Hoshiyomi had just spoken a lie that wasn't exactly a lie.
In Sage Mode, combined with Shunpo, his speed was indeed a little faster than the Third Raikage's—but not so fast that even the Raikage couldn't touch the hem of his clothes.
Purely in terms of speed, the Third Raikage was already near the absolute limit of what a human could achieve. Without using space–time ninjutsu, that was as fast as the human body could go.
(Of course, when speaking of "human limits," that excludes monsters like Six Paths Madara or Eighth Gate Guy—those were beings that had surpassed humanity entirely.)
At such extreme speeds, even when facing the instantaneous movement created by Minato's Flying Thunder God, the Third Raikage could normally react in time to defend himself. So how could the current situation, where he couldn't even touch Hoshiyomi's clothes, possibly occur?
Hoshiyomi's ability to display such performance, comparable to space-time ninjutsu, was entirely due to his newly developed skill: Moon Shadow Step.
As mentioned earlier, Perfect Sage Mode allowed him to remain invisible even while moving at high speed through his Transparent Release. When combined with Shunpo, this created the Moon Shadow Step.
The enemy couldn't capture his true form—at most, they'd catch a fleeting translucent afterimage.
In this battle against the Third Raikage, the terrifying power of the Moon Shadow Step was fully revealed.
The Raikage's dominance over the shinobi world came from his speed and strength. Unlike Hoshiyomi, who was a "hexagonal warrior" with all-around attributes, the Raikage was specialized in those two areas—while being weaker in others.
And his weakest point was his perception. Kumogakure never had any remarkable sensory techniques, and the Raikage's Lightning Release Armor constantly emitted chakra, interfering with any perception he might have had.
With his sensory abilities practically nonexistent, Hoshiyomi's phantom-like assaults had the perfect opening.
The Raikage relied entirely on eyesight and nerve reflexes to track opponents—but the Moon Shadow Step tricked both.
To an onlooker, it looked like Hoshiyomi slashed once, then instantly teleported somewhere else.
But in reality, Hoshiyomi wasn't that much faster. He simply went invisible first, attacked, then vanished again to reposition before striking once more.
Because the Raikage couldn't perceive him or see him, it created the illusion that Hoshiyomi's speed completely overwhelmed him.
But of course, this little secret was not something Hoshiyomi intended to share. Better to let the Raikage remain in the dark.
At this moment, the entire battlefield had fallen still. Both Sunagakure and Kumogakure shinobi had stopped fighting, staring blankly at what had just happened.
"Y-you've got to be kidding… The invincible Third Raikage… actually beaten by Gekko Hoshiyomi?"
"The Third Raikage was already a monster, but that so-called Konoha's Silver Moon… he's even more of a monster…"
The duel between the two was enough to make heaven and earth pale. Everyone present trembled in both spirit and body, their eyes filled with an unshakable dread.
They hadn't been able to see the movements clearly—but now that the two had stopped, their conditions told the story.
Hoshiyomi, in Sage Mode with his chakra transformed into Yang Release, possessed recovery on par with Tsunade's Creation Rebirth. After this brief time, his wounds had completely healed. Aside from the tatters in his clothing, he looked perfectly unscathed.
By contrast, the Third Raikage looked utterly wretched. His body was drenched in blood, his clothes in shreds. Hoshiyomi's slashes had broken through his Lightning Release Armor, and though each cut on its own wasn't catastrophic, together they had accumulated into a terrifying level of damage.
At this moment, the Third Raikage's body was covered in sword wounds. To prevent himself from bleeding out, he had used Lightning Release to forcibly cauterize the injuries, sealing them in a rush of scorched flesh.
Now, his whole body reeked of burnt meat, and with all that blood covering him, he looked as miserable as anyone could imagine.
Just from their conditions alone, the outcome of this battle was already clear. The victor of the fight between Hoshiyomi and the Third Raikage was, without a doubt, Gekko Hoshiyomi.
But the Raikage himself refused to accept that result. He screamed hysterically:
"Impossible! This is impossible! How could anyone in this world possess such speed? This is fake—it has to be fake!"
As he shouted, the Lightning Release Armor around his body flared again. This time, he was clearly putting everything he had into it.
The force of his lightning was so intense that even the skies responded. Thunderclouds gathered above, and with the surging of his armor, the clouds flashed violently, electricity boiling inside them.
For him to summon storm clouds in the perpetually arid Land of Wind spoke volumes about the sheer power of his Lightning Release. Hoshiyomi even suspected that if this were taking place in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, the Raikage could have used this alone to create a super jutsu on par with Lightning Release: Kirin.
The Third Raikage's eyes burned red, his hair disheveled as he raised his still-intact left hand. His index finger pointed skyward, crackling endlessly with lightning.
This was his trump card, his ultimate technique—his so-called "strongest spear": Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite.
Clearly, he intended to use this single, final blow to reverse the battle against Hoshiyomi, to reclaim his pride—or at least salvage some last shred of dignity.
But Hoshiyomi only shook his head.
The Raikage was completely mistaken about the situation. Did he really think Hoshiyomi was someone who could be defeated by a mere One-Finger Nukite?
After all, Hoshiyomi hadn't even used his Dance of the Startled Swan yet.
Looking at the frenzied Third Raikage charging at him, Hoshiyomi spoke calmly, shaking his head:
"Today, I'll make you lose without doubt. Even One-Finger Nukite won't be enough against me."
The Raikage didn't hear a word of it. All he could think about now was turning Hoshiyomi into a pincushion. With a powerful stomp, the ground beneath his feet shattered into cracks as he launched himself straight at Gekko Hoshiyomi.
Seeing the Raikage's charge, Hoshiyomi smacked his lips lightly, resting a hand on the hilt of his sheathed Mikazuki Munechika. He whispered:
"I'll end this with this technique—Dance of the Startled Swan, Second Form: Heavenly Rift Flowing Light."
The instant he spoke, Hoshiyomi's figure vanished from the spot, leaving behind only shimmering motes of blue-silver light.
Time itself seemed to freeze in that moment. To everyone watching, their eyes blinked once, and suddenly Hoshiyomi and the Raikage had exchanged places.
Their stances had not even changed—the Raikage's left hand still thrust forward, while Hoshiyomi remained poised in his sword-drawing stance.
From the sidelines, Pakura suddenly noticed something strange: a faint blue line stretched between the two of them.
As she puzzled over it, a soft click rang out—the sound of Hoshiyomi sliding Mikazuki Munechika back into its sheath.
An instant later, there was the clear clang of a blade's resonance—followed by the dull thud of a body collapsing to the ground.
The fight was decided…