One after another

"Huff, huff, huff..." Hinata stopped, sweat streaming down her exhausted face and freezing into icicles in the wind and snow.

A crowd gathered ahead, but her Byakugan saw only Naruto.

Naruto's gaze trembled violently, his heart aching for her. How long did you have to run to get here?

After so many years, they were looking at each other again. It should have been a joyous reunion, yet everything that had happened before cast a dark shadow over it!

Before him stood the woman he loved, frantic with worry. Behind him stood the Raikage and the others, watching like predators!

Please, don't come any closer... Naruto pleaded silently.

"Naruto-kun..." Unable to contain her anxiety, Hinata was about to step forward.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a shadow stretched out from behind her and connected to her feet.

Shadow Imitation Technique!

Up in the sky, Shikamaru sat on the back of a bird formed from ink, one leg broken during Pain's attack on the village. Holding his hand seals, he said, "Hinata, I understand how you feel, but now isn't the time. Look at the situation down there. Going over now will only distract Naruto!"

"..." Hinata bit her lip with her white teeth, finally suppressing her desperate urge.

Naruto felt sincere gratitude. Shikamaru, thanks...

C, the Raikage's guard, watched them. "They're from Konoha. Judging by their ages, they're ninja from his generation. Two from the Hyuga Clan alone?"

Kumogakure and the Hyuga had a long history, so the Byakugan naturally drew particular attention.

Darui's gaze settled on Neji. "Hmm... I've seen that kid on a mission before. Neji Hyuga, a remarkably young jōnin from Konoha. Too bad he was born into the branch family. He's destined to be a caged bird."

"They send a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears brats to deal with their own rogue ninja? Konoha's as pretentious as ever! I'll beat Naruto Uzumaki half to death, drag him back to a Kumogakure prison, and torture Sasuke's whereabouts out of him!"

Crack! Crack!

The Raikage rolled his neck, lightning wrapping around him as he charged Naruto!

He was too fast. Konan and Orochimaru, standing on either side of Naruto, couldn't even react. They saw only a flash of lightning before Naruto was sent hurtling backward!

Whoosh!!!

Naruto braced his katana against the Raikage's fist, his feet scraping across the snowy ground!

"Hmph!" The Raikage snorted and drove more power into his fist. Crack! The katana in Naruto's hands snapped!

Sage Mode's perception was exceptional, after all. Naruto twisted aside to evade the punch!

But the Raikage turned his fist into a knife-hand strike and swept it into Naruto's right shoulder!

Crack!

The sound of a joint dislocating rang out. Naruto grimaced in pain and activated the visual power of his left eye.

-Preta Path!

Crackle!!

The lightning cloak around the Raikage broke apart, turning into pure chakra that Naruto absorbed.

"What!?" The Raikage looked startled.

Rustle...!

Just then, Konan sent paper mixed with explosive tags swirling over, sticking them to the Raikage's back...!

Boom, boom, boom!

An explosion at point-blank range!

Naruto seized the opening to retreat, grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand, and pushed hard... Crack! His dislocated shoulder snapped back into place!

He thought, That was close. If I hadn't absorbed that troublesome layer of lightning chakra in time, it would've been far worse than a dislocated shoulder...

C stared at the blast zone. "Hey... is the boss okay?"

Darui said calmly, "Even without his lightning armor, an explosion of that level can't hurt the boss's body!"

Sure enough, the Raikage emerged unharmed, his eyes wide and glaring. "Hmph, looks like you've acquired a fine eye. You used its power to neutralize that old bastard Ōnoki's Dust Release at the summit, too, didn't you? Unfortunately, there's still a tiny delay between getting hit and activating that absorption. That tiny delay is enough for me to kill you three times over!"

Crackle!!!!

Even more violent lightning cloaked the Raikage, and his hair stood up in stiff spikes.

Darui said, "Oh? The boss has cranked that move up to maximum power to deal with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

The Raikage declared menacingly, "I honed this Lightning Release Chakra Mode II to put an end to Konoha's Yellow Flash. Unfortunately, the Yellow Flash is already dead. So I'll put an end to his son right here instead...!"

Naruto's thoughts raced. Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the incredibly powerful nintaijutsu passed down through generations of Raikage. Each user gives it different characteristics. The Fourth's defenses aren't as strong as his father's, the Third Raikage, but his speed is even greater. Although I've learned Flying Thunder God now, without Kurama's chakra to support me, my reflexes still can't match my father's...!

Darui shouted, "Boss, weren't we going to capture him alive and interrogate him about Sasuke's whereabouts?"

The Raikage said, "It doesn't matter! As long as that bastard Sasuke keeps acting so brazenly, finding him will only take a few minutes!!!"

Boom!!!

As his words fell, the Raikage charged Naruto with overwhelming force, moving so fast that even a single Rinnegan could barely track him!

Fortunately... Sage Mode could still sense the first signs of his movement!

-Shinra Tensei!

Boom!!!

An indiscriminate force field blasted outward in every direction!

Thud!!!

The Raikage's charging figure was forcibly halted right before Naruto. His lightning-clad iron fist was only an inch from Naruto's face!

"Damn you...!!" Planting both feet on the ground, the Raikage strained and drove his fist another half-inch forward, but no matter what he did, he couldn't close the remaining half-inch...!!

After a brief stalemate, a muffled bang rang out, and the Raikage was hurled backward, coming to a stop before Darui and C.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Orochimaru and Konan once again moved in front of Naruto to shield him.

This time, Konan scattered a vast number of paper sheets, while Orochimaru summoned several enormous snakes.

Covering his left eye, Naruto said, still shaken, "The Raikage is truly terrifying when he gets serious. Just now, he nearly held off Shinra Tensei..."

Orochimaru said, "The Raikage's fighting style makes him a particularly difficult opponent for you as you are now. Devastating power paired with absolute speed-anyone could lose their life with the slightest lapse."

Konan said, "But with the Rinnegan in both eyes, you should be able to track his movements precisely, and the Deva Path's techniques wouldn't reach their limits so easily."

Naruto had his own view on that. Ultimately, at this point, my own chakra still isn't powerful enough. I relied too much on Kurama's power before. Even quickly replenishing Sage Mode was only possible once I had Kurama's cooperation. The gap between me and the First Hokage really is enormous...

And thinking back, if the Six Paths hadn't granted us power midway through, how could we have stood against Madara, let alone Kaguya?

There's still a long road ahead. This time, I'll take a different path to true strength!

Darui said, "Boss, the enemy's eye is pretty troublesome, and he has two powerful helpers. I'm afraid taking him down quickly will be difficult..."

The Raikage turned toward the people behind him. "Are you all just going to stand there and watch!?"

Mifune said courteously, "Lord Raikage, the two subordinates they impersonated have been found, both unharmed. Since this is a dispute between ninja, we samurai have no intention of intervening for now...!"

"My back hurts terribly. I'll leave this to you youngsters..."

Ōnoki held his aching lower back and glanced sideways, thinking, The Kazekage has been warning me with his eyes this whole time...

Mei Terumi said, "We're in the Land of Iron. For us ninja to attack so recklessly would be overstepping our bounds..."

Gaara said, "My position hasn't changed. I trust Naruto not to do anything that harms the interests of ninja..."

"What a bunch of damned windbags!!"

Seeing that none of the other Kage intended to act, the Raikage gritted his teeth and shouted at Naruto again. "Naruto Uzumaki, I know Sasuke Uchiha was just here!!! Where did he go? Tell me! This is your last chance!!!"

"Sasuke was just here...!?" Hearing this, Sakura, standing behind Hinata, looked startled.

Naruto smiled instead. "Raikage, why must you give Sasuke such a hard time...?"

The Raikage roared, "You bastard, he killed my brother!!"

Naruto said, "Your brother Killer B is still alive, but members of the Akatsuki have their sights on him. If you move quickly, you might still make it in time..."

The Raikage froze in shock. "What did you say...!?"