Hiruko didn't flaunt his hand-sign speed this time; his hands moved in sync with the rising curve of his lips.
"Storm Release: Storm Dragon!"
After completing his seals, he raised both hands toward the sky.
CRACK!
A deafening thunderclap erupted in the once-clear sky!
Dark thunderclouds materialized, roiling and covering the entire sky!
"He knows Storm Release too!? No… impossible!"
Darui was stunned.
As an elite groomed to be the next Raikage, he had keen perception. He recognized Hiruko had already used the "Dark Release" Bloodline Limit.
Now, Hiruko was wielding "Storm Release," and its scale clearly surpassed Darui's own.
In the air.
Kurozumi Raiga, standing on the fusion beast's back, looked up at the black thunderclouds, muttering, "Is this guy insane?"
As Hiruko's partner, he knew the power of this technique.
Ranmaru, on his back, urged, "Get out of the way!"
Raiga, gritting his teeth, reluctantly spurred the fusion beast to retreat, avoiding the ominous clouds.
Beneath the clouds.
"That lunatic! That lunatic!"
Shinno's eyes twitched wildly.
In his weakened state, being caught in Hiruko's powerful "Storm Release" could kill him!
On the battlefield, Hiruko spread his arms. "Die!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Countless lightning bolts, laced with mist, rained down, forming curtains of thunder that enveloped the forest below.
"Everyone, dodge!"
Yakumo frantically manipulated her tree sea to block the lightning while warning the others.
No warning was needed. Faced with this terrifying scene, everyone, including Shinji, was retreating swiftly!
Thanks to Yakumo's "Wood Release" cover and their proximity, those fighting Hiruko—along with Shinji—narrowly escaped the "Storm Dragon's" range.
The surrounding Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud ninja weren't so lucky. In moments, several were consumed by electric arcs, and those who escaped were all injured.
Watching bodies turn to charred husks under the lightning, Hiruko laughed gleefully. "Hahaha, this is my power!"
Yakumo's face darkened as she panted, asking Shinji, "What now?"
All eyes turned to Shinji.
On the Leaf's side, without using hidden abilities, even Karin was clearly no match for Hiruko. Kurotsuchi and Darui were still reeling.
At this moment, it seemed only Shinji had any chance.
Shinji stepped forward toward Hiruko. "Since he's a traitor of our village, I'll deal with him personally!"
"Uchiha brat, so eager to die?"
Hiruko advanced leisurely.
Shinno could no longer stand it, roaring, "Are you trying to draw both the Tsuchikage and Raikage here? If we don't deliver the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, we're all dead!"
Hiruko didn't stop, chuckling. "Scared out of your wits? They're just brats—I'll handle them quickly!"
Shinno snapped, "He's different, he—"
Hiruko snorted coldly. "Then let me see what makes this Uchiha so special!"
As Shinji and Hiruko closed in, they became the focus of everyone—both the Five Great Ninja Villages and the Akatsuki.
At that moment, Shinji's dark eyes turned crimson, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan.
Hiruko, undaunted, activated his own Sharingan!
"What…"
"That's the Uchiha clan's Sharingan?"
"How is that possible!?"
Seeing the blood-red eyes in Hiruko's sockets, the ninja from the Five Great Villages were shocked.
They couldn't mistake the Sharingan, and Hiruko's eyes were unmistakably crimson.
Upon closer inspection, they noticed something unique—his pupils weren't patterned with tomoe like Shinji's but with concentric black rings, resembling a Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even Shinji paused slightly.
"Why does it look like that? Is it the ritual?"
He wasn't certain. In the original timeline, Naruto disrupted Hiruko's ritual, so no one knew the true limits of the "Chimera Technique"!
One thing was clear: Hiruko's fifth Bloodline Limit was the Sharingan.
As for where he got it, that was easy to guess. Obito, inheriting Madara's legacy, had a wall of Sharingan. Providing Hiruko with a pair was trivial.
Of course, Obito wouldn't have given him a Mangekyo Sharingan—just a three-tomoe pair at most. Thus, Hiruko's Mangekyo-like Sharingan was almost certainly a result of the "Chimera Technique" ritual!
"Surprised?" Hiruko savored their expressions. "Uchiha brat, compared to my Sharingan, yours is worthless!"
Yakumo shouted, "Shinji, be careful! His Sharingan… it looks like a Mangekyo!"
Neji added, "Shinji, don't underestimate him!"
Haku and Karin tensed.
Hiruko's earlier display was already overwhelming. Adding a Mangekyo Sharingan made him unimaginable.
Shinji didn't stop, staring at Hiruko's Sharingan, saying slowly, "Someone like you, even with a Sharingan, can't unleash its full power. Against my Sharingan, you have no chance!"
Hiruko, enraged by Shinji's calm, snapped, "Then I'll show you the power of my Sharingan!"
Almost simultaneously, Shinji and Hiruko cast genjutsu on each other.
The next moment, both froze in place.
"What's happening?"
"Are they in a genjutsu duel!?"
"Who… who won?"
Both sides' allies watched the eerie scene, growing anxious.
As they prepared to intervene, Shinji spoke. "How dull. But as an Uchiha, I can't let you keep defiling our clan's Sharingan. So, those eyes—I'm taking them back!"
With that, Shinji reached toward the motionless Hiruko with his right hand.