Three full months had passed since the Fifth Hokage had been placed under "quiet rest."
Only now could Naruto, operating under the crushing effect of the Weighted Boulder Jutsu, barely manage to catch Third Raikage. This officially marked the completion of the first stage of his training. What was about to begin was the much harder second stage.
"Impure World Reincarnation!" Naruto cast the jutsu once again, naturally, the sacrifice was still a disposable White Zetsu. This time, in addition to Mu and Third Raikage, Naruto summoned another Impure World Reincarnation to the field. If the first stage of training was purely physical conditioning, then the second stage was the advanced version, actual, brutal combat!
"Lightning Release: Chakra Mode: Full Power!" Blue chakra and jagged lightning erupted across Third Raikage's entire body, the hair at the back of his head standing on end as his physical activation was pushed to the absolute limit, forming an impenetrable barrier between chakra and lightning. This was Third Raikage's legendary signature technique, known as the absolute defense, Lightning Release: Lightning Armor!
There it was, another absolute defense to follow Rotation, Sand Armor, and Susanoo. In this crackling state, Third Raikage not only possessed extreme, blinding speed, but his defensive capabilities were also elevated to their absolute peak. Even more remarkably, he was functionally immune to most ninjutsu attacks in the ninja world. For an ordinary person, simply breaking through his defense was already an impossible challenge, let alone actually injuring him.
"Earth Release: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!" The Second Tsuchikage, Mu, made his move, that familiar, crushing gravity technique, that familiar, sluggish sensation settling over Naruto's limbs.
"Brat, don't think that just because you can barely keep up with my speed, you can actually block my attacks." Third Raikage offered this kindly reminder, though he was naturally unaware that Naruto had already beaten his son half to death. "Are you certain you want to face me in this state? Especially with a third person joining the fight."
As he spoke, a scorching fist wind sliced violently through the air, seeming to set the very atmosphere ablaze. A massive fist brimming with raw destructive force shot straight toward Naruto's face.
"Of course," Naruto replied faintly, the dense muscles in his arm swelling rapidly as he steadily caught Third Raikage's electric fist. Both sides then firmly stood their ground, beginning to actively test each other's raw strength. Unfortunately, while Third Raikage boasted the incredible feat of severing the Eight-Tail's horn, his strength ultimately remained within normal human limits. Even with the massive additional power of the Lightning Armor, he was far from being Naruto's equal. He was violently sent flying back by Naruto's sheer force.
"No matter how many times I see it, it's incredible. I never thought that besides my son and Killer Bee, there would be someone who could actually match me in raw physical strength. Hahaha!"
"But don't underestimate a Kage too much."
Naruto smiled thinly. "I've never underestimated any Kage."
"Then I won't hold back!" Third Raikage laughed heartily, extending his right hand and silently folding down one finger. "Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite." It was Third Raikage's ultimate killing technique, concentrating dense Lightning Release chakra into his hand to form a piercing thrust. As the number of fingers decreased, the piercing power multiplied exponentially, earning it the terrifying title of the strongest spear. When the fingers decreased to one, it reached its absolute strongest attack state, capable of killing anyone who stood in its way, even a god.
"Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness."
Alongside Third Raikage's Hell Stab, the third Impure World Reincarnated opponent's attack arrived entirely silently. Compared to Mu's taciturn nature and Third Raikage's boisterous straightforwardness, this one was clearly a ruthless old schemer, striking exactly at the most critical, vulnerable moment.
Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Although Tobirama had been securely sealed by the Third Hokage using the Reaper Death Seal, the original Land of Whirlpools was now entirely under Uchiha control. For Naruto to casually break the seal was child's play. When he smuggled Minato back to life, he conveniently freed the trapped souls of the Second and First Hokages as well.
Naruto's vision abruptly turned pitch black. The surroundings were completely swallowed by darkness, not a single ray of light visible, as if all light in the world had been violently stolen away. This specific genjutsu had been specially customized by Tobirama specifically for the Uchiha clan, designed to perfectly counter ocular jutsu. It naturally worked wonders on others as well. Though trapped in absolute darkness, Naruto didn't panic in the slightest. He simply closed his eyes.
Whether he could physically see or not didn't matter much to Naruto anymore.
At the exact moment Third Raikage was about to touch Naruto's body, Naruto moved, tilting slightly to the left and narrowly, perilously avoiding the Raikage's lethal attack by a hair's breadth. He fluidly followed up with a beautiful, crushing elbow strike to the Raikage's abdomen, but fortunately for him, the Lightning Armor's durability was exceptionally strong and managed to withstand the heavy blow. However, Naruto didn't strike just once, but three times.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Three consecutive, fierce attacks caused the Raikage's surrounding chakra to tremble incessantly, nearly shattering the Lightning Armor completely. Third Raikage immediately executed a Lightning Body Flicker and retreated from his position.
"Brat, you're very strong. There's probably no one your age who can match you," Third Raikage said, pressing down another finger until only three remained. "Even my son wasn't anywhere near as strong as you at this age."
"Your son isn't as strong as me now, either, and I've already broken one of his arms."
Hell Stab: Three-Finger Nukite.
This time the speed was twice as fast as before. Unfortunately, this lethal attack was still easily dodged by Naruto. Ki could perfectly sense the opponent's subtle movements in advance, in close-quarters combat like this, having ki was practically cheating.
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"
Tobirama silently completed another hand seal, and a trumpet-like water stream shot rapidly toward Naruto. This technique was incredibly swift and ruthless.
'Water Release: Water Severing Wave.'
It was immediately followed by an ultra-high-pressure thin water column. This technique's cutting power was equally extraordinary, attacking Naruto in perfect coordination with Third Raikage's Hell Stab. Naruto dodged the Water Trumpet by lightly sidestepping, then his body seemed to ignite with a rushing white airflow. In his energy-released state, Naruto shattered the Second Hokage's Water Severing Wave with a single palm strike. He followed with another devastating punch that slammed directly into Third Raikage's body, directly shattering the Lightning Armor to pieces. Third Raikage's body was even half-destroyed by the impact. If not for the immortality property of the Impure World Reincarnation, this would have instantly killed the Raikage.
That legendary Lightning Armor, known far and wide for its absolute defense, was no different from wet paper mache before Naruto's fists.
"Not enough!"
With the massive empowerment of ki, Naruto's physical defense had risen to an entirely inconceivable level. Not only that, he also possessed a certain high degree of natural defense against elemental attacks.
'Hell Stab: Two-Finger Nukite.'
After witnessing Naruto's true, monstrous strength, Third Raikage also became deadly serious. This was his second-strongest attack.
"Water Release: Heavenly Weeping!"
Tobirama unleashed a rapid Water Release technique from his mouth like a thousand deadly senbon needles. This technique possessed immense penetrating power, and the sheer quantity was extremely dense. Unfortunately, Naruto simply released his energy once and violently dispersed this jutsu, directly confronting Third Raikage's Two-Finger Nukite. The strongest spear representing the Two-Finger Nukite thrust, along with half of Third Raikage's body, was once again completely blasted apart.
Naruto's fists had already far exceeded the physical limits of a normal shinobi.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Biting Explosion!"
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
Two consecutive Water Release jutsu of immense, crashing power surged toward Naruto.
Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite.
Third Raikage only had one single finger left. The strongest spear fully manifested. Like a terrifyingly sharp arrow, its target locked entirely onto Naruto. Seizing this perfect opening, Tobirama created a swirling vortex in his hand and condensed its form into a sharp water spear, rotating rapidly in multi-layered, irregular directions exactly like a drill.
"Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade!"
"Flying Thunder God: Second Step!"
In the next instant, Tobirama appeared directly behind Naruto, forming a deadly pincer attack with Third Raikage from front and back.
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