RBCT Chapter 416 The Raikage's Darkest Hour
Chapter 416 The Raikage's Darkest Hour
The office fell into a deathly silence, with only Ai's heavy breathing and the howling wind outside the window.
After a long while, Ai squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.
"Then... what do you suggest we do?"
Tsuchishiro gave him a deep look, as if trying to see through all the young man's pride and stubbornness.
He knew that what he was about to say would be the greatest insult to the new Raikage and the cruelest trampling on his beliefs.
But he had to say it.
"We need to call for help."
Tu Dai spoke each word with a pause.
Ai's body jolted violently, and an ominous premonition surged into her heart.
"Whom should we ask for help?"
Tsuchishiro closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to see Ai's expression next.
"Konoha".
The air froze in that instant.
"What did you say?"
The Fourth Raikage's voice was very soft, almost inaudible, yet it carried a sense of unease before an impending storm.
Tsuchishiro opened his eyes, staring directly into A's eyes that seemed to spit fire, and repeated, "Ask Konoha for help. This is our only way to break this deadlock."
"What?!!"
A thunderous roar.
A violent surge of lightning chakra gathered in A's palm.
"Let me have it!"
Ai's teeth clenched so tightly they seemed to grind every word as if squeezed from hell, "Go to that enemy who killed my father! Go to that bastard named Hiruzen Sarutobi! To wag your tail and beg for mercy?!"
"Toshiro!!"
Tsuchishiro simply looked at his Raikage with his only remaining right eye, calmly, even with a hint of pity.
"Raikage... Lord, this is for the sake of the village."
"I would rather die fighting with all the ninja of Kumogakure! I will never bow down to Konoha! Never!"
Just then, the office door was gently pushed open a crack.
A boy wearing sunglasses, with short white hair and a small notebook slung over his shoulder, peeked in.
"Hey! Hey! What's wrong, bro? Why are you so angry?"
"Did the table upset you again, or are you just too hot-tempered?"
"How about listening to my rap to cool you down? Yeah!"
It's Kirabi.
He looked at the mess on the ground, then at his furious brother and the disheveled Tsuchida, his face still bearing that carefree smile, but a barely perceptible worry flickered in his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Compare!"
Ai shouted angrily, "Get out! This is none of your business!"
"Don't be like that, brother."
Killer Bee strode in, grinning, completely ignoring Ai's anger. "Everyone's troubles are my troubles. Let me use rhymes to wipe them all out! Check it out!"
Killer Bee's appearance was like an unexpected pause, abruptly interrupting A's raging symphony.
Looking at her younger brother, who always acted eccentrically and regardless of the occasion, Ai felt her rage, for some reason, deflate like a punctured balloon.
This guy...
Toshiro nodded slightly to Killer Bee.
Then, he walked back to Ai without mentioning the word "ask for help" again.
He simply bent down and picked up a few reports stained with ink from the pile of broken desk wreckage.
He placed the reports, one by one, in front of Ai.
"Lord Raikage, this is the casualty list for Outpost No. 3 on the western border. None of the ninjas stationed there survived. Their average age was less than twenty-five."
"And this one, from the village's medical department..."
Tsuchishiro's voice was calm, yet it struck Ai's heart like a series of heavy hammer blows.
Ai's body stiffened.
He stared at the list, and the unfamiliar names seemed to transform into faces of despair.
His anger, his pride, his hatred seemed so pale, powerless, even laughable at this moment.
A warrior can die for honor, but a shadow... cannot.
Ai's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
These are all his compatriots.
It was his father, and the entire Hidden Cloud Village, that had entrusted him with this responsibility.
"Lord Raikage..."
The voice of Tsuchishiro seemed to come from the distant horizon.
Ai suddenly looked up at her younger brother, who was standing to the side, still trying to strike a hip-hop pose, but whose expression had become serious.
Kirabi...the Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki...
The village's last line of defense is also the most vulnerable target for enemies.
Once the defensive line is completely torn apart, the three-village coalition's target will inevitably be Kirabi!
A bone-chilling coldness shot from the soles of Ai's feet straight to the top of his head, instantly extinguishing all his anger.
He remembered his father's instructions.
"Protect the village, protect Bi."
Pride? Hatred?
How pale and powerless the word "protect" seems in comparison.
puff.
Ai seemed to have all her strength drained away as she slowly sat down on the stool.
His rock-solid arms hung limply at that moment.
The lightning surrounding him completely extinguished.
The office was deathly silent.
Killer Bee put away all his cynicism and silently walked to his brother's side, unsure of what to say.
Time passed by, second by second.
It was so long, like a century.
Finally, a hoarse, dry voice, as if it had been sanded, rang out in the empty office.
"Toshiro..."
Ai's voice trembled without him even realizing it.
He slowly raised his head, and his eyes, which had once burned with fierce flames, were now only ashen and lifeless.
"In my name..."
He paused for a moment, as if using all his strength, before finishing what he was about to say.
"Towards Konoha..."
"...issued the highest-level request for assistance."
……
The mountaintop of Hidden Cloud Village.
A thunder eagle, entirely black with eyes like lightning, let out a mournful cry.
With a sudden flap of its wings, it tore through the clouds in an instant.
This fastest lightning eagle in the ninja world, carrying a letter soaked in humiliation and despair, transformed into a blinding bolt of lightning.
It broke through the dark clouds and headed straight towards the Land of Fire.
On the letter lies the fate of the Hidden Clouds.
The moment this letter landed marked the crossroads at which Konoha made its decision regarding the ninja world.