Enough heat to evaporate the moisture from a human body — that scorching-style fireball was split apart by the man's single palm strike.
Hiruko was shocked by the opponent's technique, and at the same time realized that A had already avoided the fireball's attack, instead coming down from above to strike him.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall."
A dog-head-carved earth wall wrapped around Hiruko, blocking A's hand-chop for him.
As the Earth Flow Wall was split open by A's palm, Hiruko had already taken the chance to retreat to a safe area.
"Hatake Kakashi."
A didn't need to turn his head to know it was Kakashi who cast the Earth Flow Wall. It seemed that Pride's earth prison hadn't trapped this Konoha jōnin at all.
"Raikiri!"
Kakashi didn't waste words. Violet lightning surged as he charged toward A, his right hand stabbing fiercely toward the man's back.
The violet lightning tore through the Lightning Armor like a blade, splashing out a burst of blood.
Although he had anticipated Kakashi's move, A didn't expect Kakashi's speed to explode to a level not inferior to his own thanks to Purple Lightning, causing his defense to be half a beat too slow.
But even so, Kakashi only managed to break one layer of A's skin.
The tenacious body inherited from the Third Raikage made A's durability far surpass that of an ordinary shinobi.
If it had been anyone else, their chest would've been pierced through already — but since the target was A, Kakashi's grim expression alone made it clear just what kind of resistance he was facing.
"The kid who used to follow Fifth Hokage-sama around… to think you've grown this much."
A tightened the muscles of his body, making it impossible for Kakashi to pull his right hand free for a short moment.
He marveled at Kakashi's growth rate, and simultaneously recalled that humiliating figure from the past.
"Unfortunately, you are nowhere near qualified to kill me!"
A's elbow smashed straight toward Kakashi's face.
With just one strike, Kakashi's head burst like a crushed watermelon, red and white flying everywhere.
But the blood and fragments in the air didn't fall — instead, they turned into water droplets mid-air and lunged toward A.
"Water Style: Water Prison Technique."
The liquid turned into a prison and wrapped around A.
"Nani?"
The sudden suffocation made A unable to speak for a moment.
"Damn."
Seeing this, Pride was about to rush in to assist, but Naruto clearly wasn't planning to let him. He continued harassing Pride relentlessly.
After dodging Naruto's attacks twice in a row, Pride had no patience to play around with a kid. Seizing an opening, he prepared to throw a heavy punch at Naruto's abdomen.
But just as Pride displayed his intent to attack, Naruto used Flying Thunder God again, widening the distance instantly.
At that moment, Mei Terumī drew her water whip and rushed in, planning to restrain him with this chance.
"Naive."
Sidestepping Mei Terumī's water whip, Pride stomped heavily on the ground. A massive stone pillar burst up from below, launching Mei Terumī into the air with no room to evade.
"This is also a Water Clone."
With a light laugh, Mei Terumī looked at Pride's rather handsome profile.
The water whip wrapped around him, and after confirming he was completely bound, Mei Terumī exhaled the corrosive mist of Boil Release.
"Is that all?"
Pride's black pupils looked at the curvy Mei Terumī before him. His bound right hand suddenly clenched tight.
The trees on both sides of the path reacted as though receiving a signal, their branches growing rapidly, gathering together and shooting straight at Mei Terumī's completely undefended back.
"Watch out!"
Karin's shout alerted Mei Terumī, and she quickly released her right hand, dropping the water whip and dodging to the side.
"Earth Style? Wood Style?"
Many possibilities flashed through Mei Terumī's mind.
"Open!"
Another violent blast of wind erupted — by increasing the output of Lightning Armor, A forcibly endured the paralysis from the clash of lightning and water, breaking through the Water Prison in front of Kakashi's stunned eyes.
Mei Terumī's attention had been drawn by A for just an instant — and in that moment, a black blur flashed across her vision. The next thing she saw was Pride's emotionless strike.
"Steel Release."
At the critical moment, Hiruko seized the timing and used Steel Release to block Pride's attack.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet."
Mei Terumī used the opportunity to cast Water Style.
Her water dragon was far broader than that of ordinary shinobi, sweeping like a flood, carrying Pride upward into the sky.
"What enormous chakra."
Sasuke, who had been watching from the side, finally seized his chance. He lifted the badly damaged Ringo Ameyuri and brought her to Karin to receive healing.
As Karin performed medical ninjutsu, she worried about Naruto, who was still searching for a chance to attack.
"What is Naruto thinking? A fight of this level isn't something a mere chūnin can get involved in…"
During this chūnin exam, Konoha promoted three genin to chūnin: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyūga Neji, and Nara Shikamaru.
"That idiot."
Sasuke also didn't understand what Naruto was planning — he only knew he had to find a way to protect his comrades.
Just as he was thinking of a way to escape, the sky changed again.
A massive repulsive force spread outward from Pride as the center. The head of the water dragon shattered instantly into countless droplets raining down.
Before anyone could react, Pride shot downward, kicking Mei Terumī away. Then he reached out to grab Hiruko's throat.
"Ice Style: Glacier Kill."
Hiruko hurriedly used Ice Release, taking advantage of Mei Terumī's Water Style to freeze Pride once again.
"That guy Hiruko can use Takeshi's Ice Release?"
The sudden Ice Release stunned everyone — they almost thought Takeshi had appeared.
Even A was affected by the Ice Release, subconsciously guarding his waist.
Seeing this, Kakashi unleashed a smooth flurry of taijutsu strikes.
"Tch, boring tricks."
Pride's voice echoed from deep inside the ice. With a shattering sound, the thick ice split open, and his hand nearly grabbed Hiruko.
"This guy is way too troublesome… Is he a homunculus? But why doesn't he have Byakugan?"
Such a troublesome opponent made Hiruko seriously doubt the man's identity. But the lack of the signature Byakugan of artificial humans made him hesitate to jump to conclusions.
"Ice Release…"
Hiruko wanted to struggle, but Pride would never give him the chance.
A suction force suddenly pulled from Pride's palm, yanking Hiruko straight into his grasp.
"Got you…"
Pride grinned viciously.
He had spent so much effort just to capture this man.
"Poof."
Before Pride could open a spatial rift, the Hiruko in his hand turned into a wooden log with a puff.
Substitution Technique.
"Water Style: Water Formation Pillar."
"Ice Style: Ice Bind."
Wiping the blood from her mouth would have to wait — Mei Terumī rose from the ground and formed the Water Formation Pillar.
With Hiruko's support, the water column became ice, blasting Pride far away.
"Earth Style without seals… an unknown technique controlling trees… repulsive force… suction… that's the intel so far."
While Pride was pushed back, Hiruko summarized his abilities.
Then he took a signal flare from his robe and fired it into the sky.
"Hope there are Konoha shinobi nearby…"
Seeing the signal burst in the air, Hiruko finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had believed that after developing the Chimera Technique to its limits and fusing several bloodline limits, he might not be invincible in the shinobi world, but at least defeating a Kage-level opponent should be easy.
Yet the reality was that after fighting for so long, they still hadn't even broken the defenses of this artificial human — they'd been beaten into the dirt the entire time.
And that was with Kakashi desperately holding off the Fourth Raikage.
Still… it felt like the Fourth Raikage was holding back…
"As someone who once bore the title of Raikage… why would you help an alien enemy like an Ōtsutsuki?!"
Feeling himself unable to keep up with A's speed, Kakashi stopped attacking, planning to stall for time with words.
"Hmph. They stripped me of the title of Raikage. They freed me from fighting for the village. Since that's the case, whomever I choose to side with is perfectly reasonable."
A actually accepted Kakashi's invitation to argue mid-battle.
"But have you considered your brother's feelings, Fourth Raikage-sama? Your brother Killer B wanted to leave the village many times to search for you, but he always held back for the village's sake."
Kakashi's words made A fall silent.
The former Raikage's last remaining bond was his brother Killer B.
And he had accepted Yōwan's invitation to leave because Jigen had promised not to absorb the Eight-Tails inside B while still being able to produce a Chakra Fruit.
"Enough talk. If you can't even defeat me, there is no way you can defeat that lord."
A clenched his fist, his body—
"Don't underestimate me!"
A planted both hands on the ground. While unloading the force, he flipped his arm and sent Naruto flying with a punch.
"Naruto!"
Seeing Naruto spit blood as he was blasted away by A, Sasuke, who had been running toward them, felt his eyes tear open as he let out a sharp, furious scream. His pupils' black color was gradually replaced by red.
"Damn it, is he really this stubborn?!"
The green figure rushed to keep suppressing A, while Kakashi quickly sprinted toward Naruto.
"This is bad—did his internal organs get displaced?"
Right now Kakashi had no spare attention to care about A. After checking Naruto's injuries, he shifted his gaze to Karin.
Kakashi knew Karin had the ability to restore others' injuries, so he immediately rushed toward where she was.
As for A, he believed that Guy, who had opened the Sixth Gate, would be able to suppress him in his place.
"Who are you?"
A finally felt satisfied after severely injuring Naruto. For the first time, he seriously examined the taijutsu expert in front of him.
"The proud Blue Beast of the Leaf, Might Guy. You… how dare you use such heavy attacks on a child. Unforgivable."
"Hmph. Since he picked up a weapon, he is a shinobi. And a shinobi must face the fate of battle head-on. Even that detestable Fifth Hokage has never spared an enemy shinobi just because of age."
Every one of A's sentences brought up Takeshi.
"If you want to keep up with my speed, then go call Namikaze Minato or the Fifth Hokage."
After saying this, A charged straight at Might Guy.
"I will."
Guy didn't waste words. With a heavy kick, he withstood A's attack.
This guy… he can actually keep up with me at full speed?
A was a bit surprised. The disdain in his eyes disappeared completely.
The two exchanged several blows, and Guy's expression also turned grave.
"As expected, the Sixth Gate can't fully defend against your attacks."
After blocking A's attack once more, Guy confirmed that in the Sixth Gate he had no way to counterattack. So he decided to open the Seventh Gate.
"Eight Gates Released Formation—Seventh Gate, Gate of Shock… open!"