Chapter 117: Declaration
The referee flickered to the battlefield; he maintained a static persona, but he was very nervous.
This was pretty much the fifth Raikage; if Sato was unfairly poisoned and killed in front of everyone, that would be a total disaster for Konoha.
And he, the referee, won't be able to escape blame. He would become the next Hyuga Hizashi.
He would be given up by Konoha to please the hidden cloud; that's why he hoped that Sato stops this match.
But Sato didn't care what the referee thought; he had his own plan.
"Stop the match? Ahem. Why would I do that?"
Sato coughed some more blood before chuckling and putting his hands inside his pocket.
Taking a deep breath, Sato opened his eyes and yelled loud enough to let the whole audience hear.
"Who do you think I am?! Unfairly poisoned or not, Raikage never falls outside the battlefield."
"Ahem, come on, Naruto, go ahead and use your strongest jutsu. We will end this with one clash."
"I need to pay someone a visit after this; let's make it quick."
Sato's unbridled confidence shocked people. He had this invincible aura, even when he was clearly poisoned. There were deep purple veins on his forehead, showing the extent of the damage.
The audience and the nobles were whispering in the stands. With just one match, Sato created an invincible feeling for the hidden cloud ninja.
He had created an image in everyone's head where hidden cloud ninjas would fight to their last breaths. This was a very helpful image for any ninja village.
This wasn't by accident; that's exactly what Sato was trying to do. Both Samui and Darui thought so.
"This is madness; Sato Sama is poisoned; he should get the antidote before doing this. He is risking his life to build our image."
Samui bit her nails in worry. She and Darui had teamed up again when they saw Sato was poisoned.
"But this is the best time, no? People believe what they want to believe. They will think of Sato sama's confidence whenever they think of hidden cloud."
"And don't you think the purple color in his veins is becoming lighter? Sato Sama might be healing from the venom."
Darui said with a calculative gaze, he was a very patient and observant man. He caught this detail, which Samui did not.
But this still didn't assure Samui; she didn't think this was the best time to fight. She really wanted to kill the person who sneakily poisoned Sato Sama.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Naruto was tearfully looking at Sato.
"Big brother.."
Naruto mumbled; he could see that his big brother was toughing it out. Then who was he to tell his brother to give up on his beliefs?
"I see Sato! This is my strongest jutsu. Summoning jutsu!"
Naruto bit his finger and patted the ground; immediately, the whole battlefield was filled with smoke.
The audience screamed in terror when the smoke cleared, and a mountain-sized toad was standing in the middle of the battlefield.
"Is this your opponent, Naruto? It looks like he is about to fall down any moment. Do you really need me for this."
Gamabunta, the toad, asked Naruto about his opponent. And Naruto, who was standing on Gamabunta's head, nodded.
"Yes, this is my big brother. Someone sneak attacked him unfairly!"
"Let's end this match quickly so big brother can go to the hospital."
Naruto explained the situation to Gamabunta. Gamabunta nodded without digging in too deep. Basic information was all he needed.
"Sorry about this kid. I will make it quick."
Gamabunta apologized and kicked Sato with a well-controlled kick. This was enough to safely knock Sato out.
BANG
Gamabunta paused; his face had a frown on it. His muscular toad leg was somehow stopped. And it was stopped by a human with physical force.
How absurd! He had never seen anything like this.
"I advise you to take this seriously. Naurto."
Sato said softly as lightning crackled around his body. With this one attack, Sato had already figured out Gamabunta's strength.
"In physical strength you are equal to one tail. Ahem. The sage toads are quite terrifying."
Sato commented while wiping some blood off his lips. He didn't want to waste any more time. He will finish this now.
"I will hit you with one single strike. Do your best to stop me, Naruto."
Sato smiled ferociously as his lightning aura flared. Gamabunta was about to say something, but his eyes shrunk.
His super-sage senses were telling him that something was coming for his chin. But the problem was that it was too late to stop it.
BOOOM
Gamabunta felt like a mountain was being smashed against his chin. With a loud bang his body violently vanished back into the summoning world.
"Aaaaa!"
Naurto himself was launched into the air; he was thrown with enough force to fly outside the arena.
Bang
Naruto stopped after finally hitting some of the empty audience seats. He rubbed his head and tried to stop it from spinning.
"What happened..?"
Naruto asked in a daze; nobody answered him, but the audience had seen what happened.
And they were floored.
"He punched the toad in the chin. He knocked out such a giant toad in one strike!"
A random man exclaimed from his seats; many such exclamations kept ringing across the stadium.
After hearing this, Naurto figured out what happened. He lost, he lost to a poisoned Sato, in one attack.
"Haha, I need a stronger jutsu."
Naruto rubbed his face in shame, but he quickly looked back at the arena. He wanted to take his big brother to the hospital.
"Huh? Where is he?"
Naruto asked in confusion; the arena was empty.
Meanwhile in the pathways of the arena, Darui supported Sato and walked towards the hospital.
"You pushed yourself too far. Even with the vitality of a tailed beast, this is too much."
Darui chastised Sato. Hitting an attack that strong was very straining on the body. Samui also agreed with Darui on this.
But Sato just chuckled.
"You think I wanted to push myself like that? I had to do this. Kurenai poisoned me for a reason."
"If she thinks I am weakened, she might attack us immediately, maybe with backup."
"I had to show my strength. That I can still do such a heavy attack. Now nobody will bother us for a while."
Darui and Samui widened their eyes, and then they understood Sato's actions.
Sato's declaration back at the stadium, that Raikage never fall wasn't for the audience, but for the person who wanted to kill him.
Sato had said this in such a way, that only those who were involved with the attack would know his real meaning.
He was threatening his attacker openly, while simultaneously building an image for the hidden cloud.
"What a masterful scheme."
Samui sighed. There was a reason Sato was the next Raikage and not Darui; it wasn't just about strength.
Darui also hummed; he knew he could never come up with such a plan. He wasn't fit to be the Raikage.
"Then what do we do next, Sato Sama? Are we really going to the hospital, or is that also a facade?"
Samui asked for confirmation; she felt especially stupid around Sato.
Sato had a blank face when he heard this.
"Of course we are going to the hospital. I have to take the antidote, okay? Although we will visit Kiba's ward after that."
"Back at the stands, Shino was going to tell me something about Kurenai, but she stopped him from talking."
"Shino is currently unconscious, but Kiba is his teammate. Kiba should know what Shino was about to say."
"I need information about this situation before I can understand why Kurenai did this."
Darui and Samui narrowed their eyes, so they were going to face the woman who poisoned their Raikage.
Samui gripped her fist; she wanted to ask that Jonin why she did it. Why go so far to kill Sato Sama? Kurenai was a leaf Jonin; she must have a good reason behind her actions.
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