"Are we tied up? Hahaha! Lightning Release — Heavy Current!"
A grinned, cruelty written all over his face.
Violent lightning surged across his body, coiling around him like a living python.
In the raging crackle, A's figure became a streak of blue light—too fast for the naked eye—and he slammed straight toward Kazuki.
Everyone in Team 7 instantly tensed.
Minato-sensei even flicked out an already-marked Flying Thunder God kunai.
Kushina and Mikoto both went rigid, nerves spiking—but Kazuki stepped forward and blocked A's line cleanly.
The moment they saw Kazuki's back, they felt strangely at ease, and the two of them exchanged a quick glance without even realizing it.
Kazuki's hand exploded with dazzling lightning.
"Chidori!"
RUMBLE—!!
Two overwhelming forces collided, and a shockwave burst outward from the impact point like a ring.
RUMBLE—!!
The makeshift venue collapsed instantly.
Spiderweb cracks spread across the ground where Kazuki and A stood, racing outward in every direction.
A's expression changed. His arms shook as he stumbled back several steps!
What insane strength…!
Kazuki didn't move an inch.
Not even half a step.
A's face twisted as he stared at Kazuki—he hadn't expected to be overpowered.
"Big bro, watch it!" Killer B shouted—and moved.
He aimed to intercept Minato and prevent any Flying Thunder God repositioning behind A.
Minato's instincts kicked in. He snapped his focus, changed angles mid-motion, and vaulted—turning what had been pressure on A into an immediate counter toward Killer B.
A trusted B enough to give him his back. He narrowed his eyes at Kazuki.
This guy's wrong. His Water Release is ridiculous, and his Lightning Release is ridiculous too…
And trading a clean clash with A—forcing A back—meant the man wasn't just strong in ninjutsu.
His taijutsu was likely no weaker than A's.
A didn't want to dwell on that possibility.
He attacked again.
A shinobi's path was to push forward.
"Come on. Let me see what you've really got!"
"Lightning Release: Guillotine Drop!"
A launched high, lightning wrapping his leg like a blade, and brought the kick down from above—an execution strike that could stomp even defensive jōnin into the dirt.
Kazuki's eyes narrowed, hands already moving.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Minato, who was clashing with Killer B, nearly popped his eyes open.
"No way… that's Flying Thunder God! When did Kazuki learn it?!"
And worse—
Minato realized Kazuki was using it with frightening smoothness, like he'd done it for years.
BOOM—!!
A's Guillotine Drop smashed into empty air, blasting a crater into the ground.
Kushina and Mikoto had already shifted back, shielding Team 7 and creating space.
At that moment, two Kumogakure jōnin flickered in behind them.
"Hmph. Grab them and use them to threaten Kazuki and Namikaze…"
"Look out!" Mikoto gasped.
She threw her arms out instinctively to cover everyone—
—and Kazuki appeared.
"Looking to die?"
Kazuki's voice dropped into ice.
He looked at the two ambushers and a killing intent flashed through his eyes.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
The moment Kazuki moved, it was a thunderclap.
Thick roots and vines erupted from the ground, instantly splitting the two jōnin apart.
By the time anyone could see clearly, both attackers were bound into tight "rice dumplings," wrapped in heavy roots and vine coils, unable to move.
A's eyelid twitched.
He can use Flying Thunder God… and Wood Release?
A already felt something was off—Kazuki was stronger than anything they'd anticipated.
But he had to keep Kazuki here.
The longer he stalled, the more likely his father's plan back at Konoha would succeed.
A didn't know that the Third Raikage had already been forced to retreat by one of Kazuki's shadow clones.
"You're strong," A admitted quietly. "I'll give you that. You're the strongest young shinobi I've ever met."
Kazuki sneered. "You're not qualified to judge me."
"Quit stalling."
Kazuki formed seals, and countless roots and vines surged toward A like a tidal wave.
A's face sank.
There was nowhere to dodge.
The younger Cloud shinobi watching were stunned.
They'd never lived in the era of Hashirama Senju. They had never seen the "God of Shinobi."
But this… this made their skin crawl.
Could A win?
Even Killer B—A's sworn brother—didn't feel confident.
We should retreat…
B's first instinct was to pull out.
But he knew A wouldn't.
A was the Third Raikage's son—Kumogakure's future Fourth Raikage. He carried the village's expectations.
He couldn't back down.
So if they couldn't go back—
They could only go forward.
"All the way!"
A roared, lightning chakra flooding his entire body until he looked like a walking thunderstorm.
"Lariat!"
He charged at Kazuki at a blistering speed.
Roots and vines snapped and shattered as he forced his way through.
Kushina, watching from behind, couldn't help it.
"Kazuki, be careful!"
Kazuki's hands blurred.
"Wood Release: Wooden Dome Wall!"
A layered wooden barrier surged up in front of him.
"GRAAAH!"
A slammed through it.
BOOM—!!
The dome wall shattered in one hit.
But the instant A's arm was about to reach Kazuki's face—
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"
A huge wooden giant erupted beneath Kazuki's feet.
A's Lariat had already been chewed down by multiple layers of obstruction—his power wasn't at full strength anymore.
He crashed into the wood golem.
RUMBLE—!!
The wood golem staggered back two steps—
—and then countered.
Two gigantic fists dropped like pile drivers.
RUMBLE!RUMBLE!RUMBLE!
A was hammered into the ground repeatedly, dust and debris exploding upward each time.
When it looked like A might surge out, roots and vines snapped around him and dragged him back down.
RUMBLE!RUMBLE!RUMBLE!
Everyone watching broke out in cold sweat.
Finally, the golem stopped.
The dust slowly cleared.
A's body was embedded in the ground in a huge "A" shape, the earth cratered beneath him.
His arms and legs were bound by roots, pinned tight.
PFFT—!
A spat out a mouthful of blood. The lightning armor flickered—and vanished.
He lost.
Killer B and the Cloud subordinates froze.
Not just the Cloud side.
Even Konoha's side stared in disbelief.
The Third Raikage's son—Kumogakure's future Fourth Raikage—A…
Had been beaten into the ground by a wood golem.
A rasped, "B… get out of here."
"No, big bro!"
"Run," A forced out. "If you don't… it's too late!"
The remaining Cloud jōnin grabbed Killer B and pulled him back.
"B-sama, the Raikage-sama will trade hostages for A-sama!"
Kazuki smiled faintly. "Hostages? What hostages?"
"Minato—tie A up."
"…Right." Minato sounded dead inside.
He hadn't caught anyone. A got taken by Kazuki. Killer B got away.
Again.
He really was living the pack-mule life.
Kazuki patted Minato's shoulder. "Minato, A's on you."
"And those two jōnin over there—and that secretary—count them as our 'bonus' today."
"Kakashi, Obito—you two go help Minato-sensei."
Kakashi and Obito answered in the same flat tone.
"…Okay."
Being drafted as a porter again, the two of them looked like their souls had left their bodies.
Kazuki formed seals and split into four shadow clones.
Those four clones vanished into the trees in different directions.
"Kazuki," Kushina asked, "are you chasing them?"
Kazuki shook his head. "Not them."
"I'm going after the Third Raikage."
"And I'm going to secure Gyūki."
Everyone's eyes widened.
Going after the Third Raikage?
That was an absurd target.
But then…
They remembered the Third Mizukage.
They remembered A getting slammed like he was nothing.
And suddenly, it didn't feel impossible.
Still—
It was unreal.
...
Just as Kazuki turned to move, the battlefield where Gyūki was rampaging shifted.
An old man in a white robe appeared out of nowhere amid the chaos.
Cloud shinobi fled in terror. They saw the old man, hesitated for half a breath, then kept running.
"ROOOAR!"
Gyūki charged him.
The old man's eye opened—
Rinnegan.
The old man was Uchiha Madara.
In only a few days, Madara had retrieved one of his Rinnegan.
Kazuki's sudden rise had made him unwilling to leave both eyes in Nagato's possession.
At least for now—
Madara needed a Rinnegan in his own skull.
"Genjutsu."
Gyūki's body jerked.
Its movements stiffened, forced under control.
Madara inhaled slowly—then made the most dangerous decision of his life.
The last time he'd gambled this hard was when he used Izanagi after the battle at the Valley of the End.
This time, he was here in person.
Because Kazuki was too strong.
Madara couldn't allow Kazuki to keep growing unchecked.
A shadow clone wasn't enough.
Only the real body could act.
"Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
A colossal humanoid statue of dead wood appeared—monstrous, with nine eyes, blank and hollow.
Cloud shinobi who looked back were stunned senseless.
"What… is that?!"
Under their horrified gaze, the statue's mouth split open like a zipper—
and it seized Gyūki, dragging the tailed beast into itself.
Gyūki couldn't resist while trapped under Madara's control.
In under a minute, it was swallowed.
One of the statue's forehead eyes opened, forming a pupil.
People nearly lost their minds.
Gyūki—Kumogakure's symbol—
was just eaten by some nightmare thing they didn't even understand.
Madara dismissed the summoning.
The Demonic Statue vanished instantly.
Then, in the middle of the terrified, confused battlefield—
Madara struck.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A sea of flame poured out like an ocean surge.
The shinobi in front of him were incinerated in seconds, reduced to ash.
"Ahem…"
Madara suddenly coughed blood, face dark, and looked toward Konoha's direction.
"…And the Nine-Tails."
"…And the Two-Tails."