Boom. Boom. Boom.
Following the invasion by the Hidden Cloud elite squad led by the Raikage, explosions and blasts resounded throughout the village in rapid succession.
A portion of the Sand Village forces immediately organized a response effort, including relocating civilians to safer positions and focusing their defensive efforts on protecting the newly established medicine factory.
But the Hidden Cloud's purpose was extremely clear.
The Raikage alone restrained the majority of the Sand Village's forces under Chiyo's command. The remaining Cloud Village elites, under Ai's direction, quickly dispersed throughout the village to locate the medicine factory and key institutional buildings.
Their squad's deployment had clearly been meticulously planned in advance.
A Cloud Village Jonin quickly subdued a Sand Village soldier, placed his hand on the man's head, and closed his eyes. A moment later he moved to Ai's side and reported what he had extracted.
Bang.
Like the Third Raikage, Ai was also enveloped in lightning-attribute chakra, and his fighting style followed the same fundamental approach. Simple and brutal. His individual destructive power and lethality appeared to be nearly on par with his father's.
The Sand Village members attempting pincer attacks from multiple directions were all dealt with cleanly through straightforward taijutsu.
As for the Puppet Masters directing their puppets against him, under his extreme destructive output their mechanisms, projectiles, and the puppets themselves were as fragile as paper. They were shattered easily.
This was not some elaborate Lightning Release ninjutsu technique. It was simply Lightning Release activating the body's cellular functions to a terrifying peak, then combining that with the Body Flicker Technique to move like a bolt of blue lightning, cutting through each target relentlessly.
A seemingly casual punch from Ai caused an entire building nearby to collapse into ruins.
"Move!"
After locating the medicine factory, Ai took several Cloud Village Jonin and set off immediately. In his assessment, his father had restrained the majority of the Sand Village's fighting force. The remaining scattered Sand Village members posed no meaningful threat to him.
Swoosh.
After breaking through the encirclement quickly, the five arrived at the main gate of the medicine factory. Waiting for them was a Sand Village fighting force of several dozen men led by Ebizo.
Ai clenched his fist, his eyes filled with open contempt. These Sand Village members were almost certainly the last fighting force the village had available.
"Kill them."
Without further delay, he gave the order. In an instant, Ebizo and the Cloud Village Jonin clashed.
On the other side, Yuji was pushing forward relentlessly, risking everything on speed. There was no rest along the route. Fortunately, the transformed Kimu and the others, along with the Hyuga member, possessed extraordinary physical capabilities and could barely maintain pace with him.
There were only seven of them in total, a small number that required no formation or marching structure, allowing him to push his speed to its absolute maximum.
Furthermore, he was deeply familiar with the roads and terrain throughout the Land of Wind. This gave him an advantage over the Third Raikage and the others.
He could take shorter routes that an outsider would not know to use. His return to the Sand Village came faster than expected.
"Has it already started?"
He could sense distant chakra fluctuations even from here. His heart sank further. He had still not caught up in time.
He opened his eyes fully and surveyed the village.
The scene that met his gaze caused his expression to darken instantly. An uncontrollable surge of cold fury rose in his eyes.
Bodies on the streets. Bodies on the rooftops. Everywhere lay the corpses of Sand Village ninja.
The civilians appeared to have been properly evacuated. The streets were empty of ordinary people. But the Sand Village ninja who had tried to defend those streets had paid for every meter with their lives.
He saw a tall figure moving like a predator through a helpless herd, slaughtering groups of Sand Village ninja with the casual efficiency of someone who faced no real resistance.
Chiyo was fighting this figure but was already injured, barely holding on through the cooperation of the remaining Sand Village ninja around her. There were not many of them left. Perhaps twenty or thirty. One appeared to be positioning to cover her retreat.
The Raikage.
Yuji narrowed his eyes.
He had been cautious every step of the way, planning carefully across years of effort, all of it aimed at making the Sand Village stronger.
And now, because of the Raikage and Ai's rampage through the village, the Sand Village had suffered losses that should never have happened.
This was something he could not forgive.
But anger aside, he forced himself to stay calm. The Raikage was not the only threat inside the village.
His first priority had to be eliminating the secondary forces, minimizing further damage, and then waiting until the enemy's numbers had been reduced before dealing with the genuinely dangerous opponent.
His eyes moved as he thought, tracking the movements of other Cloud Village members throughout the village.
"Three pharmaceutical factories in total."
"One office building. Two hospitals."
"Good. Not too many targets. We can still make it in time."
After quickly assessing the battle situation, Yuji entered the village and bypassed the area where the Third Raikage and Chiyo were engaged, heading directly toward his primary target.
"Go to the pharmaceutical factory."
Behind him, Kimu and the other six received their orders simultaneously and split off, dodging through the village streets with the hospital as their main target.
Just before the others fully entered the Sand Village, the Third Raikage seemed to sense something. He turned his head sharply to look in a certain direction, then immediately attempted to break free from the Sand Village forces entangling him and leave.
But Chiyo was a cunning veteran who had lived through more battles than most. She was not about to let him have his way. She immediately ordered over twenty Sand Village ninja to press forward desperately, engaging the Raikage again and holding him in place.
This was the Sand Village. Even with the Raikage's overwhelming individual power, her side held the home advantage.
One Sand Village ninja had already slipped to Chiyo's side and whispered something in her ear. The old woman's face went briefly pale, then her eyes brightened slightly and her fighting spirit rekindled. The more she considered what she had been told, the more determined she became.
But she also carried a thread of worry.
The Hidden Cloud Village's attack on the village, although small in number, had brought top-tier fighters. They would not be easy to manage. Especially the Raikage and Ai.
Although she had genuine confidence in her own strength, these were not ordinary opponents. Almost an hour had passed since the Hidden Cloud Village's attack began. Even with her holding the line, the Third Raikage alone had slaughtered hundreds of Sand Village members in that time.
This overwhelming individual power was terrifying in a way that was difficult to fully process even for someone with her experience.
Swoosh.
In a flash, Yuji entered the factory.
Along the route through the village, he had passed Sand Village members who had fallen during the Cloud Village's advance. Some were still breathing, severely injured but not dead. Ai's team had a very clear objective.
They were not there to kill Sand Village members indiscriminately or simply cause destruction. They were there to seize medicinal resources. Therefore they only needed to incapacitate anyone who got in their way and move on. They did not waste time on finishing blows.
Their priority was to grab what they came for and leave the Sand Village as quickly as possible. Every action was precisely efficient, nothing unnecessary, nothing wasteful. They simply needed to ensure no one could interfere with the mission. They were racing against time as much as anyone.
As soon as Yuji entered the factory, he saw a Hidden Cloud ninja using some form of genjutsu to control a factory manager, while another Hidden Cloud ninja used spatial ninjutsu to seal large quantities of medicinal materials and packaged finished medicines into scrolls.
Standing in the middle of the scene, dark-skinned and golden-haired, was Ai, his clothes stained with blood from the fighting to get here.
Bang.
A drop of blood shot through the air instantly toward one of the Hidden Cloud ninja. But before it could reach its target, a flash of lightning appeared and Ai raised his fist, using the back of his hand to intercept the blood droplet directly.
The droplet, trailing a red thread, struck repeatedly against the skin of his hand. After roughly two or three seconds, the blood was evaporated entirely by the lightning chakra, turning into a faint wisp of steam.
The two Hidden Cloud Jonin were instantly shocked.
Ai also looked toward the factory entrance.
Standing there was a young man with a cold expression, staring intently at them.
"Blood Doctor Yuji!"
All three of them changed expression simultaneously.
Was this person not supposed to be on the front lines? Even if he had rushed back to help, it should have been too late. How could he have returned this quickly? And he had come back alone?
But before they could think through any of it, he had already transformed into a blood-red streak of light and was accelerating directly toward them.