Chapter 32: What is the Will of Fire?
At the center of the crater, a figure slowly rose. Its imposing silhouette cast a shadow of absolute, overwhelming pressure.
It was the Third Raikage, A.
"Father!"
"Dad?!"
"Lord Raikage!"
Dana forced himself to stay conscious, his eyelids as heavy as lead. But in that moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of safety.
"Ugh... hah... hah..."
Before the Third Raikage could even speak, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and began gasping for air.
Dana: "..."
Arashi: "..."
Did he just show up with one HP left?
The Third Raikage wiped his mouth. "The Heavenly Transfer Jutsu is still incomplete," he grumbled. "To think I'd get injured... Now then, let's see which bastards decided to mess with my sons!"
His composure regained, A turned his gaze to the four Konoha ninja, who had now gathered together.
A single drop of cold sweat trickled down Tsunade's back. "Isn't that the Raikage?" she said, her voice stiff. "What is he doing here?!"
"That aura is insane," Jiraiya's eye twitched. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here, Choza-senpai?"
"The so-called 'Strongest Raikage'?" Orochimaru's expression was grim. "I wonder how he compares to Sensei."
Before the words had even left his mouth, a fist filled his vision. The Third Raikage moved with a speed no one could react to and smashed Orochimaru's head into a pulp.
SPLAT!
Orochimaru's brains were scattered across a ten-meter radius. His headless body slowly crumpled to the ground.
"That didn't feel right," the Third Raikage said, flicking the blood from his hand, completely unconcerned by the fact that he was surrounded. "But consider it a greeting. Choza Akimichi, you've got some nerve, laying a hand on my sons. Is Konoha trying to start a war?"
Choza's heart sank.
How was I supposed to know your sons were here?!
So the ridiculously fast kid was the Raikage's son. No wonder. No wonder those Cloud ninja had fought like cornered animals. This was a disastrous turn of events.
Dana just grinned. Having a dad this badass was really reassuring.
Choza took out the pills he carried with him. There was no room for wishful thinking. He swallowed the green spinach pill and the red chili pill in one gulp.
A multicolored burst of chakra erupted from his back like a pair of fantastical butterfly wings. Combined with his massive frame, it was a bizarre sight. The intense chakra reaction made the air around him shimmer with heat. Choza's face turned beet red, like a burning coal.
But what awaited him was...
"Heavy Stream of Violence!"
Choza raised his hand to block. The moment his palm made contact with the Third Raikage's elbow, his expression changed. He held for a fraction of a second before he was sent flying by an unstoppable force.
A watched him go, cracking his knuckles.
"Too weak!"
The shift from having the upper hand to fighting for their lives was so sudden that Tsunade and Jiraiya were still processing what had just happened. Tsunade rushed to Orochimaru's side while Jiraiya stepped in front of the Third Raikage. They had already used Katsuyu to relay the situation. Orochimaru had used a secret jutsu to escape at the last second, but he was now extremely weak and completely out of the fight.
"Be careful, Jiraiya!" Orochimaru's weak voice came through the slug. "His punches are lethal!"
"Of course I know that, you idiot! Do you have any other advice?!"
"...Don't try to block."
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!" Jiraiya immediately used his strongest defensive technique, hoping the hardened spikes of his white hair could buy him some time.
But A's iron fist ignored the menacing spikes, punching straight through the hair without a scratch and slamming into Jiraiya's stomach. If Jiraiya hadn't known he was outmatched and intentionally dispersed the force of the blow, it would have gone straight through him.
Even so, the punch was enough to knock him unconscious for a moment.
What kind of power is this?!
But it wasn't over. Before the impact had even faded, A's next punch was already on its way.
"Dammit! Substitution—" But his well-practiced jutsu was too slow. The Raikage was too fast. The fist was in his face again. All Jiraiya could do was change his hand seals into a defensive guard.
He was sent flying like a cannonball, the bones in both his arms shattered.
Tsunade, still tending to the weakened Orochimaru, now had another casualty on her hands.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.
In the span of a few breaths, the four-man Konoha team, with the exception of Tsunade, had been utterly defeated by the Third Raikage. There were no enemies left standing near him.
Kyohei, Arashi, and the others were ecstatic, pumping their fists in the air and chanting A's name.
"A! A! A! A!"
Dana felt a surge of excitement as well.
Choza, who had been sent flying, slowly got to his feet. The secret medicine had greatly enhanced his strength, and the blow hadn't been fatal. But he sighed internally.
Hiruzen, you thought you were giving me an easy job. I never imagined it would turn out like this.
Choza now found himself in the exact same predicament as Dana's group had been in just moments before. If he didn't reveal their identities, the Third Raikage would likely kill the three youngsters without a second thought. But if he did, they would surely be captured, and having the Hokage's three disciples taken hostage would be a catastrophic blow to the village. And their chances of escaping, even if they split up, were slim.
When you're outmatched in strength, every move is the wrong one.
The only option left was...
"Super Multi-Size Technique!"
Choza's body swelled to a height of thirty meters, his face growing leaner. The massive chakra wings made him look like some kind of strange summoned beast. His enormous body now stood between the Third Raikage and the three Sannin, who were being tended to by Tsunade.
"Jiraiya," his booming voice echoed from his massive back, "take Tsunade and Orochimaru and get out of here. I'll hold him off."
Jiraiya's arms hung uselessly at his sides. The Raikage's blow had shown him the vast gulf in their power. But he couldn't accept it. If he retreated now, it would mean...
"...Don't hesitate, Jiraiya. My teacher also sacrificed himself to cover our retreat. You are the future of Konoha. And in your future, you will do the same. Where the leaves of Konoha dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, the leaves will bud anew. That is the Will of Fire."
"Ninja Art: Butterfly Bombing!"
Dana noticed the three of them retreating and was about to go after them, but his vision suddenly went dark.
Huh? Am I at my limit?
Before he lost consciousness, the last thing Dana saw was the giant Choza Akimichi being slammed into the ground by his father in an over-the-shoulder throw.
You can over-the-shoulder throw someone that big? Ninja really are an unscientific profession. I wonder if I'll wake up again. I think I overdid it this time...