But everything happened far too suddenly. Grant and the headmasters didn't even have time to release their Pokémon.
That colossal Shadow Ball—like a devouring void—was about to claim the lives of every student on the field.
Below the arena, terror seized the students.
Fear.
Despair.
Regret.
In that instant, countless emotions surged together, crashing over them all at once.
…
Standing at the very back of the crowd, Aaron's silver pupils flared with an eerie brilliance.
The wind howled.
The earth cracked open.
Gravel exploded upward.
Dust tore through the air!!
...
"Frog Boss!!"
Aaron clenched his teeth, raising his right hand toward the empty air as he roared.
FWOOOSH—
In the next instant, a black figure wrapped in crimson light materialized before him.
It was Greninja!!
"Tailed Beast Cloak!!"
"Sage Mode!!"
"Sage Art — Wind Release: Rasenshuriken…!!"
Aaron's expression hardened, his silver-white eyes blazing as he roared into the raging wind.
"Greni—"
Greninja let out a deep, low growl.
Dense golden energy erupted from its body, forming a radiant cloak etched with mysterious patterns that wrapped tightly around it. Its pupils sharpened into vertical slits as an overwhelming pressure surged outward like a raging tide.
Then—
another power awakened.
Greninja's eyes shifted once more, transforming into cross-shaped pupils. A deep black shadow spread around its eye sockets.
Tailed Beast Sage Mode — activated.
At that moment, the aura radiating from Greninja was like roaring hurricanes and violent waves.
The surrounding air warped and hissed, turning into curling white steam that coiled around its body, giving the Tailed Beast Sage Mode Greninja an eerie, otherworldly presence.
"Greninja…"
Greninja opened its eyes fully. Its cross-shaped pupils gleamed with chilling light.
Energy surged into its hands. A colossal Rasengan formed, spinning violently in midair.
Then, windmill-shaped blades unfolded around the core—rotating faster and faster.
WHRRRRRR—!!
Sage Art: Wind Release — Rasenshuriken!!
The sheer pressure blasted Grace and the others seven or eight meters backward. They stared in stunned disbelief at the golden figure in the distance—no longer even recognizable as Greninja—utterly unable to comprehend what they were witnessing.
"Go!!"
"Sage Art: Wind Release — Rasenshuriken!!!"
Aaron's eyes flashed silver as he shouted, his voice filled with absolute resolve.
This strike… was a wager of everything!!
"Greni—"
The Tailed Beast Sage Mode Greninja let out a deep growl. Dragging the colossal Rasenshuriken in its right hand, it hurled it straight toward the Shadow Ball descending from above like a devouring void.
SCREEEEE—!!
In the blink of an eye—
From Greninja's Flying Thunder God arrival, to activating Tailed Beast Sage Mode, to forming the Rasenshuriken— it all happened within two seconds.
To everyone watching, it felt like a single instant:
a terrifying Pokémon appeared on the field—and unleashed a technique radiating crushing, apocalyptic pressure, slamming straight into the colossal Shadow Ball in midair!!
Under the crowd's disbelieving gazes, the moment the Shadow Ball collided with the Rasenshuriken—
Time itself seemed to freeze.
In everyone's vision, there were only those two techniques in the sky.
CRACK—
A slicing sound rang out.
The colossal Shadow Ball—like an apple—was cleaved cleanly in half by the Rasenshuriken!!
A violent explosion erupted.
BOOOOOOM—!!
Two consecutive detonations thundered across the entire military base, shockwaves ripping outward as a towering cloud of destruction rose into the sky.
...
"No… impossible!!!"
The black-mist figure hovering in the air stared in horror as his colossal Shadow Ball was cleaved in two. His blood-red eyes trembled with pure shock as he screamed.
It was like witnessing the impossible—like watching a mortal tear apart something far beyond him.
Unbelievable!!
...