Yoruha furrowed his brows.
"As expected of the leader. His strength is indeed far greater than the other two."
The black storm dragon roared toward him with overwhelming destructive force.
Yet Yoruha remained calm, even taking the time to comment.
The massive black dragon crashed into Yoruha's body.
Everyone was stunned.
Kazahana Doto and Fubuki hadn't expected this at all.
Yoruha didn't even resist.
He didn't do anything—just stood there and took the hit.
From afar, Koyuki's face was frozen in shock as she watched Yoruha being consumed by the black storm dragon.
"H-How could this be…?"
She collapsed to the ground, unable to believe Yoruha had been defeated by a single jutsu.
To her, taking a direct hit meant only one thing—he had lost.
Kazahana Doto didn't understand why, but he still burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! And here I thought you were something special."
"Turns out you were all talk!"
Earlier, he had been wary of Yoruha.
He was convinced that Nadare and Fuyuguma must have simply underestimated him and were caught off guard.
Behind him, Fubuki was in utter disbelief.
"T-This is impossible! He didn't even last a single jutsu from the leader?"
"How could his speed drop so much? He was incredibly fast before!"
"And his jutsu… where were they?"
"Why didn't he use a single one?"
Fubuki couldn't accept what she was seeing.
A deafening explosion shattered the illusion of victory.
Kazahana Doto's eyes widened as he turned toward Yoruha's direction.
The Black Dragon Blizzard had been completely obliterated by an unseen force.
The swirling snow dissipated into mist.
"Not bad for a jutsu."
"But you're still a long way from breaking through my defenses."
The next moment, Yoruha reappeared.
Golden lightning crackled around his body, forming a protective barrier.
He had never intended to go all out from the start.
He wanted to test the power of Kazahana Doto's jutsu.
So, he had only used a defensive lightning net.
Koyuki, who had been drowning in despair, lit up with joy.
"He's alive! He's not dead!"
Yoruha dismissed the lightning net and smiled at Kazahana Doto.
"A jutsu like that won't kill me."
Kazahana Doto's expression darkened.
He was certain his Black Dragon Blizzard had landed directly on Yoruha.
Yet Yoruha was completely unharmed.
Not a single drop of blood had been spilled.
"What kind of jutsu was that…?"
"How did it completely block my Black Dragon Blizzard…?"
For the first time, fear crept into Kazahana Doto's heart.
That lightning net had tanked his strongest technique—
And Yoruha had done it effortlessly.
That could only mean one thing.
Yoruha's strength was at least on par with his.
"A brat like you… how could you be this strong?!"
"I don't believe it!"
"You think blocking a single jutsu means you've won?"
"That was just a warm-up!"
Yoruha simply smiled without responding.
That smile enraged Kazahana Doto.
"Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!"
Two raging black blizzards charged toward Yoruha, their destructive force strong enough to shatter massive boulders.
Kazahana Doto laughed maniacally.
"Hahaha! Be torn to pieces by the storm!"
But Yoruha simply shook his head.
"Is this really your strongest jutsu?"
"A little disappointing. You just stacked the same technique twice."
"The power did double… but that's all it did."
"Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!"
A piercing screech filled the air.
In an instant, a golden lightning spear shot through Kazahana Doto's chest.
It was so fast—so fast that even after his heart had been pierced, the crazed expression on his face hadn't faded.
A searing pain spread through his chest.
He looked down—his eyes widening in shock.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Golden lightning had burned his chest into charred flesh.
The scent of scorched meat filled the air.
Life drained rapidly from his body.
Finally, he could no longer stand.
His so-called chakra armor had been pierced straight through—
It hadn't absorbed a single bit of Yoruha's attack.
Against Yoruha's jutsu, that so-called armor was a joke.
A useless decoration.
Meanwhile, the Twin Dragon Blizzard struck Yoruha head-on—
Yet it did no damage.
The Lightning Net blocked it completely.
At this point, it had practically become Yoruha's passive ability—
Automatically activating whenever he was attacked.
Even without Yoruha noticing.
And its defensive strength was terrifying—
Not even a top-tier destructive jutsu like Twin Dragon Blizzard could scratch it.
Yoruha remained completely unharmed.
Everything had happened too fast.
Even Fubuki, standing behind Kazahana Doto, hadn't reacted in time.
Yoruha was already standing in front of her.
Seeing his face so close, she swallowed nervously.
She glanced at Kazahana Doto's corpse at her feet.
Then, wisely, she gave up.
The battle had engraved an unshakable fear into her heart.
For the rest of her life, whenever she saw Yoruha—
She wouldn't even dare to think of resisting.
With Kazahana Doto gone, the rest was simple.
All that was left was to gather Koyuki's supporters and reclaim the throne.
But no one could have predicted…
That the fight would end so quickly.
Calling it a "battle" was an insult.
It was one-sided humiliation.
Yoruha hadn't struggled in the slightest—
If anything, he seemed a little disappointed.
After Fubuki surrendered, Yoruha turned and vanished.
The moment he disappeared, Fubuki collapsed onto her knees.
She stared blankly at Kazahana Doto's corpse.
She trembled as she spoke.
"Chakra armor? What a joke."
Fubuki ran her fingers over her own armor, remembering how Kazahana Doto had sworn it was their ultimate weapon—
A tool to conquer the shinobi world.
Now, all she felt was irony.
The armor they thought was invincible—
Had been completely useless against Yoruha.
The sheer gap in strength was something no armor could ever fix.
Meanwhile, Yoruha appeared beside Koyuki.
She was still frozen in shock.
Kazahana Doto—the man who had cast a ten-year shadow over her life—
She stared blankly at his corpse.
"Less than ten minutes… No… Less than a minute?"
"He's dead? Just like that?"
Koyuki didn't know whether to feel relieved or terrified.
"Alright," Yoruha said, pulling her back to reality.
"Time to reclaim your country. With Kazahana Doto dead, it'll be easy."
Koyuki turned to him, still dazed.
"He… He's really dead?"
She whispered it again, as if trying to believe it.
"He's dead… He's really dead… He's finally dead…!"
She burst into tears.
Maybe she just had no idea how else to react.
She clung to Yoruha and cried.
It almost felt like he had done something horrible rather than saved her.
She cried for a long time.
When she finally calmed down, she let go of him.
Yoruha's shoulder was soaked with tears.
He knew exactly how much pain Kazahana Doto had brought her.