Sora used Susanoo to block the Third Raikage's attack, the ethereal blue guardian serving as his last line of defense.
Looking at the Third Raikage's battered appearance, Sora smiled. "I admit that you are stronger than me. I can't defeat you at the moment, but this is only temporary. The outcome of our battle will be decided in the future."
The Third Raikage stared at Sora with fierce intensity. "What? Are you running away? Didn't you just arrogantly declare that you wanted to take my head as a trophy?"
Sora admitted frankly, "Yes, I want to run away, but can you stop me? It's not shameful to lose to a Kage, and... you look much worse than I do. To outside observers, it would seem that I had the upper hand."
He continued, "You need to protect Kumogakure and hold these Iwa shinobi here, but I don't have such obligations. I only wanted to fight you, and I don't intend to die here. I still have my whole future ahead of me."
Sora's tone became more serious, "I originally wanted to take your head instead of letting those dishonorable Rock Shinobi kill you, because I feel it would be a waste for someone of your caliber to fall to such underhanded tactics. I don't want to use unfair methods to recover and continue our fight. It wouldn't be honorable."
"So if I can't take your head today, I have no choice but to withdraw. Besides, if I truly decided to leave, you wouldn't be able to stop me, would you?"
The corners of the Third Raikage's mouth curved slightly, but with half his face covered in blood and exposed flesh, the expression looked terrifying. "Oh, really? Since you believe I'm going to die here anyway, why postpone our battle to the future?"
Sora replied solemnly, "That's not something I'll share with you. Just remember that when we meet again, I'll be in my prime. I will definitely seek you out for our final battle."
The Third Raikage remained silent for a moment before responding, "Is that so? In that case, go ahead."
Sora looked surprised. "What? You're not going to try to stop me?"
The Third Raikage turned his back to Sora. "As you said, I can't stop you. My fight now is with these treacherous vermin. I look forward to settling our score in the future."
With that, the Third Raikage charged toward the Rock Shinobi, resuming his frenzied assault.
Sora took one last, lingering look at the Third Raikage's back before using the Body Flicker Technique to leave the battlefield. He settled on a boulder at the edge of the conflict zone to observe the ongoing battle.
Sora's injuries were serious, so he spent some witness points to heal himself as he quietly watched the Third Raikage's final stand.
Huang Tu directed the Rock Shinobi to launch a defensive counterattack against the Third Raikage.
Although the Third Raikage had lost one arm to Sora's blade, he still fought with tremendous courage. However, he could no longer slaughter the Rock Shinobi as effortlessly as he had at the beginning of the battle.
As time passed, day turned into night and then into the next morning.
The Third Raikage's movements had noticeably slowed, showing clear signs of exhaustion, but remarkably, his body remained uninjured by the Rock Shinobi—the only wounds he bore were those inflicted by Sora.
After another five or six hours, Sora stood up from his stone perch and gazed solemnly at the Third Raikage.
"It's over..."
Using his Observation Haki, Sora sensed that the Third Raikage's aura was growing increasingly faint, reaching a critically low point.
After punching two or three more Rock Shinobi to death, the Third Raikage suddenly dropped to one knee.
The mighty Raikage could no longer even catch his breath.
"This is the end..."
Images of his comrades from Kumogakure flashed through the Third Raikage's mind, finally settling on Sora.
"Perhaps it would have been better to die by his hands... What a shame he wasn't a shinobi from our village..."
The Third Raikage's vision blurred as his head gradually slumped forward.
Sora took a deep breath. The Third Raikage's strength had been simply too formidable. Even at the end, there had been no real decline in his power.
The Rock Shinobi had merely worn the Third Raikage down through sheer numbers and persistence.
If Sora hadn't known about the Third Raikage's techniques beforehand, he might have been gravely injured much earlier in their confrontation.
Conversely, if the Third Raikage had known the full extent of Sora's abilities, he might have emerged completely unscathed.
After all, the battle between Sora and the Third Raikage had not been fought on even terms.
Gazing at the Third Raikage's fallen form on the battlefield, Sora murmured, "I'll wait until the day you're brought back by Edo Tensei. I won't seek another battle until then."
Sora turned and departed, hastening back to the Land of Tang.
With Iwagakure betraying the alliance and the Third Raikage's death, Konoha's counterattack would soon begin.
As soon as Sora arrived in the Land of Yu, news about the Third Raikage had already spread.
A had inherited the title of Fourth Raikage and vowed to protect the village and country as the new leader.
Kumogakure publicly condemned Iwagakure's betrayal of their alliance and accused them of launching a surprise attack on the Third Raikage with ten thousand Rock Shinobi.
Kumogakure announced its withdrawal from the war, declaring that anyone who dared attack the Hidden Cloud Village would face the full might of their forces, with the intent to completely destroy both the enemy village and country.
No one questioned Kumogakure's threat of total retaliation. Other hidden villages might not follow through with such extreme measures, but Kumogakure, renowned for its martial prowess, would definitely make good on its word.
Simultaneously, Sora's reputation grew even more legendary.
None of the ten thousand Rock Shinobi had managed to wound the Third Raikage, yet Sora had not only injured him but had severed one of his arms.
When Sora heard the news, he finally understood the situation.
It wasn't the Rock Shinobi who had exaggerated the number of their forces; it was Kumogakure itself that had inflated the figures.
It seemed the claim of "ten thousand Rock Shinobi" had been announced to the world to emphasize the incredible power of the Third Raikage.
...
Upon returning to his post, Sora discovered that Orochimaru was already gathering his team.
Seeing Sora return, Orochimaru exclaimed, "Your prediction was right, Sora. The Rock Shinobi really did attack the Third Raikage."
Sora asked, "Lord Orochimaru, are you assembling troops to attack the Rock Shinobi?"
Orochimaru nodded. "That's correct. Now that Kumogakure has announced its withdrawal from the war, there's no need to keep so many of our forces in the Land of Yu."
He continued, "While the Rock Shinobi haven't yet returned to their village, we'll confront them in the Land of Grass and eliminate all Iwa forces there."
Orochimaru's expression became curious. "However, Sora, rumors claim that you and the Third Raikage seriously injured each other, and that one of your arms was broken by him. What about..."
Orochimaru glanced at Sora's arms, which showed no signs of having been broken.
Sora maintained a neutral expression. "Actually, I didn't engage the Third Raikage in direct combat. I merely cut off his arm with a surprise attack."
He continued, "I believe the Rock Shinobi wanted to shift attention to me, so they claimed I fought the Third Raikage head-on. At the same time, they wanted to cover up their own incompetence—they failed to harm the Third Raikage at all, so they spread rumors that I was also injured."
Orochimaru didn't pursue the matter further and simply asked, "Are you still capable of fighting?"
Sora nodded firmly. "There's no problem with my combat readiness!"
Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction. "Then accompany us to the Land of Grass. Now that Kumogakure has announced its withdrawal, this war should not last much longer—we're approaching the end."
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