"Lady Mizukage, let me handle this."
Yagura Karatachi stepped forward, holding a black staff in his hand.
After only two matches, the people of Kirigakure had already realized something terrifying.
The younger generation from Konoha was unbelievably strong.
Zabuza Momochi losing was one thing.
But Kisame Hoshigaki was different.
He was a monster.
Even though Kisame was only known publicly as an elite jonin, Yagura knew better than anyone that Kisame's real strength was terrifying.
Even if Yagura himself fought Kisame, the outcome would be fifty-fifty.
Yet that same Kisame had been defeated badly by a young shinobi from Konoha.
The shock among the Mist shinobi was obvious.
On Konoha's side, there were only two veteran jonin and six younger jonin.
If the younger generation was already this terrifying, then how strong were the remaining veterans?
Even Yagura, who had always been confident, could not stop himself from feeling uneasy when he looked at Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"How can Konoha's shinobi be this strong?"
"It makes no sense."
"Even in the era of the First Hokage, only the top figures like the God of Shinobi and Madara were overwhelmingly powerful."
"But the average Konoha ninja back then wasn't much stronger than the other villages."
"Now it's different."
"Even Konoha's ordinary shinobi are stronger than the elites of the other villages."
"These younger shinobi are all clan geniuses."
"Of course they're stronger."
"Stronger? This is beyond stronger."
"The Mist shinobi they defeated are more than ten years older than them."
"The gap is ridiculous."
"The Fourth Mizukage is next."
"He's a perfect Three-Tails jinchuriki."
"He should be able to win, right?"
"He should…"
"But I have a bad feeling."
"Konoha's people don't feel normal at all."
"Yeah. I feel the same way."
"Lord Mizukage, at least last a little longer…"
The audience watching the broadcast stared at the screen without blinking.
Even though logic said that a Kage-level shinobi like Yagura should be among the strongest people in the world, their instincts were telling them something else.
Against Konoha's monsters, even a Mizukage might not be enough.
"I'll go."
Hinata Hyuga stepped forward from Konoha's side.
Yagura frowned, but said nothing.
Although he was disappointed that his opponent was not Kakashi or Guy, he did not dare underestimate Hinata.
After all, Zabuza and Kisame had already proven that Konoha's younger generation was full of monsters.
"Naruto Uzumaki is terrifying," Yagura suddenly said.
The title of Fifth Hokage and President of the Red Sun Society already proved Naruto's overwhelming strength.
But seeing the younger generation of Konoha made Yagura realize something even more frightening.
Naruto's existence had forced the younger generation of Konoha to become stronger.
The strength of Konoha's youth reflected just how monstrous Naruto himself truly was.
"Naruto-kun isn't scary at all," Hinata replied softly.
"Lord Mizukage, next time, I won't hold back."
Her Byakugan activated.
But this time, something was different.
A faint blue glow spread through her pale eyes.
Just being looked at by those eyes made Yagura feel a chill run through his body.
"This isn't the Byakugan…"
"What kind of dojutsu is this?"
"The Uchiha clan has the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"My Hyuga clan has its own evolved eye techniques."
"There's nothing strange about that."
Hinata's calm answer shocked not only Yagura, but shinobi all across the world.
Everyone knew about the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.
They knew it had nearly 360-degree vision.
They knew it could see chakra flow and strike chakra points.
To most people, the Byakugan was only a support ability.
Useful for scouting and close combat.
But now Hinata had revealed that the Hyuga clan possessed an even higher level of eye technique.
Even the members of the Hyuga clan watching from Konoha were stunned.
Hiashi Hyuga and Hizashi Hyuga looked at each other helplessly.
"Our clan has a more advanced dojutsu?"
"Why don't we know about it?"
"Maybe this is something Hokage-sama taught Hinata personally."
Around the world, the shinobi watching became even more nervous.
"Hinata Hyuga…"
"The daughter of the Hyuga clan leader."
"She was trained directly by Naruto Uzumaki."
"She was also Sasuke's teammate."
"Hatake Kakashi may be her teacher on paper, but everyone knows Naruto was the one who really trained her."
"She's always been quiet."
"She never showed much during missions."
"Probably because her teammates were all monsters."
"I have a bad feeling about this…"
"Monsters always gather around other monsters."
"No one around Naruto can be underestimated."
Yagura tightened his grip on his staff.
He was fully focused now.
He no longer saw Hinata as a young girl.
He saw her as the strongest enemy he had ever faced.
"Ready?" Hinata asked softly.
"Then I'm coming."
She stepped forward.
In an instant, the distance between them vanished.
She threw a simple punch.
There was nothing fancy about it.
Just steady, solid, overwhelming force.
Yagura's pupils shrank.
He raised the black staff to block.
Clang!
His entire body shook violently.
It felt as though his arms had been smashed by a giant hammer.
The staff trembled wildly.
His bones felt like they were about to crack.
The force behind Hinata's punch continued to surge through him like endless waves.
Yagura immediately retreated.
His black staff spun out of his hands and flew away.
Even though it had not struck him directly, the pressure of the attack tore open a cut across his forehead.
Blood streamed down his face.
"Lord Yagura!"
The Mist shinobi cried out in alarm.
Yagura stood there breathing heavily, both hands trembling.
Sweat and blood mixed together on his face.
He looked unbelievably miserable.
And all of that had happened after only one punch.
The audience watching the broadcast was stunned.
Even Kiba and Lee had exchanged dozens of moves with their opponents.
But Hinata had nearly crushed the Fourth Mizukage with a single attack.
The difference in strength was terrifying.
"People really don't understand how scary Hinata is," Kiba Inuzuka said with a grin.
"If she wasn't so low-key, the whole ninja world would have been shaken already."
Neji Hyuga nodded.
"Miss Hinata just keeps getting stronger."
"Hokage-sama has been training her personally since she was a child."
"Of course she's this strong."
Among everyone in Konoha, aside from Kakashi and Guy, Hinata was probably the strongest.
No one knew how much Naruto had secretly taught her over the years.
During her childhood, she had only been building a foundation.
But after Naruto left the ninja world and Hinata began training on her own, her strength had exploded.
Two years later, even the people of Konoha no longer knew how strong she truly was.
All they knew was that she was overwhelmingly powerful.
Hinata did not chase after Yagura.
She simply stood there and waited for him to recover.
Her expression remained calm.
It was as though that first punch had meant nothing to her.
"Lord Mizukage," she said quietly.
"I heard you're a jinchuriki."
"If that's true, then use the power of your tailed beast."
"Otherwise, you won't survive the next punch."
Her tone was soft.
But the confidence in her words was overwhelming.
Yagura felt a chill run through him as he looked into Hinata's glowing blue eyes.
For a moment, he felt like he was standing in front of Naruto himself.
That same suffocating pressure.
That same feeling of helplessness.
A roar echoed across the battlefield.
Dark, ominous chakra burst from Yagura's body.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into the enormous form of the Three-Tails.
Mei Terumi could not help but call out.
"Yagura…"
There was no real meaning in continuing this battle.
She already knew the ending.
No matter how hard the villages resisted, they could never stop Naruto.
Yagura's struggle was like a moth flying into a flame.
"Lady Mizukage, don't stop me," Yagura said softly.
"Sunagakure had people willing to die for their village."
"Kirigakure needs someone like that too."
"Someone willing to use their blood to honor the legacy of the village."
"I've wanted to do this for a long time."
He turned to look at Mei.
His eyes were warm.
Relieved.
Then he turned back toward Hinata.
His gaze became cold and determined.
Yes.
He already knew how this would end.
But that didn't matter.
Kirigakure needed this battle.
If they surrendered without resisting, then the history of Kirigakure would be stained forever.
Even if the village disappeared one day, Yagura wanted future generations to remember that Kirigakure had never been full of cowards.
The chakra of the Three-Tails surged wildly.
Yagura opened his mouth.
A Tailed Beast Bomb began to gather.
"Come on, girl of Konoha."
"Let me see if you can stop this!"
Boom!
The Tailed Beast Bomb shot forward.
Hinata smiled faintly and stepped toward it.
She raised her hand.
Then casually brushed the massive Tailed Beast Bomb aside.
It shot upward into the sky.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted above them.
The entire sky lit up like fireworks.
Terrifying shockwaves swept across the battlefield.
Yagura froze.
The next second, Hinata appeared directly above him.
Golden light gathered in her hand.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation…"
The light became brighter and brighter, turning into a massive sword of golden energy.
Then, just before she swung it down, Hinata paused.
She dispersed the golden sword.
Before Yagura could even react, a massive blue lion slammed into him from above.
Boom!
Everything went dark.
As he lost consciousness, Yagura suddenly remembered the punch Naruto had once thrown at him.
The feeling was exactly the same.
"I…"
"Kirigakure…"
"Surrenders."
Hinata's glowing blue eyes swept across the battlefield.
Mei Terumi remained silent for a long time.
Then, finally, she lowered her head.
The other Mist shinobi said nothing.
They simply looked at the unconscious Yagura and wept silently.
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