"By Wooden Golem!"
The Fourth Raikage roared in anger and disbelief.
Despite being a hulking tailed beast cloaked in blue flames, Matatabi, the Two-Tails, had been swatted away like a ragdoll.
"What kind of jutsu was that? Wind Style?!"
"No… No, that wasn't it…"
The Fourth Raikage stared in disbelief at Hyuga Naraku.
All he had done was stretch out his hand toward the Two-Tails—and then boom—Matatabi was sent flying.
It had to be some form of Wind Style, right?
But no... he hadn't felt the air pressure. There was no gust. No storm. Just pure, inexplicable force.
"How the hell did you do that, kid? Is that... the power of your eyes?"
The Raikage narrowed his eyes at Naraku's glowing, unnatural Tenseigan—no longer the familiar Byakugan. Instead of plain white, a radiant blue pupil sat in the center, shaped like a crystalline snowflake.
Cloud had always coveted the Byakugan—for its surveillance abilities, its strategic value in warfare.
But this... this was something else entirely.
Had Konoha handed this boy over when they demanded it, would those eyes now belong to Kumogakure?
Would that power be theirs?
"Tch… Whatever!"
The Raikage shook off the thought. There was no time to lament missed opportunities.
He glanced across the battlefield.
Naraku stood in his radiant Tenseigan Chakra Mode, a shining figure of power.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Fugaku and Shisui had both reactivated their Susanoo and were rampaging through the ranks of the Cloud Shinobi.
Matatabi was still motionless, knocked back more than a kilometer, while the two Susanoo towers swept through the battlefield like titans.
At this rate, the entire army would be obliterated.
"Bee! We end this in three minutes!" the Raikage barked. "Kill this bastard, and both the Byakugan and Sharingan are ours!"
With a surge of blue lightning, he disappeared like a bolt.
"Guillotine Drop!"
Like a thunderclap in the shape of a man, he aimed a vicious heel down toward Naraku.
But—
Naraku vanished.
"Wha—!?"
The Raikage's eyes widened in midair. He hadn't sensed any Flying Thunder God seal...
"Yo. Up here."
The voice came from above.
Before he could react, Naraku dropped from the sky like divine judgment, driving a crushing stomp into the Raikage's abdomen.
BOOM!
The earth shattered. The Raikage was driven into the ground, leaving a crater behind.
"Lightning Style: Lariat!"
Killer Bee came in from the side, cloaked in the bubbling red aura of his tailed beast chakra, his elbow drawn back for a devastating strike.
But Naraku didn't flinch.
He caught it—barehanded.
"What!?"
Bee's mind blanked. That... shouldn't be possible! His Lariat had crushed ribcages, shattered walls!
Yet Naraku caught it like he was catching a fly.
"Don't zone out."
Naraku raised one foot—and slammed it into Killer Bee's chest.
CRACK!
Bee was sent flying, crashing through trees like a pinball.
"Bee!!"
The Raikage roared, emerging from the rubble with eyes blazing.
"You damn brat! So fast!"
Electric arcs crackled violently around his body. His blond hair stood up like a corona of lightning. He could feel it now:
This wasn't Flying Thunder God.
Naraku hadn't teleported.
He was just... that fast.
"You dare look down on me?!"
The Raikage's rage boiled over. The air around him shimmered with heat from pure kinetic energy.
He was supposed to be the fastest in the ninja world.
And yet, not only had he been outsped—he was humiliated.
Worse still, the look in Naraku's eyes…
That calm, unimpressed gaze.
As if to say—this is the best Kumogakure has to offer?
Indeed, Naraku was disappointed.
The Tenseigan's power exceeded even his wildest expectations.
He had once admired the Raikage—considered him the fastest among the Five Kage.
But now? There was no comparison.
Even Naruto in the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode had merely matched the Raikage in speed.
But that was only the beginning of Naruto's power.
Once he mastered full Kurama Mode, and later stacked it with Sage Mode...
Their speeds weren't even in the same dimension.
So if the Tenseigan Chakra Mode rivaled that level...
The Raikage, despite his legend, was simply outclassed.
"You arrogant little—!"
The Raikage's voice trembled with fury. His aura flared to its absolute peak.
Killer Bee recovered, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Yo, big bro, I'm back in the zone—
Time to break this punk's bones!"
"Save the rhymes for after!" Raikage shouted. "Use that move!"
Together, the AB Combo duo charged forward in perfect unison.
"Double Lariat!"
Their strongest technique—the Sure-Kill Lariat—a pincer move from both sides, meant to decapitate any enemy caught in its path.
"Let's twist his head clean off!!" the Raikage roared.
No matter how fast you are—there's no dodging this from both sides.
But Naraku didn't move.
Instead, he raised both arms and—
Caught them.
One hand for each brother.
"Impossible!!"
The Raikage and Killer Bee screamed in unison.
"Speed's decent."
Naraku's voice was as calm as ever.
"But your strength? Not even close."
He spun on his heel, using their own momentum—and hurled them both through the forest like rag dolls.
BOOM! CRASH!
Dozens of trees shattered as the two brothers disappeared into the dense woodland.
Naraku stood alone, untouched, surrounded by falling leaves and silence.