Qianyu's ninjato punched through the Third Raikage's neck at the shoulder joint. Not the throat. Not a killing blow.
He tried to twist the blade. It wouldn't budge.
The Raikage's eyes narrowed in confusion, then cleared. "I see," he rumbled, the sound vibrating through the steel stuck in his flesh. "This is that strange ability A and Bee mentioned. The one that unravels jutsu on contact. A Mangekyō Sharingan power."
Qianyu yanked. The blade stayed put.
His eyes widened slightly. This muscle control… Even without the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the Raikage's body was a fortress. Flesh honed to its absolute limit.
A fist descended. Qianyu released the sword and leaped back.
The Raikage reached up, gripped the hilt lodged in his shoulder, and ripped it free. He snapped the blade across his knee and tossed the pieces aside. The wound sealed itself under sheer muscular will, the bleeding stopped.
A Rock ninja's fireball jutsu crashed into the Raikage's back. He didn't flinch. Didn't even turn. He just ate the explosion, using the chaotic chakra influx to disrupt any lingering genjutsu. His gaze dropped, fixed on Qianyu's feet, avoiding his eyes.
Qianyu spent another 100 Witness Points. A new ninjato materialized in his hand. His expression was grim.
So that's how he broke it. Used the enemy's attack to purge my influence.
"You are dangerous, boy," the Third Raikage stated, his voice flat and final. "A true threat to my village. Therefore… you die here."
Crackling blue lightning erupted from his pores. The strongest Lightning Release Armor. He raised his right hand, index and middle fingers extended like a spear.
Hell Stab: Two-Finger Nukite!
He became a bolt of divine punishment, tearing across the earth.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash—God Speed!
Qianyu didn't dodge. He met the charge.
Two streaks of lightning—one cobalt, one violet—collided.
Qianyu was faster. By a fraction. His sword flashed forward first.
The Raikage's brilliant armor winked out, dispelled by Dōjutsu: Ten Thousand Rejections.
But the momentum remained. Qianyu's blade was already arcing for the Raikage's neck. The Raikage's two-fingered spear was already thrusting for Qianyu's heart.
Neither man evaded.
CRUNCH.
Steel bit deep into the Raikage's raised forearm, grinding against bone.
SHLICK.
Two fingers punched through Qianyu's left arm, flesh and sinew twisting violently with a sickening tear.
Adrenaline burned through Qianyu's veins, a wildfire in his blood. The pain was a distant thing. Irrelevant. His world narrowed to the man before him. Excitement, raw and vicious, flooded his system.
The Raikage, his arm pinned by the sword, curled his ring finger in. Preparing the final, unstoppable One-Finger Nukite.
"Hey," Qianyu hissed, his voice a ragged, bloody thing. A mad grin split his face. "Think you can take what's coming… without your armor?"
The Raikage's instincts screamed. He tried to pull back. Qianyu dropped his sword and grabbed the man's wrist with his good hand, holding on with berserker strength.
Dōjutsu: Unseen Summit! Jutsu Reversal!
A storm of chakra detonated from Qianyu's core.
The world turned white with sound and force.
The blast hit the Raikage point-blank. A shockwave of pure, violent energy radiated outward, scouring the battlefield. Rock ninja were hurled through the air like leaves.
The Iwa commander stared, dumbfounded. "What… what kind of jutsu is that?!"
"Scatter! NOW!" he roared, seeing his men disintegrate in the expanding ring of destruction.
Silence, thick with dust and the smell of ozone.
Qianyu knelt on one knee, his left arm a grotesque, twisted ruin. He coughed, spattering the ground with dark blood. His right eye was squeezed shut. His chest bore a deep, finger-sized puncture where the Nukite had begun its work before the reversal. Another inch, and it would have torn through his heart.
He scanned the devastated clearing through blurred vision.
His breath hitched.
In the center of the crater, amidst the settling debris, stood a figure wreathed in flickering lightning.
The Third Raikage. He had taken the Jutsu Reversal head-on.
Qianyu let out a wet, humorless laugh. Still standing. Of course.
The Raikage was a vision of carnage. One arm hung by shreds of flesh and tendon, swaying uselessly. Half his torso was raw and bleeding. Yet, the moment he was blasted back, the Lightning Armor had flickered back to life, preventing further damage.
With terrifying pragmatism, the Raikage gripped his ruined limb and ripped it free. He held the severed arm for a moment, then dropped it. A crackle of concentrated lightning seared the stump shut, the air filling with the scent of burnt flesh.
He was battered. He was maimed. But he was not beaten.
He took a step forward. Then another. The surrounding Rock ninja watched in frozen terror, none daring to intervene.
Qianyu forced himself upright, every movement agony. He grinned, his teeth stained red. "Heh. So strong. I'm clearly outmatched…"
The Raikage charged, a simple, brutal punch aimed to finish it. No fancy techniques. Just raw power behind the lightning.
"…But I'm not out of tricks yet!"
SUSANOO!
The air screamed.
A massive, skeletal blue arm erupted from the space around Qianyu, ribs like a cage curling to envelop him. The Initial Form of the Susanoo. Not the full entity—just an arm and a partial ribcage. But it was enough. A manifestation of ocular power meant for absolute defense and devastating attack.
The Raikage's fist connected.
BOOM.
The sound was like a mountain striking a mountain. The Susanoo shuddered. The ground beneath Qianyu's feet cratered.
But neither the spectral guardian nor the boy within it moved an inch.
Shock rippled through the Raikage's face. Through every watching ninja. None had ever seen such a thing.
With a thought, Qianyu commanded the giant arm. It swung in a backhanded arc.
The Third Raikage was swatted away like a bug, crashing through the rubble.
Qianyu doubled over, vomiting a torrent of blood. Using the Susanoo in this state was like holding up the sky with broken bones. He couldn't have summoned it during their high-speed duel—it would have been shattered instantly. But now, broken and bleeding, it was his only shield.
His only chance.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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