The allied forces, who had been retreating, came to an abrupt halt the moment they saw the Third Mizukage take control of the colossal wave.
Facing a shark formed from a wave over five hundred meters tall, not a single person among them believed they could withstand it.
The chakra contained within that jutsu far surpassed the earlier combined assault of thousands working together.
Those who had been feeling discouraged moments ago now found their confidence returning.
So what if he was Super-Kage–level? With Kirigakure—the so-called overlord of the seas—on their side, what was there to fear from a single Super-Kage?
The expressions of the other Kage-level fighters, however, were anything but relaxed.
Though they appeared to be allies, when it came time to divide the spoils, conflict was inevitable. No one wanted to watch a rival walk away with the powerful sealing jutsu scroll.
And with Kirigakure displaying such terrifying strength, if things truly turned hostile later, the remaining nations would stand no chance at all.
At that thought, the three remaining Kage-level fighters exchanged glances, each seeing the same gravity reflected in the others' eyes.
Then the most ruthless among them, Yoshida Eiichi, made a sharp chopping gesture with his hand. The other two hesitated briefly before nodding.
The three had silently reached an agreement: once this was over, they would join forces to take down the Third Mizukage.
After seeing Hōzuki Gengetsu's jutsu, they were convinced Arata was as good as dead—otherwise, they wouldn't already be preparing for internal strife.
Yet Arata's finger snap, though soft, drew everyone's attention.
They finally noticed that the once cloudless sky was now completely blanketed in dark storm clouds. Within them, a Lightning Dragon coiled back and forth, deep blue arcs of electricity surging wildly through the clouds—clear proof that terrifying power was brewing within.
That Lightning Dragon was the very one Arata had launched skyward earlier.
No one had expected what seemed like a simple Lightning Dragon jutsu to persist for so long—let alone alter the weather itself.
And storm clouds of that scale were something nature itself could never produce. If lightning struck from within them, what kind of devastation would it bring?
No one dared think further.
Hōzuki Gengetsu, however, felt his heart leap into his throat.
He was hundreds of meters in the air—closest of all to the thunderclouds—and could already sense the murderous aura pouring out of them.
Just approaching slightly made it difficult for him to breathe; even his next attack was beginning to falter.
As a Mizukage who had seen more battlefields than most shinobi would in a lifetime, being shaken to this degree was unthinkable—yet here he was.
Because he had realized something terrifying:
The lightning brewing within those clouds far exceeded even his Great Shark Bullet Jutsu, which combined Kirigakure's elite forces with the power of a natural tsunami.
Not just by a little—but by several times over.
And all of this had been caused by nothing more than Arata snapping his fingers.
From start to finish, Arata hadn't even formed a single hand seal—as though wielding lightning of this magnitude was effortless to him.
Yet as Mizukage, Gengetsu knew he could not retreat.
If he did, and that thundercloud struck the ground, Kirigakure's shinobi would suffer catastrophic casualties.
The other nations' forces might also be devastated—but compared to them, Gengetsu cared far more about the lives of his own people.
Many of those present were members of the Hōzuki clan. He could not allow them to die here.
With that resolve, Gengetsu's semi-liquid form gradually solidified, two hands emerging as he brought them together and shouted:
"Ice Style: Wolf Fang Blade Beast!"
In the next instant, the Great Shark Bullet of Water Style froze from the bottom up!
Gengetsu himself emerged from the jutsu, reappearing on the sea's surface.
His hands remained clasped, his entire body trembling violently. Blood streamed from his nose, his eyes bloodshot—he had pushed himself beyond his absolute limit.
This Ice Style was his final trump card.
His name, Hōzuki Gengetsu, was no coincidence.
He possessed the bloodlines of both the Hōzuki clan and the Yuki clan—the only man in Kirigakure with dual kekkei genkai.
It was precisely because of this that he had ascended to the position of Mizukage at such a young age.
As Gengetsu withdrew from the Water Style, the seawater surged upward, forming an enormous hand that slowly spread out, shielding the entire shoreline below.
In the blink of an eye, the towering wave transformed into a massive hemispherical barrier hundreds of meters wide.
Then the terrifying cold of Ice Style swept across it.
In an instant, the entire water-formed shield froze solid.
Having completed this, the Third Mizukage exhausted the very last trace of his chakra and collapsed onto the surface of the sea.
Arata watched all of this, his eyes lighting up with genuine admiration.
Gengetsu was truly remarkable—combining the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification with the Yuki clan's Ice Style to such a level spoke volumes about his control. He was, without question, Kirigakure's finest.
His greatest flaw, however, was his youth.
Not yet thirty, lacking the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline, his chakra reserves were simply too small.
Had his chakra reached Super-Kage or even peak Kage levels, he would have become a terrifying legend of the shinobi world.
Still, admiration did not mean mercy.
Arata had not forgotten his objective—he still had a condition to fulfill: defeat the Kage of four great nations, along with Hanzō of the Salamander.
Since he had encountered the Mizukage today, Gengetsu had no choice but to fall by his hand.
Arata raised his head toward the sky.
The coiling Lightning Dragon let out one final roar, then completely dispersed—condensing into a brilliant blue sphere, radiant like a miniature sun.
Electric arcs crackled across its surface as it rapidly absorbed the thunderclouds the dragon had created. In just a few breaths, the storm clouds stretching for dozens of kilometers were completely consumed.
All of it became fuel for that blue sphere.
Arata then extended a finger toward the frozen Ice Style barrier.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion followed, accompanied by a blinding white flash that forced tens of thousands to squeeze their eyes shut.
The light was so intense that, compared to it, even the thunderous roar seemed almost bearable.
The flash faded as quickly as it had come.
When everyone opened their eyes again, the Ice Style shield was gone—utterly erased, without leaving even a trace.
Hōzuki Gengetsu had turned into a lifeless puddle of water, drifting across the sea's surface.
Had it not been for his Hydrification Jutsu, he would have been reduced to charred ash on the spot.