Crack! Crack!
The Raikage's bones snapped and popped like a string of firecrackers, his entire frame shifting as muscle exploded across his body.
Sizzle—! Sizzle—! His eyes glowed red. Dark fur, marked with wild patterns, erupted over his face, chest, back, and limbs.
His hands twisted into claws; his canines lengthened into fangs.
A thick leopard's tail sprouted from his tailbone, lashing the ground with raw agitation.
He had become a three-meter-tall beast-man.
"Beast-man" because, despite his monstrous form, he still retained some human features and stood upright.
"RRAAAHHH—!" The leopard head reared, eyes wide, a deep, thunderous roar shaking from his chest.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
The Lightning Release Armor that cloaked his body erupted with such force that the layer of chakra was now over a meter thick.
—Night Moon Transformation: Moon Beast – Thunder Leopard Form!
Sasuke shielded his face from the howling wind, his right eye locked on the monstrous Raikage.
That chakra… It's stronger than the Eight-Tails! Did he become a jinchūriki? No, there's no trace of a tailed beast's presence. Then how the hell…?
The Raikage slipped on a pair of custom goggles—secret tech from Kumogakure, designed to block vision while using built-in sensors and a Lightning Release-generated magnetic field to detect his surroundings. Ninja tools, built for one purpose: countering Uchiha genjutsu.
"Uchiha Sasuke! Prepare to die!"
CRUNCH! The Raikage clenched his fist, leopard-spotted arms bulging with muscle.
BOOM—! He stomped the ground to rubble. Fifty tons of transformed muscle barreled toward Sasuke—like a runaway semi-truck, only deadlier.
If he hits me, I'm dead. No question.
Sasuke didn't hesitate. He fell back, hands crossing before his chest.
—Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
Trees erupted from the earth, forming a dense forest barricade.
"Hmph, you're not the First Hokage. Don't embarrass yourself with that cheap Wood Release!"
The Raikage smashed through the trees like they were paper, unstoppable.
Sasuke vaulted back, forming hand seals in midair—then unleashed a torrent of flames.
—Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
"Hmph… Fire Release? That's all Konoha and the Uchiha ever do—these boring parlor tricks!"
SWISH! The Raikage's hand chopped down, splitting the flames in two.
He charged ahead, unstoppable—a lion among rabbits, king of the battlefield.
That beastly body, plus Lightning Release armor… He's become a real monster.
Seeing the Raikage's overwhelming power, Sasuke turned and sprinted away.
The Raikage accelerated, the two of them racing under the moonlight—a relentless, high-speed pursuit.
As they ran, Sasuke kept the Raikage in his peripheral vision, noting how the gap between them never closed past twenty meters. Strange. Isn't the Raikage famous for his speed? And that's a leopard form—he should be even faster. Why is he only barely keeping up?
Truth was, even though the Raikage had trained to overcome the effects of the Super Added-Weight Rock Technique, his top speed was still a shadow of what it once was. That he could keep up with Sasuke at all was impressive.
Is he… holding back?
Just as Sasuke hesitated, the Raikage pulled a lasso from his ninja tool pouch, spinning it overhead.
Sasuke smirked. You think you can catch me with that? Don't make me laugh.
WHOOSH!
The Raikage hurled the lasso at Sasuke's retreating figure.
Sasuke read its arc instantly, sidestepped, and easily avoided the landing spot.
"Hmph. How naïve!" The Raikage grinned, pressing a mechanism on the lasso.
BOOM!
The lasso exploded open midair into a massive net, dropping straight down!
"What the—?!" Sasuke was caught off guard, ensnared in the net!
"Ahahahahaha! This trap was made just for arrogant little punks like you!"
The Raikage yanked the lasso, cinching the net tight and flinging Sasuke high into the air.
Sasuke reacted fast, Chidori flaring into a razor-sharp spear that tore the net apart.
But he was still airborne—no foothold, no leverage.
He'd only recently awakened the Rinnegan; he couldn't manipulate force fields to float yet.
BOOM!
The Raikage leaped after him, extending a massive "leopard finger," lightning sharpening into a three-foot spear at its tip.
"Bring out your Susanoo, or whatever else you've got! Let's see you survive this!"
—Heavenly Piercing Strike: Single-Point Thrust!
SLASH!
A spear of lightning pierced straight through Sasuke's chest. The Raikage's entire arm burst out his back.
"Sasuke, to die by my full power—you can have no regrets! Out of respect for my promise to Uzumaki Naruto, I'll leave your corpse intact!"
SWISH!
The Raikage flung his arm, scattering Sasuke's blood across the sky.
But as he fell, a cruel smile curled on Sasuke's lips. His right Rinnegan flashed.
—Amenotejikara!
SLASH!
The Raikage's eyes went wide in disbelief as a bloody hole appeared in his own chest—out of nowhere.
"This… This can't be…!"
His transformation unraveled, Lightning Release armor vanishing. Twenty tons of muscle crashed to earth, raising a cloud of dust.
Amenotejikara—a swap of battle damage states.
Restored to perfect condition, Sasuke rose from the ground, gazing coldly at the settling dust. "If the wielder of Amenotejikara weren't forbidden from 'self-harm,' you wouldn't have even gotten close. Remember this: the name Raikage means nothing before a proud Uchiha."
WHOOSH!
With a flick of his cloak, Sasuke turned and strode toward the Daimyo's palace.
Dark purple Susanoo chakra surged around him.
What came next… would be a massacre.
…
Amegakure.
Orochimaru injected the Indra blood extracted from the Nine-Headed Snake Sage's fang into Naruto's veins.
Naruto's pure Uzumaki constitution accepted the blood instantly.
The change was immediate.
His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan tomoe warped into straight bars—a trait unique to Indra.
Both Madara and Sasuke'sEternal Mangekyō took this form.
Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction. "All the external conditions are set. As for when these eyes will awaken the Rinnegan, I'd say…"
Naruto nodded, confident. "Probably within two or three days. I can feel it coming…"
Orochimaru replied, "Good. Then I'll focus on wrapping up my research into tailed beast consciousness."
Naruto said earnestly, "I'm counting on you, Orochimaru."
At dawn.
A single piece of news rocked the ninja world.
Konan was the first to bring it to Naruto.
"The Daimyo's palace in the Land of Lightning is gone. Sasuke did it…"
Naruto only asked, "What about the Raikage?"
Konan answered, "Status unknown."
"…" Naruto fell silent.
Konan pressed, "If this isn't handled right, Sasuke will become the enemy of the entire ninja world."
"Hah…" Naruto took a deep breath. "What's done is done. We'll follow Sasuke's lead."
Konan couldn't help but worry. "This upheaval in the Land of Lightning could be the spark for the Fifth Great Ninja War."
Naruto's gaze turned deep and resolute. "Let it come. Even if war breaks out, it'll be like last time—the ninja alliance will form. Because… if I'm right, the true enemy of the ninja world is about to appear."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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