Water Style had always been the most underestimated of the five elemental natures. Yet the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, a Super-Kage–level powerhouse, had once dominated the shinobi world for more than a decade relying primarily on Water Style alone. That alone proved that this element was far from weak.
Whether it was the high-pressure Water Severing Wave—stronger than any hydraulic cutter—or techniques like the Water Prison Jutsu that could trap opponents outright, Water Release possessed terrifying offensive and control potential.
What Water Style excelled at most was overwhelming force.
No matter how strong a shinobi was, once submerged in water—unless they were a fish—they would lose combat effectiveness almost instantly.
Some Kage or Super-Kage might resist the initial impact or move slightly more freely underwater, but even then, their limitations were severe.
That was precisely why, despite appearing unimpressive on the surface, Water Style had allowed Kisame Hoshigaki to become known as the Tailless Tailed Beast.
Now, with Kirigakure's seven elites combining Exploding Water Shock Wave with the natural power of the ocean itself, the resulting force was nothing short of world-shaking.
A wave of this magnitude—just the sheer weight of it crashing down—was enough to obliterate the strongest fortresses. Even mountains hundreds of meters tall would crumble like dirt mounds under such pressure, dispersing instantly.
After unleashing Exploding Water Shock Wave, the other Kirigakure shinobi immediately flashed away, unwilling to be caught in the tsunami's range.
After all, they weren't Kisame. If they were swept into the sea, survival underwater would be impossible.
Moreover, the constantly shifting shape of the waves made it impossible to use chakra control to stand atop them with any precision.
But just because they couldn't do it—
Didn't mean someone else couldn't.
Atop the massive wave stood a handsome man with black hair and closed eyes.
It was the Third Mizukage—Hōzuki Gengetsu.
A closer look revealed that he wasn't standing on the wave at all.
He had merged with it completely.
That was right—he had activated the Hōzuki clan's ultimate secret art:
Hydrification Jutsu.
At this moment, he was one with the sea.
That was why, earlier, every Kirigakure ninja had been casting Water Style while he alone issued commands.
He was conserving all of his chakra to control this tsunami.
Naturally formed waves lacked direction, crashing blindly—but once he fused with them, he could barely guide their movement and focus their full force on Arata.
Even for a Mizukage with mid-Kage–level strength, controlling such a monstrous wave was exhausting. Gengetsu knew that after this attack, he would have almost no stamina left.
This had to be decisive.
If Arata wasn't taken down now, Kirigakure would fall into a completely passive position.
And this—
Wasn't even his final trump card.
...
Back on the shore, Arata stood trapped within towering walls on all sides. The Earth Style barriers had been reinforced by Fire Style, hardening them to the point where they rivaled metal.
Due to their height, no one outside could see what was happening within.
But the allied army was confident.
Faced with fire of this magnitude and walls this solid, Arata couldn't possibly survive.
Inside, however, Arata slowly raised his head, looking at the crimson flames cascading down from the sky.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"This is the combined ninjutsu of tens of thousands of people? That's it?"
To be fair, the allied army's combined ninjutsu did earn his acknowledgment.
Attacks of this level—though lacking the range of a Tailed Beast Ball—had enough raw lethality to threaten an early-stage Super-Kage.
After all, he was sealed inside a cube barely over ten meters wide, with compressed flames pouring in from above. The destructive power surpassed standard S-rank ninjutsu.
Had Arata not broken through again, he would've needed to activate Lightning Armor: Second Gear to handle this.
Relying on elemental intangibility alone would have exceeded his limits.
However, these allied forces weren't elites from the Five Great Nations.
As a result, they failed to add Wind Style amplification.
Had even a handful of Wind Style users boosted the flames, Arata would have been forced to take this seriously—even at his current level.
But wind-style specialists were rare here.
Most Wind Style shinobi belonged to the Land of Wind, and Sunagakure was currently locked in brutal conflict with Konoha in the Land of Rain.
They simply weren't present.
Since there was no wind amplification—
Arata didn't need Lightning Armor at all.
He raised his right hand, pointing directly at the descending flames.
"Lightning Dragon."
As his words fell, his raised arm transformed into blue lightning. From that lightning, an enormous dragon's head formed.
It was a true Eastern dragon—camel-like head, deer antlers, rabbit eyes, ox ears.
Every scale was exquisitely detailed, so lifelike it was hard to believe the creature was sculpted entirely from lightning—an element notoriously difficult to shape.
The dragon's head perfectly matched the width of the enclosed space—just over ten meters.
But the power contained within it was on an entirely different level from the lightning dragon Yoshida Eiichi had created using the Kiba.
At the moment the dragon took shape, the dark-red fireball was already just meters above Arata's head.
"ROAR!"
A thunderous dragon's roar—simulated entirely by lightning—shook the air.
The Lightning Dragon surged upward, crashing straight into the fireball.
The once-unstoppable inferno met its natural nemesis.
Its terrifying heat was utterly overwhelmed by the dragon of lightning.
With another roar, the fireball was pierced straight through from the center.
Though flames wrapped around the dragon's scales, they failed to cause even the slightest damage.
Lightning and fire naturally countered one another—the deciding factor was the user's strength.
And Arata's power far surpassed that of tens of thousands combined.
Outside the walls, however, the allied army couldn't see any of this.
They still believed victory was assured.
Then—
The dragon's roar echoed across the battlefield.
The massive fireball covering the sky suddenly developed a hole over ten meters wide.
A vivid Lightning Dragon burst forth, every scale sharply defined, its five claws gleaming with lethal sharpness.
Even in appearance alone, it surpassed Yoshida Eiichi's lightning construct by several tiers.
After piercing the flames, the dragon continued soaring upward, its body stretching to over a hundred meters in length.
"ROAR!"
With another earth-shaking roar, the Lightning Dragon surged into the clouds, then coiled in the sky—
Like a god gazing down upon the ten-thousand-strong allied army.