Chapter 53: The End of the Battle

Sorry for the delay, guys. As I said before, I’m dealing with my ADHD, and that makes me very distracted, hindering my productivity.

Orochimaru was so excited by the possibility of acquiring the eight-tails that he didn’t notice.

Not long after discovering Gyuki’s seal, when he was preparing to seal the tailed beast back inside the jinchuriki, something was approaching at extreme speed.

Orochimaru only noticed when a flash of lightning passed through his vision, and soon after, the Raikage appeared next to the suppressed Gyuki.

Sakumo and Jiraya were extremely surprised when they saw the Raikage just a few meters away. Before they could react, when they expected to be attacked, the Raikage extended his hand towards the tailed beast.

His hand pierced Gyuki’s body, right where the seal was.

When they saw the Raikage’s objective, Jiraya and Sakumo reacted, preparing to attack, they wouldn’t allow him to take back the eight-tailed beast.

Unfortunately, they were too slow.

From afar, a scream could be heard, and from the ground where they stood, the earth began to move upwards, quickly enveloping the two in a ball of mud.

Orochimaru observed the situation in complete disbelief.

He didn’t expect the Raikage’s return.

He couldn’t sense the Kyubi’s power from this distance, which showed that the leader of the Cloud village hadn’t achieved his goal.

Why would he return now?

When he asked himself this question, Orochimaru understood.

The Raikage’s goal was never to discard the eight-tails, Gyuki, to cause the destruction of the Leaf village.

His goal had always been to use Gyuki as a distraction, with a backup plan in case everything went wrong.

He had placed subordinates to assess the situation and, when they were close to suppressing Gyuki, the Raikage would be notified and would quickly return to retrieve it.

After all, the timing was too much of a coincidence.

One or two more minutes, and they would have captured the eight-tails jinchuriki.

“Hahahaha, I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.”

Orochimaru smiled coldly when he reached this point in his thoughts, absolutely furious with the situation.

In the distance, the Hokage, who was also closely analyzing Gyuki’s situation, approached when he noticed the Raikage’s presence.

Hiruzen observed the enormous eight-tailed beast decrease in size, and he also came to the same conclusion as Orochimaru.

Unlike his disciple, however, the Hokage’s concern was not with the Raikage’s plan, but with what happened to the ritual.

Although they weren’t feeling Kyubi’s power, which would be easily noticeable even at great distances, Hiruzen knew that something might have gone wrong, and like a ticking time bomb, it could explode at any moment.

“Hahaha, Hiruzen, you really surprised me. I didn’t expect you to have a backup. This was my defeat.”

With the eight-tails jinchuriki, B, on his shoulder, the Raikage laughed out loud towards the Hokage. Although he spoke of the defeat he suffered, it didn’t seem like he was really a loser when he laughed so jovially.

“What did you do?”

With the Tsuchikage next to the Raikage, Hokage feared the worst. Although they currently had combat power superiority compared to their enemies, with Jiraya and Sakumo having already freed themselves, the imminence of the Kyubi was a concern.

“I don’t know, why don’t you go find out?”

In the distance, the Raikage saw his son sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Even while talking to the Hokage, the leader of the Cloud village seemed unconcerned with the situation.

He was so unconcerned that he reached for his son and picked him up on his shoulder even under the murderous glares of the Hokage and his subordinates.

“I’ve already ordered the withdrawal of my troops. If you’ll excuse me.”

Without saying anything else, the Raikage simply left, with the Tsuchikage right behind.

Hiruzen observed this in absolute silence, a murderous fury hidden behind his apparently calm exterior.

He knew.

Currently, the most important thing is to check Kyubi’s situation.

If the worst has happened, and the nine-tailed beast is about to be released, it was not time to prevent the Raikage’s departure, but to hurry to the ritual site.

“Sensei, did you see?”

Orochimaru approached the Hokage and asked in a low voice as they watched the figures of the Raikage and the Tsuchikage disappearing in the distance.

They still couldn’t leave, not until they were sure their enemies had really gone.

“Yes, the Raikage was injured. He tried to hide it, but it’s impossible in his current situation.”

“Then let’s...”

The Hokage raised his hand, stopping his disciple’s words. More than anyone, what he wanted most was to kill the Raikage, but he knew there were priorities.

“Don’t try to change my decision. Let’s go to the ritual site.”

Orochimaru could feel the fury behind Hiruzen’s voice. He was also furious with the situation.

“Sensei, this is the perfect chance to kill the Raikage. Maybe we can also wound the Tsuchikage. I don’t feel Kyubi’s power. I believe Tsunade managed to protect the ritual.”

With each passing second, the Third Raikage disappeared further into the horizon, frustrating Orochimaru who wanted to kill him at that instant.

“You don’t really believe that. Let’s go.”

Without saying anything else, Hiruzen turned around and started running at high speed.