Raiga Kurosuki led the two chūnin to the center of the explosion.
A massive crater dozens of meters wide had been blasted into the ground.
But when Raiga reached the edge, he froze.
At the center of the crater… floated three golden, glowing spheres of water.
"What… is that?" the two chūnin asked in confusion.
Raiga felt a chill run down his spine.
"Be careful. That brat isn't easy to deal with," he said grimly. He had a strong feeling—Orion wasn't dead.
"That's impossible! Even a Kage couldn't survive that explosion!"
They had planted thousands of explosive tags.
Even a Kage-level ninja would struggle to survive such destruction.
Raiga drew his twin blades, the Kiba swords, and stared intently at the glowing spheres.
After a moment of silence, he attacked.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"
"Crack—!"
Blue lightning surged from his blades and formed a thick bolt, slamming into one of the golden water spheres.
This was a lightning technique amplified by the Kiba swords—faster, stronger, and more efficient than ordinary Lightning Release.
The bolt struck—
And vanished.
The golden sphere absorbed it completely, like a black hole swallowing everything.
The lightning disappeared as if it had never existed.
Raiga and the two chūnin were stunned.
"What… what is that thing?!"
"A monster…"
"Raiga-sama's lightning was absorbed?!"
Raiga's expression darkened.
He suddenly looked around and shouted, "Brat! Stop hiding! I know this is your doing!"
"Come out!"
He was furious.
Not only had Orion survived—he was toying with him.
The battlefield was silent.
Too silent.
Raiga's expression grew heavier. This feeling of being watched… it was suffocating.
"Damn it… Even a perfect trap couldn't kill you… What kind of monster are you?"
The two chūnin were clearly shaken.
"You don't seriously think he survived that, right…?"
But even saying it, their voices trembled.
They had observed Orion for days.
They knew how terrifying he was.
Raiga ignored them and raised his blades again.
"If you won't come out, I'll force you out!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Fang!"
The sky darkened as lightning gathered above.
Dozens of bolts formed and crashed down across the battlefield.
"CRACK—!"
"BOOOOM!!!"
Lightning rained down, destroying everything in sight.
Trees were obliterated, the ground shattered.
The scene looked like the end of the world.
"This is the power of the Kiba swords!" one of the chūnin shouted excitedly.
"He's going all out! That brat is definitely dead now!"
Even if Orion had somehow survived before—
There was no way he could withstand this.
Or so they thought.
But Orion still didn't appear.
Instead—
"Crack…"
A sound like glass breaking echoed from the crater.
Raiga froze.
His eyes locked onto the three golden spheres.
The golden surface began to peel away.
Fragments fell like shattered glass.
Then—
A face appeared.
Raiga's eyes widened in disbelief.
"She… she's alive?!"
"That girl… she's alive?!"
He couldn't accept it.
"I stuck over twenty explosive tags on her! She should've been blown to pieces!"
"But she's… unharmed?!"
The golden shell fully crumbled away, revealing Sakura—completely intact.
Not a single injury.
Not even a scratch.
Raiga's mind reeled.
"This is impossible… impossible!"
"This must be genjutsu… that brat's genjutsu!"
His hands trembled.
His entire understanding of reality was collapsing.
"There's no way he could remove all those explosive tags in that instant…!"
"Crack—!"
The other two spheres began to break apart as well.
Sakura stood there, completely dazed.
Moments ago, she had been certain she was dead.
She had even regretted dragging Orion down with her.
She moved her hand.
Pain shot through her.
She froze—
"I'm… alive?"
"This isn't a dream… I didn't die…"
"With that many explosive tags… I should've…"
Her mind spun.
Then suddenly—
"Orion…!"
Her eyes widened in panic.
"What about Orion?!"
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