Pride!

Even the mightiest elephant could be brought down by enough ants. No matter how exceptional a ninja was, overwhelming numbers would make him seem small, and in the end, exhaustion would kill him.

Even the Third Raikage, the strongest Raikage, had been worn to death by Iwagakure. What chance did Yotsuki Sora have?!

Feel the power of thousands of ninja!

BOOM!

The earth twisted, fierce winds howled, and flames raged.

Jutsu after jutsu bombarded Sora, the onslaught even more terrifying than the earlier Dust Release.

But unfortunately...

The old rule still held: if there was smoke, he was fine.

For all its ferocity, the barrage of jutsu could not pin down Sora while he had Lightning Release Chakra Mode active.

By every measure, especially sheer numbers, the Hidden Stone held an overwhelming advantage.

Yet the longer the fight went on, the more pressure the Hidden Stone ninja felt.

Blood Lightning flashed, and screams rose one after another.

He was a tiger among sheep, a shark in a shallow pond, rampaging wherever he pleased!

"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"

Ōnoki's clone slammed his palm to the ground. In an instant, he connected with the earth beneath their feet and sent the ground under Sora surging upward.

At the same time, the Wind Release Ninjutsu and Fire Release Ninjutsu prepared in advance came crashing down, engulfing the entire area around Sora.

But a heartbeat later, Blood Lightning tore through the raging wind and fire. Sora brought his hand down, and Ōnoki's clone vanished in a puff of white smoke.

Smack!

After blasting apart another Hidden Stone ninja with a punch, Sora seemed to sense something and abruptly leaned aside.

A pure-white beam grazed his cheek.

"Now! Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"

A Hidden Stone elite Jonin seized the opening, forming a massive stone fist behind and to the side of Yotsuki Sora. It smashed toward his back with a howl of wind.

At the same moment, another Ōnoki clone appeared and placed his palm on the elite Jonin.

"Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Rock Technique!"

It was a blow powerful enough to shatter a mountain!

But Yotsuki Sora answered with an even stronger, more savage strike.

Deliberate Blast Punch!

Light roared!

Pride erupted from his right fist, instantly pulverizing the attacking Hidden Stone Jonin and Ōnoki's clone. Its terrifying torrent blasted apart dozens more Hidden Stone ninja behind them.

"That's the chakra!"

In the distance, Hizashi Hyuga nearly leapt to his feet as he growled, "That's the chakra that shattered the Dust Release earlier!"

This time, there was no flashy jutsu to obscure it. Everyone present saw the punch Sora had thrown.

"It's the aura around him," Minato Namikaze said gravely.

His eyes had never left Sora.

"Whenever he takes damage, a strange blood-gold aura appears around him. The worse his injuries, the stronger that chakra becomes."

"And that chakra feels... a lot like yours when you use that technique."

"Yeah, it does feel like Sage Mode," Jiraiya said with a solemn nod. "But that aura of his is even more overwhelming than my Senjutsu Chakra!"

Senjutsu Chakra was a high-powered chakra produced by combining Natural Energy with one's own chakra.

It was extraordinarily potent. It could greatly enhance ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, and even make the unimaginable possible.

Predicting the future, reviving the dead... it was power worthy of sages and gods.

The blood-gold aura around Sora was not as versatile as Senjutsu Chakra.

But its sheer power and properties were even more overwhelming!

Was it simply an extremely concentrated form of chakra?

It felt... like pure Natural Energy, before chakra had tempered it!

"The worse his injuries get, the stronger that blood-gold chakra grows. Once enough builds up, he can release it all at once in a terrifying burst."

"That chakra's sheer intensity is what lets him withstand Dust Release."

"And his body has an absurd ability to repair itself. Ordinary injuries heal without him even making Hand Seals..."

Minato Namikaze slowly exhaled.

"Add his Lightning Release Nintaijutsu, on par with the Third Raikage's... and this guy is practically a monster born for battle!"

The others fell silent at Minato Namikaze's words.

Ōnoki had gone to extraordinary lengths just to deal with the Third Raikage.

And now Yotsuki Sora stood before them—someone even more monstrous than the Third Raikage!

"It's not like he's the Sage of Six Paths. No need to look so grim," Jiraiya said with a laugh, trying to ease the oppressive mood. "There's no such thing as an invincible ninja. He's strong, sure, but we've gathered plenty of information. If we plan around it, we can still beat him."

The tension in their faces eased a little.

There was no invincible jutsu in this world, and no invincible person.

Every jutsu and every ninja had a weakness.

Forbidden techniques and powerful fighters were terrifying partly because of their strength, but even more because their enemies lacked information!

If Konoha had faced Yotsuki Sora knowing nothing about him, he would have caught them completely off guard. But now their good friends in Iwagakure were helping test him, things were different.

And what would happen to their good friends?

They would get a grand funeral!

What had been a war had become a one-sided slaughter.

Sora had turned the battlefield into his own domain. The endless roar of jutsu and the screams of ninja became cheers for every punch he threw!

"Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique!"

"Lava Release: Ash-Stone Sealing Technique!"

An elite Jonin with the Lava Release bloodline tried to bind Sora, while the surrounding Hidden Stone ninja joined forces to use Added-Weight Rock Technique.

The soft lava became crushingly heavy. Sora broke free with his overwhelming strength in an instant, but another storm of jutsu came at him.

Sora showed no fear. He clenched his fist and twisted at the waist.

When in doubt...

Deliberate Blast Punch!

A roaring pillar of Pride surged skyward once more, destroying everything in its path.

But the instant the pillar faded, an immense beam of light shot in from afar and struck Sora head-on.

"Dust Release: Boundary Stripping Technique!"

After losing hundreds of ninja, the real Ōnoki had finally recovered and caught the brief opening after Deliberate Blast Punch.

The Kekkei Tōta that erased all it touched bared its fangs!

"Die, Yotsuki Sora!"