On one side roared a strike so overwhelming it felt as if it could split the earth itself, black lightning surging, sky dimming, A's Black Lightning One-Finger Assault tearing through the air.
On the other side was a simple, almost plain attack, no light, no sound, no flashy spectacle. Just straightforward, Haki covered Shigan.
But the moment Garp's finger met A's, it was as if the gravity in the surrounding area warped, multiplying dozens of times over.
Within several hundred meters, the airflow turned thick and viscous, flowing like a lake in motion. The previously invisible air became visible, dense, fluid, almost corporeal.
Then, under a deafening boom that shook the entire battlefield, the viscous air erupted like boiling water.
It seethed and surged like a raging ocean, unleashing wave after wave of terrifying shockwaves that swept across the area, ripping up layers of ground and engulfing the battlefield.
Even those not standing close, Danzo, Tsunade, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and Dan, were forced to throw up defensive Earth-Style walls just to avoid being torn apart by the relentless storm of air.
Boom! Boom!
No one knew how many Earth Walls were raised, or how many were shattered, before the aftermath generated by Garp and the Raikage's clash finally began to fade.
"Lord Garp...."
"Raikage-sama…."
When the two sides cautiously lifted their heads and looked toward the center of the battlefield, they saw Garp alone walking out of the sky-darkening smoke and dust.
Seeing Garp emerge unscathed, clothes immaculate, not even a crease disturbed, Dodai and the other Cloud shinobi felt their hearts sink into an icy heaviness.
One by one, Cloud-nin dropped their weapons.
Knees buckled.
Bodies slumped.
Dozens… then hundreds… soon thousands of Cloud shinobi knelt, though most were still capable of fighting. Yet not a shred of fighting spirit remained.
Just like during the Fourth Great Ninja War, when shinobis witnessed Madara's power, many simply lost all will to resist, collapsing into despair like lambs awaiting slaughter.
"Damn it."
Some accepted death. Others refused to sit and wait.
Among those unwilling were Dodai, C, Toroi, and the elite of the Hidden Cloud.
Seeing only Garp walk out from the center, no sign of the Third Raikage, each of them gripped their weapons, ready to throw their lives away if needed.
Facing the dozens of elite Jonin slowly closing in, weapons in hand, Garp didn't even glance at them.
"Leave."
He didn't stop walking, just tossed the word over his shoulder, sounding mildly irritated as he passed Dodai and the others.
"Thank you, Lord Garp, for your generosity."
Dodai's face was expressionless.
"But compared to being spared, I would rather choose the same end as Raikage-sama."
Toroi said in a deep voice.
The other Cloud Jonin said nothing, but their expressions were resolute.
Victory? They never expected it.
They had simply made the same choice the Third Raikage had moments earlier.
"Everyone… stop."
Just as Dodai and the dozen elite Jonin prepared to charge to their deaths, a weak, sorrowful voice suddenly rose behind them.
"Third Raikage?"
"He's still alive?"
Everyone whipped around.
And in the dissipating smoke, they finally saw him, his body broken, arm drenched in blood, lying in a massive crater. Barely clinging to life, but alive.
"Raikage-sama."
Dodai and the others abandoned the idea of dying and rushed to him, carefully lifting him up.
But when they finally saw his hand, especially the finger once hailed as the strongest spear, crushed flat as if smashed by a hammer, dented all the way to the knuckle…
They were speechless. Their hearts twisted bitterly.
First the strongest shield shattered. Now the strongest spear smashed flat.
They could imagine the depth of the Third Raikage's despair… and his pain.
"Garp… why didn't you kill me?"
Ignoring the Cloud Jonin, the Third Raikage fixed his gaze on Garp's broad back that seemed capable of holding up the sky.
"You don't know?"
"Oh, right. I only told that to Onoki brat."
Garp slapped his forehead lightly, sounding annoyed.
"Tsk. Getting old. My strength keeps going up, but my memory seems to be slipping."
Without looking back, he said.
"Listen well, Raikage boy. I'll only say this once. I have no interest whatsoever…
in childish little war games between your shinobi villages."
The moment he finished speaking, uproar erupted across the battlefield.
Cloud or Konoha, every shinobi who heard him stared in shock, jaws hanging open.
"Childish… war games?
Garp… you dare call the battle I staked my life on, Cloud's battle, a child's tantrum?"
A, trembled with rage.
His wounds burst open with a sharp splatter, blood gushing down in pools.
If not for his extraordinary physique, and the medical-nin desperately trying to save him, he would have died then and there from his injuries tearing open again.
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