One Piece: I am Imu

Chapter 339 - 339: A Funeral Pyre Called Pride

The western district of Rōran City.

"Good!"

"Uzui Tengen, was it? I'll remember you!"

The Third Raikage halted his offensive, his expression dark as he spoke.

He had already confirmed that he couldn't take down this opponent in a short time. This man clearly possessed some kind of unusual sensory ability, allowing him to dodge his attacks again and again.

And that powerful Sound Release—capable of directly countering his long-range Lightning Release techniques.

"Heh... to be remembered by the Third Raikage—now that's something to brag about."

Uzui Tengen responded to the other's fierce glare with a dazzling smile.

At the same time, he let out a breath of relief inwardly. Only the heavens knew just how much pressure this opponent had put on him.

"Oh, right."

"I also have a rather flamboyant title—I hope you'll remember that too. After all, I'm quite a prominent figure, you know!"

Uzui Tengen quipped.

By now, the Third Raikage had already turned his back to him, seemingly not concerned at all about being ambushed. He didn't even look back as he replied to Tengen's words.

"Then I'd really like to hear what kind of ridiculous title you have, you Sound Release brat I've never even heard of."

"It's a flamboyant title!"

Uzui Tengen corrected with deliberate seriousness, then declared, "Listen carefully. My title is the 'Sound Hashira'—Special Jonin Uzui!"

"Sound Hashira..."

The Third Raikage repeated it under his breath, then sneered. "What a meaningless title—how boring."

With that, he turned into a streak of lightning and shot out of Rōran City.

"What did you just say?!"

Uzui Tengen roared in fury. He swung both of his Nichirin Blades and shouted at the other's retreating figure.

"Get back here and fight me for three days and three nights! Otherwise, take back your insult!!"

He genuinely seemed enraged. His roar sent waves of sonic force rippling through the air, and the already-ruined ground cracked even further with countless new fractures.

But the Third Raikage had already made up his mind to leave, and he completely ignored Uzui Tengen.

"Damn it... To look down on the name of the 'Sound Hashira'—that's going too far..."

Uzui Tengen cursed through clenched teeth.

...

A few minutes later—

As several shrill whistles echoed across the skies outside the city, the Kumogakure shinobi within Rōran began their retreat, visibly unwilling.

The shinobi from Umigakure and the CIPHER POL side didn't give chase. Covered in injuries, they could only watch as their enemies left the city.

But looking around...

The streets and alleys of Rōran were stained with blood. Corpses lay everywhere in pools of still-warm blood—some were Kumogakure shinobi, others were Umigakure fighters.

But by far, the greatest number were those black-clad reinforcements who had joined the battle later.

There were simply more of them, and unlike the carefully selected shinobi of Umigakure, their power levels were all over the place.

Of course—

For a massive organization like CIPHER POL, these casualties were but a drop in the ocean. But if Umigakure had suffered this many losses, it would've been nearly half-destroyed.

This was the first time CIPHER POL had suffered such severe losses in a foreign world. Just from a rough count, they had lost between 200 and 300 people.

It was a brutal reminder for the World Government of how different this ninja world was compared to previous ones.

...

Outside the city.

Just as Uzui Tengen and the others were finally starting to relax—

The Third Raikage found Dodai.

"Once everyone inside is out, have the Second Unit unleash a combined jutsu on Rōran. Reduce this tiny nation to ashes, turn it into scorched ruins buried forever in the sands!"

Dodai opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but eventually closed it and silently accepted the order.

Because he knew—if he didn't go through with this, the Raikage would have no outlet for his fury. And unchecked rage could easily make a man lose all reason.

What he feared even more was that if the Raikage returned still burning with resentment, he might make even more extreme decisions—ones that could bring even greater harm to Kumogakure.

Time passed slowly under the blowing desert wind.

The Kumogakure shinobi inside the city moved quickly. In less than ten minutes, they had fully withdrawn, many collapsing from exhaustion or pain as they received treatment from medical-nin.

Yet they were surprised to find... their side wasn't packing up to leave.

Instead, the members of the Second Unit—those primarily responsible for medium- and long-range attacks during the war—were lining up and surrounding Rōran from all four sides.

The scene was all too familiar.

Uzui Tengen and the others sensed something was wrong. They rushed back to the city walls and saw the same sight.

"I remember reading in the intel... the ninja forces of the Great Villages can perform massive-scale combined jutsu involving dozens, even hundreds of shinobi. Could it be..."

Kazekage frowned and spoke hesitantly.

The next second—

Uzui Tengen, Fujin, Yazaemon, Bishamon, and Chome exchanged looks, a deep sense of dread welling up in all their hearts.

They had already witnessed the destructive power of just two or three shinobi combining their techniques. Those attacks could collapse spires over 100 meters tall with ease.

So just imagine what kind of devastation a combined jutsu from over four hundred shinobi could unleash!

"What do we do? There's no way we can stop that..."

Chome bit her lip nervously. Fear crept into her eyes as she instinctively wanted to run back into the city.

Uzui Tengen fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed in resignation.

"There's no helping it. Have everyone retreat."

He truly hadn't expected the mighty Third Raikage to resort to such a disgraceful and insane move—to completely annihilate Rōran.

Meanwhile—

From all four directions, hundreds of Kumogakure shinobi had already formed their hand seals in perfect unison.

In the next instant—

Half of them unleashed powerful gales at the city walls of Rōran.

In a flash, the hurricane-force winds spewed from over fifty mouths fused into a single, monstrous wave—an apocalyptic wall of air that surged toward Rōran like a tidal wave, blotting out the sky.

But that wasn't the end.

The remaining Kumogakure shinobi stepped forward as one and unleashed a barrage of Fire Release techniques. The giant wave of wind ignited instantly, transforming into a raging sea of fire that swept across the land.

"...It's over."

Uzui Tengen looked behind him at the sea of fire rising into the sky and let out a weary sigh. Their mission had likely failed.

Outside the city, the Third Raikage wore a cold smirk.

"Rōran is finished. Sound Release brat—consider this your funeral pyre along with the death of this ancient nation!"

...

The entire city of Rōran was now encircled by a ring of fire, which advanced rapidly with terrifying speed. The searing heat wave evaporated what little moisture remained in the air.

And just as the massive waves of fire—now taller than Rōran's outer walls and so intense they distorted the very air—were about to crash down on the city...

The sands outside the four walls suddenly erupted, like lava from a subterranean volcano or a river of sand bursting upward.

Though the surge spanned only three to four meters in width, the volume of yellow-brown sand appeared endless. The rising dunes grew taller and taller by the second.

In the blink of an eye—

Under the stunned gazes of the thousands of Kumogakure shinobi, the sand streams from all four directions converged in the sky above the city center. There, they formed a colossal inverted bowl of sand, a protective dome that enveloped the entire kingdom of Rōran, its spire-like towers completely enclosed.

The next moment—

With a deafening roar that shook the heavens, the sea of flames slammed into the sand dome.

Instantly—

The outer layer of sand shattered like brittle earth struck by a scorching hammer, erupting into countless chunks of scorched debris.

At the same time—

The intense heat and gale-force winds swept outward like boiling water, surging in all directions, even pushing sand and gravel further into the distance.

Kumogakure ninjas caught in the shockwave staggered and stumbled, each one struggling to stay upright in their own way.

The blowback was simply too strong, too hot. The sand carried in it struck like whips—painfully, even slicing thin bloody lines into their skin.

None of them had anticipated that their side's ultra-large-scale combined ninjutsu would be stopped by anything.

"A sand technique covering this large an area... could it be that the Third Kazekage has appeared?"

Arms crossed, the Third Raikage stood immovable amid the scorching winds and flying debris. Frowning, he stared at the sand dome within the flames, thoughts turning inward.

He held a certain wariness for the man known as the strongest Kazekage in history.

Moments later—

The flames began to die down. The gale subsided as well, revealing the now-exposed sand dome, its surface fused into a molten crust.

Upon seeing this, many of the Kumogakure shinobi let out subtle sighs of disappointment.

It seemed their combined jutsu hadn't pierced the sand dome's defense.

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