The Third Raikage's current state of mind could no longer be described as mere shock. What he was witnessing was completely beyond his expectations.
How is this possible?
That a human could take his full-force punch and still survive? His fist was powerful enough to sever the Eight-Tails' tail in a single strike. That kind of strength, when landing on a human body, should have blasted a hole straight through—even with Kage-level chakra protecting them. Yet before his eyes, Hoshiyomi was climbing back to his feet. It was absurd.
No—something was different.
The Third Raikage suddenly noticed what was unusual about Hoshiyomi: his aura and strength were climbing higher and higher. His presence had already been terrifying before, but now it was rising yet another level.
At this point, the sheer momentum radiating off Hoshiyomi alone was enough to send chills down spines. Forget the chunin and genin—even the jōnin from both Suna and Kumo felt the urge to kneel under the oppressive pressure.
Aside from the wound in his chest that was rapidly knitting closed, what drew the Raikage's sharpest attention were the blue-silver motes of light floating around Hoshiyomi and the Sage markings on his face.
Though he had never seen such a thing before, the Raikage was certain: this was an extremely terrifying secret technique.
Hoshiyomi strode toward him, voice low with suppressed anger:
"Honestly, I underestimated you. I thought I wouldn't even need this to deal with you easily. But it seems I was too careless…"
It was true—Hoshiyomi had grown overconfident. He could have used Dance of the Startled Swan to avoid that Lightning Oppression: Horizontal Chop just now, but he had arrogantly chosen to rely only on Shunpo. That mistake had left him on the defensive.
Fortunately, his overall power was still above the Third Raikage's. And with the insane regenerative ability of Sage Mode, he could easily overturn the disadvantage.
Watching the wound on Hoshiyomi's chest close before his very eyes, the Raikage furrowed his brow. His suspicion was confirmed—Hoshiyomi was indeed using some terrifying secret technique. And from the looks of it, this technique had no time limit.
I can't afford to drag this out any longer. I need to end this quickly.
With that thought, the Raikage abandoned his usual battle talk. He didn't even bother replying to Hoshiyomi's words—instead, he unleashed his maximum speed, charging straight at him.
His Lightning Release Armor flared, thunder blazing from his right hand with a brilliance that could blind. His four fingers pressed tightly together. This was his signature move:
Hell Stab – Four-Finger Nukite!
Those four joined fingers shot straight for Hoshiyomi's heart. He intended to pierce it clean through with this strike.
But before his Four-Finger Nukite could land, a fierce pale-blue sword energy, sparkling with those blue-silver motes of light, shot directly toward him.
At his charging speed, dodging was impossible—or perhaps, he never even considered dodging. The Raikage believed that supreme speed also meant supreme power. He would smash through Hoshiyomi's sword energy head-on.
Boom!
The Four-Finger Nukite collided with Hoshiyomi's sword energy, unleashing a powerful explosion. But before the smoke had even cleared, the Raikage burst through it, arriving at Hoshiyomi's previous position.
Yet Hoshiyomi was gone.
The strike had missed. And worse—suddenly, a flash of blue-silver light cut across the Raikage's vision. An instant later, blood erupted from his arm.
The Third Raikage looked down, and his pupils shrank sharply. His upper right arm was nearly severed, the muscle tissue completely cut through, blood gushing out as if it cost nothing.
How is this possible?
If the wound on his chest could be explained by him going all-in on the attack and neglecting defense, then how could this wound on his arm be justified?
When using the Four-Finger Nukite, his arm's Lightning Release Armor was at its thickest—stronger than anywhere else on his body. Yet even that had been cut through, his arm nearly cleaved off entirely.
Impossible. Where had that attack even come from?!
For the first time, even the Third Raikage felt a chill of fear. His Lightning Release Armor was said to be the "Strongest Shield," an absolute defense. In the original story, even Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode had barely managed to crack it with a point-blank Rasenshuriken.
Yet Hoshiyomi's slash hadn't just broken his armor—it had carved a deep, bone-revealing wound into his arm.
That meant Hoshiyomi's strike surpassed even an S-rank ninjutsu like the Rasenshuriken in destructive power!
While the Raikage was still reeling at that thought, another flash of cold, blue-silver light struck. Another slash shattered the armor he had just reforged and left a fresh wound across his body.
At the same moment, Hoshiyomi's voice rang out:
"Has no one ever told you that interrupting others is extremely rude?"
As he spoke, the sword light flashed again. This time, the slash appeared on the Third Raikage's back. The result was the same as the previous slash; it also left a wound on his back.
The Third Raikage quickly turned and threw a punch, but it still hit nothing.
Another flash of blue-silver light appeared before his eyes. This time, it was his thigh that bled. The Third Raikage now looked as if he had seen a ghost. How could this be?
He, who prided himself on his speed and strength—was actually being utterly outclassed in speed?
Gekko Hoshiyomi was carving wound after wound into him, while he couldn't even graze the edge of Hoshiyomi's clothes.
His breathing grew ragged. He swung wildly, fists lashing out in a storm, but all he struck were afterimages. Nothing touched Hoshiyomi.
"Impossible! What the hell trick are you using?!" The Third Raikage shouted hysterically.
He could accept being outmaneuvered, or even being countered by some strange secret technique—but the one thing he could never accept was having his proudest attribute, his speed, crushed into dust.
As he gasped for breath after his outburst, another spray of blood erupted from his body.
And then, calmly, Hoshiyomi appeared right in front of him.
Looking into the Raikage's bloodshot eyes, Hoshiyomi's expression was serene as he declared:
"Accept it. Right now, I am faster than you. And I am stronger. At this moment, my speed stands above yours!"