After his meeting with Kazemori Masaki ended, the Third Raikage dragged his battered body back into the Land of Lightning. He could not let anyone else see him in such a sorry state, so he followed the route planned in advance and returned to where his wife, son, and personal guards were waiting.
Sora had been waiting there with her son, A, wondering how the battle between Kazemori Masaki and her husband would turn out. Her husband, the Third Raikage, was undoubtedly the strongest shinobi in the village. Even a rampaging jinchūriki could not defeat him. Yet her memories told her that Kazemori Masaki's strength also exceeded all normal bounds, and that he possessed something other shinobi did not.
Sora could not say what that something was, but she was certain that Kazemori Masaki's power was subtly different from that of other shinobi. Had she not personally encountered a jinchūriki's tailed beast chakra, she might never have noticed it. His chakra seemed identical to the chakra ordinary shinobi used, yet something unusual lay within it.
Unlike his worried mother, A had always had absolute confidence in his father. Ever since he was little, he had known that his father was the strongest person in the village, and he had always taken pride in that. He refused to believe that anyone in the shinobi world could surpass his father. Perhaps one day, after seeing more of the world, A would feel ashamed of his childish thinking. But for now, it was his most heartfelt belief.
Just then, Sora and the personal guards were the first to notice someone approaching. Only when the Third Raikage came into view did A notice him. He had barely cried out, "Father!" in delight before the bandages wrapped around his father's body left him stunned.
Sora