Naruto looked at the Fourth Raikage before him, whose hair and beard bristled like an enraged lion's, and spoke evenly.
"Since you admit yourself that 'the strong prey on the weak in the Shinobi World'..."
Naruto raised his chin slightly. The usual warmth had vanished from his face, leaving only an imperious calm that brooked no argument.
"Then, right now."
His gaze swept over A's Lightning Release Armor, the symbol of Kumogakure's greatest military might, then passed over his shoulder to the vast shinobi village built into the mountainside behind him, now gripped by confusion and unrest following the emergency evacuation order.
"I'm the strong one."
"So this piece of meat called Kumogakure should be mine to devour."
The strong preyed on the weak. The law of the jungle.
That was the very logic A had just used to justify himself.
Now Naruto returned that logic to him unchanged, only in a harsher, more explicit form.
There was no moral condemnation, no dredging up history, not even any further appeal to emotion.
Only the coldest, most realistic comparison of strength and declaration of the outcome.
A breathed heavily, his face livid.
An unprecedented sense of humiliation and helplessness gripped his heart.
His opponent did not even deign to debate or negotiate with him in any form. He simply used A's own words to pass final judgment on everything that was about to happen.
But he truly could not fight now. Once battle broke out, Kumogakure would suffer far too much damage.
Naruto seemed unconcerned by A's reaction. He turned slightly, looking into Kumogakure again.
With his exceptional sensory abilities, he could clearly "see" everything happening inside the village:
Civilians poured out of their homes, frightened but orderly, carrying simple packs and hurrying along designated routes with their families in tow.