Even though he wasn't killed on the spot, under Arata's Raigo, Hōzuki Gengetsu had completely lost his ability to fight.
Elementalization prevented his body from being injured, but without a long period of recovery, he likely wouldn't even be able to reconstitute a human form.
Still, thanks to his desperate efforts, Arata's Raigo ultimately did not strike anyone else.
That, however, did not mean Gengetsu's jutsu was on the same level as Arata's Raigo. It was simply because Arata, out of pure curiosity, wanted to test the level of Gengetsu's Ice Style—so he deliberately targeted the ice barrier.
If Arata had truly wished to, Raigo would not have needed to strike the Ice Style directly at all. It could have instead split into tens of thousands of ordinary lightning bolts and rained down like a storm.
Lightning that dense and that powerful would have instantly rendered the entire twenty-thousand-strong allied army incapable of fighting.
In fact, most of them—lacking sufficient physical durability—would likely have been struck dead on the spot.
Seeing Hōzuki Gengetsu in such a miserable state, several Kirigakure shinobi immediately rushed over to him, took out a container, and scooped up the puddle of water that Gengetsu had become.
They had reacted quickly. Otherwise, Gengetsu—fully liquefied—might have been scattered by the seawater. At that point, even if he managed to reform, he might have been missing a few organs.
Arata didn't comment on Kirigakure's actions. He had already achieved what he wanted.
The Uzumaki clan had been rescued and now owed him an enormous debt of gratitude.
And the target required by the "Third Mizukage" condition had been defeated face-to-face.
All that remained was to scare off the allied forces.
With that thought, Arata—still standing within the four surrounding walls—finally stopped holding back.
"Lightning Armor: Second Gear."
At his command, Arata's body instantly transformed into blue lightning, continuing to expand as it did so. In just a few breaths, it grew to over a hundred meters tall.
At this point, even if he did nothing at all, his sheer height allowed those outside to barely glimpse his head.
From a distance, it looked as though a blue, lightning-wreathed head wearing a tengu mask had suddenly risen from within the stone walls.
Not a single ninja present had ever seen Arata's Lightning Armor—Second Gear before.
The Third Raikage had seen it once, but Arata had kicked him out of the fight almost immediately.
As a result, no one present realized that Arata had activated his most powerful combat form.
They had never even seen Susanoo, so they had no idea that this form once made the entire shinobi world tremble.
Even so, they weren't blind.
The energy radiating from this lightning giant alone completely exceeded everything they understood.
This level of power surpassed the earlier Lightning Dragon and even Raigo by several magnitudes.
If such a being launched an attack, there was no telling what kind of catastrophic destruction it would cause.
After rescuing Gengetsu Hōzuki, the Kirigakure forces immediately decided to retreat.
Not only had they lost their leader, but continuing the fight would plunge them into chaos. Arata's terrifying strength had already been laid bare.
They had joined forces, borrowed the power of a natural tsunami, and still failed to injure him in the slightest. Continuing the battle now wouldn't be bravery—it would be sheer stupidity.
Moreover, although Kirigakure's elite were indeed strong, most of them were still only chūnin or elite chūnin.
There weren't many jōnin or elite jōnin, and under such circumstances, their chakra reserves were far from abundant.
Just a single B-rank Exploding Water Shockwave had already drained about half the chakra of many shinobi. Continuing the fight would make it nearly impossible to unleash anything stronger than that earlier technique.
Withdrawal was their only option.
And to make matters worse, the massive tsunami earlier had completely sunk Uzushiogakure, along with all of their ships. If they stayed any longer, even transporting supplies would become a problem.
If they dragged things out for a few more days, they might starve to death within the borders of the Land of Fire.
After all, this was the Land of Fire—a nation hostile to Kirigakure. There was no chance they'd be provided with food.
Turning his gaze, Arata looked toward the remaining thirteen thousand-plus shinobi.
These remaining forces came from various small and medium-sized nations.
Among them, the leader of the Land of Craftsmen caught Arata's attention the most. The somewhat lecherous-looking middle-aged man had been unusually enthusiastic from the very start of the battle—clearly coveting the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques.
The shinobi under his command wielded all kinds of chakra-metal weapons, numbering over five thousand.
Though the nation's shinobi lacked large chakra reserves, their exquisitely crafted ninja tools made their combat strength the greatest among the remaining countries.
Next came the shinobi of the Land of Hot Water.
Their leader was also a Kage-level powerhouse—a man cloaked in a coat, his face hidden behind a mask.
This country didn't even possess a formal hidden village, and in later history, it would never gain much renown. Judging by this, it was likely destined to decline after this war.
Aside from their Kage-level leader, they had only around three thousand fighters.
Then there was the Land of Rivers, which Arata had at least heard of.
Their ninja village was Yugakure, which would later produce a famous figure—Hidan.
The current leader of Yugakure was also a Kage-level shinobi: a white-haired old man wielding a scythe.
That alone made Arata suspect that Yugakure specialized in such weapons.
Among the remaining nations, Yugakure was the strongest—boasting over six thousand mid- and lower-tier combatants.
These three nations formed the core of the remaining thirteen thousand troops.
As for the even smaller countries, each fielding only a few hundred shinobi, Arata couldn't be bothered to pay them any attention.
If he drove off these three nations, the allied army would essentially collapse.
Arata didn't bother picking them off one by one.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by Kirigakure's retreat, his Lightning Armor drew the samurai sword at his side.
Boom!
A flash of blue light swept across the battlefield.
In the next instant, a blue shockwave erupted outward.
Wherever the wave passed, everything—people and obstacles alike—was split cleanly in two.
Even the massive stone walls meant to trap Arata collapsed instantly under the blue shockwave, as though they were made of paper.
Those walls had been twenty meters thick.
And the shockwave didn't stop there.
After obliterating the surrounding walls, it continued to expand—reaching a diameter of several kilometers in the blink of an eye.
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