Fourth Raikage brought his hands together in sharp chops and began to spin, his body transforming into a human meat grinder. It was the same technique he had once used to sever one of the Eight-Tails horns, a move powerful enough to crack even Madara Uchiha's Susanoo (before he took back Rinnegan). For all his brutish appearance, he was a surprisingly cunning fighter.
But Naruto saw through the attack before it even began. His fists became a blur, a storm of afterimages that met Raikage's spinning assault head-on.
Raikage's powerful chops glanced harmlessly off Naruto's defense while Naruto's own strikes hammered through Raikage's so-called absolute defense. The Lightning Release Armor shattered like glass under the relentless barrage. Each punch left a deep, crater-like imprint on Raikage's muscular body.
Seven punches found their mark.
The final blow sent Raikage rocketing into the air like a rag doll. He hung there for a moment before plummeting back toward the earth.
"Raikage-sama!"
A flash of movement, and a white-haired ninja with a longsword strapped to his back appeared, catching Raikage just before he hit the ground. It was Darui, Raikage's right-hand man. Moments later, the sound of dozens of footsteps filled the air as the rest of the Kumogakure ninja arrived, their faces a mixture of shock and fury.
Several of them rushed forward to help their leader to his feet.
"Don't... let him get away," Fourth Raikage gasped, leaning heavily on his subordinates. More than a third of his bones were shattered and his organs were bruised and badly injured. It was a miracle he was even conscious.
"Go away?" Naruto, who had been turning to leave with Yugito, paused. He looked back over his shoulder at the battered Raikage. "Did you just say 'go away'?"
'Hahaha! Don't stop brat, keep going,' Nine-Tails cackled in the back of Naruto's mind. 'Destroy this village!'
Raikage's heart seized. Through the single eyehole of the mask, he saw a cold, murderous intent that made his skin crawl. He had witnessed this man's power firsthand, and though he hated to admit it, it was a strength unlike any he had ever faced.
In the next instant, Naruto was floating less than ten feet away, looking down on them all. "Sever one of your arms," he said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion, "and I will spare the rest of you."
His words carried an authority that permitted no argument.
A few of the younger ninja, fueled by rage and ignorance, charged forward. Naruto simply reached out, grabbing them by the neck. A faint squeeze, a soft *crack*, and their bodies fell limp to the ground. More ninja rushed in, but he moved through them like a phantom. A fist, a fingertip, the edge of his foot, any part of him was a lethal weapon. They fell before they could even complete a hand sign.
"Stop!" Raikage roared, his voice thick with fury.
"What right does a weakling have to tell me to stop?" Naruto replied calmly. He pierced a ninja's skull with a single finger, his gaze sweeping over the others as if they were nothing more than ants. The sheer contempt in that look stung Raikage more than any physical blow.
When had he, the mighty Fourth Raikage, ever been looked down upon like this?
At his side, Darui slowly drew the longsword from his back.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Several beams of light shot from Darui's mouth, streaking toward Naruto like guided arrows.
"Don't!" Raikage screamed out, but it was too late.
Naruto caught the beams in one hand as if they were harmless fireflies. With his other, he met the descending blade, catching it between two fingers. "Go back."
With a light flick, the sword shattered into a dozen pieces. The force sent Darui flying backward, his strength utterly insignificant.
"A lesson for you," Naruto said. A shard of the broken blade zipped through the air and embedded itself deep in Darui's chest. He collapsed in a spreading pool of his own blood, his fate uncertain.
"I told you to STOP!"
Raikage shoved his men aside, his body erupting once more with crackling blue electricity. He let out a primal roar that was answered by a clap of thunder from the sky above, making him look like a vengeful god of lightning.
"Raikage-sama!" the surrounding ninja shouted, a wave of hope washing over them.
Fueled by an final surge of adrenaline, Raikage's speed and power now seemed even greater than before. He lunged, his fist aimed directly at Naruto's head.
But Naruto caught it effortlessly.
"I said I wanted your arm," Naruto's voice was calm, almost conversational. "So I will take it."
With a sharp, brutal tug, the sound of tearing sinew and snapping bone filled the air. Raikage's arm came free from its socket. Naruto tossed the screaming man aside like so much garbage.
"Raikage-sama!" A jonin named Mabui rushed forward, catching her fallen leader. The other ninja surrounded them, their faces pale with terror.
"Kill him! Avenge Raikage-sama!" one of them screamed, his voice breaking.
The man's battle cry was cut short as he suddenly collapsed, a neat, fingernail-sized hole drilled perfectly between his eyebrows. The weapon that had killed him was a small pebble that Naruto had casually flicked from his hand.
"The disrespectful will die first," Naruto stated.
The entire area fell silent. No one else dared to move.
"Hmph. Kumogakure," Naruto scoffed, then turned and began walking back toward Yugito.
"Who... who are you?" Mabui forced herself to ask. With Raikage grievously wounded and Darui near death, she was the only one left to take charge. She knew she couldn't threaten him, but she had to at least learn his identity.
Naruto paused, his gaze subtly shifting toward a point in the far distance.
He pointed a thumb at his own chest. "My name is Kashin Koji," he said. "A disciple of Madara-sama."
'Kashin Koji? A disciple of Madara?' Mabui committed the names to memory. That was the key.
"Be grateful," Naruto continued, hoisting Yugito onto his shoulder. "I have no intention of killing all of you today. You may live on borrowed time for a while longer." With that, he slowly ascended into the air, his tone dripping with contempt.
The ninja of Kumogakure could only watch, paralyzed, as he disappeared over the horizon.
Long after he was gone, the space on a distant tree branch seemed to warp and twist, and a man wearing an identical spiral mask emerged from the distortion.
--**--**
Back in the village, under the frantic care of the medical-nin, Fourth Raikage's eyes slowly fluttered open. A familiar, guttural scream ripped through the sky, though it was weaker now, tinged with pain.
"Bee! Find Bee and bring him back!" Wrapped in bandages, his expression was a terrifying mask of fury. "The next time we meet, I will kill this bastard!"
With his brother, the Chakra Cannon, and the Sage of Six Path's Treasure, the Amber Purifying Pot, they would have a chance. That was the source of Kumogakure's strength, and the foundation of his confidence.
That very night, the Amber Purifying Pot was stolen from its vault. A single note was left in its place. 'Nice item. I like it, so it's mine now.'
"Kashin Koji! I swear I will kill you!" Raikage's roar dissolved into a violent coughing fit as he spat up another mouthful of blood due to his wounds reopening, collapsing once more.
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