Chapter 88

Raikage Ay stood amidst the wreckage, his powerful frame rigid with tension, his eyes scanning the battlefield for anything—anything that could tell him how to save his brother.

Killer Bee was more than family. He was the only one Ay truly valued above all else.

His heart clenched at the sight of the devastation left behind. The very idea that his reckless but beloved brother had been taken, possibly killed or worse, made his blood boil. He could have accepted losing anyone else—his shinobi, his village, even his daughter—as a necessity for war. But Bee?

Never.

His mind raced, trying to calculate his next move.

The Uzumaki warriors had demonstrated a terrifying mastery over Fuinjutsu, enough to match and even overwhelm beings beyond human comprehension.

It was no longer a question of simple brute strength.

It was strategy. Intelligence. The ability to counter abilities that defied logic itself.

Ay clenched his fists, his chakra flaring violently around him.

'How do I save him?'

How could they stand against a clan that had grown so powerful, so secretive, that even the combined forces of the Five Great Nations had no knowledge of their true strength until now?

And worst of all—how do we defeat them?

His mind flashed to Naruto.

The moment Naruto had disappeared, Ay had been overjoyed—one less problem, one less unpredictable variable that could tip the balance of power.

But now—

Now, he wished more than anything that the Golden Boy of Konoha would return.

Because without him—they had no one who could match the level of power they were up against.

But Naruto's return was uncertain, and Ay knew they couldn't afford to wait.

His thoughts drifted to their last resort—the Chakra Cannon.

A weapon of unparalleled destructive capability, one that could level entire battlefields in a single shot. But it was unpredictable, a gamble that could very well destroy them all just as easily as it could destroy their enemies.

'No. Not yet.'

Ay restrained himself, forcing his hands away from the metaphorical trigger. He couldn't afford to jump the gun on using their ultimate weapon—not without knowing what they were truly up against.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't take extreme measures.

"Lord Raikage, you have a call from the Kazekage."

Mabui approached, her voice professional despite the tension in the air.

Ay turned toward her, his expression unreadable, but his presence alone was enough to command absolute silence from those around him.

Accepting the call, he found himself connected to a group meeting—one that revealed an even greater crisis.

Konoha had been caged.

Not only Konoha, but Suna and Mizu as well.

However, both Gaara and Mei had managed to break free. Their sheer skill and power had allowed them to overcome the barriers placed on their villages.

Konoha, however, remained trapped.

And that presented a problem.

"We need to release Konoha before taking the fight to the Uzumaki." Gaara's voice was firm, carrying the weight of his unwavering leadership. "We don't know how many strong fighters of our caliber exist among them. It's best that we have all of our strongest available."

There was a sharp silence, followed by a dry scoff from Onoki.

"We don't have time to release them." The old Tsuchikage's tone was as sharp as ever, his mind cold and calculating. "They will slaughter our people while we're distracted."

Onoki didn't even try to hide his disdain.

"In the first place, there is only the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki left in there." His words carried a clear message—Shino wasn't important enough to be worth the effort.

"The risk is too great." He exhaled, voice edged with frustration. "I refuse to waste resources on a lost cause."

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could reply—

"Can you let him explain before denying him?"

Mei Terumi's voice rang with authority, cutting through the argument.

Her emerald eyes gleamed with annoyance as she turned to Onoki. "Lord Kazekage doesn't push for useless actions. If he says we need Konoha free, then there's a reason."

Even Ay, who had been on the verge of dismissing Konoha as useless without Naruto, held back his words.

Gaara had earned their respect over the years, proving himself a leader of vision and foresight. If he believed Konoha was worth saving, then there had to be a deeper reason.

For the first time, the room fell into thoughtful silence.

Konoha, once the undisputed powerhouse of the Five Great Nations, had fallen from grace.

Without Naruto, without Kakashi—without its former pillars of strength—many had already written it off as irrelevant.

But Gaara, of all people, was saying otherwise.

And that meant there was something they weren't seeing yet.

Something that could change everything.

The war council was filled with a heavy silence as Gaara's words settled over them like an inescapable truth.

"Naruto would have been the one to inform you about this soon," the Kazekage admitted, his voice calm yet carrying an undercurrent of urgency. "But I suppose it has come to me."

The others watched him intently, waiting for his next words.

Gaara took a slow breath before delivering the revelation that would change everything.

"Hinata Hyūga is the second strongest being on this planet, followed by Ino Yamanaka."

The air in the room shifted instantly, a mixture of disbelief, shock, and confusion flashing across the faces of the Kage.

"What?"

Ay's brows furrowed deeply, his golden eyes narrowing in clear skepticism.

"These girls—how did they surpass Bee?" His tone was sharp, laced with both intrigue and genuine alarm.

"They formed contracts," Gaara answered, his voice measured. "Contracts with Immortals."

A long pause followed.

Even Onoki, the most experienced and least likely to be rattled, showed a flicker of unease. Immortals. That was not a term used lightly.

Ay crossed his arms, exhaling sharply.

"Then why don't we just do the same?"

"We don't have time," Gaara replied immediately, his tone final. "It's a long and complicated process. By the time we form a contract, the Uzumaki would have already won this war."

Onoki's rough voice broke through the silence.

"Fine," the old Tsuchikage muttered. "But that leads us to the next question—if these girls, with all that power, couldn't break free… then how do you expect us to do it?"

The weight of his words hung over the group.

And for the first time, no one had an answer.

Konoha, one of the greatest military powers in history, was locked down, its strongest warriors rendered powerless. If Hinata and Ino, two beings who had supposedly surpassed Killer Bee, were caged like prisoners, what hope did they have of breaking them out?

The silence stretched, thick and oppressive.

An Unseen Force Intervenes

Then, suddenly, the connection flickered.

The already-tense atmosphere grew heavier, an unplaceable presence leaking through the call.

And then—

A new voice entered the conversation.

"My Lord has heard of your plight, and she has decided to intervene…"

Everyone froze.

The voice was deep yet refined, carrying an unnatural stillness—as though it belonged to someone beyond human comprehension.

The Kage tensed instinctively.

Even Ay, a man unshaken by the battlefield, felt a small pulse of unease ripple down his spine.

The voice continued.

"This should release Konoha," the man—Merlin—stated as though it were a mere afterthought.

Relief was the first reaction, but then his words shifted, sending a chill through the group.

"But be warned… this alone will not be enough. Prepare to take drastic measures. Your current strength is far below what is required to face this threat."

The room fell deathly silent once more.

"Who are you?"

Onoki's voice carried suspicion, but Gaara was the one who calmly cut through the tension.

"He speaks the truth," the Kazekage affirmed. "Merlin is an ally."

Ay wasn't fully convinced, but Gaara was a man of few words. If he trusted Merlin, then there was no reason to question it—for now.

Ay processed the information quickly, his mind running through the possible solutions.

If Merlin was correct, then releasing Konoha wouldn't be enough.

They needed a countermeasure. Something immediate, something effective—and something dangerous.

The answer was clear.

"Then we have no choice but to use the Prototype Ultimate Soldier Plan."

The words shocked the room, but Ay did not falter. His golden eyes burned with resolve.

There was no other choice.

Onoki exhaled slowly, then nodded in agreement. The old man's expression hardened. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

But Mei and Gaara hesitated.

The Ultimate Soldier Plan was not an ordinary upgrade. It was a gamble—a dangerous experiment that could push them beyond human limitations, but at an unfathomable cost.

"…This could kill us," Mei finally spoke, her tone heavy with concern. "Are we really ready to throw away our humanity for this war?"

Gaara remained silent.

He wasn't against the idea, but he wasn't blind to the consequences either.

Onoki glanced at the two younger Kage before sighing.

"You two don't have to force yourselves," he said gruffly. "We are the targets. This war isn't aimed at you. There's no need for you to throw your lives away if you don't want to."

He wasn't saying it to be kind.

He was saying it because he knew they might not survive the transformation.

The decision was made.

Ay and Onoki began selecting their best warriors, handpicking those willing to undergo the transformation. They would be modified—strengthened through experimental means—to stand against the monstrous power of the Uzumaki Clan.

But this war wasn't just about their subordinates.

They too would undergo the procedure.

A Kage was not meant to stand idly by while others fought in their place. If they were to die, they would die as warriors, fighting to their last breath.

Mei and Gaara watched in silence, knowing that the battle ahead would be unlike anything the world had ever seen.

And as Ay prepared himself for the process, his fists clenched.

His brother was gone.

His people were suffering.

The world was on the brink of being conquered by a force beyond human comprehension.

They would not sit back and let it happen.

The era of the current Kage was ending.

But in their place, the world would witness the rise of something far greater.

The most powerful beings in history—the Kage of Hashirama's generation—would be reborn.