Fugaku Uchiha gave a short nod and withdrew, silently rooting for Shuoye Uchiha.
Across the battlefield, the Raikage stood proudly atop the Two-Tails' head, looking down at Shuoye. Lightning flickered in his eyes.
"Shuoye, don't you think you're underestimating us?"
His voice rolled like thunder, brimming with battle intent.
Shuoye smiled faintly.
With a casual wave, his towering Susanoo dissolved into particles of light. In its place stood his true form—clad in a fitted black robe threaded with faint arcs of lightning. The air around him grew heavy, like the approach of a reaper.
Armament Haki — full-body coating.
This was Shuoye's strongest combat state.
And a declaration of absolute confidence.
"Oh?"
"Does dismissing Susanoo count as disrespect?"
His tone was calm.
A slender blade slid into his hand, its edge glinting coldly beneath the moonlight.
"Then watch closely."
"I'll show you what real power looks like."
The Two-Tails roared, anger flaring at what it perceived as contempt. Chakra surged violently as it began forming another Tailed Beast Bomb.
Shuoye did not move.
He simply raised his blade.
"One-Sword Style — Severing Void."
A colossal blade phantom carved through the night sky. It carried no flourish—only overwhelming precision and force, as though space itself were being split apart.
Boom.
The blade struck the Tailed Beast Bomb.
For an instant, the world froze.
Then the sphere of destruction split cleanly in two.
The halves disintegrated into fading motes of light.
Silence fell.
Shuoye stood unmoved, blade lifted skyward, robes fluttering in the wind.
Darui and the others stared in disbelief.
"His swordsmanship… has reached that level?"
They finally understood.
The man before them had surpassed imagination.
—
Shuoye stepped onto the edge of a jagged cliff overlooking the battlefield. Wind tore at his clothes, yet he stood firm.
The sun in the distance vanished behind heavy clouds. The horizon bled red, as though foreshadowing catastrophe.
The Raikage and the Two-Tails exchanged a glance.
Unease crept into their chests.
"He won't let us walk away," the Raikage muttered.
Sweat evaporated instantly from his skin under the crackling lightning chakra, but the tension remained.
If he still failed to recognize the gap between himself and Shuoye, he would not deserve the title of Raikage.
Beside him, the Two-Tails burned with fighting spirit, yet the slight tremor at the edge of its form betrayed something else.
The air thickened.
"Together," the Two-Tails called out. "This may be our only chance."
The Raikage nodded.
They locked eyes briefly.
No words were needed.
"Lightning Release: Lariat — Dual Enhanced!"
Lightning exploded outward as the Raikage fused his movement with the Two-Tails' power. Their combined force condensed into a brilliant blade of lightning that tore through the sky toward Shuoye.
It was their strongest combined strike.
A technique capable of shattering mountains.
Shuoye's lips curved faintly.
"Too slow."
He vanished.
A thunderous crack followed.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit surged through his arm, invisible shockwaves coiling like restrained storms.
In the next heartbeat, he stood before them.
"Now," he said quietly, "understand despair."
His fist drove forward.
"Tomb of Heaven — Grand Quake Burst."
The punch seemed simple.
It was anything but.
Space warped around the impact. A violent oscillation exploded outward, a distortion that fractured the very air.
The lightning blade collided with that force—
And shattered like glass.
Fragments of lightning scattered and faded.
"What?!"
The Raikage and the Two-Tails both recoiled in shock.
Their ultimate technique had been erased in a single blow.
The shockwave continued.
The Two-Tails' form was blasted apart mid-charge.
The Raikage staggered backward, boots carving trenches through the earth.
Before he could fully recover, he roared—
"Don't underestimate me!"
Instead of retreating, he stomped forward.
The ground fractured beneath his step.
Lightning erupted violently as he charged once more.
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