The Fourth Raikage was a famous powerhouse in the ninja world. Even with a severe fracture in his elbow, he didn't take it to heart at all.
"Tch! I've really been underestimated, you bastard!"
Crackle—!!
The Raikage clenched his fists and drew them back to his waist, fully driving the Lightning Release chakra within his body. Stimulated by the lightning, his muscles swelled once more, his physique alone giving off an explosive sense of power.
He locked his gaze onto Carl, stomped hard on the ground, and with a thunderous boom, his entire body turned into a streak of lightning that shot straight toward Carl. Two massive hands clamped down on Carl's waist like iron vices.
Carl seemed not to have reacted yet. He showed no sign of resistance at all. Lightning flashed wildly over the Raikage's body, the muscles in his arms taut as steel, and he let out a roar.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Straight!!!"
Violent Lightning Release chakra surged out from the Raikage's arms, instantly spreading across Carl's entire body. The crackling of electricity echoed throughout the battlefield.
Yet this Lightning Release chakra—powerful enough to char a human body to ashes—didn't even amount to electrical therapy for Carl. His calm expression seemed to say only one thing:
Is that all?
As for the Raikage, his face now wore an expression like severe constipation. He grit his teeth, his face flushed red, and his feet had already sunk deep into the ground.
Lightning Straight was his ultimate killing move. Its execution relied on the explosive power of Lightning Release chakra to close in on the enemy in an instant, seize them, and then slam them viciously into the ground.
To this day, no ninja who had been hit by this move had survived. The Raikage had absolute confidence in it.
But today, he had run into a monster like Carl.
Everyone knew that the prerequisite for using Lightning Straight was first grabbing the enemy—yet Carl's body was like an immovable mountain, standing firm on the ground. No matter how much force the Raikage exerted, he couldn't move him even an inch.
The ninjas of the Hidden Cloud Village stared at the Raikage straining with all his might, all of them utterly dumbfounded.
"Hey, what is Lord Raikage doing?"
"Didn't you hear it? Lord Raikage just shouted Lightning Straight—he's putting in force!"
"But… why hasn't the enemy moved at all?"
"No idea. With Lord Raikage's strength, no one in the ninja world has ever escaped once grabbed by him. Could it be that Lord Raikage is under some kind of genjutsu?"
"How is that possible! Even if the opponent had the Sharingan, it wouldn't be enough to put Lord Raikage under an illusion!"
"But those eyes of his don't look ordinary at all… maybe it really is some unknown dōjutsu?"
As the Hidden Cloud ninjas argued among themselves, the Raikage had already pushed himself to the limit—yet Carl still stood there, unmoving.
Carl looked down at the Raikage, whose face was red from exertion, and spoke calmly.
"You're certainly persistent. Haven't you realized the gap between us yet?"
"Nani?"
"Well, whatever. As expected—really stubborn. I'll let you experience the weight of my body first."
The Raikage's pupils shrank. His instincts screamed danger. Just as he tried to pull away from Carl, a flash of purple light burst from Carl's body.
In the next instant, a layer of deep violet radiance coated the Raikage entirely.
Almost immediately, the Raikage felt an overwhelming force pressing down on him—like tens of thousands of tons. Despite being renowned throughout the ninja world for his physical strength, he couldn't last even a single second. His entire body was slammed flat against the ground in a spread-eagle position.
Gritting his teeth, the Raikage spoke with great difficulty.
"B-bastard… what kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
Carl ignored him. With a simple lift of his hand, he pulled Yugito out from the circle of Hidden Cloud ninjas surrounding her.
Seeing their jinchūriki captured once again, the Raikage roared in fury from the ground.
"Let her go!!"
Only then did the Hidden Cloud ninjas snap back to reality from the shock of seeing their Raikage crushed. Seeing Yugito taken again, they rushed forward to try to stop Carl.
After witnessing Carl's terrifying strength, these elite ninjas didn't dare to hold back. One after another, they unleashed their strongest techniques. Brilliantly colored ninjutsu filled the sky, all aimed straight at Carl.
Facing this overwhelming barrage, Carl merely raised one hand casually. In the next moment, those techniques—once capable of tremendous destruction—were all swallowed into his palm like mud oxen entering the sea, vanishing without a trace.
The Hidden Cloud ninjas were stunned once more.
They knew full well that the ninjutsu they had just released included all five elemental transformations. One or two being nullified might be understandable—after all, some secret techniques could negate specific attributes.
But for all of them to fail at once was completely beyond comprehension.
Was this opponent even human?
At that moment, Yugito heard the voice of the Two-Tails, Matatabi, echoing in her mind.
"This is bad… this enemy isn't someone you can resist…"
Still struggling, Yugito froze when she heard Matatabi's voice and hurriedly asked in her thoughts,
"Matatabi, do you know who they are?!"
A deeply humanlike gravity appeared on Matatabi's face. Through Yugito's eyes, it stared fixedly at the white-haired woman standing behind Carl and spoke in a low voice.
"That woman with white hair… she once left behind a title in the ninja world—the Rabbit Goddess. If that name means nothing to you, then know this: she is the mother of the Sage of Six Paths."
"Nani?!"
Yugito's expression changed drastically. She stopped struggling entirely and stared in disbelief at Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who stood behind Carl with her head slightly lowered.
The Rabbit Goddess? The mother of the Sage of Six Paths?
Didn't that mean that what had appeared before the Hidden Cloud Village was an actual god? How were they supposed to resist something like that?
No matter how strong a ninja became, their upper limit was still human.
And among this trio, the Rabbit Goddess clearly wasn't even the one of highest status. She showed unmistakable respect toward the man before her.
A being revered by a god herself—just imagining such an existence made Yugito feel like she was suffocating.
And it wasn't just her. Matatabi was even more despairing.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was an existence even stronger than that old man. These tailed beasts, viewed as overwhelmingly powerful by ordinary people, had once been nothing more than fragments of her power.
Now that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had returned, even the strongest of the tailed beasts—the Nine-Tails—would be nothing, let alone a mere Two-Tails.
Then there was the man whom even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya treated with utmost respect, and another unfamiliar woman beside him. They shared similar facial features, and although their appearances differed, their eyes all emitted an equally terrifying pressure.
With such a lineup, let alone a single Hidden Cloud Village—even if the entire ninja world united, they would still be doomed to annihilation.
The end of the world… was coming.
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+80 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg