The Hyuga Shall Stand Above, In The Heavens!

Swoosh! 

Shadows darted quickly through the jungle. 

Though there was a slight delay from the planned attack time, now that they had arrived at the battlefield, they had to obey orders without question. 

Since Raikage had given the command, they followed without complaint. 

"Something's off." 

Stopping for a moment, the Fourth Raikage, A, frowned as he looked ahead. 

They were already deep within the Land of Fire, not far from Konohagakure. 

By all logic, with them charging in so openly, there should have been some sort of ambush along the way. 

Before setting out, Raikage had specifically warned his men about Hyuga's Byakugan and advised them to be cautious of traps. They had even taken several detours to avoid falling into any ambush the Hyuga clan might have set by laying Explosive Tags along the route. 

But no matter how much they circled around, the destination was still Konohagakure, and eventually, their path would be discovered. 

Yet, even now, none of his men had detected anything. 

Something was very wrong. 

The intelligence Raikage had gathered indicated that the Hyuga clan was known for predicting the enemy's moves, setting traps on their path, and finishing them off with Taijutsu. 

This was a battle for the survival of Konohagakure. He couldn't believe the Hyuga would sit this one out. 

"Big brother?"

Seeing Raikage stop, Killer Bee mumbled as he hopped over.

He originally wanted to throw in a rap, ending with a "bor," but considering they were on the battlefield, with both enemies and allies dying soon, he held back.

Killer Bee knew if he started joking around and messing up at a time like this, his big brother wouldn't hesitate to smack him.

"Something's wrong."

Raikage had a gut feeling that something was off.

But he couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong. It was like knowing someone was going to ambush him, but not being able to stop it.

After thinking for a moment, Raikage took a deep breath and waved to his men.

"Speed up, and everyone, keep an eye on your footing!"

No matter what was waiting for them up ahead, there was no turning back now. Whether they charged or hesitated, the result would be the same. For the chance to capture the Byakugan before Oonoki did, it was worth taking a risk.

They already knew where they were headed. There was no way the Hyuga clan could just drop down from the sky, Raikage thought as he pushed forward, finding his own thought ridiculous.

But Killer Bee, curious, looked up at the sky and reached out his hand.

"Big brother, someone's shooting fireworks."

Wearing his sunglasses, Killer Bee noticed the chakra arrows had a strange color. The first thing that came to his mind was thinking of how to rap about it.

Raikage, on the other hand, took one glance upward and his expression immediately changed.

"Scatter!"

Before he could even finish saying the word, a violent tremor interrupted him.

Boom!

An arrow landed precisely next to Raikage, and as the explosive tags attached to it ignited, Raikage's face turned pale. He quickly activated his Lightning Release armor.

While Raikage could withstand it, the ninja next to him couldn't handle the power of the explosive tags.

Another loud boom echoed, and Raikage was caught in the explosion. His face was splattered with blood, and his muscular body had a stray intestine hanging from it. The Lightning Release chakra coursing through him made it sizzle like it was being grilled.

"Ahhh!"

An enraged Raikage ripped the intestine off and tossed it aside, roaring in fury. But before he could fully vent, a glowing red sphere dropped near him.

Danger!

Being a Kage meant having a few tricks up your sleeve.

Raikage may have had a strong build, but he wasn't stupid. Sensing something wrong, he immediately grabbed Killer Bee, who was holding his severed arm while trying to think of lyrics, and quickly retreated.

Buzz~

The sound was completely different from the previous explosions of the explosive tags.

The spiraling, Rasengan-like ball suddenly swelled up.

In no time, the ball turned into a vortex, pulling in all the surrounding grass and trees towards its center. After a brief moment of charging, the Fire Release Rasengan exploded outward, with scorching flames engulfing the Kumogakure Village ninjas who couldn't dodge in time!

If those blown up by the Explosive Tags earlier still had bits of their bodies left, the ninjas caught in this blast wouldn't even leave a trace!

The original Wind Release Rasenshuriken from the story was already powerful, but it mainly caused damage through wind-based cutting. However, Hyuga Hitoshi's compressed Wind-Fire Rasengan not only had the cutting power of wind but also boosted the already intense flames. 

The duration of the swirling flames probably lasted longer than the original Rasenshuriken as well.

What made Raikage's eyes widen in anger was that, on top of the falling fireballs, the Explosive Tags attached to the arrows also exploded upon impact, claiming the lives of more Kumogakure ninjas.

Looking ahead, Raikage was sure that's where the Hyuga clan was firing their arrows from.

This method of shooting arrows downward, like defending a fortress, wasn't unheard of. Before the Land of Iron was unified, this tactic was used to attack and defend.

But in the ninja world, with the fast and elusive nature of ninjas, normal arrows couldn't even get close. Even the most powerful bows couldn't lock onto a ninja's movements. Often, the archers would be killed before they could take aim.

So, over time, this old battle method was abandoned.

But Raikage never expected that Hyuga Hitoshi would bring this ancient warfare technique back to life using chakra.

Chakra-enhanced bows paired with chakra arrows, igniting Explosive Tags in mid-air and detonating on impact—this method was devastating when used against dense formations. The arrows came raining down from the sky, fast and numerous, covering a wide area, making it nearly impossible to defend against!

What made it even more terrifying was that if this tactic was combined with the Byakugan, the enemy would have nowhere to hide! While there were techniques in the world that could avoid the Byakugan's sight, the cannon fodder on the battlefield obviously didn't have the skills to do that. They were nothing but sitting ducks, struggling to avoid the attacks, and one wrong move meant getting blown up!

"Big bro, let me handle this."

Watching his comrades fall one by one, Killer Bee's expression grew serious. He wasn't dumb—on the contrary, he had an exceptional mind—and he knew how bad things would get for Kumogakure if this continued.

To turn the tide, they had to use the village's hidden strength.

And he, Killer Bee, was the one who could do it!

"Thanks, Bee."

Raikage nodded and didn't dwell on it.

He knew that for every second he hesitated, more of his men would die. As a Jinchuriki leading the charge, he had long been prepared.

Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails were in sync and didn't need to exchange words. A deep red chakra surged from Killer Bee's body.

To help push forward for Kumogakure Village and minimize their losses, they only had this move!

Even if they couldn't fully match each other yet, temporarily transforming into a tailed beast was still possible.

"Roar!"

As the massive form of the Eight-Tails appeared, it swept away the arrows in the air with its tail. Raikage's Lightning Release chakra mode also reached its peak.

His body shot forward like lightning, and as he ran, he didn't forget to shout, "Charge ahead!"

This was the precious moment Killer Bee had fought for, and it couldn't be wasted!

Transforming into a tailed beast didn't mean the Jinchuriki couldn't feel pain. In fact, connecting with the tailed beast made them more sensitive to it. The chakra arrows crafted by the Hyuga clan were aggressive; when they pierced the Eight-Tails, it hurt both it and Killer Bee.

Even though Killer Bee was as strong as an ox, he couldn't endure it for too long.

Killer Bee needed help to block the attacks and couldn't focus entirely on working with the Eight-Tails to create a tailed beast ball. So, he just kept moving forward, which consumed a massive amount of energy.

Knowing this, Raikage took the lead, planning to break the Hyuga clan's rain of arrows!

In full-power mode, the blue lightning moved incredibly fast.

The moment he burst out of the jungle, he spotted the one behind the Hyuga battle tactic.

"Right, aim low; otherwise, you won't kill many."

The mastermind didn't seem to view him as a threat at all. Instead, he held a beautiful woman and aimed at the giant net, even crafting a fireball with his hands and helping the woman shoot it right in front of Raikage.

The woman's cheeks were slightly flushed, but she forced herself to stay composed. Even though she felt a bit awkward being held, for some reason, she stayed in the man's embrace and wouldn't come out.

"You've done well. Just blew up seven or eight of them."

The man laughed as he said this, causing Raikage's blood pressure to skyrocket. He didn't see Raikage as a threat at all.

Those scoundrels!

Unable to hold back any longer, Raikage charged at Hyuga Hitoshi, aiming a downward strike at the man in front of him.

"Lightning Release: Thunder Axe!"

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