Bang.
With a thud that seemed to strike the soul, Kurosuki Raiga was sent flying like a kite with a cut string, crashing hard to the ground!
The onlookers saw clearly—Shinji's fist had landed squarely on Raiga's chest.
With the force capable of shattering a Susanoo, no ordinary person could survive such a blow!
"Did he get him?"
"Shinji took down an Akatsuki member?"
"That's insane!"
The Leaf shinobi displayed varied expressions.
Through the Akatsuki's repeated actions, their red-cloud cloaked members had become symbols of terror in everyone's eyes.
Yet such a fearsome enemy had been crushed head-on by Shinji!
Just then, Raiga, who had been sent flying, staggered to his feet, coughing blood and swaying as he slowly approached Shinji.
Ranmaru, on his back, could no longer hold back, shouting: "Stop fighting, run! You're no match for him!"
Raiga smiled: "You want me to abandon Fang and slink away?"
"It's just a ninja blade…"
Ranmaru's voice softened.
"I've been running for a long time. Today, I'm done running!"
With that, Raiga unstrapped the harness carrying Ranmaru and flung it, along with Ranmaru, toward Hiruko.
Catching Ranmaru, Hiruko looked at Raiga in confusion.
Raiga kept advancing toward Shinji, saying: "The mission's failed. Get Ranmaru out of here!"
Ranmaru shouted: "What are you doing?"
Raiga slowly raised his arms: "Making this Uchiha kid pay a price!"
Shinji remained unfazed.
With his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Rinnegan, and Koryugan, he had already seen through Raiga's condition.
Raiga's heart and lungs were shattered—a near-impossible injury to heal, even for a medical ninja like Shinji. It was practically a death sentence. His ability to stand and walk was sheer willpower.
Stopping about ten meters from Shinji, Raiga mustered his last strength and began forming seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Burial!"
With a roar, he unleashed all his chakra.
Instantly, thunderclouds gathered, and a bolt of lightning struck down, hitting Raiga.
Raiga became a blazing mass of lightning!
"He's trying to channel that lightning into his body?"
"Is he insane?"
"No, he's planning to take Shinji down with him!"
Among the Leaf shinobi, experts in Lightning Release like Kakashi instantly saw through Raiga's intent.
But before Kakashi could warn him, Raiga, nearly one with the lightning, lunged at Shinji!
"No!"
"Dodge!"
"Watch out!"
Yakumo, Sasuke, and Naruto cried out, moving to aid Shinji.
But their speed couldn't match Raiga, who was fused with lightning. They'd barely taken a step when Raiga reached Shinji!
In that instant, every Leaf shinobi's heart clenched.
It all happened too fast for anyone to think, only to stare at the battlefield!
Yet Shinji, the focus of their gazes, didn't dodge as expected. With a flick of his lightning-clad right hand, he sliced Raiga, the lightning incarnate, in two!
Rumble.
Amid a massive roar, the lightning faded!
Raiga, who had lunged at Shinji, was left as a charred husk on the ground, with fragments of his scorched red-cloud cloak drifting in the air.
Shinji stood still, his right hand smoking with slight burn marks.
The battlefield fell silent again.
The Leaf shinobi stared at Raiga's charred remains before Shinji, their doubts erased.
Raiga was truly dead—utterly, completely dead!
Shinji had really killed an Akatsuki member!
And he did so with undeniable dominance, under everyone's eyes!
"No!"
Ranmaru, held by Hiruko, let out a hoarse scream.
The scream broke the battlefield's silence, snapping Hiruko out of his daze. Looking at his partner's remains, the madness in his eyes finally faded completely.
As his vengeful frenzy against the Leaf subsided, reason reclaimed his mind, and a bone-deep fear began to take root.
"If even an Uchiha kid can beat me, then if the Third makes a move, wouldn't I…"
The thought of the Third possibly watching and ready to join the battlefield threw him into disarray, sapping his will to fight.
In the center.
Shinji glanced at Raiga's remains, thinking: Ninjas from the Blood Mist really have that ruthless streak.
Without his Rinnegan, Shinji would've had to either use Susanoo to tank Raiga's suicidal attack or activate Koryugan to swap places with his severed-arm blood clone in the secret lab to dodge it.
Unfortunately for Raiga, he never imagined this Uchiha youth secretly wielded a Rinnegan capable of absorbing ninjutsu.
In that split second, Shinji used the Rinnegan's Sealing Technique Absorption to nullify most of Raiga's Thunder Burial. The remaining fraction was countered with Chidori, allowing Shinji to stand still and effortlessly block Raiga's kamikaze strike.
Suppressing his thoughts, Shinji shifted his gaze to Hiruko, the last one standing: "You actually managed to injure me. I acknowledge your strength!"
Hiruko had lost his earlier arrogance.
To him, Shinji was no longer just an Uchiha kid but a true threat to his life.
Ranmaru shouted to Hiruko: "Forget about me, go kill him!"
Hiruko ignored him, glancing at Shinji, then at the Leaf shinobi behind him, poised for battle, thinking: Raiga was right. The mission's botched. The Leaf is trickier than we thought!
With that, he made up his mind. Holding Ranmaru, he leaped, reaching the Hokage Rock in a few bounds. Using Swift Release's speed and the rock's height, he jumped onto the back of the airborne fused beast.
Throughout, he kept an eye on Shinji's movements.
Shinji, not wanting to overly weaken the Akatsuki, didn't pursue.
Perhaps because Shinji didn't give chase, the other Leaf shinobi held back, watching as Hiruko escaped.