"Go to hell!"
The Third Raikage roared, his voice crackling with electricity as lightning surged around him like a living aura.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin no Jutsu), reappearing behind Byakuya with a burst of speed that tore up the earth beneath his feet. His hand, clad in lightning chakra, swung down like a guillotine toward Byakuya's neck—his signature Chidori-style Guillotine Chop, refined through countless battles.
"Lord Byakuya, behind you!"
Nara Shikaku's warning rang out, panic flashing in his usually composed voice. The others from Konoha could only watch in horror.
"Haha! This time, I've got you!"
The Raikage grinned, confident that even an elite like Byakuya couldn't react in time.
But just as the hand blade was about to land—
Clang!
Byakuya raised his right hand without even turning around. He caught the Raikage's electrified strike with an open palm.
The shockwave of the impact blasted wind and dust in all directions. Yet, Byakuya stood firm, his feet unmoved.
"What...!?"
The Third Raikage's eyes widened. Not only had his speed been anticipated, but his attack—one powerful enough to pierce through even the Eight-Tails' hide—was effortlessly caught.
"Is that it?" Byakuya said flatly. "This is the power you boast so much about? How underwhelming."
The Raikage's pride flared. Gritting his teeth, he poured more chakra into his arm, thunder crackling louder.
But Byakuya's grip didn't falter. Instead, his fingers tightened like a vice around the Raikage's wrist.
"I've fought tailed beasts with more bite than you," he said coldly.
With a single heave, Byakuya hurled the Raikage over his shoulder.
Boom!
The massive man crashed into the ground with the force of a meteor, gouging a crater in the earth. Smoke and debris shot into the air.
"W-what!?"
"Lord Raikage was... thrown!?"
Cloud Shinobi stared in disbelief. The Third Raikage—revered as the strongest in their village's history, a man who once fought a tailed beast alone for three days and nights—had been tossed aside like a sack of rice.
"Hurry! We have to help him!" someone shouted.
Before they could move, the ground trembled again.
Crackle—BOOM!
Lightning exploded from the crater. The Raikage emerged, covered in electric chakra, his skin glowing with the power of Lightning Release Chakra Mode. His muscles bulged, and his hair stood up like a mane of thunder.
"Bastard..." he growled. "You'll pay for that humiliation!"
Dodai, watching from afar, felt a chill.
"He activated his full power," he muttered. "That's his maximum-speed mode. That guy... he's as good as dead."
"Hell Stab – Four-Fingered Thrust!"
With a deafening thunderclap, the Raikage launched himself like a lightning spear, his hand outstretched with four charged fingers—the same technique that once carved through the ribs of a tailed beast.
Each finger crackled with raw destructive chakra, sharp as spears and fast as lightning. The force of his charge distorted the air as he aimed for Byakuya's heart.
This was the Third Raikage's signature technique—Hell Stab (Jigokuzuki). Known for its overwhelming piercing power, it could penetrate almost anything, even the scales of a Tailed Beast. It was this terrifying jutsu that earned A the title of the "Strongest Spear" among all Kage.
Yet even as the Raikage charged in, his lightning chakra crackling violently and his index finger pointed like a lance of pure death, Byakuya didn't budge.
He simply raised his palm.
"BOOM—!"
The devastating Hell Stab slammed into Byakuya's hand—but didn't pierce through. The shockwave from the collision blasted the ground apart, kicking up dust and rubble.
"...He blocked it again?" The Raikage's eyes widened in disbelief. "With his bare hand..."
He wasn't done.
"Tch… Then take this!"
The Raikage immediately transitioned—three fingers. The power surged, multiplying. This variation was several times more powerful, trading stability for raw force.
Still, Byakuya didn't move. His palm, though pushed slightly back this time, still held firm.
Next came two fingers. The Raikage's movements blurred, the thrust faster, deadlier. The force cracked the earth under their feet. Byakuya's hand skidded back half a step.
"It's working… One more."
And then—the final form.
"Hell Stab: One-Fingered Assault!"
The ultimate form of the technique. The piercing power concentrated to the finest point, capable of drilling clean through even the Four-Tails' chakra cloak.
Byakuya's palm quivered under the force. Dust exploded from beneath his feet.
"Tsk… not bad," Byakuya said, calmly. "You actually made me move."
The next moment, before the Raikage could withdraw, Byakuya's hand closed around the extended finger with terrifying precision.
"KCHH—!"
A sickening snap echoed as A's index finger was crushed. Lightning flared wildly around him as pain tore through his hand.
"GAAAAHH—!"
The Raikage collapsed onto one knee, his face twisted in agony.
Dodai, witnessing the unthinkable—his Raikage brought to his knees—was stunned.
"R-Raikage-sama!? What…!?"
Byakuya's gaze was cold, dismissive. "Kneeling already? That's quite the show of submission."
The battlefield froze in shock for a moment.
Then—
"Protect the Raikage!" Dodai bellowed.
"Attack! All units, attack!!"
Cloud Ninjas roared in unison, drawing their blades, unleashing jutsu, and charging toward Byakuya.
But he stood tall, unshaken, calmly lowering his arm. The storm was coming—and he was ready.
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