Chapter 23: The Tragic Casualties of Yunyin Village

Cloud Thunder Gorge, a place specifically designated for the cultivation of Jinchuriki, could no longer be called a "gorge."

The dual explosion of the Tailed Beast Ball and the Mini-Rasengan—the stacking effect was far more complex than a simple 1+1=2.

Several mountain peaks within a few kilometers of Cloud Thunder Gorge had been leveled to the ground, and a massive crater, a thousand meters in diameter and hundreds of meters deep, appeared abruptly at the center of the gorge.

A severed river surged into the pit, carrying debris and shattered rocks with it.

Inside the crater, the exposed rock layers had turned into a vitrified, crystalline state under the intense heat.

The mangled body of the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, rose laboriously from the ruins, surrounded by cracking and collapsing crystalline earth.

"Cough... Big bro~ You okay~?" A mouthful of blood sprayed from Killer Bee's mouth, yet he did not forget to maintain his rap rhythm.

In his Tailed Beast State, Killer Bee had used his body to protect the Fourth Raikage, A, but his own back had been blasted into a bloody mess by the terrifying force of the explosion, leaving bone visible through the wounds.

"Bee!" Raikage A hurriedly caught Killer Bee as he lost his Tailed Beast State.

If Killer Bee hadn't protected him just now, the one lying heavily wounded on the ground would likely have been the Fourth Raikage himself!

Carrying Killer Bee on his back, Raikage A sprinted desperately toward the direction of Cloud Village.

The image of the explosion continued to flash through his mind, leaving him with lingering dread.

The village...

When Raikage A arrived at the outskirts of Cloud Village, he stood atop a mountain peak only to see that the center of the village looked as if it had been erased by an eraser; the Raikage Building had completely vanished.

Several mountain peaks, including the Raikage Building, had been snapped in half by the blast.

The casualties among the Cloud shinobi were heavy. Thick smoke billowed from everywhere throughout the village, and medical ninjas scurried through the haze, busy rescuing survivors.

The rising and falling wails of the wounded pierced through the smoke, filling the Fourth Raikage with profound self-reproach.

"Lord Raikage!" Two figures landed beside Raikage A.

He looked closely; it was Yugito Nii and Dozai.

"Killer Bee!" Yugito's pupils trembled slightly when she saw the heavily injured Killer Bee.

As a fellow Jinchuriki, Yugito was well aware of Killer Bee's strength.

Even without the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki intervening, Killer Bee—the strongest Jinchuriki of this era—had actually been beaten into such a state by the enemy!

"Bee did it to protect me..." Raikage A clenched his fists.

Because of the death of his father, the Third Raikage, he had once forbidden Killer Bee from leaving the village, fearing his brother might suffer a similar siege.

But today, after being attacked by a mysterious enemy, it was this brother who had shielded him from that terrifying explosion!

"What happened with the explosion in the village? Where are those two enemies?" After handing the heavily wounded Killer Bee over to the arriving medical ninjas, Raikage A questioned Dozai.

The elite Jonin, who was deeply trusted by the Third Raikage, replied with a heavy expression, "By the time I arrived, the battle had already ended."

"What about Darui and the others!" Raikage A shouted desperately.

"Darui, C, and Samui only sustained minor injuries, but Mabui was too close to the center of the explosion to retreat in time; she is currently undergoing emergency treatment..." Dozai's single eye reflected the ruins at the center of the village.

"Among the other participating ninjas, two Jonin are confirmed dead, two Jonin and three Tokubetsu Jonin are heavily wounded, seven Chunin are confirmed dead, and sixteen Chunin had their chakra drained and their lives are uncertain."

"Furthermore, this explosion destroyed the center of Cloud Village. The estimated casualties will not be lower than two hundred people."

Cloud Village was built atop mountain peaks, unlike Konoha which was built on a plain; therefore, much of the explosion's power and shockwave had been mitigated by the mountains. However, as a ninja military base, the vast majority of Cloud villagers were chakra-using ninjas, and they were included in the combat losses.

Thus, the loss of seven Jonin and Tokubetsu Jonin, over twenty Chunin, and over two hundred Genin villagers was a tragedy comparable to a crushing defeat in a major war!

If not for the fact that the main forces of Cloud were fighting Konoha's ninja units within the Land of the Moon and the Land of Hot Water, the casualties might have been even higher.

Moreover, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee, the village's "strategic nuclear weapon," was also heavily wounded!

*Boom!*

The Fourth Raikage A punched a nearby mountain peak, smashing a crater two meters wide into the stone!

"Have those two enemies been captured!" Raikage A gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear them to pieces immediately.

But Dozai shook his head with a grim face.

He then offered a hypothesis: "According to the descriptions from Darui and C, those two enemies who could hover disappeared right as the explosion began. They... should not be humans... they are Summoning Beasts!"

"What!" Hearing that the mysterious enemies who had pinned down dozens of Cloud's elite ninjas were actually Summoning Beasts, Raikage A's eyes bulged with fury.

"How did they get into the village?" Raikage A's knuckles turned white; the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Dozai said, "I sent people to question the guards on duty at the village gate today, as well as the ninjas who encountered the mysterious individual with Killer Bee, and we interrogated the merchant caravans that entered the village today."

"Preliminary findings suggest the enemy used Genjutsu to control the caravan leader and entered the village using the name 'Danzo.' This is a sketch of him." Dozai handed the gathered information and a sketch to the Raikage.

It was already quite an achievement for Dozai to have organized the preliminary intelligence in such a short time.

Looking at the bright, cheerful young boy in the portrait, Raikage A felt his rage flare up even more.

"Immediately activate all of Cloud's intelligence networks! We must find this guy!" Raikage A crushed the sketch into a ball and said through gritted teeth, "Issue a bounty at the Exchange Office! Seventy million Ryo! If anyone provides a lead that is confirmed by Cloud, they will also receive a reward of ten million Ryo!"

A bounty of seventy million Ryo was already higher than the bounties of many Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

The bounty for the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, was only fifty million Ryo.

Of course, Raikage A did not expect to kill this mysterious enemy through a bounty. His primary goal in issuing the bounty was to spread the information, forcing other villages to pay attention to this mysterious person and cause him trouble.

Cloud Village had spies in other villages; if this mysterious person clashed with other villages or did anything else, Cloud would receive intelligence.

"Yes!" Dozai immediately ordered a trusted subordinate to carry out the task.

"Additionally..." Raikage A looked at the large empty area of the village in the distance and said unwillingly, "Call a truce with Konoha."

*Rumble!*

The dark clouds that had been scattered by the explosion gathered once more over Cloud Village. The falling raindrops seemed to carry the stinging scent of gunpowder, washing over the wounds of Cloud.

The pain of war shrouded the entire Cloud Village.

In the 54th year of Konoha, news of the mysterious ninja attack on Cloud Village spread rapidly.

Various ninja villages sent spies to investigate the losses of Cloud Village.

Before long, Cloud Village accepted Konoha's terms for a ceasefire. The final wars of the Third Shinobi World War finally came to an end, and the ninja world was about to enter a brief period of peace.

At the same time, a mysterious ninja named "Danzo," codenamed "Shura," was placed on the underground black market with a bounty as high as seventy million Ryo!

Even providing useful information could earn a reward of ten million Ryo!

————

Meanwhile, within the Root base in Konoha.

Looking at the bounty for "Danzo" on the updated list from the Exchange Office brought by his subordinate, Danzo Shimura flew into a rage, tearing the brand-new bounty poster to shreds.