Gripping the Super-Vibrating Vacuum Blade in his hand, Ren Uchiha's eyes flashed crimson. With a sudden burst of speed, he stayed low and charged forward like a streaking shadow!
His opponent was a Raikage possessed of absolute defense. Therefore, he did not bother throwing ninja tools to create an opening as he had in the past.
As the Third Raikage, A, had said, such parlor tricks were useless against him.
Whether it was wire, shuriken, or massive elemental ninjutsu like the giant flame sword—where the power was spread too thin—none could crack that stubborn turtle shell. In an era where almost all shinobi were "glass cannons," the Lightning Release Armor of the Raikage lineage was a freakish anomaly.
Consequently, Ren's combat experience against other ninjas was inapplicable here. To shatter this armor, Ren currently had two methods he could attempt:
1. Use a white-hot blade created by concentrating Fire-attribute chakra to its absolute limit, attempting to melt and hack through the armor at close range. This required a staggering amount of chakra.
2. Rely on elemental counter-properties, using the extreme piercing power of this Wind-Lightning composite ninjutsu to puncture the armor.
For Ren, this wasn't a multiple-choice question. He chose: All of the above.
"Hah!"
Amidst the high-speed sprint, with the fierce wind lashing his face and the world around him blurring into streaks, Ren let out a guttural roar. In that split second, he crushed the sparks leaking through his teeth!
Fire Style: Chakra Mode—Activate!
In the next instant, a violent, incandescent light flared! A miniature sun rose from the cliffs of the Valley of Hell!
The flames born from burning his heart and everything within his being surged forth. Like a water spout, the fire swirled and concentrated into his left arm and fist.
Suddenly, a fist shining as brightly as the sun was thrown with savage force toward the Third Raikage's face!
It was the very move he had used to clash head-on with Hozuki Mangetsu's Hiramekarei light-blade:
The Shattering Flame Fist!
In this blinding white light, which rivaled the intense brightness of a Lightning Illusion: Flash Pillar, the Third Raikage couldn't help but narrow his eyes. A trace of solemnity entered his gaze.
Tsk... I can't see the boy's position.
I see. The series of techniques from before and the sword in his hand were all feints?
He closes the distance, uses intense light to disturb my vision, and then strikes with this move to secure a result.
Is this the ultimate Fire Style from the intel... the one that requires no hand seals?
Thinking this, A's lips curled into a slight smirk. For the first time, this Uchiha brat—whom he had viewed as a mere annoyance to be swatted away—had ignited a spark of battle spirit.
"Since it's come to this..."
A shifted from his relaxed stance into a proper combat frame. His eyes became sharp and icy.
"I will defeat you with absolute speed!"
A raised his hands. His left fist blocked in front of his right, while his right thumb was tucked in, and four fingers were extended. After a brief thought, he tucked two more fingers away, leaving only the index and middle fingers extended in a sword-point.
With this movement, the Lightning Armor on A's body flickered even more brilliantly!
This was... Hell Stab: Two-Finger Nukite!
Having struck the pose, A closed his eyes. He focused his entire consciousness on his ears, listening to the wind. Unlike Ren, who relied on raw intuition to dodge, A was a master taijutsu specialist with peerless close-quarters experience. He could determine an opponent's exact strike point solely through the sound of the wind.
Listening to the flow of air being scorched by the heat...
Suddenly, he snapped his head to the right! He instantly locked onto the figure piercing through the smoke and mist from a changed angle!
"Right there!"
A snapped his eyes open, his fierce gaze wide. With his hips and legs acting as one, he pulled his left elbow back, twisted his torso, and drove his right hand-blade forward in a spinning straight thrust!
This heavy, powerful strike seemed to arrive ahead of time, aiming directly at the chest of the youth leaping toward him with a flaming fist! It was as if Ren Uchiha were throwing himself onto the blade!
"!!"
Ren, mid-swing toward A's face, was jolted by shock. However, being airborne and having unleashed the flame fist in Fire Style: Chakra Mode meant he couldn't use the Halo Dance to flicker away in mid-air.
This strike was unavoidable!
In an instant, the lightning-clad hand-blade lunged out. It pierced the skin, sliced through the flesh, and crushed the ribs! Then, aiming for that vibrantly beating, burning heart, it punctured through!
Psh-tkk!!
Having detonated the heart, the hand-blade passed entirely through Ren's chest, protruding out his back!
Ren stared blankly at the hand-blade impaling him. His own flame fist was only one centimeter away from A's face! Then, the incandescent white flames coiling around his arm and fist dispersed into the air like leaderless embers.
The weakness of the Fire Style: Chakra Mode was the heart—the source of its violent power. Once the heart was destroyed, the strength born from its burning naturally vanished like a wildfire losing its fuel.
At this moment, A held Ren aloft with his thick arm skewering the boy's chest.
"It's over, kid."
He looked coldly at Ren, whose left arm hung limp.
"A ninja's intel is his life."
"Having leaked so much information, you still dared to stay in the Valley of Hell instead of staying in your village to grow stronger..."
"To be honest, it is so arrogant that it borders on..."
"Utterly stupid!"
With those words, a cold light flashed in A's eyes. Because the intel on Ren had been spread throughout the ninja world by Sunagakure, he knew a pierced heart wouldn't kill the boy. However, doing so would dismantle the opponent's offensive capabilities, leaving him as nothing more than meat on a chopping block.
A raised his left hand. His five fingers spread wide, reaching out to grip Ren's head. He intended to twist the boy's head right off his neck and take it back as a trophy!
However, facing this desperate situation, Ren only felt a brief moment of surprise before regaining his calm. This situation was outside his expectations, but it didn't hinder his original plan!
Ren snapped his head up, staring fixedly at A's chest. At such close range, the lightning-shaped scar on A's chest was clearly visible!
The Third Raikage was right about one thing: a ninja's intel is his life!
And it just so happened that while A knew Ren's secrets, Ren also knew A's fatal weakness—a piece of intel A didn't know he possessed!
Thoughts flashed through his mind in a heartbeat. The wind from A's grasping palm lifted the hair on Ren's forehead.
Under the Raikage's icy gaze, Ren suddenly grinned, a savage twist of his lips. Then, he quietly raised the sword that A had dismissed as a mere feint!
He aimed it directly at the lightning scar on A's chest!
In the next heartbeat, thunder roared alongside a sudden surge of wind! The blade of the Kusanagi Sword brightened intensely, shooting out a golden light like a legendary holy blade!
The endless killing intent hidden beneath the sword's plain exterior...
Exploded in an instant!
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