"Crack! Snap!!"
The deafening sound of metal clashing was like torrential rain drumming against a tin roof!
The terrifying senbon, infused with Senjutsu Chakra and capable of piercing through steel, slammed like a tidal wave against the Lightning Release Armor that still shimmered with resilient blue light on Ay's body!
Each one carried terrifying individual piercing power, and every impact sent blinding electric sparks flying!
Ay's body was pushed back repeatedly by the massive impact, his feet carving deep furrows into the ground!
He gritted his teeth, his knotted muscles driving with all their might! Violent lightning power surged from the core of his body!
The blue lightning armor seemed to be ignited, its brightness instantly increasing several-fold, as countless thick arcs of electricity leaped, roamed, and exploded wildly across its surface!
His hair stood on end, pointing toward the sky like a hedgehog's quills!
"Haaa!!!"
Accompanied by roars like thunder, Fourth Raikage Ay pushed the defensive power of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to an unprecedented extreme!
This was his pride as the Raikage, the bulwark of his flesh and will, the strongest Lightning Release Armor!!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
The earth-shattering sound of clashing metal instantly drowned out the battlefield! It wasn't rain hitting plantain leaves, but the frantic clang of ten thousand steel needles, laden with destructive senjutsu power, hammering against a bronze wall!
Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!
Hundreds of millions of white hairs, tempered by Natural Energy to be harder than fine steel and sharper than divine weapons, converged into a surging white torrent of death, pouring down with speed exceeding that of a gale-driven crossbow onto the defiantly roaring Lightning Release Armor on Fourth Raikage Ay's body!
Every collision exploded into a cluster of blinding electric arcs and sparks, bursting wildly across Ay's body like fireworks! They were so dense they almost formed a single curtain of light!
The massive impact pushed the Raikage, known for his strength, into a series of staggering retreats, his feet sinking deep into the scorched earth, carving out two alarming deep furrows.
"Ugh!"
Ay grunted, his knotted muscles bulging to the extreme, veins popping like tree roots wrapped around steel!
Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, instantly evaporated by the violent current.
Shame! This unprecedented sense of shame burned his soul! To be suppressed so miserably by the Ninjutsu of this "white-haired toad"?
"Haaaaaa!!!"
A roar mixed with rage, pain, and endless fury exploded from Ay's chest!
The blue lightning armor on his body suddenly doubled in brightness! It was no longer just protective armor, but more like an ignited blue sun!
Several arcs of lightning, thick as buckets and as ferocious as wild snakes, suddenly exploded from his body, roaming and sweeping outward!
Lightning Release: Wild Dance of the Thunder Snakes!
The spreading burst of violent lightning acted like a living barrier, finally and with great difficulty blocking the seemingly endless storm of hair needles!
Although most of the senbon continued to strike, each one had to be weakened layer by layer by this surge of violent thunder snakes.
In the instant bought by this precious burning of Chakra, Ay's eyes turned sharp! He forced his body to twist to the side!
"Swish!!"
Like a spinning top struck by a heavy hammer, carrying blue electricity and lingering sparks, he managed to scrape past the edge of the hair needle torrent at a speed that was nearly clumsy yet at the limit!
"Huff— Huff—"
Ay panted heavily, the air rushing into his lungs with the smell of gunpowder and a hint of blood.
Even with his physique, the previous round of offense and defense had consumed a massive amount of energy. He looked down, his eyes scanning his body as sharp as an eagle's.
On the muscles of his arms and flanks, several sharp white hairs were stuck, having failed to be completely blocked!
They had pierced his tough skin, and at their ends, wisps of azure lightning still lingered—traces of the clash and annihilation between Senjutsu and Lightning Release.
"Heh—" Ay let out a low, contemptuous, yet rage-filled laugh.
He suddenly raised his hand, his fingers like iron pincers. Ignoring the sharp barbs, he pulled out the stubborn hair needles with several "squelch" sounds, tearing away small bits of flesh and tossing them casually to the ground.
Blood instantly seeped from the tiny wounds, but was quickly cauterized and scabbed over by the high temperature of the Lightning Release, leaving several dark red marks.
"Jiraiya!!!"
Ay's thunderous gaze locked onto the sage-transformed figure ahead. His relentless, murderous aura did not weaken; instead, stimulated by his injuries and burning pride, it became even more insane and terrifying!
The next second, the blue light on Ay's body surged once again!
If the previous lightning armor was a solid layer of protection, then at this moment, his entire being seemed to merge into the lightning, emitting a terrifying pressure from the inside out, like a human-shaped heavenly tribulation!
The air let out an overburdened hum, and space itself seemed to warp slightly due to his rapidly gathering energy.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode!
This was a life-risking state that completely burned his Chakra potential, forcing his speed and strength beyond their peak!
The cost was immense, but Ay's eyes held only one goal: to destroy the powerful enemy before him!
"Die!!!"
Only a sonic boom cloud and an instantly cracked crater remained where he had stood!
Ay's figure completely vanished from mortal sight, leaving only a stretched, space-tearing blue trail that hurtled toward Sage Jiraiya with enough kinetic energy to crush everything!
This time, the speed was so fast that even Fukasaku couldn't help but exclaim from Jiraiya's shoulder: "Watch out! Boy Jiraiya!"
However, beneath the sage mask, the corner of Jiraiya's mouth curled into a wild, battle-hungry smile that was completely out of place on his toad-like face!
"So fast!"
Those toad eyes caught the rapidly expanding blue light, and he praised it in his heart.
He could clearly "sense" the terrifying explosive power contained in the opponent's current state.
But usually, this kind of trump card doesn't last for very long.
Generally speaking, simply stalling for a bit would be the best solution.
But, with the corner of his mouth curled up in Sage Mode, Jiraiya thought: Me, avoid his edge?
That might have been his choice in his normal state, but it certainly wouldn't be his choice in Sage Mode!
Heroic spirit welled up in his heart! The surging power brought by Sage Mode filled him with unprecedented confidence!
Instead of retreating, he lowered his stance and shifted his center of gravity forward!
At the same time, the five fingers of his toad-like right hand curled slightly. In his palm, pure yet destructive Natural Energy gathered and condensed frantically!
Buzz!
A high-speed rotating blue light sphere, its interior as deep as a swirling nebula, instantly formed in his palm!
Sage Art: Rasengan!
It was more solid and brilliant than a normal Rasengan, and the whistling sound from its rotation even drowned out the howling wind and thunder!
"Heh!!"
Facing the blue comet that had reached him in the blink of an eye, Jiraiya let out an earth-shattering roar!
His right arm muscles tightened like steel cables as he thrust the ultimate Rasengan, which contained the great power of nature, directly toward that thunderous fist without any trickery!
The Fourth Raikage also recognized this Ninjutsu. His pupils contracted, but he had no way back now. He threw a lightning-flashing punch that collided with the Rasengan.
In an instant, blue light flared brightly, mixed with countless flashes of lightning.
Sage Art: Rasengan vs. Lariat!
"Boom!!!!!"
An indescribable, violent explosion rang out! It was as if ten thousand tons of explosives had been detonated at the center!
A terrifying shockwave of materialized energy, mixed with violent lightning and tearing whirlwinds, spread wildly in all directions like a doomsday tsunami, centered on the point of impact!
At the core of the light and energy turbulence, time seemed to freeze!
Ay's eyes went wide, and his bloodshot gaze was filled with unbelievable shock!
What came from his knuckles was a spiral tearing force far beyond imagination, enough to crush everything!
That violent high-speed rotation instantly tore through and disintegrated his Lightning Release Armor!
His finger bones wailed, and his arm bones groaned, as if they would be sucked into that destructive vortex and completely shattered in the next second!
"Uaaaahhhh!!!"
Intense pain, like a volcanic eruption, flooded Ay's nerves!
The strength he was so proud of seemed so pale and powerless before this senjutsu power!
For the first time, a premonition of defeat surfaced clearly in his heart.
But as the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, there was no turning back!
"Break!!!"
His frantic roar drowned out the pain!
At the critical moment, Ay's intact left fist burned with his final defiance and violence, carrying the purest Lightning Release energy squeezed to its absolute limit, blasting like a heavy cannon toward Jiraiya, who was wrapped in white hair!
He no longer hoped to break the defense, only seeking to use his strongest power to shake the opponent for a moment!
Jiraiya's wild white hair grew rapidly, instantly enveloping his body, and on the outermost layer of this hair were sharp needles formed by individual strands.
"Sage Art: Needle Jizo!"
"Boom!!!"
This punch landed solidly on the Sage Art: Needle Jizo that covered Jiraiya's entire body!
Countless sharp white hairs instantly pierced the weak lightning light wrapped around the fist! Blood splattered!
But the terrifying impact still passed through the layers of white hair defense, slamming hard into Jiraiya's chest!
"Hmph!"
Jiraiya in Sage Mode also shook violently! A surge of blood roiled in his chest!
Shima on his back cried out in distress: "Little Jiraiya!"
Even with a Sage Body, he felt immense pressure from this force!
Even if the Fourth Raikage's strength was only at an average Kage-level, the power of a desperate punch from someone so outstanding in strength could not be underestimated!
However, just at the moment when the power of Ay's left hand reached its peak—when his old strength was exhausted and new strength had yet to be born!
From beneath the surging white hair came Jiraiya's voice, cold as a winter wind: "Got you!"
"Sage Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
The thick white hair that had been binding and cushioning Ay's right fist and the Sage Art: Rasengan was suddenly endowed with life!
Millions of white hairs suddenly surged and coiled! Like countless pure white venomous pythons, they instantly abandoned defense and, with lightning speed, wound along Ay's left arm toward his shoulders, neck, chest, and waist!
The Fourth Raikage's hair stood on end; facing this long white hair that seemed alive, his figure suddenly retreated explosively.
However, at such a close distance, no matter how fast he was, he still didn't completely escape.
"Crack!!!"
The tooth-aching sound of bones being snapped by a terrifying force rang out clearly and piercingly amidst the aftershocks of the energy explosion!
Ay's eyes bulged! His body trembled uncontrollably and violently!
His right arm, where it had clashed head-on with the Sage Art: Rasengan, was torn open, its muscles twisted and deformed, making it almost impossible for him to continue his attack.
His left arm, after bearing the reaction force of his strongest punch, saw its fragile bone snap under the terrifying constriction of those white hair strands!
Like a piece of rotten wood smashed by an iron rod! It hung there limply.
Both arms were useless! Intense pain swallowed his will like a tide! A mouthful of blood was spat out with a "wah"!
"Ugh—aaaaah!!!"
Ay let out a scream like a dying beast, his survival instinct driving the last trace of Lightning Release Chakra in his body to erupt violently, like a flickering light before death!
"Sizzle—!!"
Powerful currents darted through the gaps in the white hair, attempting to burn and paralyze these lethal ropes.
At the same time, Ay used all his strength to suddenly break backward again!
"Rip!"
Dozens of white hairs were snapped, but they also took large chunks of flesh from his arms! Ay finally broke free, but he flew backward like a broken doll, landing miserably on the ground and rolling several times before barely stopping.
Blood flowed continuously from his arms, mouth, nose, and even the places where the white hair had pierced him.
The two arms that were once enough to split mountains and stop rivers now hung unnaturally at his sides like two tattered rags.
His chest heaved violently, and sweat poured down like rain, mixed with rolling blood.
He was at a dead end!
Those bloodshot, still-fierce eyes, which could no longer hide their despair, stared fixedly at the white-haired sage ahead.
Escape? Both arms were useless, his Chakra was nearly exhausted, his Lightning Release Armor was crumbling, and the opponent's speed even surpassed his own at his peak! Was there any point?
"It's over, Fourth Raikage."
The cold voice, like a proclamation of death, interrupted Ay's chaotic thoughts.
He suddenly looked up! He found that Sage Jiraiya's figure had disappeared! The warning signs of fear instantly spiked to the peak!
In the sky!
A dazzling, blinding light tore through the pervasive dust, like a second sun rising overhead!
Ay's field of vision was instantly occupied by a profound, massive, rapidly rotating, and all-destroying energy sphere!
"Sage Art: Rasengan!"
That highly compressed vortex of Natural Energy was now as large as a house! Its edges tore at the air, letting out a wail like a ghost! This was the final strike, concentrating all the power of Sage Mode!
Despair! A complete, cold despair instantly seized Ay's heart! His body could no longer move an inch! Dodging was a luxury!
"Roar!!!"
A roar originating from the depths of his soul, containing endless unwillingness, his obsession with the Village, and the primal fear of death, erupted from the depths of Ay's throat! This was the final swan song of his life!
There was no way out! He could only take it head-on!
"Pfft—cough cough!"
Ay suddenly spat out a large mouthful of foul blood, staining the scorched earth beneath him.
His body suddenly stood straight, though he was swaying! Every trace of Chakra remaining in his body, squeezed from his very marrow, was poured without reservation into that crumbling Lightning Release Armor!
"Aaaaaah!!"
The final Lightning Release Armor!
The light of the lightning actually became fierce again! Like a candle in the wind burning its last life!
It was no longer an armor; it was more like a barrier ignited by all his life force and will to protect his own existence!
It covered his broken body, thicker than ever before, the blue light so piercing that people couldn't even look directly at him, like a giant of lightning!
"I haven't lost yet!!"
Amidst Ay's roar in the final moments of his life, that destructive Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan finally crashed down like divine punishment, slamming hard into his "final Lightning Release Armor"!
"Boom!!!"
A world-shaking explosion, far surpassing anything before!
The massive energy sphere suddenly expanded, then collapsed inward, and finally expanded again!
The blinding blue-white light illuminated the entire battlefield like broad daylight! A massive mushroom cloud, mixed with lightning and Sage Art vortices, rolled up into the sky!
At the center of the energy storm, that incomparably brilliant Lightning Release Armor bloomed with the ultimate light representing the burning of life the moment it touched the Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!
"Crack—!"
Cracks! Like a breaking ice surface, cracks spread crazily! They appeared on the surface of the light representing Ay's life and will—Ay's eyes were wide, his teeth clenched to the point of breaking! He squeezed out the last drop of power from his body!
Persist! Even just for one more moment!
But this miracle lasted for less than half a second! The force of that ultimate spiral storm containing Sage Art Natural Energy, in its process of decomposing and crushing, completely exceeded the limit of what pure Chakra combustion could withstand!
"Bang!!!"
A crisp, clean sound of shattering, symbolizing the absolute crushing of power! That "final Lightning Release Armor" which condensed Fourth Raikage Ay's last will and life, shattered like fragile glass under the relentless rotating force of the Sage Art: Rasengan!
It turned into brilliant yet sorrowful blue star-points scattering across the sky!
No!
Without the protection of the armor, the destructive Sage Art energy met no further resistance and struck Ay's body squarely!
"Is this as far as I can go?" the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but think.
In the next moment, intense pain radiated from his body.
And his ears seemed to vaguely hear that guy Killer Bee's angry roar.
This... should be... a hallucination before death, right?