In the distance, dust filled the sky, and cracks scarred the ground everywhere.
The grass and trees that had once grown there had been reduced to ash by the repeated eruptions of energy.
A towering figure stood on the battlefield, clad in lightning armor, unleashing a flurry of thrusts as he charged into the Rock Ninja army.
No ninjutsu had any effect on him. The Rock Ninja's Earth Release hardening was like a sheet of paper before the Third Raikage, pierced with a single thrust.
The battle raged from dawn until nightfall.
The Rock Ninja attacked again and again, but none could break through the Third Raikage's Lightning Release armor.
Instead, he turned and charged into their ranks, slaughtering them.
Watching the Third Raikage grow fiercer with every exchange, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was momentarily dazed.
If he remembered correctly, the man was about his age. Both of them already had one foot in the grave, so why was one still so powerful while he spent all day holding his lower back, afraid of throwing it out? Was this the difference between them?
A full moon hung high overhead. Corpses littered the battlefield, and blood pooled into small lakes in the muddy pits.
By now, the Rock Ninja had suffered over a thousand casualties, and even Ōnoki could no longer sit still. These were Iwagakure's reserves. Against just one man, they had already lost a tenth of their forces.
Even as the Tsuchikage, he would struggle to account for this.
He changed his strategy, no longer allowing the Rock Ninja to clash head-on with their opponent. Instead, they kept their distance and attacked the Third Raikage with ninjutsu.
Ōnoki joined the fight as well, using Dust Release to hinder the Third Raikage's movements while the ninja army attacked him with