"Transformation Technique: Adamantine Staff!"
Enma, sensing the dire situation, didn't hesitate. With a poof of smoke, his body transformed into the Adamantine Nyoi Staff—the legendary weapon of the Sarutobi clan. Gripped by Sarutobi Shinnosuke, the staff elongated at once, puncturing a large opening through one side of the chakra barrier.
At the same time, Enma extended a muscular, furred arm from the staff's shaft, grabbing Shinnosuke and attempting to pull him through the breach first.
Shinnosuke instinctively seized the hand of his lover, Shimura Izumi, and made a dash for the exit.
"Stay!"
A violent crack of black lightning split the air—the Third Raikage arrived in an explosive flash, delivering a devastating kick that sent Shinnosuke flying.
But in the final instant before impact, Shinnosuke managed to hurl Shimura Izumi outside the barrier's slope. She was safely caught by Shimura Danzo, who had already retreated a distance but now surged back upon seeing Enma's weapon pierce the dome.
"Shinnosuke!"
Izumi cried out in panic, trying to charge back in. Danzo struck the back of her neck with surgical precision, rendering her unconscious.
"Damn you, Raikage… and the Uzumaki!"
Danzo's eyes gleamed with menace as the barrier rapidly repaired itself, sealing off the breach with red, vine-like chakra threads—Uzumaki-style. Gritting his teeth, he lifted Izumi onto his back and fled, bitterness radiating from every movement.
This defeat was not at the hands of the Raikage or the Hidden Cloud alone—it was because of the Uzumaki barrier team. They had not anticipated the timely arrival of an Uzumaki reinforcement unit led by Aloe, whose sudden activation of a four-layered seal technique had cost them dearly.
If not for the interference of the barrier and the unexpected Uzumaki forces, the Third Raikage wouldn't have lost his right arm—even if he had used the Chakra Limit Release Pill, he could have dodged that final explosion.
Damn the Uzumaki clan!
Inside the barrier, Enma reverted from his staff form and leapt toward Shinnosuke's crumpled body, intent on retreating with a summoning recall. But two pairs of glowing red eyes intercepted him—each with three tomoe, swirling with linked motion.
The twin brothers who had stalked Shinnosuke earlier now stood united—identical Mangekyō Sharingan-like coordination, though only standard three-tomoe Sharingan had been transplanted into their eye sockets. A faint chakra link suggested a Genjutsu link between their minds, amplifying their Illusion Technique's strength.
Both formed rapid hand seals simultaneously and channeled genjutsu chakra through their eyes.
Enma's senses flared with danger the moment he saw the Sharingan—but it was too late to cancel the summoning. He froze mid-leap, pupils swirling with the magatama pattern.
"These eyes drain so much chakra!"
The two brothers staggered, pale and sweating, their chakra visibly flickering. Despite being elite Genjutsu specialists, synchronizing a dual-eye genjutsu with transplanted Sharingan was draining—especially against a summon like Enma, whose mental resistance was near-Kage level.
"We can maintain it… Raikage-sama!" one gasped.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, unconscious from the Raikage's earlier strike, was left defenseless.
The Third Raikage approached, eyeing the twins. "Are you two stable?"
They both nodded weakly and downed a potent chakra-restoration serum. One then uncorked a larger bottle and poured the contents directly into Enma's mouth to sustain the illusion lock and enable memory probing.
"Begin phase two," the Raikage commanded, turning toward the incoming Uzumaki Aloe's shadow clone, who flickered into view behind a veil of sealing mist.
The two illusionists nodded and deepened their Sharingan link, drawing more data from the restrained Monkey King's mind. Enma's fists clenched involuntarily as the memories were skimmed.
"Patch the Raikage's wound!" shouted Tutai's shadow clone, who arrived alongside a medic-nin. The injury hadn't severed muscle, but the cut had bled freely due to the Lightning Armor's blood-pressure amplification.
"Ugh, acting really is exhausting," grumbled the Third Raikage as he crouched, letting the medic work.
Indeed—he had been acting. While his chakra was indeed drained from dismantling the Mist ninja squads, his combat strength was intact. Even if Wind Release jutsu held an elemental advantage over Lightning Release, it wasn't enough for Danzo to beat him.
But their victory had been too complete—between gaining Uzumaki support, annihilating elite Hidden Mist forces, and capturing key intel, they now had to appear weakened lest the four great ninja villages unite against them.
"You'll have to publicly condemn Hiruzen Sarutobi next," Tutai's clone said with a grin. "The act must go on."
And it would be convincing. Their bounty included the Uzumaki clan's sealing texts, Mist Village troop extermination, and almost no significant casualties of their own thanks to Lightning superiority and Uzumaki reinforcement. Strategically, this was a flawless operation.
"The monkey Hiruzen… a schemer through and through."
The Raikage sneered. In his view, Sarutobi Hiruzen lacked the mettle of a true Kage. His "Professor" title and so-called Five Nature Transformation mastery didn't equate to real power. Anyone could study theory.
After all, the legendary Kinkaku and Ginkaku once routed Hiruzen's entire squad. Yet he, the Raikage, had killed them both in direct combat. The gap in power was real.
As the Raikage thought this, the twins manipulated Enma's hands into a seal.
"Summoning Technique: Clan Contract Scroll!"
Through Enma, they reverse-summoned the Sarutobi clan's summoning contract, exploiting his subconscious bond with the Monkey King realm. The chakra scroll unfurled, revealing the names bound to the Monkey Summoning Contract.
The Uzumaki Aloe shadow clone stepped forward, cold eyes scanning the list. There were names across multiple generations—Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and others.
"The Third Hokage," he murmured with hatred in his voice.
He had seen the fire erupt at the village's edge—proof that Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo had likely initiated a border provocation to sabotage the Uzumaki escape and seal operation.
He clenched his fists, longing to use the contract seal to forcibly summon Hiruzen here and execute him.
But Dodai, stepping into view, shook his head.
"Senior, we must follow the long-term plan. Killing Hiruzen now will only embolden Konoha. Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's widow, still holds sway as the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. Her authority will solidify Senju rule, and they may retaliate even harder."
Even before, the Raikage had speculated that Danzo had been allowed to flee intentionally—to sow discord within Konoha. Let Hiruzen and Danzo weaken the Uchiha and Senju from within.
Eventually, Konoha would tear itself apart.
After a moment's pause, Aloe suppressed his rage and nodded. He performed a long seal sequence.
"Contract Seal: Sarutobi Binding."
Glowing red script enveloped the scroll. The names of the Sarutobi clan were sealed—cut off from summoning the monkey clan indefinitely.