"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
The Fourth Raikage used his left hand as a weapon, assuming a hand-chop stance, and charged at Ayane with blinding speed, aiming to slash her body.
"This is the Blade of Lightning Style that can easily sever the Eight-tailed's horn. If you can take it, show me!"
Faced with the Fourth Raikage's furious strike, Ayane was briefly speechless.
This Raikage truly had a short temper.
After the previous battle, he should have realized he did not hold the advantage in close combat.
Yet the Fourth Raikage's actions completely surprised Ayane. Despite knowing that close combat would put him at a disadvantage, he attacked without a second thought.
Was it to prove that as the Raikage, he could never show weakness to the enemy?
Even so, Ayane did not dare underestimate this simple yet overwhelmingly powerful Nin-Taijutsu technique.
Through the Byakugan's observation, the electricity on the Fourth Raikage's hand-chop was not only dense but also honed to a fine edge like a blade.
Even just a slight touch would slice the body in two.
Without using the Divine Sky Strike, even Revolving Heaven might not fully defend against it, risking injury.
Thus, after a swift, decisive judgment, Ayane leapt into the air, her body flying over the Fourth Raikage's head to avoid his hand-chop.
Her flexible, graceful form began to spin in mid-air behind the Fourth Raikage, her long hair dancing in the wind, pure Byakugan eyes emanating a cold, lethal intent, and her hands gathering Sage Art Chakra.
"Revolving Heaven!"
She instantly created a massive, rapidly spinning Chakra Ball.
The Chakra Ball quickly expanded, engulfing the Fourth Raikage's body.
A vast hemispherical crater appeared on the ground.
The Fourth Raikage's body spun with the gale, the electricity on his body continually sparking with the storm, and the Chakra Feather Robe flowing unstably over his form.
Despite not wanting to show vulnerability, he let out a low groan of pain, spitting blood from his mouth.
The storm ceased, and the Fourth Raikage's body shot out like a cannonball, crashing into a massive rock.
With a loud boom.
The rubble buried the Fourth Raikage's body.
Watching as he was buried by stones, Ayane stood on the ground, choosing not to pursue further.
A wound, like a blade cut, appeared on her arm, the blood staining the white sleeve red.
"To counterattack me even when caught in Revolving Heaven, that was an impressive move, Lord Fourth Raikage. I almost lost this arm."
Boom!
The Fourth Raikage unleashed his Lighting Armor again, blasting the heavy rocks off his body.
With his clothes in tatters and his body covered in numerous wounds from the storm, he panted heavily and glared at Ayane.
"Easy to talk when you're not the one hurting. Just what kind of monster are you? You're just like my old man."
Spitting out the blood foam from his mouth, the Fourth Raikage, battered and bruised, did not take Ayane's words as a compliment.
Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop was his most powerful cutting Nin-Taijutsu.
A few years ago, during the suppression of the Eight-tailed Beast's rampage, it easily severed the beast's horn.
However, he clearly remembered hitting Ayane's arm with his hand-chop, yet it only left a blood gash, which shocked the Fourth Raikage immensely.
Until now, the only one who could withstand that attack unscathed was his father, the Third Raikage, who had heroically sacrificed himself in the Land of Earth to cover his comrades' retreat.
Was this woman's body on the same level as his father's? The Fourth Raikage narrowed his eyes, seeing only a young girl, showing no signs of a body honed through countless hardships.
How did she do it?
"Lord Raikage!"
Shouts echoed from the other side of the forest.
Immediately, over a dozen figures landed next to the Fourth Raikage.
Leading them was Dodai, a Hidden Cloud Jonin, along with other elite ninjas from the village.
One of them approached to heal the Fourth Raikage's injuries.
"Dodai, you were too slow getting here."
The Fourth Raikage expressed his dissatisfaction with their belated support.
"You ran too fast, sir. We don't have your incredibly fast Nin-Taijutsu to maintain high-speed movement."
Dodai chuckled wryly.
But as he saw the severe injuries on the Fourth Raikage, his expression grew serious.
Lagging behind only two to three minutes, the battle had intensified beyond what Dodai expected.
And despite the Fourth Raikage mastering the advanced Lightning Style Chakra Mode, an elite among Lightning Style Ninjas, he had been wounded so severely in such a short time—something even the now-deceased Third Raikage might not have achieved in two or three minutes.
Could the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist be this formidable? Dodai cast a wary glance at Ayane.
"Be careful, her Chakra Control is extraordinary. My Lightning Style Armor was like being naked in front of her."
This was the Fourth Raikage's assessment of Ayane's Gentle Fist.
To dismantle his rigorously trained Lightning Style Chakra Mode with such force, though reluctant to admit it, Ayane's strength surpassed his own as the Raikage.