"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
"CRACK!"
"BOOM!"
The sounds of destruction echoed across the battlefield as their frenzied combat obliterated everything in its path.
"Swish!"
"BANG!"
Shihouin Naraku and the Fourth Raikage Ai clashed repeatedly in mid-air, their bodies colliding with devastating force before separating once again.
"Exhilarating!" Naraku exclaimed, his voice filled with genuine joy.
Flames danced across several vital points on his body where he'd taken hits, but he appeared completely refreshed, as if he hadn't suffered any damage at all.
The Fourth Raikage stood at a distance, his chest heaving with rapid breaths. His once-neat short hair had been badly singed by the flames, patches of his scalp showing through where the fire had burned away his hair. Multiple burn marks marred his muscular frame, angry red welts standing out against his dark skin.
"CRACK!"
Without changing his expression, the Fourth Raikage twisted his arm sharply. The dislocated joint snapped back into place with an audible pop, already beginning to heal under the stimulation of his Lightning Style chakra.
"What a tough opponent," Naraku thought to himself.
Even as enemies, Naraku couldn't help but respect such resilience and determination. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from beating the Raikage into the ground.
"I suppose it's time to stop holding back," Naraku murmured.
A surge of invisible power flowed through his body, silently coating his arms and legs in a dark, metallic sheen.
Armament Haki!
"Haah," Naraku exhaled slowly. From this point forward, he would show no mercy.
The Fourth Raikage's chakra surged wildly as he prepared for another assault.
"I will kill you!" Ai roared, his voice filled with righteous fury. "For Yugito Nii and all the Cloud shinobi who died by your hands! I will have vengeance!"
The lightning surrounding his body intensified, crackling more loudly as arcs of electricity danced across his form. His power climbed to an even higher level.
"I won't fall until I've ended your life!"
"When did I become the villain in this story?" Naraku wondered aloud, genuinely perplexed.
The Fourth Raikage's passionate declaration and heroic stance made him appear like a righteous protagonist, while Naraku had somehow been cast as the evil antagonist destined for defeat.
"How ridiculous!"
"BOOM!"
The two warriors collided in mid-air as if they had teleported, meeting at the exact center of the battlefield.
The violent momentum of their clash sent a hurricane-force shockwave downward from the sky. The impact shattered the earth below, carving out a massive crater in an instant.
The resulting storm spread outward rapidly, ripping nearby vegetation from the ground by its roots and hurling debris high into the air.
Shihouin Naraku and Ai engaged in a frantic exchange of blows. As their fists and feet met with infinite power, the very atmosphere began to tremble violently. Thunder and fire exploded in perfect, destructive harmony.
Naraku found himself growing more excited with each passing moment. He abandoned his elemental abilities entirely, choosing instead to rely purely on his Armament Haki for this head-on confrontation with the Fourth Raikage.
The two fighters were like unstoppable torrents, crashing against each other with terrifying impact, neither showing any intention of yielding.
A sphere of fire!
A bolt of lightning!
Two fundamentally different forces collided violently once more!
"BOOM!"
The deafening explosion shook the entire area!
At the epicenter where flames met thunder, the air itself began to vibrate with increasing intensity. The turbulent currents of energy caused the surrounding scenery to blur and distort.
Ninja observers watching from a safe distance felt waves of dizziness wash over them. Their eyes and minds simply couldn't process the sheer magnitude of power being unleashed.
"Again!" Naraku shouted.
"MORE!" he demanded.
With Armament Haki reinforcing his limbs, Naraku's punches grew heavier with each strike, his kicks becoming increasingly vicious. He abandoned all restraint on his monstrous strength, unleashing it without reservation.
The intensity of the battle sent Naraku into a state of pure euphoria. His power exploded exponentially, his speed reaching new heights.
Gradually, Naraku abandoned defense entirely. He stopped relying on his Observation Haki, ceased using his Mera-mera Fruit abilities, and simply employed raw Armament Haki in his savage exchange with the Raikage. Blood clouded his vision as his expression became wild and fanatical.
"Again!" he roared.
"I said AGAIN!"
Shihouin Naraku's handsome features twisted into something fierce and primal, becoming genuinely terrifying to behold.
In Ai's eyes, he no longer saw a ninja but a madman engaged in a life-or-death struggle, completely indifferent to the blood spilling across the battlefield.
The Raikage attempted to break away and retreat, but found himself locked in place by Naraku's overwhelming spiritual pressure, unable to escape.
"That's it!" Naraku laughed maniacally.
"Good!"
"VERY GOOD!"
Shihouin Naraku's wild laughter echoed across the battlefield as his attacks became even more ferocious. The latent power within his body began to truly awaken. All the abilities he had obtained from his system draws started to converge and integrate, allowing Naraku to finally gain complete mastery over his strength.
The power gained from the system had come too quickly and too intensely. Naraku's strength had increased so dramatically that he'd overlooked many of the subtler benefits.
In this battle, by engaging the Fourth Raikage with pure taijutsu, Shihouin Naraku used the opportunity to push himself to his limits. He fully absorbed all the benefits from his system draws, elevating himself to an entirely new level.
Feeling the qualitative transformation of his body and the powerful rhythm of his heartbeat, Shihouin Naraku's excitement reached its peak. Like an untamed stallion, he threw punch after punch with overwhelming momentum.
"Guh!"
Finally, after a relentless barrage of attacks, Naraku's fist found its mark in the Fourth Raikage's abdomen.
The horrific impact reverberated through the Raikage's body, forcing him to cough up blood. His eyes bulged as waves of intense pain spread throughout his entire being.
Before the Raikage could mount a counterattack, Naraku suddenly appeared above him. With a devastating axe kick, he drove his leg into the Raikage's body. The terrifying burst of power sent his opponent plummeting from the sky, smashing deep into the earth below.
"BOOM!"
Spider-web cracks spread across the ground in all directions. The Raikage vanished into a bottomless pit, no movement visible from within.
"Rip!"
Naraku landed on the ground and tore away his already tattered shirt, casting the shredded fabric aside. He stretched his limbs, preparing for what he anticipated would be an even more intense continuation of their battle.
He didn't believe for a moment that the Fourth Raikage would die so easily from just two strikes.
A powerful gust of wind rushed from behind. Without even turning around, Naraku whipped his left leg backward in a vicious kick.
"BANG!"
The powerful spinning kick met its target with perfect timing. Fist and foot collided with a dull thud, the air continuing to vibrate violently from the impact.
The two combatants paused for a brief moment, as if time itself had frozen. This time, Naraku reacted even faster, driving his elbow into the Fourth Raikage's ribs.
The fierce force erupted instantly, sending Ai flying. He tumbled across the ground, smashing through boulders and trees before finally coming to a stop after breaking through a particularly sturdy oak.
"BANG!"
Before Ai could catch his breath, Naraku descended from above like a meteor, driving both feet into the Raikage's body. Blood erupted from Ai's mouth as he was launched away once again.
Naraku pressed his advantage, increasing his assault speed to new levels. He seemed to teleport as he caught up with the flying Raikage, bombarding him with a torrential rain of punches and kicks.
The lightning armor surrounding the Fourth Raikage flickered and dimmed significantly.
With his blood boiling and his fighting spirit at its zenith, Shihouin Naraku had transformed into a ferocious beast, savagely attacking the disadvantaged Raikage without mercy.
"BOOM!"
After one final thunderous impact, Ai lay motionless in a deep crater, his body covered in blood, only weak sparks of lightning occasionally flickering across his form.
"You're getting slower," Naraku observed, his voice filled with excitement even as his eyes remained eerily calm, fixed on Ai's fallen form.
"Damn you!" the Raikage snarled.
"BZZZZT!"
A sharp crack of thunder split the air as Ai forced himself upright. High-intensity electrical current surged through his body, gathering and concentrating in his hands to form a devastating lightning blade. He launched himself at Naraku in a desperate dive, abandoning all thought of self-preservation in an attack meant to take them both down together.
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