Inside the sealed barrier, the air grew heavy, so thick with tension it felt like it could be cut with a knife. The crackle of raging lightning, the furious roars of a titanic beast, and the wild, unrestrained laughter of a man all intertwined, weaving a bizarre and volatile prelude to war.
The Lightning Release Armor on the Third Raikage sizzled and popped, each flickering arc of electricity containing cataclysmic power. He stared intently at Garp, his sharp eyes a turbulent mixture of deep wariness and surging battle spirit.
"You… you monster…" his voice was a low, hoarse rasp, like two great stones grinding together. "Who in the world are you? Are you here for the Eight-Tails?"
As soon as the question was posed, the atmosphere inside the vast canyon tensed to a breaking point.
However, Garp's reaction to the Raikage's intense interrogation was something no one could have anticipated. He slowly extended his pinky finger, inserted it into his nostril, and dug around with vigor. Then, with a casual flick, he sent whatever he found flying.
"Huh?" He looked utterly bewildered, tilting his head as he stared back at the Third Raikage. His expression was as innocent and guileless as a three-year-old child's.
"Eight-Tails?" Garp, still nonchalantly picking his nose, repeated the name in confusion. "What is that? Is it tasty?"
*BOOM!*
Those words struck the Third Raikage's already blazing fury like a bolt of lightning. Was this man playing dumb? Was this mockery? How could a monster strong enough to send the Eight-Tails reeling with a single punch not know what a Tailed Beast was?
In the Raikage's eyes, this was nothing short of blatant contempt. It was the most profound disrespect imaginable, a slight against him and the entire Hidden Cloud Village.
"Fool…" the Third Raikage snarled, his teeth gnashing together with audible force. The lightning armor crafted from his chakra suddenly erupted with a surge of violent electricity. The blue-purple arcs grew thicker, more violent, whipping around his body with furious intensity.
*CRACKLE!*
Amidst the ear-splitting roar of thunder, the very ground around him was crushed and shattered by the sheer energy, sending shards of gravel floating upward against gravity.
"It does not matter!" the Third Raikage let out a low growl, his voice thick with suppressed rage. He suddenly dropped into a low charging stance, coiling his body like a spring, transforming himself into a blue cannonball ready to be fired.
"It does not matter where you came from, and it does not matter what your purpose is here!" His eyes, now bloodshot with fury, were locked onto Garp's form. "I will beat you and supress you," he seethed, "and then I will interrogate you!"
Before the final word had even left his lips, the ground beneath his feet exploded.
With a deafening sonic boom, the Third Raikage transformed into a streak of pure blue lightning. Wherever he passed, the ground cracked and split apart, leaving a deep, scorched gully in his wake. His speed had completely surpassed the limits of what the naked eye could possibly track.
"Die!" A furious roar exploded directly in Garp's ears.
However, facing this thunderous, all-out assault, the smile on Garp's face only grew wider and more manic.
"BWAHAHAHA! Now this is what I'm talking about!"
He didn't retreat. The thought of dodging didn't even cross his mind. Garp mirrored his opponent, lowering his body as the muscles in his right arm instantly bulged and knotted together. Veins writhed like small serpents beneath his bronze skin as he violently pulled his fist back, charging it with immense power.
Then, he unleashed it, punching directly toward the streak of blue lightning that was hurtling towards him.
"Hah!"
There was no flashy name for the technique, no dazzling display of energy. It was just a simple, unadorned, brutally powerful punch.
In the next instant, the lightning-wreathed fist and the calloused iron fist collided with ferocious power in the center of the canyon.
**BUZZ—!**
There was no earth-shattering explosion. Instead, a terrifying, high-frequency hum, loud enough to threaten to deafen the entire world, tore through the air. Centered on the point where their fists met, a destructive shockwave erupted outwards in a perfect sphere. The ground beneath their feet, like a placid lake struck by a meteor, sent up colossal waves of earth dozens of meters high.
The entire gigantic barrier formed by the "Four Violet Flames Formation" trembled wildly under the sheer force, and intense ripples spread across the purple energy wall like waves on a pond. Outside the barrier, the Hidden Cloud Ninja were sent flying by the terrifying aftershock, stumbling and falling as blood trickled from their mouths and noses, their faces painted with incredulous horror.
Inside the barrier, a series of sharp cracking sounds echoed. The ground beneath the Third Raikage and Garp could no longer withstand the brutal force and instantly fractured like a spiderweb before collapsing inward, forming a huge pit. Dust and debris filled the air, obscuring everything.
The two figures separated in a flash, each thrown back dozens of meters.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The Third Raikage carved deep footprints into the hard rock with each step, retreating for more than a dozen paces before he could barely stabilize himself. He looked up, staring intently at the man opposite him, his eyes filled with an unprecedented level of solemnity. He glanced down at his right arm, which was trembling slightly. His fist, still encased in the Lightning Release Armor, was throbbing with a deep, numbing pain.
*How could this be possible?* His Lightning Release Armor was renowned as the strongest shield. His Lightning Release: Lariat was fabled as the strongest spear. It was the pinnacle of both offense and defense. Yet this man before him had met him head-on, using nothing but pure, unadulterated physical strength, and matched him. No… he had even, ever so slightly, gained the upper hand. The Third Raikage now had a more precise, and more terrifying, assessment of Garp's strength in his mind. This intruder definitely possessed power that was not inferior to his own. The monstrous nature of that strength was simply horrifying.
On the other side of the crater, Garp also shook his fist, grimacing. A shallow white mark had been left on his knuckles, accompanied by a faint, tingling sensation from the electric shock. The wild, boisterous laughter on his face slowly subsided, replaced by a serious expression mixed with surprise and a hint of annoyance.
"This is an incredible experience…" Garp muttered under his breath, his eyes changing. "But you call *this* a beginner's dungeon?"
As one of the most powerful individuals standing at the apex of the pirate world, he had entered this challenge with the casual mindset of "experiencing something new" and "just having a bit of fun." After all, for a mere million Berries, what kind of world-shattering trial could one possibly expect? But that punch just now had taught him a solid lesson. His opponent's strength and speed had completely shattered his expectations.
"It seems I have to get a little serious now," Garp declared, clenching his fists until his knuckles cracked loudly. "Otherwise, I might actually get embarrassed in this little ditch!"
The battle had instantly reached a white-hot intensity.
"BWAHAHAHA! Now this is getting interesting!" Garp's laughter returned, but it was different now, edged with an extremely excited seriousness. His muscles bulged, his bones resonated, and the aura he exuded became even more terrifying than before.
"Don't get carried away!" the Third Raikage roared, his Lightning Release Armor glowing to its absolute peak, the blue-purple electric light becoming so dense it was almost a solid entity.
These two titans of physical power had now completely entered their true battle states.
However, in their intense focus on one another, they had both overlooked the third, and largest, presence in the arena. The Eight-Tails, Gyuki—punched away, trapped by a barrier, and then completely ignored by two mere humans—had reached a level of fury that was breaking through the heavens.
**ROAR!!!**
It opened its gaping, monstrous maw. Black and purple energies began to converge and compress wildly, forming a dense, pulsating sphere that radiated pure, unadulterated destruction.