The Third Raikage was shaken even further.
He truly couldn't imagine what kind of existence could achieve something on this level.
Suddenly, a familiar figure surfaced in his mind—
Uchiha Madara.
That man who had once been like a living nightmare.
Back then, hadn't Madara single-handedly cleaved several mountains in the Land of Lightning?
That slash had caused heaven and earth to change color. It was precisely that overwhelming strike that forced the Land of Lightning to abandon all resistance.
The First Raikage of that era had already possessed early-stage strength Super Kage-level, yet he still chose to attend the Five Kage Summit instead of continuing to fight Madara.
That alone spoke volumes about just how terrifying Madara's presence had been.
Thinking of Madara, the Third Raikage immediately recalled Arata.
In his eyes, there was a very high chance that Arata would one day walk the same path—perhaps even becoming another Super Kage peak existence.
But growth took time.
How could Arata possibly have reached that level so quickly?
Unfortunately, the Third Raikage was far too distant from the mainland. If not for the Monkey Sage's astonishing height, he wouldn't have been able to make out anything at all—let alone notice Arata, who was floating in the sky and had already withdrawn his Lightning Armor.
Unable to identify the one who unleashed that slash, the Third Raikage muttered in confusion:
"What's going on? Since when did Super Kage-level fighters become as common as cabbages?"
Hearing this, the people around him looked completely baffled.
"Raikage-sama? What did you say?"
As they fled from Uzushiogakure, the Third Raikage pointed toward the mainland. Only then did the two elite jōnin beside him finally see it—
The Monkey Sage, cleaved apart, its massive body slowly collapsing.
Though their strength and experience couldn't compare to the Raikage's, even they understood what a summoned beast of that size represented.
To bisect such a creature meant only one thing—the attacker perhaps truly possessed Super Kage-level strength.
"Raikage-sama… should we continue this battle?"
"That person who cut down the summoned beast—could they be connected to the Uzumaki clan?"
Hearing his subordinate's words, the Third Raikage fell into serious thought.
The battle between the giant ape and that mysterious individual had occurred far too close to Uzushiogakure—separated by little more than a strait.
It was almost impossible not to associate the two.
"Let's observe for now," the Raikage finally said.
"If anything feels off, we withdraw immediately."
Clearly, the Third Raikage understood the essence of warfare very well—
When things go south, retreat without hesitation.
As for the allied forces who had come to eradicate the Uzumaki clan—none of them truly belonged to the same nation anyway. Who would genuinely risk their life for so-called allies?
...
Back on the mainland, after delivering that single slash, Arata completely ran out of strength.
His body dropped straight to the ground as he gasped heavily for air.
That strike had drained him entirely—every ounce of stamina gone in an instant. All the energy of Lightning Armor: Second Gear had been compressed into that one blade.
It wasn't just Arata's strongest attack—
It was his only attack.
If that slash hadn't killed the Monkey Sage, his only remaining option would've been to escape using Kamui.
Thankfully, the result didn't disappoint him.
With a single strike, the once-invincible Monkey Sage was split cleanly in two.
Even its final defensive technique—Petrified Musculature—had been completely useless. Against Arata's ultimate blow, it crumbled like paper.
Shattered fragments of stone littered the ground.
The Monkey Sage collapsed lifelessly, kicking up massive clouds of dust. From the wound down its center, blood poured out like a breached river.
Seeing this, Arata was certain—
There had been no substitution, no trick.
The Sage had truly been slain by his blade.
Floating in the sky, Uzumaki Mito stared at the fallen Sage—an existence that had once seemed like a god—now cleaved apart by Arata's single strike.
She was completely speechless.
She had already believed she was overestimating Arata's strength—
Yet she had still been shocked.
She had thought Arata was at most early Super-Kage.
Now it was clear:
His realm might be early Kage level, but his destructive power already rivaled the Super-Kage peak.
The last person to leave such terrifying scars upon the shinobi world had been Uchiha Madara himself.
As for Senju Hashirama—he had been even more monstrous.
Mito had personally witnessed Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands. Compared to that jutsu, even Arata's slash still fell short by one level.
At this moment, she could no longer doubt him.
In terms of sheer strength—
Arata had completely surpassed her.
Though defeating the Monkey Sage had relied on her Adamantine Sealing Chains, if their positions had been reversed…
She would've had no way to deal with that Sage.
...
As for Arata still lacking the title of Hokage—
Mito no longer cared.
Someone who could slay even a Sage among summoned beasts had no remaining obstacles on the path to becoming Hokage.
As for the Sarutobi clan—
Only destruction awaited them.
Just then, a wave of exhaustion finally hit Mito.
Earlier, she had burned through nearly all her chakra just to restrain the Sage for a short time.
Now that the Sage was dead, her Adamantine Chains lost their target—but the terrifying expenditure remained.
She completely exited Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
The golden chakra vanished, leaving behind her red hair and pale skin once more.
Sitting not far from Arata, Mito panted heavily before speaking intermittently:
"Arata… you truly are… outstanding…"
"Leaving Tsunade with you… I can finally rest easy…"
Arata's eyelid twitched.
Why does that sound like a death flag…?
He immediately asked,
"You're okay, right?"
Mito shook her head and smiled.
"You arrived in time. I didn't use the Reaper Death Seal."
"I'm just severely depleted… I'll recover after resting."
Arata finally let out a sigh of relief.
He'd been genuinely worried—after all, he still had two rewards tied to her survival.
Just as he relaxed, he suddenly felt something shift—
The bottleneck that had been obstructing his breakthrough shattered.
In the next instant, Arata felt his Rumble-Rumble ability surge at a visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, his stamina fully recovered—
And it kept rising.
Arata instantly understood.
His Devil Fruit had awakened.
As the transformation completed, he sensed his realm climb rapidly—
Late-stage Super-Kage.
But confusion followed.
Logically speaking, even if his fruit awakened, it should've only boosted his combat power to Super-Kage peak.
Why had his physical body improved so dramatically as well?