And so, led by Hirofumi Ito, every ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village marched out in a grand procession toward the village gates.

Kumogakure had deployed only a thousand ninja from the Land of Lightning this time, a small-scale mobilization by their standards.

After all, for one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, a full deployment could put ten to twenty thousand ninja in the field without much trouble.

During the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Five Great Villages had mustered a combined allied force of nearly one hundred thousand ninja to stand against madara uchiha, and the five great nations had all contributed the bulk of their forces, with the smaller villages barely registering in the picture.

So a thousand ninja. In the Fourth Raikage's eyes, this whole thing was nothing more than a minor skirmish.

It wasn't as if the Fourth Raikage had never squeezed the Hidden Leaf Village before. No need to put on too much of a show, the Hidden Leaf would quietly hand the compensation over.

This time would be no different. The only thing that mattered was putting on a convincing enough show of force.

The Fourth Raikage hadn't launched a direct assault, either. Arms folded across the chest, the Fourth Raikage simply stood outside the gates and waited for the Hidden Leaf's ninja to come out.

Not out of any sense of honor. The real reason was simpler: charging straight in might walk them right into an ambush.

Better to let the Hidden Leaf come to them.

CREAK!

A long, resonant groan rang out, and the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village swung open.

The sky was just barely beginning to lighten, still dim, still dark.

The Fourth Raikage watched silhouette after silhouette emerge from the gate, and the corners of that mouth curled upward. A flicker of contempt crossed those eyes.

The Hidden Leaf would apologize and pay up without a fuss, that much was certain. Especially that so-called Fifth Hokage, Hirofumi Ito, a name the Fourth Raikage had never even heard before all this. This time, the Fourth Raikage was going to humiliate that man thoroughly.

But then the Fourth Raikage froze.

The sky wasn't bright yet. In the dimness, what was that?

On the other side, pairs of eyes. Red. Unsettling.

One pair. Two pairs. Three pairs.

HISS!

Over a hundred pairs of blood-red eyes?

What the hell was that?!

Uchiha?

Since when did the Hidden Leaf have so many Uchiha?!

And eyes that red, they had to be Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Every last one of them.

Something was wrong. Hadn't the Uchiha clan been wiped out?!

The Fourth Raikage's mind snapped to the intelligence gathered before the mission. Could it really be true? Had the Hidden Leaf actually found a way to bring the dead back to life?

Just then, Killer B spoke up from nearby.

"Yo yo yo!

Everyone over there's an Uchiha!

More than a few Mangekyō in that crowd!

Big bro, we came here to attack today —

Things might not go our way!

Yo! Skr skr!"

The Fourth Raikage gave Killer B a strange look.

"How do you know they're all Uchiha? And how do you know there are several Mangekyō out there?!"

Killer B kept right on going in that same peculiar cadence.

"Yo yo yo... gyuki told me all this! Said there's a ton of Uchiha over there! And some serious powerhouses too! Yoyo check check check it! That's what gyuki said! I don't know either! gyuki said we're gonna get shelled! Check check it!"

BANG!

The Fourth Raikage swung a fist straight down onto Killer B's head.

"You insufferable idiot! Can you drop the weird rap for five seconds?! You don't actually think it sounds good, do you?!"

"Yo yo yo! Big bro hit me! Big bro's gonna get hit! Big bro won't listen! Big bro's losing it! Check check it check check it!"

...

The Hidden Leaf ninja were drawing closer. The Fourth Raikage had no more time to spare for the dim-witted Killer B, eyes locked hard on the crowd ahead.

Because what the Fourth Raikage needed right now was confirmation. hashirama senju and madara uchiha, those were names the Fourth Raikage had never actually encountered in person.

But minato namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, him, the Fourth Raikage knew well.

The moment that face appeared in the crowd, it would confirm everything.

And even if it did, that didn't mean there was nothing to fight for.

The combat strength of the Hidden Leaf's Hokage was honestly nothing special. minato namikaze was the only one even worth mentioning.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage? Just an old person.

They say the Third is the strongest Hokage, which only goes to show how unremarkable all the others must be.

And there was still Killer B. Sure, that sibling was a bit of an idiot, but a Perfect Jinchuriki who could draw out every last drop of a Tailed Beast's power.

Not to mention the thousand elite ninja of Kumogakure. Not a single genin among them.

Every last one was a chunin, jonin, or elite jonin.

Kumogakure's most elite fighting force.

If it really came to blows, as long as the Fourth Raikage could take down minato namikaze fast, Killer B could hold the other Hokage-level fighters on the opposite side. After that, once the Fourth Raikage was free to move, hashirama senju and madara uchiha could both be dealt with.

And then... heh heh heh... the compensation the Hidden Leaf owed would be so much greater.

The Fourth Raikage could personally crush every illusion that village had about itself.

Don't think that just because you've revived a few relics from a past era, you're invincible in the Shinobi World.

With that thought fixed in mind, the Fourth Raikage scanned the crowd ahead, searching for a head of blond hair. The moment those eyes landed on minato namikaze, they narrowed.

Sure enough. Every piece of that intelligence was real. minato namikaze had genuinely been revived.

But so what.

Because the Fourth Raikage was the Fourth Raikage.

Back in the day, the Fourth Raikage had fought minato namikaze nearly to a standstill, but years of training had gone into the Fourth Raikage since then, years that minato namikaze never got. The Fourth Raikage's strength had most likely surpassed that man's long ago.

minato namikaze... you can only blame yourself for dying too early.

But the very next moment, the Fourth Raikage froze again.

The Hidden Leaf's ninja came pouring out in dense, packed rows, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was this: among the Hidden Leaf elite, the notable figures, the ones with faces worth knowing, the Fourth Raikage had intelligence files on nearly all of them.

Take kakashi hatake. Someone like kakashi hatake, the Fourth Raikage had long since thoroughly studied.

Yet right now, kakashi hatake, elite jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, was standing there like a low-ranking foot soldier, practically buried hundreds of rows back.

And the ones at the very front — several hundred of them — the Fourth Raikage had never seen a single one. Not one piece of intelligence had ever come in on any of them.

Every face was a complete stranger.

➤ Next: The Sneaky Schemes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura

Chapter 260 - The Sneaky Schemes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura

Whether these were unfamiliar faces wasn't something the Fourth Raikage particularly cared about.

What the Fourth Raikage cared about was the presence rolling off these people.

Their Chakra was extraordinary, nearly all of them operating at the level of elite jonin. But more than that, the killing intent radiating from these figures was heavy. Suffocating, even.

Nothing like the ninja of this era.

More like people who had been soaked in bloodshed since childhood.

The moment that thought clicked into place, the Fourth Raikage started to understand. If the other powerhouses of the Hidden Leaf Village could be resurrected, then these figures were most likely former legends of the village.

HISS!

The Fourth Raikage drew a sharp breath.

If that was the case, this ability was truly terrifying.

Originally, the assumption had been that they'd only brought back a handful of people. But this scale, an entire army of resurrected killers?!

If that was actually true...

Then the person who possessed this ability had to be eliminated first.

Deal with that person now, or the Hidden Leaf Village would just keep accumulating resurrected powerhouses without end.

And the person most likely behind all of this was the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Hirofumi Ito. Someone the Fourth Raikage had never once heard of before.

Because how else does a complete nobody suddenly become Hokage?

So. First target: this so-called Fifth Hokage, Hirofumi Ito.

The Hidden Leaf Village had been weak for a long time, especially under the rule of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. The ninja of Konoha had lost their edge years ago.

The advantage was firmly on the Fourth Raikage's side!

And yet, even now, staring at all these resurrected powerhouses, the Fourth Raikage still held onto that unshakeable, almost inexplicable confidence.

A confident person really does carry a certain appeal.

Arms folded across the chest, entire posture radiating the energy of someone who answers to no one, eyes sharp, muscles coiled across every inch of that frame, the Fourth Raikage stepped forward.

By then, the Fourth Raikage's attention had shifted fully onto Hirofumi Ito, who stood at the very front and center of the Hidden Leaf's assembled forces.

And Hirofumi Ito's attire was impossible to miss. The Hokage haori, very similar to the one minato namikaze wore.

"Kid! So you're the Fifth Hokage Hirofumi Ito who declared war on our Land of Lightning's Kumogakure?!"

The Fourth Raikage had intended to posture a little first before dealing with the man. But the moment those words landed, every single ninja on the Hidden Leaf side erupted, Chakra detonating outward in a thunderous wave.

A ninja named Uchiha Suiryu stepped forward, hauling an enormous shuriken over one shoulder.

"What the hell! What are you putting on a show for, you old dark bastard?!

The Land of Lightning? Never even heard of it!

Back in the Warring States Period, we wouldn't have even wanted someone like you picking cotton for the Uchiha Clan — too ugly for the job!

And now you've crawled your way up to being some so-called Raikage?! That's absolutely laughable!"

On the other side, Kusama Senju drew a tachi from its scabbard.

"Damn it! That wretched Uchiha got to posture first?! Fine — but that head of this so-called Fourth Raikage is mine!

Hey! You over there, the dark one! Did you figure things must be pretty dull for me right after getting resurrected, so you brought a bunch of followers here to die?

Bwahahahahaha! I'll gladly accept all of your heads!"

hashirama senju and madara uchiha exchanged a helpless glance. Just last night, the two of them had been planning to stroll over to Kumogakure themselves, and yet here it was, barely morning, and the enemy had delivered themselves to the front door.

On top of that, the two had been planning to get some posturing in first. It had been a long time since the Warring States Period. They hadn't moved in ages. During this stretch they'd even developed new techniques, combination moves, all sorts of tricks, and their hands had been itching badly for it.

And then...

Second Uncle got the posturing in first. Third Uncle too.

The Fourth Raikage's expression went pitch black.

These two damned Hidden Leaf ninja.

Daring to call the Fourth Raikage a dark bastard?!

Never once in all these years had anyone landed an insult like that.

Warring States Period ninja think they're so impressive?

"Heh... Ninja not in our intelligence reports. If the Fourth Raikage isn't mistaken, you two are from the Hidden Leaf's Warring States Period?

Nothing but remnants of a dead era. Every one of you is a comedian. Don't tell me you're still living in fantasies of the past?!

You can't possibly still believe the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan are the strongest in the Shinobi World?!

If the Fourth Raikage had been born in the Warring States Period, every last one of you clueless fools would have learned what cruelty actually means!"

Then Hirofumi Ito stepped forward.

"Fourth Raikage! Save the speeches. You dragged the ninja of the Land of Lightning all the way to our Hidden Leaf Village — surely not just to run your mouth?!

If talking is all you want, you'd be better off sending Mabui and Samui over instead. I'm sure our ninja would love a long, friendly chat with those two.

As for you, forget it. You're uglier than the old sow we keep at home.

Since you've come to our Hidden Leaf Village... have you made your peace with dying?!"

Watching Hirofumi Ito stand there like the Fourth Raikage wasn't even worth a glance, the Fourth Raikage's fury shot straight to the top of the skull.

"Insolent brat!"

The Fourth Raikage intended to finish Hirofumi Ito off in an instant. The man was the Hokage, and suspected of possessing the ability behind all these resurrections. Taking him out now would be a devastating blow to Hidden Leaf morale.

But there was one thing every single person on that field had failed to notice.

Within the Hidden Leaf's ranks, two figures were slipping away from the main formation, communicating in frantic, furtive glances.

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. And the Hidden Leaf Village's ultimate Foundation head, Danzō Shimura.

While the Fourth Raikage and Hirofumi Ito and the others had been trading words, the two of them had already quietly peeled off from the main body. And with decades of unspoken understanding between them, a furious silent conversation was already underway.

"Monkey! This situation isn't looking easy! Especially now that so many more battle-crazed maniacs have been resurrected, can the two of us even get a piece of the action?"

"Danzō... I think we need to stick to what we agreed on. The two of us strike with lightning speed before anyone sees it coming!

Hit the Fourth Raikage hard!

Otherwise, we won't even make it in time to get the scraps while they're still warm...

Kumogakure only brought a thousand ninja total. Splitting them between two people still isn't going to be enough to go around!"

➤ Next: War? Slaughter!