Chapter 19: Reinforcements
The Raikage's headless corpse lay on the ground. Su Xiao glanced at it before turning away. He walked over to the Raikage's head and picked it up from the floor.
The Raikage's hair stood on end, his face showing no regret. Today, he had lost—not to cunning schemes or a sneak attack, but to a fair beheading by Su Xiao. He was simply outmatched, with nothing to lament.
Su Xiao held the Raikage's head in hand, his gaze shifting to Bubu Wang, who was perched high above.
Bubu Wang leaped down from the height. Soon after, a rumbling sound came from the passage connecting the first and second floors—Amu was retreating.
Amu was drenched in blood, with several poisoned senbon needles stuck in his body. Senbon were metal needles about twenty centimeters long.
Behind Amu, a male and female ninja were in pursuit. Near them lay several mechanical puppets. The female ninja wielded a metal folding fan as tall as herself.
Behind the pair was a young ninja with a large, earth-yellow gourd on his back and bright red hair.
It was the Kazekage, Gaara, along with his two guards, Kankuro and Temari, who had arrived.
In truth, Gaara had come to support earlier, but Amu had held them back, preventing them from reaching the Raikage in time.
The three charged down the stone steps. After witnessing the scene before them, Temari's pupils contracted as a memory resurfaced.
A man had once grabbed her by the nape, forcing her to call out to Gaara, who was in battle. Because she was captured, Gaara had endured an enemy's attack to save her, only to be wounded and eventually taken away.
"Akatsuki member... Bai Ye."
Temari practically spat out the words through gritted teeth.
"That's..."
Kankuro noticed the head in Su Xiao's hand, his breathing growing heavy. It was the Raikage's head.
"We're too late."
Fine sand drifted from the gourd on Gaara's back. The Raikage's death was an unchangeable fact. Now, it was more important to keep Su Xiao here.
"Kankuro, Temari, deal with that summoning beast."
Gaara mistook Amu for a summoning creature.
"Kazekage-sama, that villain..."
Though Kankuro was Gaara's older brother, he addressed Gaara as Kazekage-sama in front of outsiders.
"I'll handle him."
"Yes."
Kankuro and Temari moved toward Amu. Just then, Obito, who had been watching from above, leaped down from the heights.
"Reinforcements, huh."
Kankuro's eyes narrowed.
"Bai Ye, this is an opportunity."
Obito's meaning was clear: let Su Xiao kill Gaara. The combat power Su Xiao had displayed no longer surprised Obito—it delighted him. Killing the Raikage head-on was no ordinary feat, and in Obito's eyes, Akatsuki members were mere pawns in his plan.
"Indeed, it's an opportunity. I have high hopes for you."
Su Xiao turned his head to look at Obito. Hearing this, Obito's expression darkened beneath his mask.
"I meant..."
"Do you think I have unlimited stamina?"
"..."
Obito said nothing. He was eager to kill more Kage, as that would force the villages to elect new ones, buying him time to build up his forces.
Su Xiao had just fought the Raikage. Beyond the consumption of stamina and chakra, his calf—which had taken a brutal kick from the Raikage—still throbbed with pain and numbness. Fortunately, the bone wasn't broken.
If not for Su Xiao's resilience, comparable to a third-rank main tank, an ordinary melee contractor would have suffered broken bones from that kick. The Raikage's kick was so fast that Su Xiao couldn't activate his counter shield in time. He instinctively bent his left leg to block it.
Su Xiao sheathed his longsword, clearly not intending to continue fighting. Obito understood his intent.
"Uchiha Sasuke has already gone after the other Kage. Does it really not matter?"
Obito's tone carried a hint of amusement. Betraying Sasuke to the enemy caused him no stress.
"Oh?"
Gaara, who was about to strike, hesitated. He wasn't sure if the claim was true. Kankuro stepped forward and whispered something to Gaara.
"The flames of Amaterasu—Uchiha Itachi's dojutsu."
Gaara looked at the corpses of the samurai around them. Black flames still burned on them, left behind by Sasuke.
While Su Xiao fought the Raikage, Obito hadn't just been watching. He had used taijutsu and Fire Release to eliminate the samurai on the first floor. Neither ability would expose his identity, as Uchiha Madara was known for his taijutsu and Fire Release.
"Retreat."
Gaara ordered without hesitation. Having endured a tragic childhood and the burden of being a jinchuriki, the Kazekage was no longer swayed by personal grudges.
Gaara and his group immediately headed for the top floor of the tower. Obito chuckled softly.
"I'll go to Sasuke first. Facing four Kage with his current strength is still too much."
The tomoe in Obito's Sharingan spun, and a spatial vortex appeared.
"Don't forget to have Zetsu use the Spore Technique to lock onto Terumi Mei. 'Send' this to Danzo."
Su Xiao tossed the Raikage's head to Obito, who immediately grasped the implication.
"Of course, no problem."
Obito vanished. He would surely deliver the Raikage's head to Danzo—and in front of the other Kage.
This wasn't a threat but a lure. In the Naruto world, some powerful genjutsu-type ninjas could invade an enemy's brain with chakra to extract memories and intelligence.
Of course, this only worked on the living. To obtain a dead person's memories, several conditions were needed: an intact brain, specialized scientific ninja tools, and several skilled genjutsu-type ninjas.
Undoubtedly, Konoha possessed both the scientific ninja tools and the genjutsu experts. If Konoha obtained the Raikage's intact brain, the consequences were unimaginable.
As the Raikage of Kumogakure, A knew all of the village's secrets: personnel, resources, classified intelligence, ninja clan relationships, detailed profiles of countless ninjas, and the village's defensive measures.
The Raikage knew far too much—enough that Danzo would find it nearly impossible to refuse the head. If he fully extracted A's memories, Konoha would have over a seventy percent chance of annihilating Kumogakure.
Note: annihilation, not defeat. This could lead to a situation where Konoha occupied the Land of Lightning, gaining support from two major nations—an unprecedented event.
Those powerful but politically naive Hokage might not achieve this, but Danzo was different. Given the right opportunity, it wasn't impossible.
Did ninja villages fight over hatred? Don't be ridiculous. Looking at ninja world history, every great ninja war was fought over resources. Hatred was just a cover.
Su Xiao did this because of his main mission: to incite a great ninja war. The outcome of the war didn't matter to him—only that it began. So, using his identity as an Akatsuki member, he needed to do something that would shock the five great villages, forcing them to unite quickly and go to war with Obito's side.
Obito's goal was the Moon Eye Plan, trapping everyone in an illusion. Su Xiao's goal was to incite a great ninja war. If one had to judge whose plan was crazier, it was undoubtedly Su Xiao's.
Obito's plan was grand but required careful, step-by-step execution—mentally taxing. Su Xiao's was different: he just needed to spark conflict between the two sides. Who won or lost didn't matter to him at all.
If Obito learned of Su Xiao's thoughts, he would come to kill him first. Su Xiao didn't care whether Obito had amassed enough forces to fight the five great villages.
Su Xiao had disguised himself well. When Obito had wanted to declare war on the five Kage earlier, Su Xiao had "kindly" warned him that it was "too early" to start now.
Only Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu remained on the first floor. Su Xiao was pondering one thing: with such an important event as the Five Kage Summit, where were the other contractors? After all, besides Su Xiao, there were still 157 contractors in the Naruto world.
PS: (One more chapter coming soon)