Chapter 151: The Price of a Draw
Kagenori's blade was lodged deep in the junction of the Raikage's neck and shoulder—a grievous wound, but not a fatal one. He tried to twist the sword to widen the injury, but it refused to budge, locked in place by an impossible grip of muscle and bone.
The Third Raikage looked at him, confusion giving way to grim understanding. "So this is it," he grunted, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "The strange ability A and Bee described. The one that nullifies ninjutsu at close range. It's a Mangekyō power, isn't it?"
Kagenori strained to pull the sword free, but it was like trying to uproot a tree with his bare hands. The Raikage's physical body, even without its chakra shroud, was a monument of hardened flesh.
The Raikage's free hand shot forward in a punishing punch. With no other option, Kagenori released his grip on the ninjato and flickered backward.
The Third Raikage grimaced as he yanked the blade from his own body. With a contemptuous snap, he broke the sword in two and tossed the pieces aside. Through sheer muscular control, the bleeding from the deep gash slowed to a trickle.
At that moment, a combined Earth Release jutsu from the surrounding Iwa-nin slammed into his back. He took the hit without flinching, using the disruptive chakra of the attack to his advantage. He felt the lingering threads of Kagenori's genjutsu finally unravel. He kept his gaze deliberately lowered, refusing to meet Kagenori's eyes again.
Kagenori, having spent a minor sum of Witness Points to materialize a new ninjato, watched him warily. So he used their attack to break the illusion. Clever.
"You are dangerous, boy," the Raikage stated, his voice a low, deadly rumble. "A genuine threat to my village. Therefore... you die here."
The brilliant, crackling aura of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode erupted around him once more. He raised his hand, extending two fingers.
"Hell Stab: Two-Finger Nukite!"
He became a spear of light, charging at Kagenori with intent to kill.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash—Godspeed!"
Kagenori met the charge head-on. Two bolts of lightning converged.
The speed of the Two-Finger Nukite was infinitesimally slower than Kagenori's Godspeed. He arrived a fraction of a second sooner.
"Kyozetsu!"
The Raikage's ultimate armor flickered and died under the nullifying power of Kagenori's left eye.
Kagenori's new blade swung in a deadly arc. Though stripped of his defense, the momentum granted by his initial charge remained. The Raikage crossed his arms to protect his neck, while the two fingers of his right hand became a lance aimed at Kagenori's heart.
Seeing the inevitable counter, Kagenori made a split-second decision. He wouldn't dodge. He raised his own left arm to block his chest.
Steel met flesh. Flesh met flesh.
Kagenori's blade bit deep into the Raikage's forearm, carving into the bone.
The Raikage's two fingers, tipped with devastating piercing force, punched straight through Kagenori's blocking arm. A sickening crunch echoed as the bones in his forearm shattered, the fingers continuing onward to pierce partially into his chest.
A bizarre, euphoric excitement surged through Kagenori, overriding the pain. His world had narrowed to this single opponent.
The Raikage, his arm grievously wounded, curled a third finger, preparing to shift to the Three-Finger Nukite and finish the job.
"Hey," Kagenori gasped, a mad light in his eyes. "I wonder how you'll fare without your precious armor now."
A primal warning screamed in the Raikage's mind. He tried to disengage, but Kagenori, ignoring the blade still stuck in the Raikage's arm, wrapped his own good arm around him, holding him fast.
"Fumetsuzan: Jutsu Return!"
A cataclysmic explosion of chakra detonated from Kagenori's body, a violent, uncontrolled release of all the techniques his right eye had recorded. The force hammered into the Raikage at point-blank range, the shockwave rippling outward and flattening everything in a wide radius.
Kitsuchi stared, dumbstruck. What kind of ninjutsu is that?! "Scatter! Get back!" he screamed at his troops.
When the dust settled, Kagenori was on one knee, clutching his mangled, twisted left arm. His right eye was squeezed shut, tears of blood mixing with the grime on his face. He coughed, spattering the ground with crimson. The Raikage's fingers had pierced deep into his chest; without the Jutsu Return, his heart would have been skewered.
He looked up, searching for his opponent, and his blood ran cold.
In the center of the cleared area, amidst the debris and fallen Iwa-nin, stood a figure still crackling with residual lightning.
The Third Raikage, who had taken the full brunt of the blast.
He was a horrifying sight. One arm hung by a shred of flesh and tendon, swaying grotesquely. His torso was a mess of lacerations and burns. But he was standing. The moment he was blasted back, he had somehow reactivated his Lightning Chakra Mode just enough to mitigate the secondary damage. With a brutal, pragmatic motion, he tore the nearly-severed arm completely free and cauterized the stump with a sizzling jolt of lightning. He was maimed, but not mortally wounded.
He began to walk toward Kagenori, step by heavy step. The surrounding Iwa-nin could only watch in terrified awe, none daring to approach.
Kagenori forced himself to his feet, a bloody, defiant grin splitting his features. "Hah… you are truly a monster. I can't defeat you." He spat out a mouthful of blood. "But…"
The Raikage, believing Kagenori was at his limit, surged forward for the final blow, his remaining fist cloaked in lightning.
"...I'm not finished yet!"
"Susanoo!"
A spectral, azure hand and a cage of massive ribs materialized around Kagenori, cradling him in a semi-protective shell. It was the initial, skeletal form of the Ultimate Defense, full of gaps but possessing immense durability.
The Raikage's fist connected with the spectral bone. A resounding BOOM echoed, but Susanoo and the Kagenori it protected did not yield an inch.
The Third Raikage and every Iwa-nin present stared in stunned disbelief. They had never witnessed such a technique.
With a grunt of effort, Kagenori willed the giant skeletal arm to swing, swatting the Raikage away like a bothersome insect.
The effort cost him. He doubled over, coughing violently, more blood splattering the inside of his spectral armor. He could only manifest this rudimentary form; in a direct confrontation at full strength, the Raikage would have shattered it. But now, gravely injured, it was his only shield against the titan's final assault.
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