"Why? Was I wrong? This era was never mine to begin with… your era of Fist has never ended."
Third Raikage stared at Garp, whose clothes hadn't gathered even a speck of dust from the very beginning of the battle until now.
He looked like a man driven to a dead end, letting out hoarse cries filled with anger, helplessness, and unwillingness.
"..."
Garp didn't answer. He merely brushed off his black suit jacket, smoothing out the small crease at the cuff.
"Answer me."
Seeing Garp treat him like thin air, A, clenched his teeth and roared.
"Brat, you seem to have misunderstood something all along."
Garp finished tidying his suit, then finally lifted his head, shifting his gaze back to A.
That small gesture alone felt like he was telling the Raikage, and everyone present from Konoha and Kumogakure, that the so-called strongest Raikage in history mattered less than the fold on his sleeve.
"What did I misunderstand?"
The Third Raikage panted heavily.
Whether it was from agitation or simply because his body could no longer endure, each ragged breath made the cracks across his chest, those hideous, fissure-like wounds, expand even further.
"I didn't leave the shinobi world because my era had ended with the closing of the Warring States, nor because the new era had no place for me."
Garp's gaze was calm and fathomless, like a still, icy lake.
Not far away, Tsunade, Danzo, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio, and the other Konoha shinobi held their breath, staring at him without blinking.
Ever since Garp reemerged and they saw for themselves the presence of the greatest powerhouse of the past era, they understood one thing clearly.
He was not some relic left behind by a bygone age, nor a man who abandoned the shinobi world because he couldn't find a home in the new era.
But that only made them more curious, more confused.
Why would a man who ended the Warring States Period… a man who once held the highest fame, power, wealth, and strength in the shinobi world… choose to suddenly vanish at the very peak of his life, leaving not a single clue behind?
"Then why?"
A, exhaled a breath thick with iron-scented blood.
"Perhaps… because to you shinobi, I was simply far too strong.
After I ended that period, I realized that this so-called new age, one that Hashirama and Madara longed for so desperately, felt only dull and boring to me.
To add a bit of excitement to my dry and monotonous life, I traveled through every inch of the shinobi world… yet in the end, all I felt was emptiness and loneliness."
A trace of reminiscence flickered in Garp's eyes, his voice growing deeper, heavier, carrying the weight of years:
"Later, I understood. The new shinobi world was simply too small. A tiny scrap of land that couldn't even withstand me stirring things up alone.
So I gave up the idea of wandering the world any further. Coincidentally, that was when Hashirama and Madara invented something called a shinobi village.
With Hashirama's repeated invitations, I chose to retire in Konoha… living with nothing but a few dogs as company."
With just a few simple sentences, he painted a picture, a sweeping, unmatched portrait of an invincible man who had crushed every ninja and samurai of his time, yet in the end could only retreat to Konoha, with only dogs as his companions.
Everyone on the battlefield, Tsunade, Danzo, and the Konoha ninja, as well as the Raikage, Dodai, and the Kumogakure shinobi, felt an overwhelming, unparalleled dominance… alongside a deep helplessness and sorrow of a man who sought a worthy opponent and found none.
"So that's why the hero of the shinobi world disappeared?"
"One man suppressing an entire era…"
"Possessing an invincible Iron Fist yet having no opponent left in the new age."
Realization struck the battlefield like thunder.
When they understood why Garp vanished after the Warring States instead of claiming the new era as his own, they felt a shock unlike anything before.
Especially the Konoha side. Especially Tsunade. Especially Danzo.
She was the First Hokage's granddaughter. He was the Second Hokage's student.
Because of their identities, the two of them understood better than anyone how both fortunate and unfortunate the top-tier shinobi and samurai of the Warring States Period had been.
Unfortunate, because one man's fists suppressed an entire age.
Fortunate, because they personally witnessed the existence of such a monster of a man… someone who needed no clan, no village, no nation.
Someone who could rely on nothing but his own fists to crush every warrior and shinobi of his time.
Even Hashirama and Madara had needed the full backing of their clans just to barely contend with those Fists.
"..."
A, said nothing. His face was twisted with bitterness and defeat as he looked at Garp.
The confidence in his eyes and the pride in his heart was collapsing at an astonishing pace.
"So, Raikage… now you should understand. It's not that the new era couldn't hold me. It's that this era could never withstand my Fist.
The shinobi world may change from one era to the next… but the era that belongs to me has never ended. And as for you…"
Garp's voice dropped, each word striking like an S-rank ultimate technique, smashing into the towering body of the Third Raikage, making him sway violently.
"…your era never began at all."
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[Bonus chapter for 100 power stones, next one on 200 stones.]
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