"Lightning Release: Kirin—"
The true anomaly began in the sky.
It was not the storm clouds summoned by the Raikage, but something higher, deeper—as if the very firmament beyond the ninth heaven had begun to rumble!
The clouds churned, lightning serpents danced wildly, and a golden bolt of lightning ten times larger than the Raikage's lightning pillar slowly took shape within the clouds!
The lightning's form... vaguely resembled the legendary divine beast, the Kirin!
"—Modified Thunder God Skyflash!!!"
Kumoi raised both hands toward the heavens!
The golden Kirin threw back its head and roared, plunging down through the clouds! It was not a bolt of lightning, but a living energy being formed entirely of pure lightning!
Wherever the Kirin passed, even space warped slightly!
The next second, the four attacks collided explosively in midair—
The acidic water evaporated into nothing the instant it touched the Kirin!
The Iron Sand cube shattered inch by inch beneath the divine might of lightning!
The world-destroying lightning pillar summoned by the Raikage... was actually swallowed whole by the golden Kirin, becoming part of it!
Then, the Kirin exploded.
There was no sound.
Or rather, the sound had already surpassed the limits of human hearing.
Everyone on the battlefield was temporarily deafened. They could only watch as an ocean of pure golden light swept through everything like a tsunami!
The beach was torn up, reefs were pulverized, seawater evaporated, and the clouds in the sky were completely scattered!
At the center of the explosion, Third Hokage Nangō Kumoi knelt on one knee, gasping heavily.
Blood seeped from all seven of his orifices, while his chakra pathways burned with searing pain—the previous attack had already exceeded the limit his current body could withstand.
But its effects had been equally devastating.
A hundred meters away, three battered