A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Aoba had not been using his full strength. In reality, entering Sage Mode would have been enough for him to cut through the Cloud ninjas in front of him.

In Sage Mode, his attacks would be doubled in power, far beyond what ordinary ninjas could withstand. He would be a natural counter to these Cloud ninjas.

But in reality, he didn't dare to use it.

As he mentioned to Anko, their mission had been overachieved. But not the logistics mission—it was the bait mission.

Aoba, using his Wind Release perception, could clearly sense that there were still two enemies hidden in the distant forest.

One of them, he was very familiar with. It was the Fourth Raikage. The other, although Aoba could not see his face, he could identify from the massive chakra signature—he was the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

Compared to other village leaders, the Raikage was known for his preference to fight personally. He had mastered Lightning Release Body Technique to an extreme level and was a fervent warrior.

In contrast to Konoha's Third Hokage, who would only intervene in battle if absolutely necessary, the Raikage would never act lightly unless confined in a cage...

Aoi was not afraid of the Raikage. His own Sage Mode could potentially match or even surpass the Raikage's strength. Moreover, even if he couldn't defeat him, he was confident he could escape from the Raikage's subordinates.

What he was truly worried about was the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

This person was a perfect Jinchūriki, capable of freely wielding the Tailed Beast's power. The key point was that Aoba remembered the Tailed Beasts could sense natural energy.

Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to reveal his Sage Mode trump card. So he had refrained from using it.

He was waiting—for Konoha's reinforcements to arrive. The Third Hokage, despite his flaws, occasionally had some use. He generally maintained a degree of honor.

This was in stark contrast to Danzo, who was completely shameless.

The resistance from Konoha was extremely difficult. Apart from Aoba and Anko, who were managing relatively well, the rest of the team was already in a dire situation.

After five minutes of battle, nearly half of the thirty-person team had been casualties.

The remaining members had gathered, using combined jutsu to barely hold off the Cloud ninjas' assault. But chakra was limited. Within five minutes, they would lose their ability to resist.

Anko had even begun to despair.

"How is this possible? We're in the heart of the Land of Fire. This is Konoha's absolute control area. How can we encounter such an attack here?"

"Because this is our mission."

Aoba's words stunned Anko for a moment. Then she seemed to realize something.

"If we are the bait, then the Anbu reinforcements should have arrived."

Aoba turned to look back. He had already sensed a large number of ninjas approaching, but they had not intervened directly and were merely standing by.

It seemed that Konoha still had many people wanting to use this opportunity to eliminate Orochimaru's network.

At that moment, Aoba suddenly sensed chaos among the troops in the rear.

His perception, relying solely on wind, could only sense chakra within a certain range and was far inferior to Byakugan or Kagura's mind's eye. So he wasn't clear about what was happening in the rear, only that someone had activated chakra and was rushing over.

In the distance, he saw a distinctive white-haired ninja speeding towards them.

It was Kakashi. Aoi smiled slightly. Given the situation, Kakashi must have forcibly come to provide reinforcements.

The two of them fought through the Cloud ninjas' blockade and regrouped.

"What's the situation? It's only you?"

"No, the situation is very grim. We anticipated that the enemy would come to ambush us. But we didn't expect their forces to exceed our response capabilities. So, the rear decided to wait for reinforcements."

"...So the reason for no reinforcements is that reinforcements are waiting for reinforcements?"

"...Pretty much."

Aoba understood that the Anbu reinforcements must have detected the Raikage's presence. After all, the reinforcement troops would certainly have sensory teams. Detecting the Raikage was normal.

The awkward part was that they might have prepared a lot of elite ninjas as reinforcements, but the Hokage himself would not come. Therefore, no one in the reinforcements could counter an opponent of the Raikage's level.

As a result, the commander ordered them to continue waiting. The consequence was watching Aoi and his team perish.

"Does Konoha have anyone who can counter the Raikage? Are you waiting for the Hokage?"

"...The Hokage is not participating in the battle. But Jiraiya has already arrived."

"Jiraiya, that's acceptable."

Aoba didn't feel completely relieved. Jiraiya was indeed strong, and if he entered Sage Mode, few in the current ninja world could surpass him.

But he couldn't simultaneously confront both the Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. And at the moment, Konoha's Jinchūriki had not yet formed a fighting force.

Not to mention, if the battle escalated, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki might unleash a Tailed Beast Ball on everyone, potentially resulting in utter devastation.

Generally, the major ninja villages treated Tailed Beasts as strategic weapons. They rarely used Tailed Beast Balls because their consequences were catastrophic—similar to nuclear weapons.

Once one was used, others would follow. A few Tailed Beast Balls could turn the five great ninja villages into five great craters.

However, in the face of Cloud Village, this weapon might have no effect. These mad dogs would dare to use it if given the chance. So he wasn't very optimistic about the current situation.

To put it plainly, Konoha was still too weak. There were too few experts who could handle situations alone.

The arrival of Kakashi forced the rear reinforcement troops to join the battle early. At this moment, the previously hidden Raikage and Eight-Tails Jinchūriki finally made their appearance.

This so-called bait operation was actually two-sided.

Konoha had intentionally leaked the information that this team of ninjas was transporting important supplies, with Aoba, a nemesis of the Cloud ninjas, among them, to lure Cloud Village's elite troops into an ambush.

At the same time, Konoha assembled a large force, ready to take out Cloud Village's elite troops in one fell swoop.

The result was that they had caught the fish, but it was too big, and the fishing line couldn't hold.

Aoba glanced at the reinforcements that had arrived.

Kakashi, Guy, and numerous elite Anbu and Root members, including recognizable figures like Hayate and others from the storyline.

Seeing Guy, he felt a sigh of relief. With him present, the situation today should be manageable.

But he also felt a tinge of regret. If Jiraiya hadn't arrived in time, Guy might have been the final hero of the day.