Carl raised his hand with a casual flick, and a burst of airflow instantly swept the sand and dust floating in the air completely clean.
He lifted his gaze toward the Raikage and said indifferently,
"Ōnoki's way of welcoming guests is Dust Release the moment you meet him. Compared to his, your power is still a bit lacking."
The Raikage frowned.
If not for the brief exchange just now, he would have dismissed those words as utter nonsense. Tsuchikage Ōnoki might be advanced in age, but his Dust Release ranked among the very top in the entire shinobi world. How could three nobodies possibly escape him unscathed?
But after personally experiencing how his own heavy blow had been casually blocked, Carl's words suddenly carried frightening credibility.
That said, as the most hot-tempered of the Five Kage, the Raikage wasn't about to feel fear so easily. First of all, he wasn't like that half-buried-in-the-ground old man Ōnoki. He was in the prime of his life. And Kumogakure's strength was currently at its peak—so much so that even Konoha, once the undisputed leader, had been forced to swallow its pride during the Byakugan incident.
With such overwhelming confidence backing him, keeping a low profile simply wasn't in the Raikage's nature.
He clenched both fists.
With a violent crackling explosion, his hair stood straight up as he activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode at maximum output. Stimulated by surging electric currents, the Raikage at this moment was nothing short of a humanoid tailed beast.
Seeing their Raikage reveal his strongest form, the Kumogakure shinobi present immediately grew excited. One by one, they began forming hand seals or drawing kunai, their expressions turning hostile as they stared at Carl and the other two.
Some of the Kumogakure ninja quietly shifted their footing, circling around behind Carl's group—clearly intending to surround him and cut off any retreat.
Carl didn't spare them even a glance.
He even shifted his gaze away from the aggressive Raikage entirely. Golden light flowed within his Tenseigan, and within his field of vision, a slender figure was rapidly approaching from the distance.
Judging by her appearance and attire, Carl immediately identified her as one of Kumogakure's two jinchūriki—the Two-Tails host, Yugito Nii.
Yugito had been stationed farther away, so she hadn't arrived immediately. Upon sensing the disturbance, she had rushed over at top speed—but to Carl, that speed was slow.
Unwilling to wait, Carl slowly raised one hand, his palm facing Yugito's direction.
The Kumogakure ninja, unaware of his intention, assumed he was about to launch an attack. Several of them immediately threw shuriken, trying to strike first.
In an instant, countless black shuriken streaked toward Carl.
He maintained the same posture, unmoving.
Without any visible exertion, the shuriken—sharp enough to pierce human flesh—seemed to slam into an invisible wall of air, producing a series of sharp clang sounds before dropping harmlessly to the ground.
The sight left the Kumogakure shinobi stunned.
The Raikage narrowed his eyes.
"That wasn't Wind Release… some kind of secret technique? So he's not just a taijutsu specialist…"
Just as the Raikage prepared to personally engage Carl once more, Carl spoke calmly:
"Almighty Pull."
"…What?"
The Raikage's pupils shrank.
An overwhelming force erupted from Carl's palm. In the next instant, a figure shot over from the distance like a bullet—until, with a sharp snap, Carl caught them by the throat.
When they saw who it was, the expressions of everyone on Kumogakure's side changed dramatically.
The Raikage exploded into motion, transforming into a streak of lightning too fast for the naked eye to follow as he charged toward Carl.
"Release Yugito!!!"
The person in Carl's grasp was none other than the Two-Tails jinchūriki, Yugito Nii.
She looked utterly bewildered, completely unable to comprehend how she had just been forcibly dragged over from several kilometers away. It wasn't until the piercing crackle of electricity rang out that she snapped back to reality.
Turning her head, she saw the Raikage, his entire body wreathed in lightning.
The Raikage's expression was grim.
He glanced at his fist—easily blocked by Carl—and finally realized just how terrifying Carl truly was. Far beyond expectations. Far beyond the Raikage himself.
But how was that even possible?
The Five Kage represented the pinnacle of combat power in the shinobi world. How could someone exist whose strength so completely surpassed a Kage—someone who had remained entirely unknown until now?
Despite the doubts raging in his mind, the Raikage didn't stop attacking.
Even with one punch blocked, his extensive close-combat experience allowed him to flow seamlessly into a follow-up. He bent his elbow, lightning exploding across his body as violent Lightning Release chakra surged, propelling him into a brutal elbow strike at Carl.
"Liger Bomb!!!"
A strange word escaped Carl's lips—one the Raikage didn't understand, spoken with an unusual intonation.
Then, Carl casually tossed the already subdued Yugito aside and answered with an elbow strike of his own.
Executing such a sequence during the Raikage's attack required unimaginable speed. Yugito hadn't even hit the ground yet when the two elbows collided violently.
Compared to the dazzling lightning surrounding the Raikage's arm, Carl's strike looked utterly ordinary—almost powerless.
But the slight twitch at the corner of the Raikage's mouth told the real story.
Only the Raikage himself knew that at the instant of impact, a crisp cracking sound had come from the bones in his elbow—completely masked by the roar of electricity.
Carl's strength was monstrous.
His physical durability was even more incomprehensible.
How could a human body be this powerful?
At that moment, the title of "humanoid tailed beast" that belonged to the Fourth Raikage, A, suddenly felt… misplaced.
If even the Raikage himself felt this way, the remaining Kumogakure ninja were even worse off. They stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the sight of their Raikage being firmly suppressed.
As for Carl, his thoughts went in a very different direction.
He sized up the Fourth Raikage and mused inwardly,
"Dark skin, jacked physique, shoots a bit of lightning… No wonder he became the number-one crossover male lead of the shinobi world. This guy's practically born with protagonist settings."
The Raikage had no idea what Carl was thinking, but that strange gaze made him deeply uncomfortable.
He once again pushed his chakra—
Only to suddenly realize that his once-violent Lightning Release chakra had become incredibly sluggish. His upright hair gradually drooped as his chakra rapidly weakened.
The Raikage, famous for his overwhelming power and endurance, felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness.
-----------
+80 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg