Once the transformations in his body had fully stabilized, a large number of shadow soldiers began to appear around Nara Hikari. This time, while the quality of the shadow soldiers had clearly improved, their numbers had drastically decreased — from 3,000 previously to just 300 now. However, each one of these 300 shadow soldiers now possessed the strength of a jonin.
Nara Hikari was thrilled at the thought that he could now summon 300 jonin-level shadow soldiers all at once.
'Even if the Five Great Ninja Villages combined their forces, they probably couldn't muster this many jonin at once.'
Of course, this was only speculation — after all, his arrival had already caused major changes to the Naruto world. The Nara clan alone now had three Kage-level powerhouses.
To test his abilities further, he took out a kunai, infused it with explosive energy, and hurled it at a large boulder in the distance.
The kunai, wrapped in Kage-level chakra, didn't simply bounce off the rock upon impact — it actually penetrated through the surface and lodged itself inside.
"Explode."
At his command, the kunai detonated instantly.
The Kage-level chakra combined with the explosive energy from the fruit radiated in all directions.
Boom!
The explosion echoed throughout the area.
Looking at the massive crater that remained once the dust had settled, Nara Hikari felt very satisfied.
Then he vanished into the shadow beneath his feet.
Back at the camp...
"What kind of new ability is Captain testing now? That explosion has been going on for an entire day."
"Who knows? Honestly, I'm jealous — just hearing those explosions is exciting enough."
As the Konoha ninjas discussed Nara Hikari's mysterious training, he had already returned to his tent.
The combined strain of using both the fruit's power and Kage-level chakra left Nara Hikari completely exhausted. He quickly fell into a deep sleep.
But soon after—
"Captain, urgent news!"
Nara Hikari's eyes snapped open.
Sitting up on the bed, he looked toward the entrance of the tent.
It was Nishito who had rushed in.
"What happened?"
"The Second Raikage is here!"
"Let's go check it out."
Without another word, Nara Hikari disappeared on the spot.
Nishito stood frozen for a moment.
"Captain... I didn't even tell you where he is yet..."
His voice faded as he realized the captain was already gone.
"Sirabi, gather two teams of chunin — you're coming with me!"
"Understood."
The two jonin quickly assembled eight chunin and moved toward the border of the Land of Lightning.
Eventually, they caught up with Nara Hikari.
"Captain."
"Mm."
Nara Hikari gazed at the distant Lightning Country camp.
Suddenly—
"Young man, since you're already here, why hide?"
In a flash, the Second Raikage — Ai — appeared in the open area in front of the Kumogakure camp.
Nara Hikari took one look at Ai's uniquely styled hair and nearly burst out laughing — though he managed to suppress it at the last second.
"Let's go. Since they've already noticed us, there's no point in hiding."
Merging into the shadows, Nara Hikari disappeared once more.
Nishito, Sirabi, and the others followed closely behind.
They emerged into the clearing, standing directly opposite Ai.
"So it was you, boy, who killed Mara," Ai said, sizing up Nara Hikari with a dismissive glance.
"I didn't expect the mighty Raikage himself would come here in person."
"Hmph, you're a bold one. I hope you'll still be smiling in a moment."
As Ai spoke, numerous Kumogakure ninjas emerged behind him, forming a semicircle facing Nara Hikari's group.
"Raikage-sama, shall we—"
"I'll handle this. If you all attack, there'll just be unnecessary casualties. Let no one say that Kumogakure bullies children."
Ai advanced, releasing lightning chakra as he walked.
"Lightning Chakra Mode."
Bolts of lightning crackled across his body, enveloping him in an electric aura.
A longsword, also shimmering with lightning, appeared in his hand.
"I'll deal with you first, then go after that Tobirama fellow."
In an instant, Ai vanished and charged at Nara Hikari with incredible speed.
'He's fast — but that's to be expected.'
Nara Hikari wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
'This guy was already beaten badly by Tobirama, forced into peace talks, and in the end, even stabbed in the back by one of his own ninja.'
"You're courting death, brat."
Ai swung the lightning blade directly at Nara Hikari.
But Nara Hikari merged into the shadows beneath him and slipped away.
"Hm? That's an unusual ability."
Even with his great speed, Ai could still make out Nara Hikari's afterimage — a testament to the enhancements of his Lightning Chakra Mode, which boosted not only speed and attack power, but also sharpened his five senses dramatically.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Blade Wind Slash!"
Ai raised his sword to the sky.
Several massive lightning bolts struck down across an area of several thousand meters.
They obliterated trees and boulders, with stray bolts burrowing underground to form an electrified net that shot back up from below.
Appearing beside Nishito and the others, Nara Hikari quickly spoke:
"Fall back — the next exchange could get dangerous."
"Yes!"
Nishito and Sirabi led their teams to retreat, but they noticed the lightning zone rapidly shrinking.
Nara Hikari tossed dozens of kunai behind him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions tore open a gap in the lightning field.
Nishito and Sirabi's eyes lit up.
"Move!"
The ten ninja darted through the opening, retreating to a safe distance up in the trees to observe.
Seeing they had withdrawn, Nara Hikari refocused on Ai.
"You're tougher than I expected, boy. I underestimated you. But now, I'll fight at full strength — don't die too quickly."
Lightning surged wildly around Ai as he finished speaking.
Nara Hikari spotted a bolt hurtling toward him and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding Ai's thrust.
Ai quickly followed up with another strike aimed at Nara Hikari's neck.
Raising his kunai to block, Nara Hikari was forced back several meters by the overwhelming force.
At that moment, additional bolts from the surrounding lightning net struck down toward him.
With the entire area bathed in light, there were no shadows underfoot for him to use.
'Perfect time to test my new ability.'
"Oh? Show me, boy!" Ai taunted, charging in again.
The lightning blade pierced straight through Nara Hikari's chest.
"Hmph! Got you."
Ai felt the familiar sensation of blade meeting flesh — but something wasn't right.
When he tried to pull the blade free, he suddenly lost control over it.
"Damn — this is bad!"
By the time Ai realized the danger, it was too late. Nara Hikari was grinning.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted right in front of the Kumogakure camp.
The shockwave swept outward, toppling tents and sending Cloud ninja flying.
Nishito and Sirabi's expressions changed.
"Run!"
Without hesitation, Nishito grabbed two chunin by the collars and kicked off the ground, launching them to safety.
Sirabi did the same.
The eight chunin hurtled away, frantically retreating.
Both Nishito and Sirabi pumped chakra into their legs, wishing they could sprout more limbs to move even faster.
Though battered by the blast, the chunin barely managed to escape thanks to their quick reflexes.
Unfortunately, they were still caught up by the trailing shockwave—