261. Pain

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Jiraiya thought Tsunade had a point, but betting? That was out of the question completely impossible in this lifetime. He didn't want to jinx his student.

"I get it. I'll fully support Minato, but I'm staying out of any bets."

Hearing this, Naruto and Kushina both let out a sigh of relief and even Minato looked slightly affected.

Although everyone present felt that Tsunade's legendary bad luck with gambling was probably just a coincidence, the sheer thought of it was unnerving.

Only Tsunade was dissatisfied. "Tch, how boring."

Jiraiya made an effort to look carefree and grinned. "If you're bored, how about I take you out for a drink?"

"Fine, but you're paying." Tsunade turned and walked off without hesitation.

"No problem." Jiraiya agreed readily. Truthfully, he needed a drink himself to calm down.

Naruto wanted to remind them that it was still work hours, but the words got stuck in his throat. In the end, he decided to let the old folks have their moment to relax.

Jiraiya wasn't the only one in need of a moment to collect himself so was the Fourth Raikage.

For as long as he had been a shinobi, he had never experienced such a profound sense of helplessness.

He had watched, powerless, as his village was reduced to ruins. He had seen his brother taken away, unable to do a thing to stop it.

Even when he had faced Minato Namikaze over a decade ago, he had believed that if he could just get a little faster, he could defeat him.

But this time, the enemy was simply too bizarre.

A mere six individuals had dared to invade Kumogakure in search of the Eight-Tails.

Mysterious and powerful summons.

Strange and devastating explosive weapons.

A technique that absorbed ninjutsu and chakra completely.

A power that could extract souls.

A force that repelled and attracted with terrifying might.

And worst of all… explosive tags that seemed to be everywhere.

Any one of these abilities alone would be formidable. But when combined and used in perfect coordination, they became an overwhelming force that crushed everything in their path.

Even with Kumogakure's elite rallying to counterattack, they had only managed to take down three of them. Even after using the Amber Purifying Pot, they had only sealed one.

In the end, they had still lost—defeated by a single technique that had flattened the entire village.

Even Killer Bee, despite fully transforming into the Eight-Tails, had only ended up being sealed inside a massive stone sphere and taken away…

"Cough… Cough…"

The Raikage opened his eyes, pulling himself out of painful memories. He tried to sit up, only to feel a sharp pain in his right arm.

"Raikage-sama, you shouldn't exert yourself yet." Mabui hurried over to support him.

He glanced at his bandaged right arm and suddenly remembered he had attempted his Lariat attack, only for an unseen force to stop him mid-strike, snapping his arm in the process.

But he had no time to dwell on his injuries. "Mabui, what's the status of our intelligence analysis?"

"We've made some progress. The 'Pain' we sealed in the Amber Purifying Pot specialized in summoning jutsu. His body was embedded with several of these black rods, which we believe function as signal receivers. Given their ability to 'share vision' across all six of them, we suspect they may not be actual people, but rather some kind of puppets."

Mabui held up one of the black rods. They had only managed to capture a single Pain the others had been retrieved before they could be examined.

If she hadn't used Heavenly Transfer at the last moment to teleport the Amber Purifying Pot away, they might have lost even that.

The Raikage was silent for a moment before murmuring in frustration, "So… we fought with everything we had, and we didn't even see the real enemy?"

"…That's right. Also, one of the Pains never revealed their ability, so we still lack complete information."

For Mabui, this realization was a bitter pill to swallow. No matter how carefully she had devised strategies, it had all been meaningless in the face of that attack Almighty Push.

"Feel the pain."

Mabui knew she would never forget those words for the rest of her life.

"Any news on Bee? Where did that 'Pain' go after leaving? A stone sphere that size should be easy to track, right?"

The Raikage knew the chances were grim. The enemy had likely taken every precaution against being followed. But this was his brother he had to hold onto even the smallest hope.

"…I'm sorry, Raikage-sama." Mabui's voice carried a rare tone of defeat. "None of the tracking squads returned unscathed. They reported that rocks, flowers, trees, and even the smallest puddles of them could suddenly turn into explosive tags. So…"

"Damn it!"

The Raikage's left fist clenched. He raised it, about to slam it into the bedside table but stopped mere inches from impact.

Kumogakure didn't have the luxury of replacing broken furniture right now.

Instead, he grabbed a jacket and moved to get out of bed.

Mabui quickly tried to stop him. "Raikage-sama, your body—"

"It's just a scratch." The Raikage shrugged her off. "I need to check on the villagers. You, on the other hand…" He looked at her, taking in her exhausted expression and bloodshot eyes. "You've done enough. Get some rest."

Mabui protested, "But you should be resting too! You barely slept last night, and the Five Kage Summit is coming up. If you collapse now—"

"The Kage Summit?" The Raikage scoffed. "At a time like this, I should be standing in front of my people, giving them strength! Collapse? Listen up, Mabui anyone else can fall. But I can't. I won't. Because I am this village's Raikage!"

Mabui stared as his massive hand pressed her shoulder, gently forcing her to lie down.

"I won't let the one who did this to our village get away with it."

With that, the Raikage turned and strode out, his broad back disappearing through the door.

Mabui watched the closed door for a long moment before setting her notebook aside and shutting her eyes.

"Even after suffering such a crushing defeat, Raikage-sama is still the pillar of this village, still the man who gives us strength."

Her heart, filled with days of anxiety, suddenly felt lighter.

"As long as he's here, we will rebuild Kumogakure. We will defeat our enemies."

With that thought in mind, the exhaustion finally overtook her, and Mabui drifted into a deep sleep.

---

Just as Minato had predicted, the destruction of Kumogakure quickly spread across the shinobi world.

People were forced to confront a terrifying reality there existed a force powerful enough to obliterate a Great Shinobi Village in a single day.

Panic gripped the smaller villages. Some feared waking up one morning to find their homes gone. Others worried they might never wake up at all.

Fortunately, the Five Great Nations soon announced that Akatsuki's goal was the capture of Tailed Beasts. That revelation offered some relief.

"Oh, so they're just after the Tailed Beasts? Well, that's fine we don't have any."

Except for Takigakure.

Their tiny, insignificant little village in a tiny, insignificant little country… just happened to have the Seven-Tails.

And now their village leader, Shibuki, who just so happened to be the childhood friend of the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, Fū, had a massive headache.

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