At the gates of Iwagakure.
The Third Raikage was leading his three thousand elite troops, pressing their attack on the main gate of the village.
The layout of the Five Great Hidden Villages was largely the same—each had only one main gate, with no "back door" in their design.
Among them, Iwagakure and Konoha were the most alike. Konoha was backed by the massive cliff face of the Hokage Rock, while Iwagakure itself was a settlement built directly into the mountainside.
This meant that once Iwagakure's main gate was breached, the village would be completely defenseless.
However, breaking through Iwagakure's main gate was no simple task.
The first obstacle was the Earth Release: Super Earth Style Rampart created by nearly ten thousand Iwa shinobi.
Even though Lightning Release countered Earth Release, bringing down a defensive structure built by so many shinobi wasn't easy.
Even if all three thousand elite Kumogakure shinobi attacked with their full Lightning Release power, they still could not match the speed at which the Iwa shinobi repaired the Super Earth Style Ramparts.
The Third Raikage glanced at the time and frowned slightly.
Their crossing of the sea had been spotted early on by Iwagakure's shinobi, who had already sent messengers to Onoki at the front lines requesting reinforcements.
Which meant Onoki could return at any moment.
If that little old man made it back in time, the entire plan would be ruined.
They had to finish this quickly.
"Everyone, stop attacking. Hold your positions and gather your strength. When I count down to one, unleash everything you've got — together. Understood?"
After casually smashing aside an earthen spear that had thrust up from the ground, the Third Raikage barked his orders to the subordinates behind him.
Hearing the command, the eyes of these elite Kumogakure shinobi lit up in unison. As the three thousand most elite in the Kumogakure, they instantly understood the meaning behind their Raikage's words.
What the Raikage meant was that he was about to personally deal with this troublesome earth wall. And the technique he would use to break it was, of course, his legendary ultimate spear—One-Finger Nukite.
Just the thought of their leader unleashing the fabled "strongest spear" sent their morale soaring to an unbelievable peak. One by one, they roared their response:
"Understood!"
The Third Raikage nodded in satisfaction at the thunderous reply.
He raised his right hand, curling in three fingers. The moment the remaining fingers extended, lightning exploded across his body.
"Three!"
This was his signature technique— the "Strongest Shield," the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
By concentrating high-intensity Lightning Release chakra throughout the body, this advanced technique cloaked the user inside and out.
Training it was perilous in the extreme — a single lapse in control could leave one grievously injured by one's own lightning.
But when mastered, its power was astonishing.
The armor greatly increased defense, allowing the user to withstand most ninjutsu head-on.
At the same time, the lightning within boosted cellular activity and neural response speed, turning the user into a superhuman force of nature.
The Third Raikage was the man who had developed this technique to its ultimate limit in Kumogakure's history.
The instant the Lightning Release Armor flared to life, an overwhelming pressure radiated from him.
That sheer killing intent alone made the Iwa shinobi guarding the gate instinctively shiver.
"Two!"
With the next shout, the Raikage curled in another finger, focusing a massive surge of Lightning Release chakra into the tip, which began to shape into a razor-sharp point.
The sight drew cheers from the Kumo forces.
This was the Hell Stab.
When the Raikage reduced it to a single finger… that was when the "Strongest Spear" was unleashed.
Feeling the terrifying energy building at the Raikage's fingertip, an Iwa elder wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
They could not allow him to continue.
"Quick! Attack and stop him — do not let him use that technique!" the elder shouted.
Hearing this, the Iwa vice-captain turned pale.
He rushed to cover the elder's mouth, shouting at the same time:
"Don't attack! Focus all chakra on maintaining the Super Earth Style Rampart!"
But it was too late.
Many Iwa shinobi, unable to withstand the pressure, had already loosed their jutsu at the elder's command.
Earthen lances and spears of earth shot toward the Raikage—but when the smoke cleared, everyone was stunned to see that he was completely unscathed.
Such was the monstrous defense of Lightning Release Chakra Mode at its peak. In the original story, even Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode could not break through with a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken—despite wind's elemental advantage over lightning.
The Rasenshuriken could only barely damage the armor, let alone these earth-style attacks, which were naturally disadvantaged against lightning.
The Third Raikage's lips curled into a scornful smile. Slowly, he folded in his second finger.
"One!"
BOOM!
As the word rang out, his aura spiked to its absolute limit. The final extended finger became visibly sharp to the naked eye.
Behind him, the Kumo shinobi roared in excitement, unleashing their Lightning Release all at once. Massive currents gathered into a colossal sphere of lightning, which smashed into the Super Earth Syle Ramparts.
The impact was so great it shattered huge sections of the wall, leaving gaping breaches.
Before the Iwa shinobi could restore it, the Raikage's eyes narrowed — and he began his personal assault.
Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite!
In that instant, the Third Raikage became a streak of humanoid light. The Iwagakure shinobi didn't even see his figure; they only caught a flash before he was already at the front of the fractured section of the rampart.
Before the eyes of the excited Kumo shinobi, the Third Raikage, in his high-speed charge, drove his index finger straight into the mostly-crumbled Super Earth Syle Rampart without hesitation.
CRACK!
The Super Earth Style Rampart, which had resisted all other attacks and instantly regenerated from damage, now crumbled like tofu under his touch.
Facing nearly a hundred meters of solid earth wall, the Third Raikage began his reckless charge, heedless of reason or caution.
The Iwa shinobi maintaining the rampart at the gate went pale as death.
They could feel it—within the wall built by the combined power of ten thousand, a terrifying chakra was tearing it apart without restraint.
Without warning, a blinding flash streaked past, followed by a storm of airborne Iwa shinobi and… the collapsing Earth Style Ramparts.
From its base, the wall now had a tunnel punched clean through it. That hole spread outward in a spiderweb pattern until, finally, the rampart reached its limit and began to collapse with a rumble.
"Quick, pour chakra into the wall and repair it as much as you can!"
The ANBU vice-captain shouted desperately. But before he could finish, a streak of lightning pierced toward him at impossible speed—straight through his chest.
He had no time to react, no time to Body Flicker away. The Hell Stab had already pierced his heart.
The gate of Iwagakure was declared breached!