

The humiliation of sending a plea for help to Konoha while bearing the hatred of the entire village.

Konoha...

and many more.

Shouldn't Konoha's forces be on the southern front, tied down by Amegakure and Sunagakure's flank forces? How come they're on the main battlefield? Has the southern front also collapsed?

The ninja's next words completely overturned everyone's understanding.

"...They came straight from the southern front! The predicament there...it seems...it seems they've resolved it! They've come to support our main battlefield!"

Inside the tent, deathly silence fell once again.

But this time, it was no longer a deathly silence of despair, but a silence so absurd it was almost unbelievable.

The Fourth Raikage sat blankly in the chair, maintaining that posture, completely still.

He showed no elation, no excitement.

Faces flashed through his mind.

There was the Third Raikage's unwilling face, as he was completely swallowed up on the sea surface of the Land of Whirlpools.

There were just some battle reports showing the terrified expressions on the faces of the young Cloud Ninjas who were reduced to ashes by Dust Release before they died.

Hatred.

humiliation.

And... a sliver of hope, so faint it was as flickering as a candle in the wind, a hope he himself was unwilling to acknowledge.

These extremely complex emotions surged, tore, and collided in his chest, ultimately transforming into a long and complex sigh.

He rested his elbows on his knees and covered his face deeply with his rough, large hand.

Outside the tent.

Wearing sunglasses, Killer Bee leaned against the damp tent frame, seemingly leisurely humming off-key rap, his fingers tapping aimlessly on a small notebook.

But his taut jawline and the way his feet were constantly stomping in the mud betrayed his inner anxiety.

The sudden burst of cheers inside the tent startled him.

He listened intently and vaguely heard words like Konoha and reinforcements.

Killer Bee stopped moving.

He slowly took off his sunglasses, and his eyes, which were remarkably similar to Ai's, looked up at the eastern sky.

The rain seemed to have lessened a bit, and a tiny crack was torn open in the thick, dark clouds, allowing a faint ray of light to struggle to shine through.

He remained silent for a long time, then put his sunglasses back on, concealing all his emotions.

Then, in a voice only she could hear, she murmured softly, with a strange rhythm:

"Oh, you've finally arrived..."

"My elder brother's complicated fate hinges on this final act..."

"Yeah..."