Digging Up Graves!

"Boom!!!" The blast wave from the laser swallowed A's body before sweeping backward, its radiating fan-shaped edge flattening the entire defensive fortification formed by the Earth Flow Wall and Protective Membrane Wall...!!

"Lord Raikage!!!" Amid the storm, the Hidden Cloud shinobi stared fearfully toward the end of the light wave!!!

Dodai shielded his face with both hands and muttered, "The power of that attack is astonishing, but it still can't harm the Fourth with Lightning Release Armor protecting him."

"What truly concerns me is that enemy who used the Earth Concealment Technique to infiltrate underground. He still hasn't appeared. Could the technique he used to kill Yun Zhiyi threaten the Fourth?"

Glancing at C, whom he protected behind him, Dodai asked urgently, "C... have you sensed him?"

C maintained the hand seal for his sensory technique, sweat streaming down his small face. "I-I can't sense that enemy at all! H-He must have gone very deep underground. My sensory ability can't reach through..."

Dodai withdrew his gaze and said gravely, "Subterranean Voyage? If he went that deep underground, then at least he can't threaten the Fourth."

"Boom!" Once the light wave subsided, A's figure emerged. Clad in Lightning Release Armor, he stood straight before the mountain wall, not a single hair harmed.

A fixed his piercing electric eyes coldly on Pain's Asura Path. "Satisfied, trash?"

Pain's Asura Path said, "Thunder Boy..."

"Crack!!!" Before it could finish, the Raikage's hand chop came down from above, cleaving Asura Path's three-in-one head and entire body cleanly in half!!!

"How unreasonable..." The severed head's Rinnegan stared up at A's face as it finished speaking.

"Boom!!!" A stomped down, crushing Asura Path's head.

Then he stamped down again and again, grinding with the sole of his foot until... Asura Path had been pulverized to pieces, with not a single intact component left to find.

"Ptui!" After spitting, he turned toward Pain's Preta Path. "You're next!!!"

"Crackle!" In a flash of lightning, he was already behind Preta Path. He locked both arms around him and hoisted him high over his head!!

Pain's Preta Path said, "Ah~, Thunder Boy lifted me up high!!"

"Awoooowwwww...!!!!" A threw back his head and roared, the Lightning Release Armor around him erupting violently!!!

The sheer momentum terrified the surrounding Hidden Cloud shinobi!!

"That stance... it's Lord Raikage's Liger Bomb!!!!!"

"Quick, get away!!! If you get caught in that, you'll die!!!"

Having built his power to the maximum, A was just about to slam him down when his expression suddenly changed. His Lightning Release chakra was draining away at high speed!

But he had no time to think... and brought him crashing down!!!!

"Boom...!!!"

With a tremendous crash, the ground caved in and cracks spread in every direction, yet no lightning arcs erupted as expected!

The Hidden Cloud shinobi who had retreated to a distance stared in bewilderment. "What happened?? The power was incredible, but it wasn't nearly as great as we expected!!!"

"Did Lord Raikage hold back!!"

"No." Dodai stared at the entwined figures in the depression and said, "Look closely. Lord Raikage's Lightning Release Armor vanished at the instant before the Liger Bomb landed!"

"What? Why did that happen!!!"

Dodai said, "That enemy once nullified our ninjutsu. It seems the essence of that ability is absorption, and its absorption efficiency is terrifying."

"In the mere seconds of contact, he absorbed the Lightning Release Armor Lord Raikage had condensed around his body!!"

"That's why... he managed to survive the Liger Bomb. But even so, Lord Raikage's physical strength alone was enough to shatter every bone in his body."

Dodai's voice lowered. "That guy is finished."

A stared expressionlessly at Pain's Preta Path before him. "With an ability like yours, that stinking old man Ōnoki shouldn't have sent you here to die. Before I tear you into eight pieces, tell me what he wants. I can let you die quickly!"

"Hehehe." Pain's Preta Path grinned.

"Speak!"

"Thunder Boy."

"Boom!"

A's fist, as large as a sandbag, smashed into Preta Path's face, driving his head into the ground!

"Speak!!"

"Thunder Boy."

"Boom!!" His head sank even deeper!

"Thunder Boy..."

"Boom!!!" "Boom!!!" "Boom!!!"

After several consecutive punches, Preta Path's head was buried so deeply in the dirt that even his neck was no longer visible. His upper body stood high from the pull on his limbs, while the curve between his pelvis and lower body was stretched into an arch...

"Drip!" Blood dripped from A's fist. Squatting beside the pit, he said coldly, "Say that one more time."

"..." Preta Path could no longer make a sound.

Yet his hand slowly moved, feeling around until it caught one of the Black Rods that had flown from his face and landed nearby. He picked it up and tapped it against A's forehead.

"Clink!"

The sound was crisp... there was no damage at all, but the humiliation was immense!!

"You've really pissed me off!!!!!!!!!!"

A roared, Lightning Release Armor wrapping around him again as he unleashed a barrage of heavy punches on Preta Path, venting his fury!!

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom...!!!"

"Awoooowwwww...!!!"

For a time, rocks and dirt flew everywhere, flesh and blood scattering through the air...

The Hidden Cloud shinobi were all dumbstruck...!!

"Too brutal..."

Dodai asked, "C... has the last enemy made any move?"

C's expression was strange. "It seems like... he has, but also like he hasn't. L-Lord Raikage's side is making it impossible for me to concentrate."

Dodai said, "Focus! As a sensory shinobi, you must maintain absolute concentration under any circumstances!"

"Yes!!!" C's face tightened to the extreme. Then suddenly... that faint, indistinct sensation became clear!!

"H-He's over there, approaching the Third's grave!!"

"What!?" Dodai abruptly turned to look. "Could his objective be...!!!"

"Crack!!" Pain's Human Path, who had infiltrated underground, emerged before the Third Raikage's grave!!

"Buried deep enough, but I finally found it!!!"

His hands rapidly formed seals, then struck the ground!

"Thanks to the original body's chakra, this technique can finally be put to use..."

--Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!

"Boom!!!"

The ground shook... The coffin buried deep beneath the earth rose toward the surface amid the rumble of shifting land!!!

Dodai steadied himself and shouted toward A, who was still venting his rage by battering the corpse.

"Lord Raikage, the previous Raikage's grave has been dug up!!!!"