Oteii was arrogant, and he had every right to be.
After all, it was no small feat to have mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode to such a level.
Even within Kumogakure, he was ranked as an elite Jōnin, possessing considerable fame and status.
If the Fourth Raikage himself hadn't personally ordered him to track down the surviving heir of the Land of Beasts, he would have almost certainly ignored such a mission.
But since he had accepted it, the thought of failure had never once crossed his mind!
"Lightning Body Flicker!"
Oteii vanished instantly from where he stood.
When activating the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Oteii focused lightning-natured chakra throughout his entire body, enveloping himself in chakra and electricity while stimulating his physical abilities to their peak.
When mastered to perfection — like the Fourth Raikage — this technique could rival Minato Namikaze's Flying Raijin Jutsu over short distances.
Oteii was certainly no Raikage, but then again, his opponent was no Yellow Flash either!
Shinji only caught a flash of blue light before the enemy appeared right in front of him, throwing a punch exactly like the one that had sent Hidan flying earlier.
Wanting to test his opponent's true skill and thereby gauge the Raikage's strength, Shinji merely raised his Executioner's Blade to block.
Besides, that old thing broke all the time anyway; he had long since stopped caring about it.
(Executioner's Blade: "So, love really does fade, doesn't it?")
Bang!
Feeling the immense force transmitted through the weapon, Shinji dug his heels into the ground and slid backward over a dozen meters.
"Not bad — strong enough."
He shook his slightly numb right hand, already understanding his opponent's level.
Even with the Scales of Leaping Motion: Charge active, the enemy's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was nothing extraordinary.
Not to mention he still had plenty of other tricks he hadn't even used yet.
"Insolence!"
Oteii roared and charged again.
"Strong Current Strike!"
Essentially, it was an elbow strike delivered at extreme speed!
In the original story, the Fourth Raikage had used this very move to force Jugo out of his Cursed Seal Level 2 form and back to normal.
Anyone struck by this elbow would almost certainly die instantly.
However, Shinji seemed prepared this time. He drew his Golden Serpent Blade and blocked the attack with what looked like effortless ease.
Oteii was stunned!
This strike had been far more powerful than the punch earlier, yet his opponent had stood perfectly still, blocking it with that golden snake-shaped sword.
How had things changed so drastically from before, when he had been unable to do the same with that long, broad blade?
Had this guy been deliberately holding back earlier?
Oteii couldn't figure it out, and naturally, Shinji wasn't about to explain the sword's special ability — Tortoise-Snake Force Absorption: it reduced impact force by 60% when defending against physical attacks.
Against taijutsu specialists, this weapon was practically a divine artifact!
Clang!
The Executioner's Blade crashed heavily onto the ground.
Oteii reappeared some distance away.
He was no longer certain about many things he had assumed earlier.
And finding out for sure would come at a cost.
But there was no rush. He had brought plenty of men — more than twenty in total!
Besides himself, the elite Jōnin commander, there were two other Jōnin in his team, with the rest being a mix of Chūnin and Genin.
Such a deployment was only made because the previous squad sent out had been completely wiped out.
These skilled fighters had been specially selected this time to ensure absolute success.
First, capture the mission target. Then, eliminate this man's companions...
Oteii suddenly slapped himself in frustration. How humiliating! I finally meet a worthy opponent, and my first instinct is to play it safe!
He felt even heavier inside thinking that the Raikage-sama was probably fighting that monster right now.
Kill him!
Oteii instantly turned and charged back. Drawing two double-bladed axes forged from special chakra-conductive metal, he leaped high into the air and brought them crashing down.
"Lightning Release: Double Axe Annihilation!"
A dazzling flash of lightning struck first, followed immediately by the heavy, crushing weight of the axes.
The Golden Serpent Blade's damage reduction only worked against physical attacks — it offered no defense against being electrocuted.
Instinctively, Shinji formed a thick layered wall of crystallized blood around his body.
The lightning struck and caused some damage, but failed to break through completely.
Meanwhile, the heavy axes in Oteii's hands shattered the blood crystal wall, only to be blocked again by the Golden Serpent Blade.
Even though his attacks were being stopped, Oteii went wild, hacking and slashing furiously at Shinji. Every strike carried massive amounts of electricity, leaving scorch marks everywhere they landed.
Shinji didn't counterattack at all; he simply defended continuously, switching between the Golden Serpent Blade and the Executioner's Blade.
For a time, the deafening sound of weapons clashing echoed nonstop.
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield... Hidan and Sasuke had taken on the heavy responsibility of protecting Tamamo Hotaru.
Two Jōnin were attacking Hidan with everything they had. Normally, anyone this careless would be completely absorbed and finished off by Hidan — even if they only got a tiny scratch on their finger...
Sasuke, Tamamo Hotaru herself, and her white fox companion were struggling hard to fend off the rest of the attackers.
Only now did Sasuke realize this woman's strength was not to be underestimated!
She and the fox fought in perfect sync, and from time to time she managed to cast powerful ninjutsu techniques with great skill.
After all this time of training and experience, Sasuke himself had grown tremendously in every aspect.
The combination of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and Chidori allowed him to fight freely until his chakra was completely exhausted.
Even Tobi, who was mostly just goofing off and avoiding combat, had lured several enemies into chasing him, helping share some of the pressure.
"Princess! These Kumogakure ninja aren't targeting us. We should leave quickly!"
One of the guards realized the situation was turning bad and immediately prepared to flee with his men.
Princess Haruna glanced hesitantly toward Shinji, then nodded. "Very well. We'll hide first so we don't become a burden."
She clearly had enough self-awareness to know her limits.
Moreover, to ensure her own safety, she wouldn't even send one or two guards over to offer assistance.
Whether or not they could even participate in such a battle, at least she could have shown some gesture of support.
Just then, Hidan suddenly burst into wild laughter.
He had finally managed to draw blood from one of his opponents.
Earlier, those two had ganged up on him, with others harassing him constantly from the side — it had been incredibly annoying.
But now, the tables had turned!
"What is that guy doing?"
The two Kumogakure Jōnin watched as their enemy suddenly cut his own wrist, then began drawing strange patterns on the ground with his foot.
"Posturing and playing tricks! Kill him!"
The two moved in from left and right to surround Hidan.
But it was already too late. Hidan finished the ritual pattern quickly, then licked the fresh blood from his hand.
Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood!
____________________
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