Battle with Shirō, the Brute
A thunderous crash echoed across the battlefield, halting every ongoing clash. All eyes turned toward the towering pillar of smoke rising from the center of the chaos.
As the dust slowly cleared, an awe-inspiring sight emerged—Shirō and A, the Fourth Raikage, stood facing one another. Between them yawned a massive crater, the earth itself torn apart by their previous exchange.
A's Lightning Release Armor crackled violently, arcs of blue lightning dancing around his frame as the air hummed with raw power. His chakra output had reached its peak.
Shirō, on the other hand, was wreathed in a dense aura of atomized chakra, like shimmering vapor escaping from his body. Beneath it, glowing blue lines—the patterns of Reinforcement Magic—spread across his skin, lending him an otherworldly and intimidating presence.
Both men were now fighting at their limits.
Shirō had fully activated the stored energy within his Magic Crest, while A was continuously refining his chakra, pushing his body to its utmost potential.
This brutal confrontation had escalated rapidly from the moment they crossed fists.
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After switching opponents with Taiyi, Shirō didn't hesitate. Reinforcement Magic surged through his limbs in an instant, and he charged toward A like a meteor.
It wasn't that he refused to use his Noble Phantasm—rather, he couldn't. He had already unleashed it once earlier, and using it again without rest would overload his body beyond repair. With Kumo's reinforcements flooding the field and their own numbers dwindling, Shirō couldn't afford to burn himself out prematurely.
Besides, even if he used it, such an ability would hardly work against a monster like A.
So, Shirō chose another path—pure taijutsu.
When A saw his opponent charging head-on, he grinned. "Hmph. You've got guts!"
Clenching his fists, A met Shirō's assault with equal ferocity. It wasn't arrogance—though the Raikage was known for it—but confidence forged through countless battles. He rarely met anyone who could withstand even a single one of his punches.
Their fists collided.
The shockwave ripped through the ground, sending dirt and debris flying in all directions. Both combatants were forced a few steps back—but to A's surprise, Shirō hadn't been blown awA.
The Raikage's grin widened. "Heh... not bad!"
Without missing a beat, he lunged forward again.
From that point on, their fists, elbows, shoulders, and even knees became weapons. Their movements blurred as they struck, parried, and countered in a relentless rhythm. What began as a simple test of strength evolved into a pure brawl of monstrous power—so fierce that the fight began to resemble a scene out of Dragon Ball more than Naruto.
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For A, this was exhilarating. Few in Kumo could even withstand his full strength—perhaps only Killer B, his younger brother. His father, the Third Raikage, was a brute in his own right, and A had inherited not only his power but also his thirst for a worthy fight.
Shirō, meanwhile, hadn't felt this alive in ages. In his world, sparring partners were limited. Even Might Guy, known for his legendary taijutsu, wasn't a true challenge when Shirō employed Reinforcement Magic or Magic Power Emission. Unless Guy opened the Eight Gates—a feat he stubbornly refused to perform outside of life-or-death combat—there was no way to match Shirō's strength.
Sakumo Hatake could match him technically, but not physically. Shirō craved a test of raw power—a clash where fists spoke louder than words.
Now, against A, he had found it.
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Their battle raged across the shattered terrain, neither gaining ground for long. Finally, A leapt back, his right arm surging with even greater lightning chakra.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!"
He roared as he charged forward, his body turning into a streak of blinding blue light. The sheer pressure of his chakra tore the air apart.
Shirō didn't flinch. His hands moved fluidly, weaving sigils through the air before stopping abruptly. Chakra and magic intertwined as he invoked Magic Power Emission.
He sidestepped at the last instant and met A's Lariat head-on with a devastating right punch, chakra bursting outward like a shockwave. The impact was cataclysmic—both men were thrown apart by the collision, landing several meters awA before instantly springing back to their feet.
The next moment, both charged again—this time at full power.
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With a guttural roar, A's Lightning Release Armor surged to its ultimate state. The lightning around his body turned blinding white-blue, the ground cracking beneath his feet. His muscle fibers tightened; his reflexes sharpened. He had raised his cellular activation beyond normal limits, approaching the state he once used against Sasuke Uchiha.
Shirō wasn't idle either. He shook his arms, loosening his joints as his Magic Crest on the forearm flared to life. Chakra flooded through him, activating every pattern of Reinforcement Magic simultaneously. The surrounding air began to hum as atomized chakra burst forth in visible waves.
This was Shirō's strongest state to date—Full Reinforcement + Continuous Magic Power Emission.
While his control over Magic Power Emission wasn't perfect, he had developed a technique to sustain it continuously by intentionally overloading his chakra output. The resulting "chakra vapor" around his body was the physical manifestation of energy that couldn't be contained.
In this mode, his strength and speed spiked dramatically. Combined with his Mind's Eye, he could channel every ounce of power with precision.
At this level, his destructive potential rivaled that of an Elite Jonin—but there was a catch.
This form was unsustainable. It required nearly two hours of charging for less than five minutes of use. Even with a year's worth of stored energy, Shirō could only maintain this state for three minutes before exhausting his reserves.
But three minutes was enough.
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The two warriors lunged at each other once more, vanishing in a blur of motion. Their collision unleashed a shockwave so violent that the entire battlefield paused. Ninja from both sides stared in disbelief as trees shattered, the ground split apart, and rocks disintegrated under the sheer pressure of their blows.
Punch met punch, knee met knee, and the air itself seemed to scream under their strikes.
Each impact sent ripples of destruction outward. Within moments, the battlefield around them had turned into a wasteland of craters and broken stone.
For those watching shinobi, it was a revelation.
They had never imagined that taijutsu alone could wield such overwhelming, apocalyptic force.
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