Chapter 128: The Fourth Raikage's Choice
Even Hyūga Hiashi, with the Byakugan active, felt tears welling as he stared too long at the storm of chakra gathering before him.
"Such terrifying chakra…" he muttered hoarsely, unable to blink despite the burning pain in his eyes. Can Hokage-sama's divine power truly withstand that strike?
The battlefield trembled.
Raikage A's Hell Stab descended—first with four fingers, then three, then two, and finally one. Each thrust focused his lightning chakra further, until his hand shone like a burning star. This was his father's legacy—the "strongest spear" of Kumogakure, perfected into the one-finger Nukite.
Then—impact.
A dull, bone-shaking thud echoed.
The Fourth Raikage's eyes went wide in disbelief.
He had unleashed his father's most powerful technique. Yet the towering crimson Susanoo stood unscathed. The immense armor did not yield even a fraction. At best, he thought he glimpsed a faint white mark on its surface—but it vanished in less than a heartbeat.
It was regenerating.
The Raikage's breath caught. Even… the Hell Stab cannot break it?
His pride, his certainty, cracked in that instant.
High above, Fugaku's gaze remained cold, unyielding. With a thought, Susanoo shifted. The ethereal blade at its side—the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi—remained sheathed, while Susanoo drew a massive plain katana of energy.
The giant raised its weapon, and the heavens themselves seemed to groan.
BOOM!
The blade came down in a single slash, tearing the air apart. Sonic booms split the sky. Winds howled, toppling trees like grass before a storm.
The Raikage's heart thundered in his chest. His Lightning Release Chakra Mode, at full power, could repel nearly anything—even Wind Release, which directly countered lightning. But against this descending strike, his instincts screamed.
He could not take it.
Even brushing against that weapon would mean death.
In a flash of blue, he became lightning itself, narrowly dodging as the giant katana struck earth.
The ground split wide open, half the forest sheared diagonally. Trees crashed like dominoes as dust and shockwaves rolled outward.
Before the Raikage could even land, another crimson arc surged through the haze.
SHRRAAANG!
A sweeping upward slash carved toward him. He twisted away desperately, but a stray blade aura grazed him.
The crimson energy flew onward, cutting clean through a distant mountain.
The world seemed to hold its breath as the peak split apart, rock crumbling, the mountain cleaving neatly in two.
The Raikage hissed, clutching his back. Lightning still roared across his body, yet blood welled beneath his scorched skin. His chakra armor hadn't saved him. The mere graze of Susanoo's aura had burned through his defenses.
Cold sweat evaporated instantly in the crackling lightning around him. His eyes flicked to the sundered mountain, disbelief twisting into dread.
Even a mountain is nothing before that blade…
He clenched his jaw. "I can't keep running."
Because behind him—where Susanoo's latest strike threatened to fall—stood the Cloud ninja.
If he dodged again, they would be slaughtered. The sheer size of the Susanoo's weapon meant there was no escape for them.
Their wide eyes were frozen in shock. They hadn't expected that, even at such distance, they would be within the giant's range.
For a heartbeat, doubt flickered in the Raikage's eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by steel resolve.
He remembered his father—the Third Raikage—who had stood alone against thirty thousand Stone ninja, covering his village's retreat at the cost of his life.
How could his son do any less?
"There are no cowards in Kumogakure!" he roared, lightning exploding across his body.
Pushing his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its absolute peak, the Raikage charged. His steel gauntlets—special chakra jacks forged of indestructible alloy—crackled with electricity, designed to withstand anything, even tailed beast clashes.
The massive katana descended. The very air screamed with its sharpness; even before contact, his skin felt like it was being cut open.
For the first time since mastering this mode, he felt the sting of steel against his flesh.
He crossed his arms, gauntlets raised to block—
CRRRSHHH!
The legendary gauntlets, which had endured decades of battle, shattered like brittle glass.
The strike tore through them, then through his arms, severing sensation instantly. Numbness raced up his body as he twisted desperately, but the blade crashed against his shoulder, detonating his chakra.
Pain flared, white-hot, before his body was hurled back like a ragdoll, blood spraying in a crimson arc across the battlefield.
The Fourth Raikage's roar dissolved into the thunder.
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⚡ End of Chapter 128 ⚡
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