"Hero? Iron Fist? I don't care what you were called, right now, you're nothing but a decrepit old ninja."
Higashi's face twisted with vicious delight. He ignored Kitsuchi's distant warning and poured even more chakra into his jutsu.
Watching the sharp forest of stone spears about to pierce Garp, excitement surged through his chest.
This was a man whose fame, status, and strength once stood above everyone else.
To personally kill such a legend, no matter if he had worked with hundreds of Iwa-nin, after today, Higashi's name would soar far above the once-glorious White Fang of Konoha.
Crack!
But the instant that hellish storm of stone spears slammed into Garp, the ferocity on Higashi's face and the triumph in his eyes froze solid.
A thunderous boom echoed.
One after another, the stone spears that shot forward with relentless force shattered like brittle twigs the moment they struck Garp's massive, muscular body, like they had rammed straight into a mountain.
Hundreds of Iwa-nin combining their strength for Earth Release still failed to tear even the fabric of Garp's black suit, let alone pierce the indestructible muscles beneath.
"H-How… how is this possible?"
"Wasn't this monster so old he fell asleep?"
"All of us together couldn't even puncture his outfit with Earth Spears."
The horrifying sight left Kitsuchi and the others utterly stunned.
"I dozed off not because I'm old… but because you're all too weak. So weak you made this old man sleepy."
Just as every Iwa-nin was sinking into fear, the bubble rising from Garp's snoring nose popped with a soft bop, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He didn't move a single muscle.
But just opening his eyes was like a tailed beast roaring, like a hurricane tearing through the battlefield.
A terrifying, indescribable aura exploded outward, forcing numerous Iwa-nin to collapse to their knees instantly.
"Retreat! The Hero of the Shinobi World is about to unleash his power!"
Kitsuchi's eyes contracted sharply. He strained to withstand Garp's pressure while yelling with all his might.
"Lord Kitsuchi, don't let him scare you, he's just an old, ah….."
Suspended in midair, Higashi tried to speak. But then a colossal force erupted from Garp's five fingers.
In an instant, Higashi's neck was crushed like dry bark. Blood sprayed outward like a dozen arrows, leaving Kitsuchi both shocked, enraged, and terrified.
He had seen it clearly.
Higashi had already used Earth Release to harden his body, but in Garp's grip, his hardened flesh burst like a balloon pricked with a needle.
"Lord Garp, please, let me explain…. "
"You haven't finished your sentence, but I have already heard enough."
After crushing Higashi's neck, Garp cut off Kitsuchi with an expressionless face.
Then, before the eyes of every Iwa-nin and the Sannin who had secretly emerged from within the rock formations, he suddenly reached down and thrust his hand into the ground.
Crack!
A moment later, the earth split apart.
A fissure hundreds of meters long tore across the battlefield. Then Garp pulled upward.
From the solid rock beneath, he ripped out a massive boulder with a radius of two hundred meters, an uprooted mountain.
"Hurry, prepare defenses for the coming attack!"
Kitsuchi's eyes nearly burst. Horror twisted his features.
"Earth Style: Great Mud Wall."
The Iwa-nin, who had nearly bolted in panic, stood frozen like stunned animals. Only when Kitsuchi roared did they summon all remaining willpower and begin forming seals.
Hoisting the mountainous boulder high like a god above mortals, Garp looked down at the rising Mud Wall with a glint of disdain.
Then he hurled the boulder forward.
No elegant ninjutsu.
No strange genjutsu.
Only the pure, unmatched physical might that had dominated the shinobi world since the Warring States Period.
Under Garp's throw, the colossal mass shot through the air like a cannon shell.
Before it even fell, its world-blackening shadow and suffocating pressure swallowed every Iwa-nin below, including Kitsuchi.
"Heh… we truly didn't know who we were messing with."
"What were we doing just now? Actually thinking we could fight something like that?"
"The Hero of the Shinobi World… So he is the monster from the previous era?"
Despair surged like waves, crushing the spirit of every Iwagakure shinobi.
Those already terrified into a daze collapsed one after another.
Across the vast battlefield, aside from Kitsuchi, who barely remained standing, every Iwa-nin had succumbed to despair and fear. They lay limp on the ground, quietly awaiting death.
Even with the mud wall, none of them felt the slightest hint of safety or hope.
"It's over…."
Kitsuchi stared at the colossal boulder filling his entire field of vision as it plummeted downward.
Before the thought even fully formed, the boulder crashed into the wall like a descending meteor.
The wall, created from the combined strength of hundreds of Iwa-nin, shattered on impact, collapsing instantly with a deafening boom.
Without its support, the massive rock surged forward unhindered.
A devastating explosion reverberated through the Land of Earth as hundreds of Iwa-nin were crushed like insects, turned to blood mist without even a single scream.
But even after erasing them, the giant boulder Garp had thrown did not stop.
Carrying the force of a god, it slammed straight into the earth with unstoppable might.