Thud!
That heavy sound felt like it had landed on everyone's hearts, making them all shiver with dread.
At that moment, every neck stretched long, straining to see who it was that had fallen—the Third Raikage or Hoshiyomi.
The closest to the scene were Pakura and the Suna shinobi assault squad she led. They clearly saw the truth of it.
The one lying on the ground—undeniably—was none other than the Third Raikage, the man they had just thought of as a demon-god, utterly unbeatable.
The Raikage's appearance now was wretched beyond words. His body was already covered in wounds from Hoshiyomi's relentless Moon Shadow Step attacks earlier, but now, among the dense web of charred scars, a massive new sword wound stretched from his left chest all the way down to his right waist.
The cut had nearly cleaved him open. His thick chest muscles were split apart, ribs clearly visible.
While the ribcage had at least shielded his heart and lungs, his abdomen had fared far worse. Mikazuki Munechika had sliced it open entirely, spilling out a grotesque mess of intestines onto the ground.
On top of that, the right arm that had already been half-severed was now completely gone—no one even knew where it had flown.
The Third Raikage was hanging on by a thread. If he didn't receive immediate treatment, there was no question—he would die here.
All of these horrific injuries were thanks to the second burst of damage from Heavenly Rift Flowing Light.
The technique produced three waves of sword energy:
one cleaving through his right arm,
another through his thigh,
and the final one vertically slicing through his upper torso.
Meanwhile, Hoshiyomi himself had emerged entirely unscathed, thanks to the space-warping effect of Dance of the Startled Swan.
In a way, it was fortunate he hadn't used Dance of the Startled Swan earlier.
Had Hoshiyomi unleashed it back when the Raikage used Lightning Oppression: Horizontal Chop, the Raikage would have noticed and grown wary, guarding specifically against it.
But Hoshiyomi's decision to take a full punch head-on without using it had completely deceived the Raikage, allowing him to save Heavenly Rift Flowing Light for the decisive moment and secure victory.
In truth, Hoshiyomi had held back at the very end. With Heavenly Rift Flowing Light, the Raikage had absolutely no chance of dodging. If Hoshiyomi had aimed just one sword energy at his head or his heart, the Third Raikage would already be dead.
But Hoshiyomi didn't do so. Not because of respect for his opponent—far from it. He had another reason: he needed the Raikage alive, as a tool to help wear down the Iwa forces.
Hoshiyomi remembered perfectly well how the Raikage had died in the original story: ambushed by Ōnoki, he had chosen to stay behind alone, fighting off tens of thousands for three days and nights until he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
If Ōnoki dared to attack a Raikage at full strength back then, Hoshiyomi didn't believe for a second that the old man would sit idly by now—when the Raikage was missing an arm and gravely wounded.
Letting them tear each other apart was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Keeping the Raikage alive was clearly more beneficial than killing him outright. Of course Hoshiyomi wouldn't finish him here.
Sure, Konoha could still stand strong even while facing two villages at once—but why waste manpower and resources when you could just sit back, eat melon seeds, and watch the enemies destroy each other?
But just because Hoshiyomi wanted to spare the Raikage didn't mean everyone else felt the same.
He had only just sheathed his blade when, from the other side, a voice rang out—thick with uncontrollable excitement:
"Never thought I'd see the day when even you, Third Raikage, would end up like this!
Magnet Release: Gold Dust Cone!"
As soon as the words fell, a massive cone of gold dust shot straight toward the fallen and immobile Third Raikage.
And who else could the caster be but Rasa himself?
Hearing Rasa's voice, brimming with excitement, the Kumo shinobi finally snapped out of their daze. They stared in fury at the cone speeding toward their Raikage and broke out cursing—calling Rasa despicable, shameless, a coward, and worse.
At the same time, many of them launched their own jutsu, desperately trying to shatter the gold cone midair and save their leader.
But their attacks were woefully insufficient. The spinning cone shredded every ninjutsu that came at it, crushing them like nothing.
Just as the cone was about to strike, the most unexpected person in the battlefield intervened.
Two sharp sounds split the air. Twin arcs of sword energy, crackling with lightning, sliced the cone apart, scattering it into a cloud of golden dust.
Because the sword energy carried Lightning Release, the dust couldn't reform—the attack was completely neutralized.
Everyone present froze. None of them could understand why Hoshiyomi, who had just beaten the Raikage half to death, would suddenly step in to save him.
Rasa, meanwhile, was livid at seeing his technique destroyed. He shouted furiously:
"Gekko Hoshiyomi! What the hell are you doing?! Why would you destroymy jutsu?!"
Hoshiyomi cast him a sidelong glance, voice dripping with mockery:
"Is this how you treat the man who just saved your village? And besides, since when was our fight any of your business?
When I was being suppressed by him, I didn't see you step in to help. But now that I've beaten the Third Raikage, suddenly you jump out to flaunt yourself?
Is that the dignity of the Fourth Kazekage? Or is this just the proud tradition of Sunagakure?"
Hoshiyomi's words weren't loud, but in the pin-drop silence of the battlefield, they were clear as thunder.
From the Suna's perspective, Rasa's actions weren't entirely unreasonable—but Hoshiyomi wasn't about to let him get away with it. First, because he still needed the Raikage alive as a "tool," and second, because he had grown thoroughly sick of Rasa.
When Hoshiyomi was being pressed by the Raikage earlier, he'd noticed Rasa and Bunpuku's reactions. Bunpuku had wanted to help, but Rasa had stopped him. That alone proved Rasa lacked the bearing of a true Kage—unworthy compared to Ryūnosuke, and far inferior to his own son, the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara.
Hoshiyomi had no goodwill left for Rasa. Blocking him now was only natural.
The words "the dignity of the Fourth Kazekage" and "the tradition of Sunagakure" struck like whips. The Kumo shinobi roared with indignation, while even the Suna shinobi felt ashamed, glancing at their Kazekage with eyes full of unspoken discontent.