I Acknowledge You!

"Rustle, rustle, rustle...!!"

At the critical moment, countless sheets of paper surged up beneath the Raikage's feet!

The sheets overlapped and interlocked, soft yet resilient, greatly cushioning the force of A's kick...!!!

"Boom!!"

Amid the roar, the sheets exploded apart, then reassembled into Konan's breathtakingly beautiful face. "Whoosh!" The paper spear coiled around her arm stabbed toward A!

"Crack!" Without any suspense, the spearhead bent the instant it touched the Lightning Release Armor.

The Raikage landed atop the Yata Crow and swept out with a hand chop. Konan dodged in time, but the sharp lightning radiance before his hand still cut a bloody gash across her left cheek!

"Boom!" Pain Rin stepped onto the coffin and flipped over A's head. After forming hand seals, she struck downward!

—Summoning: Stone Panda Rockfall!

"Clang!!"

The Stone Panda falling from the sky heavily pressed down on A's raised elbow. Its immense weight made the Yata Crow tilt...!!!

Pinned down, A fell from the bird's back!

Once the Yata Crow stabilized in flight, Pain Rin's little hands flashed through seals!

"Poof!" "Poof!" "Poof!"

The Five Paths of Pain, the shattered Asura Path, the captive Darui, Samui, C, and Nagato himself all assembled on the bird's back amid white smoke!

"Boom!!!" A smashed the Stone Panda apart with brute force. Turning to Dodai, who was breaking out in cold sweat at the sight of the summoned group, he shouted, "Dodai, use your technique to create a foothold! I'm jumping higher and dragging him down hard!!!"

Dodai said in alarm, "Lord Raikage, are you serious? All of their fighting forces have assembled, and if I'm not mistaken, one of them is an unknown enemy!!!"

"They stole the previous generation's bodies merely to use some sort of cellular technology to replicate their powers. But the solid strength of the previous generation was not merely talent—it was forged through countless sessions of training and real combat. It absolutely cannot be replicated so easily!"

"Taking everything into account, we should not pursue them any further!!!!"

The Raikage clenched his fists and declared in a resounding voice, "Of course I know that!!! But Dodai, do you expect me to watch helplessly as they take away Hidden Cloud Village's future!!!!!"

Hidden Cloud Village's future...

Darui, Samui, C—the growing next generation... they were the bearers of hope!!

Feeling A's resolve, Dodai was filled with solemn respect. "I understand, Lord Raikage!!!"

—Lava Release: Membrane Mother!

He formed hand seals with both hands, desperately squeezing out his chakra. The writhing liquid rubber gathered in the open ground ahead like a small mountain!!

A gathered his strength, prepared to launch himself with all his might the instant the jumping platform took shape!

Kneeling atop the Yata Crow, Konan's expression changed drastically when she saw this. "Damn it, he still won't give up!!"

"Don't move."

Pain Rin walked to her side. Her small hand, covered in a green glow, pressed close to Konan's wounded cheek. This was the medical ninjutsu Rin had excelled at in life.

"If we don't treat it quickly, it'll leave a scar. I'll deal with that guy."

Nagato stood against the wind. The mechanical arm of the Asura Path extending from his shoulder split at the wrist, its intricate mechanisms shifting in a dazzling blur before transforming into a mechanical hand cannon...

Sasori had been fortunate enough to witness this move in the great desert of the Land of Wind, but he had not seen its ultimate power!

Before the Third Raikage Pain's Asura Path was completed, this was the perfect chance to demonstrate the Asura Path's might with the original body!

"Bzzzt...!!!"

Amid terrifying waves of sound, the charging began.

Nagato murmured coldly, "This is a move capable of piercing the core of Planetary Devastation. Whether you survive depends on your own ability!"

From the perspective below... Nagato's figure high in the sky was engulfed in a dazzling cross-shaped light!!

But... the heart-pounding chakra made even Dodai, who was not a sensory ninja, feel his soul leave his body!

"Th-this chakra... how is this possible!!! Is he... is he trying to wipe us all out in one strike?!!!!"

"If that attack comes down, aside from Lord Raikage escaping with his absolute speed, everyone else, myself included, will probably..."

"Lord Raikage, please leave this place at once!!!"

Staring at the dazzling cross-shaped light in the sky, A's pupils trembled violently as well!!

But he immediately shouted, "Dodai, stop the jumping platform! Make Membrane Orbs at once and protect everyone!!!"

Dodai asked in disbelief, "Membrane Orbs... they absolutely can't block that!!!"

The Raikage shouted, "Do it because I told you to! Move, now!!!"

"Y-yes!"

—Lava Release: Membrane Orb!!!

Dodai changed his hand seals. The rubber stopped flowing and became orderly spheres, attaching themselves to every stunned Hidden Cloud Village ninja present!!!

In the sky, Nagato completed his charge and aimed the hand cannon at Cloud Gate Valley below!! "Take this!!"

—Asura Attack!!!

"Boom!!!"

A purple beam capable of piercing the core of Planetary Devastation shot straight down!!!

"Lord Raikage...!!!!"

A raised his grim face. The next second, he stepped on the remaining "membrane" and leaped with all his strength, charging directly at the beam that could destroy him!!!!

Through the gap in the still-unsealed Membrane Orb, Dodai's eyes shook. "Stop!!!! Even your Lightning Release Armor absolutely cannot block that!!!!!"

But... A then made a shocking move. He concentrated all the Lightning Release chakra in his body into his right arm, spun through the air, raised that arm, and struck the beam's leading edge at an angle!!!

"Crackle...!!!!!"

Sparks scattered everywhere...!!!

Dodai suddenly understood. "I see, Lord Raikage! You used the arm coated in Lightning Release chakra as a 'barrel' to deflect the beam's trajectory! But if you do that..."

"Whoosh...!!!"

The beam grazed the Raikage's shoulder, its trajectory shifting as it swept toward the forest behind Cloud Gate Valley's mountain!!

"Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble...!!!"

A terrifying mushroom of light bloomed from the ground, swallowing the entire forest, followed by the mountain that the forest leaned against!

The mountain was leveled... a storm carrying flying rocks raged through Cloud Gate Valley!!!

"Arghhhhhhhhh...!!!" Even the Hidden Cloud Village ninja protected by Membrane Orbs could not avoid being blown away by the storm!!!

But... fortunately, the impact that reached them was only residual force, within the Membrane Orbs' limits!

When the explosion finally subsided... Cloud Gate Valley had become ruins!!

A looked up at the sky and said gravely, "This definitely wasn't Ōnoki of Both Scales' doing. If Hidden Stone possessed a technique of this scale, we would have been utterly defeated in the war that ended not long ago!"

The people crawling out of the Membrane Orbs... looked toward the figure standing atop the ruins!!!

"Lord Raikage... your arm!!"

A's right arm was gone, and even the stump had been charred by the intense heat!

"Crack!!" He clenched his left fist, pain filling his face. "Compared to the pain of losing an arm, it hurts me more to have lost the right-hand men who represented our future!"

"Damn it!!!" Dodai gritted his teeth unwillingly and walked forward. "Lord Raikage, let's return to the village first!"

A said, "No, we'll first seek an audience with the Daimyō! I'll use this severed arm to make him understand! Just because the war is over does not mean we can sit back and enjoy peace! I want more military funding to make Hidden Cloud Village even stronger!!!"

"Anything that doesn't kill us will only make us stronger!!!"

"I, A, will remember today's humiliation in the name of the Raikage—and one day, I'll make you repay it twofold!!!!!"

High in the sky, Nagato looked down upon the altered landscape, his gaze solemn. "I acknowledge you. Let us meet at the summit, Fourth Raikage A!"