The top-of-the-table Chiefs soaked up some early pressure before setting Forsyth Barr Stadium alight with some thrilling tries to win their 10th straight game, 52-28.
The Highlanders were game, committed and occasionally really exciting as they chased the unlikeliest of wins.
But class wins out, and the Chiefs were ruthless when given the opportunity to counter-attack.
Damian McKenzie, Brad Weber, Shaun Stevenson, Emoni Narawa, Luke Jacobson — the dangermen all fired when needed, a good sign for when they are (probably) wearing black jerseys later this year.
For the Highlanders, Freddie Burns showed touches of class in just his second start at first five, Thomas Umaga-Jensen did some good things, Sean Withy put in a big shift after an earlier-than-expected appearance off the bench, and Ethan de Groot maintained his exceptional form.
The frustrating thing was the Highlanders still regularly botched opportunities, and at times they were too willing to invite the Chiefs to counter-attack.
"I actually thought we threw a lot more game at the Chiefs than we have done in the last couple of weeks," Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody said.
"But we just gifted them so many easy tries by creating pressure but then either an execution error or a wrong option or poor kick selection.
"Give those guys a bit of space and you see what they can do.
"What we were doing wasn’t wrong. It was just execution under pressure, and maybe the lift in intensity playing a Kiwi team again."
The Highlanders face a potential locking crisis before they head to Canberra next week.
Will Tucker was a late scratching after a head knock, Fabian Holland appears to have suffered a hamstring injury, and both Pari Pari Parkinson and Max Hicks are ill.
A rollicking first half featured six tries, plenty of enterprising rugby and some absolutely sublime moments from the visiting team.
The Highlanders broadly played reasonably well and dominated much of the opening quarter after taking the lead in just the seventh minute.
They threatened the line a couple of times before de Groot took route one and crashed over from about 2m.
Both sides were making regular mistakes, and unfortunately for the Highlanders, theirs came regularly when they looked like creating something in the red zone.
The danger was the Chiefs would come back to bite when they got some ball — and goodness, they sure did just that.
Three wonderful moments of individual brilliance gave the runaway Super Rugby Pacific leaders the whip hand.
Firstly, All Black-in-waiting Narawa went all Christian Cullen on the Highlanders when he counter-attacked from inside his own half and simply glided and swooped in and around the defensive line for one of the tries of the season.
Stevenson then swooped on a wild Highlanders offload and popped a lovely deft flick inside to Anton Lienert-Brown to score in his comeback and 100th game to make it 21-7.
But wait, there was more. And what did we say about try of the season?
It came after the Highlanders had bounced back with another try from in close, this time to the smallest man on the field, halfback Aaron Smith.
The final try of the half was simply breath-taking.
McKenzie, playing at fullback after a backline reshuffle, sparked the attack, before halfback Weber showed his nonsensical pace in an electrifying run.
A couple of offloads later, and a prop of all things — George Dyer — grabbed the try.
The contrast between the two teams was then displayed when Sam Gilbert made a clean break for the Highlanders but his pass was not wonderful and spilled by Withy.
Just 60 seconds into the second half, the Chiefs extended their lead when that man
McKenzie set up Rona in the corner.
Trailing 35-14, the Highlanders needed to respond quickly and they gave themselves a sniff when Umaga-Jensen bullied the line, stood in two tackles and popped up to Gilbert for a try.
After a McKenzie penalty, the death knell was struck when the Highlanders put together a lovely attacking spell but a spilled ball was snaffled by Rona, who bolted 85m for the runaway try.
Weber made it seven tries before the Highlanders had the last say with a Shannon Frizell touchdown.
Super Rugby
The scores
Chiefs 52
Daniel Rona 2, Emoni Narawa, Shaun Stevenson, Anton Lienert-Brown, George Dyer, Brad Weber tries; Damian McKenzie 7 con, pen
Highlanders 28
Ethan de Groot, Aaron Smith, Sam Gilbert, Shannon Frizell tries; Gilbert 4 con
Halftime: Chiefs 28-14.
