Chapter 82: "Death to Me!"
The violent chakra raged like a thunderstorm within his body. The Fourth Raikage, A, wasted no time—his roar split the air as he slammed one hand into the ground. In the next instant, he burst forth like a living lightning bolt.
Boom!
The crater beneath him deepened with explosive force, thundering again with a seismic impact that echoed through the battlefield. It was a manifestation of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, amped to the limit—his signature technique that once rivaled Minato Namikaze's speed.
Yet even as his power surged, clearly far beyond his previous outburst…
When he once again charged Uchiha Yue and hurled a thunderous fist, his advance came to a sudden stop.
He couldn't move forward at all.
"Is that all your strength?"
Uchiha Yue hadn't budged. Surrounded by a translucent ribcage of chakra—just the first stage of his Susanoo—he stared at the enraged Kage with mild contempt. His voice was calm, almost bored.
"Damn it! Just a skeletal frame? I refuse to believe it's unbreakable!"
To Raikage's ears, Yue's words were pure mockery. Enraged, his fists blurred in a storm of strikes, as relentless and rapid as Gatling gunfire.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
The force of his strikes generated shockwaves that tore through the air like miniature typhoons. The sheer intensity of his taijutsu was reminiscent of his attack on Sasuke Uchiha during the Five Kage Summit.
But no matter how fiercely he struck, the shield of ribs around Yue stood unmoved—uncracked and utterly indifferent.
The Susanoo, like a stone pillar in a raging sea, didn't even tremble.
Truthfully, though the Fourth Raikage's strength was impressive—and he had demonstrated notable feats in canon such as piercing Jūgo and clashing evenly with a cloaked Naruto—he was ultimately a standard Kage-level shinobi.
In the manga, even when Sasuke had just awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and was physically exhausted, A had only managed to slightly crack his ribcage-stage Susanoo—and at great cost, nearly sacrificing his own arm before Gaara intervened. That alone illustrated his limitations.
If the Fourth Raikage couldn't completely destroy the half-formed Susanoo of a fatigued Sasuke, how could he hope to damage Uchiha Yue's Susanoo—empowered by the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?
And that was not all.
Uchiha Yue's chakra had undergone a fundamental transformation. Thanks to his integration with Jūgo's Sage Transformation ability, his chakra was now imbued with natural energy, making it Senjutsu-enhanced chakra—like Naruto's Sage Mode or Kabuto's later form.
This meant that even his Susanoo benefited from Senjutsu amplification—just as Madara Uchiha's did after acquiring Sage powers—raising its durability far beyond that of ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan users.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!"
Yue stood still, his feet never shifting. The skeletal barrier remained completely intact—untainted, unscathed, not a single fracture to betray Raikage's effort.
Raikage roared louder, fists flying with increasing desperation. Yet in his wild eyes, a flicker of fear began to take root.
For even a man like A—built of willpower and lightning, groomed as the Land of Lightning's strongest shinobi—was still human. And humans feel fear.
Usually, his immense strength and unshakable authority allowed no room for such emotions.
But now—after unleashing his full might, draining every ounce of his strength—he still couldn't make Uchiha Yue flinch.
That helplessness, the realization of standing against an insurmountable wall, was enough to chill the marrow of any warrior.
If it were just his own defeat, it wouldn't matter—death was always a risk in battle.
But as Raikage, his fall meant disaster for the entire Cloud Village and the Land of Lightning.
Should he perish, Uchiha Yue might retaliate—and Cloud's destruction could be swift and absolute.
That looming threat settled like lead in Raikage's chest, smothering even his legendary rage with growing dread.
"Everyone… the Raikage has unleashed everything he has, but it's having no effect. Uchiha Yue's power exceeds all our expectations. He may have already reached the level of Uchiha Madara himself."
On a distant ridge, nearly a kilometer away, several figures observed the clash.
One of them—a short, elderly man floating midair on a dust cloud—narrowed his eyes with a mixture of awe and unease. It was the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
"To endure such blows without even shifting… that's the Susanoo of the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan? It's no wonder Madara once terrorized the world. That defensive power is unnatural."
"To be honest, I didn't fully believe your earlier warnings, Tsuchikage-sama," said the Mizukage Mei Terumi, her eyes locked on the distant bone armor. "But after seeing this with my own eyes… you were right. A monster like him should not exist."
The other Kage—Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage—nodded grimly.
"Fifth Mizukage. Fourth Kazekage. You see it now. Uchiha Yue isn't someone who can be allowed to roam free. If we don't give everything we have in this battle, we'll lose our only chance to stop him," Ōnoki said with solemn finality.
"If he escapes today, he'll remember every village that tried to kill him—and strike back with ten times the force."
Rasa replied, "You have my word, Tsuchikage-sama. I won't allow such a threat to endure. This boy is no different from Madara in cruelty or power."
"And this time," Mei added, "there is no Senju Hashirama to match him. If he reaches his peak, our villages may face annihilation. I won't let that happen."
Ōnoki finally gave a nod of approval. "Then we're in agreement."
He looked toward the battlefield, where Raikage's fists were slowing, fatigue and disbelief etched on his face.
"The Raikage now understands how vast the gap is. It's time for us to move."
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