"How dare you look down on me! Who do you think you are?!"
The Third Raikage let out a terrifying roar. The Lightning Style Chakra that had momentarily flickered out didn't just return—it surged, condensing into a blinding, incandescent white that was far more intense than anything he had shown before.
"You're nothing but a fossil from a dead age! There isn't a village in this era that has room for you!"
The shinobi across the battlefield felt their vision blur and their ears ring as the Raikage, fully cloaked in his Lightning Style Armor, thrust his left hand forward. His fingers were stiff and pointed like a blade, aimed directly at Ikki's heart.
Sizzle—!
The sheer physical power of the Raikage, amplified by the lightning's vibration, turned the air around them thick and viscous. When the strike landed, the atmospheric pressure exploded. A shockwave rippled outward like the surface of a disturbed lake, sending rings of crackling thunder and debris flying in every direction.
"Lord Ikki!"
On the Konoha side, every heart plummeted—save for Tsunade's. She remained still, her faith unshaken.
Conversely, the Cloud shinobi were already beginning to cheer.
"Even a legend can't survive a direct hit like that from Lord Raikage! It's over!"
Many of the Cloud-nin had been quietly terrified since Ikki's mountain-shattering debut. The weight of the "Iron Fist" title was an insurmountable mountain pressing down on the psyche of the entire ninja world. But now, seeing the "remnant" take a killing blow while napping, they felt a surge of predatory triumph.
Zzzzz... snore—
As the billowing smoke cleared, the atmosphere on the battlefield did a violent about-face.
A second ago, Danzo and the others were paralyzed by the fear that their only hope had just been snuffed out by a nap. Now, their faces shifted from horror to a look of ecstatic, wide-eyed awe.
The Cloud shinobi, meanwhile, went ashen.
The dust was still thick, and only Hyuga Hizashi's Byakugan could truly pierce the veil, but the sound was unmistakable. The steady, rhythmic snoring of a man in deep REM sleep echoed through the crater.
"No... that's impossible..."
The Third Raikage stared blankly at his left hand. His fingers were pressed firmly against Ikki's chest, right over the heart. But he hadn't opened a hole. He hadn't even managed to tear the fabric of the black suit.
He looked up. Ikki's head was still lolled back, his eyes closed, his breathing deep and even. He was still out cold.
The initial shock in the Raikage's heart was instantly incinerated by a rage that threatened to consume his soul. This was a war. This was a duel of shadows. And this old man was sleeping through it. The disrespect was tectonic.
"Hell Stab: Four-Finger Spear!"
Lightning erupted from the Raikage's body in a violent, jagged aura. He raised four fingers, concentrating his chakra into four points like indestructible lances, and drove them into Ikki's chest with everything he had.
CLANG!
There was no sound of tearing flesh, no snapping of ribs, no squelch of internal organs. Instead, a harsh, metallic screech echoed across the field—the sound of tempered steel striking an anvil.
"Are you kidding me?!" The Raikage's face contorted.
His "Four-Finger Spear" was capable of piercing through a solid mountain, but hitting Ikki felt like trying to thrust his hand through the core of the planet. Not only had he achieved nothing, but a sharp, stinging sensation shot up his arm.
Pain.
It was a sensation he hadn't felt in decades. Between his naturally indomitable constitution and his lightning armor, the Third Raikage usually ignored any attack below an S-rank forbidden technique. He was the "Ultimate Shield." But now, while he was acting as the "Strongest Spear," he was the one feeling the sting of the impact.
Pop!
The snot bubble at Ikki's nose burst.
"Yawn... oh, hey there, Raikage kid. Did you wake me up?" Ikki opened his eyes and rubbed them lazily, looking like a man who had just been disturbed from a pleasant Sunday afternoon nap. "I'm really sorry about that. You know how it is... when you get to be my age, the eyelids just get so heavy."
He stretched his massive arms, his joints popping like small explosions.
"Well then," Ikki said, looking at the Raikage with a sleepy, encouraging smile. "You can start now."
Silence.
A deathly, absolute silence fell over the battlefield. The screaming, the explosions, the clashing of steel—it all vanished. The weight of Ikki's words was so heavy that even a falling needle would have sounded like a thunderclap.
To Ikki, the Raikage's desperate, lethal strikes weren't an assault; they were a wake-up call. The phrase "You can start now" made it clear to everyone present: the legendary Iron Fist hadn't even realized he was being attacked.
The Third Raikage didn't respond with words. His face turned a deep, bruised shade of purple as he retracted his hand. He folded his fingers until only his pinky remained extended.
The One-Finger Spear. The ultimate concentration of his power.
He stepped forward, his feet shattering the ground, and drove his finger toward the center of Ikki's forehead with every ounce of his killing intent.