The Third Raikage was dead. Yuji was about to become the Fourth Kazekage.

On the front lines of the Sand Village and Stone Village engagement, when Rasa received this news, his expression went cold. It was impossible to tell from the outside what was happening inside him.

But the Sand Village intelligence that had relayed the information, along with the people in the tent who had been working through battle arrangements with him, including his subordinates, fell into complete silence.

They did not know what to say. Whether to offer comfort, or simply say nothing at all.

First, the fact that Yuji had killed the Third Raikage with his own hands had shaken them to their core. The Hidden Cloud Village’s attack on the Sand Village had caused considerable damage, and if Yuji had not rushed back from the front lines in time, the outcome would have been entirely unpredictable.

It could be said that he had single-handedly turned the tide. His feat of killing the Third Raikage had shaken the entire ninja world and thoroughly boosted the morale of every Sand Village warrior on every front.

But by comparison, Rasa, who had until this point been considered the natural successor to the Kazekage position, was now undeniably overshadowed. His former subordinates understood this without needing it explained. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Rasa had always held the Kazekage position in the highest regard. Yuji’s sudden rise, combined with his recent achievements and contributions, left no room for objection from any direction. And even if Rasa were to return to the village now, it would make no difference.

The Daimyo of the Land of Wind had already sent an official statement to the outside world. Becoming Kazekage was an irreversible fact. The ceremony that would follow was simply a formality.

"Continue," Rasa said after a brief silence, his voice cold, gesturing for everyone to refocus on the tactical arrangements.

His subordinates exchanged brief glances and pretended nothing had happened. But anyone paying attention could see that Rasa was visibly unsettled. Even his eyes carried a faint shadow.

"If it were me, could I have done the same? Kill the Third Raikage?"

The question turned over in Rasa’s mind without invitation. Not only the Third Raikage, but also facing Ai simultaneously. Two against one. And winning.

No.

The answer surfaced from somewhere below conscious thought before he could stop it. He would have died. He could not have achieved the same result. He could not have lifted the threat from the village. Going would only have been throwing his life away for nothing.

Why? Rasa’s face remained still, but his inner state was anything but. When had Yuji become strong enough to kill a Kage-level opponent? And not just any Kage. The Third Raikage, widely regarded as the strongest individual combatant in the entire ninja world.

Compared to the somber atmosphere under Rasa’s command, the reaction among Shimizu and his companions on the Konoha front was entirely different when they received the village’s news.

Shimizu’s eyes lit up immediately. He clapped his hands and laughed loudly, expressing his joy without restraint.

Sasori remained silent for a moment, then a faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. This smile was not one of joy at Yuji becoming Kazekage. It carried a distinct note of schadenfreude.

In Sasori’s view, no one was more suitable to take that position than Yuji. Because Yuji, like himself, found such responsibilities troublesome and had no particular attachment to the title. And now Yuji was being forcibly pushed into the position, unable to refuse. This was, naturally, deeply satisfying.

But there was another layer to the smile.

The Third Raikage’s death had made Sasori feel, for the first time, a kind of pressure coming from Yuji that he had not fully registered before. For the first time, Yuji’s strength had reached a level that Sasori genuinely could not predict.

This naturally ignited something competitive in him. After all, he had always considered himself to be in a competitive relationship with Yuji, not simply a friendship. He did not want to be left too far behind.

And there was one more consideration embedded in that smile. After becoming Kazekage, Yuji would inevitably be consumed by official duties, leaving him with limited time for personal development and growth. This gave Sasori the opportunity to intensify his own training, close the gap, and perhaps even surpass that person.

"Absolutely perfect. I knew it would come to this!" Shimizu clapped his hands and laughed again with genuine heartiness.

"It is truly unbelievable the more I think about it. Even the Third Raikage was defeated by him. How on earth did he manage it?"

"The new Kazekage, with this achievement alone, is enough to make the Sand Village’s reputation flourish across every battlefield."

"Our morale is soaring. Even Konoha will have to reconsider how they look at us now."

Several other senior military leaders spoke with surging emotions.

"It is a pity we cannot witness his inauguration ceremony in person," Shimizu said with a sigh. He genuinely wanted to see that moment with his own eyes. To witness history being made.

"Becoming Kazekage is an occasion for celebration. The best way we can respond to the new Kazekage is to do everything in our power to prevent our war zone from collapsing before he returns, and to show the spirit of the Sand Village on this battlefield. Let us use victory here as a gift to the Kazekage on his promotion!"

Shimizu clapped his hands once more, lifting the mood of everyone assembled.

There was not much time to dwell on the moment. Konoha’s troop deployment had been significantly strengthened. More Uchiha and Hyuga clan members had appeared on the battlefield. The situation was presenting a serious challenge for the Sand Village army.

Fortunately, the village had managed to transport medicinal resources to the front in time, ensuring the army’s fighting capacity was reasonably maintained and allowing their medical capabilities to function on the battlefield once again.

"As the Kazekage predicted before departing, the most pressing difficulty we face right now is Namikaze Minato. In just the past few days, he has single-handedly eliminated several of our squads stationed in the combat zone using the Flying Thunder God Technique, significantly weakening the defensive line centered around our base.

We must find a way to stop this situation from deteriorating further."

Shimizu shifted into command mode quickly, pointing to positions on the battle map and speaking in a low and focused voice.

"Otherwise, once Konoha learns that the Kazekage has returned to the village, their actions will likely become even more reckless."

His way of referring to Yuji had also changed considerably, as though he had long anticipated this moment would come.

At the Leaf Village army headquarters, Minato and other Jonin, along with members of the Nara clan, were gathered in the tent. They had also received the village’s announcement.

Blood Doctor Yuji had become the Fourth Kazekage.

In other words, just as Hiruzen had done before him, Yuji had withdrawn from the front lines without anyone detecting it. That explained everything. Recently the Sand Village’s fighting style had shifted dramatically, becoming extremely conservative. And Minato’s elimination operations had proceeded with unusual smoothness, encountering almost no significant resistance or interference.

He had not been on the front lines at all. He had returned to the village to deal with the Hidden Cloud attack.

Unfortunately, they had not detected this in time. Even a few additional days with that knowledge and some targeted tactical planning would have been enough to inflict far more devastating losses on the Sand Village army.

"The attack on the Sand Village was led by a detachment personally commanded by the Third Raikage himself," someone in the tent said.

"The Hidden Cloud Village’s elite squad numbered over a dozen, including Ai among them. According to intelligence received from the village, the Hidden Cloud squad had been on the verge of successfully seizing the Sand Village’s medicinal resources when they were stopped by Yuji alone."

"Besides the Third Raikage, only Ai fought against him directly."

"Ai managed to escape. The Raikage died in battle."

"The Hidden Cloud Village’s elite squad was almost entirely wiped out. Only Ai survived."

The person relaying the information spoke in a low voice, and as he spoke his voice trembled despite himself.

It was simply unbelievable.

Because based on their accumulated understanding and experience, if Yuji possessed strength at this level, the pressure he would place on the Konoha army on the front lines would increase exponentially going forward.

Even if Hiruzen himself came to this battlefield, at best it would be two Kage-level figures restraining each other. Their performance on the battlefield, while already terrifying by any normal measure, had never reached anything close to this.

Even Minato, who had fought against Yuji multiple times, was completely stunned and could not process it. Although he had never fought the Third Raikage directly, he understood clearly that if it had been him in that situation instead, there would have been absolutely no chance of winning. The Raikage’s taijutsu was powerful and renowned throughout the ninja world, his speed and destructive power in a category essentially by themselves.

What had happened? In just a short period of time, why had Yuji’s strength increased to this level?

Or had it been there from the beginning, hidden from sight?

But that seemed impossible. On the battlefield, both armies were committed to eliminating enemy units. If Yuji had possessed this level of ability during their earlier confrontations, there would have been a very high probability of him killing Minato during those exchanges. And judging from his decisive and ruthless personality in actual combat, he would not have shown mercy to an enemy or wasted an opportunity that presented itself.

Something did not add up.

"He is not only the youngest Kazekage in history. He may also be the strongest and most terrifying one ever produced."

The commander and those around him swallowed.

Compared to other ninja villages, Konoha’s understanding of Yuji was undoubtedly the deepest among all his enemies. Seeing him as an opponent, the sudden confirmation that he had become a genuine ruler-level figure inevitably placed fear in people’s hearts that was difficult to suppress.

"What exactly is there to discuss? Given the Third Raikage’s strength, his death was most likely the result of Yuji using some underhanded method. Furthermore, before Yuji even arrived at the Sand Village, the Third Raikage and the Sand Village forces had already been engaged in a fierce battle. It was not simply a matter of him killing them all alone. Is everyone’s reaction not somewhat excessive?"

A senior Uchiha ninja said this coldly.

Minato glanced at him and said nothing.

Underhanded methods? Poison? What a dismissive assessment of a Kage-level confrontation. Peak-level powerhouses did not typically engage in overly complicated tactical games. At that level, life and death were frequently decided in a single instant.

Furthermore, from any reasonable perspective, those who became Kage had almost no exploitable weaknesses by conventional standards. Whatever weaknesses existed at that level were only discoverable when facing opponents of comparable strength who had reached a sufficient understanding of each other through sustained combat.

For ordinary ninja, even if a Kage had a weakness, they were not in any position to exploit it. Even with every cunning method available to him, Minato privately acknowledged that he himself could not have killed the Third Raikage.

He had no realistic path to that outcome whatsoever. In other words, if the Third Raikage could be killed by something as straightforward as blood poison, he would never have become Raikage in the first place.

Beyond that, information regarding Yuji’s combat capabilities was no longer something the Hidden Cloud Village could contain. It would spread regardless of their wishes.

This Uchiha Jonin who had spoken, truly in keeping with their clan’s characteristic approach to situations they did not fully understand.

"Hhaa."

After a long period of silent contemplation, Minato exhaled a slow breath and set aside, at least temporarily, the shock and the implications of what this development meant for their position.

"If he has become Kazekage, from our perspective on the battlefield, it is actually a favorable development. Without him directly present, the Sand Village army does not pose nearly the same level of threat to us. We can fully deploy our individual tactical capabilities without that variable in play."

He continued.

"We concentrate on individual breakthroughs along their front line positions, working to reduce the battlefield advantage created by the Sand Village’s Puppet Master soldiers and medical units."

"Furthermore, he has become Kazekage. And as Kazekage, he should not be as free to operate as he was before."

He paused.

"This means now is the ideal moment for us to strike at the hidden strongholds."

...

STONESSSS 💎💎

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