"Lord Raikage!"
From within the smoke, a Kumogakure shinobi's voice rang out in alarm.
"Stay back!"
Before the shinobi could say anything else, the Third Raikage's voice thundered out from the dust cloud.
Kizaru hovered in the air and looked down, his expression as lazy as ever.
"Ooh... what a monster."
The Third Raikage stood inside the crater, his body still cloaked in Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Even after taking Kizaru's heavy kick head-on, he looked more irritated than injured.
"So that's all you've got?" the Third Raikage shot back, glaring up at Kizaru. "All you do is dodge and run. Don't tell me that's the best you can do!"
Kizaru didn't take the bait. He simply smiled and replied in his usual drawl,
"Then come up here and hit me."
The Third Raikage's jaw tightened.
Seeing that look, the smile on Kizaru's face only widened.
At that moment, a kunai wrapped in Lightning Release chakra shot up from below, tearing through the air toward him.
Kizaru didn't bother dodging. His body shifted into light, letting the kunai pass harmlessly through him.
At the same time, he lazily pointed a finger downward.
A flash of golden light burst from his fingertip.
The laser was fired almost instantly.
The Kumogakure jōnin who had launched the sneak attack was pierced straight through the heart before he could even react.
A split second later, the beam slammed into the ground.
Boom!
The resulting explosion was even more violent than before. The earth ruptured, fire and debris swallowing everything within nearly ten meters.
The shinobi caught inside didn't even have time to scream properly.
Watching that scene, the Third Raikage's expression darkened even further.
That ability... was beyond troublesome.
Against ordinary shinobi, it was practically a massacre.
"Fall back!" the Third Raikage roared at once.
Since he couldn't pin Kizaru down, there was no point in letting more of his men die here.
Golden light scattered through the air as Kizaru descended lightly to the ground. He looked toward the retreating Kumogakure forces and slowly raised his right hand again, index finger extended.
"What a cold welcome."
A faint golden glow began gathering at his fingertip.
"Don't you dare!"
The Third Raikage exploded forward with a furious shout.
His right hand, shaped like a blade, came crashing toward Kizaru's outstretched arm—
—and passed straight through it.
The Third Raikage's eyes narrowed.
"I'd be in a bit of trouble if I let all of you get away."
Among the retreating Kumogakure shinobi, a cross-shaped blade of light formed in Kizaru's hand.
Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi.
With a lazy swing, Kizaru slashed outward.
Several golden arcs burst from his blade in a circle, tearing through everything around him.
"Gahhh!"
Screams echoed one after another.
The shinobi closest to him had no chance to escape. Their bodies were cut apart before they even understood what had happened.
Those farther away were luckier. Most barely managed to evade using the Body Flicker Technique.
The unlucky few were still caught by the edges of the attack, left maimed and bleeding on the ground.
The Third Raikage's eyes widened so hard they looked ready to split.
One by one, his comrades were falling before his eyes.
His chest felt like it was being torn apart.
"Unforgivable...!"
Blue lightning erupted even more violently around his body.
The Third Raikage forced himself to calm down and immediately spread out his senses, locking onto Kizaru's chakra fluctuations.
There!
He burst forward with everything he had.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed the battlefield and appeared behind the retreating formation, roughly ten meters from where Kizaru's presence had surfaced.
Though nothing stood in front of him, the Third Raikage thrust forward without the slightest hesitation.
Kizaru's figure appeared out of nowhere, turning his head slightly with that same careless smile.
"Oh? You found me?"
The Third Raikage's hand shot straight toward Kizaru's heart—
—but once again, there was no impact. No resistance. Nothing.
His eyes widened.
Impossible!
His arm was buried in Kizaru's chest, yet it felt as if he had struck empty air.
Kizaru let out a light sigh.
"What a shame."
His body dissolved into countless particles of light and reappeared behind the stunned Raikage in an instant.
Kizaru lifted one hand to his chin, that annoyingly relaxed smile still on his face. Light rapidly gathered around his right leg.
Then he moved.
"Yasakani no... no, let's keep this simple."
His glowing leg whipped forward.
Flash Kick.
This time, Kizaru didn't hold back.
The kick tore through the Raikage's Lightning Release armor and slammed into his back, launching him into the air.
Kizaru didn't stop there.
The sole of his raised foot shone brilliantly—
—and fired a thick beam of light straight at the airborne Raikage.
Boom!
A violent explosion thundered across the battlefield.
The Third Raikage's body was blasted away into the distance, disappearing amid smoke and shattered earth.
Kizaru lowered his leg.
"Ooh... that one landed nicely."
With both hands in his pockets, he started walking toward where the Third Raikage had crashed.
A sharp hum split the air.
A blade crackling with lightning cut across his path.
Kizaru stopped.
Before him stood a tall Kumogakure elite jōnin, gripping a long sword wrapped in Lightning Release chakra.
"Kizaru!" the man barked. "You're not going any farther!"
Kizaru glanced at the sword pointed near his throat, then slowly raised both hands with a grin.
"Ooh... scary."
No more words were exchanged.
Yotsuki Kintarō drove his lightning blade forward in a swift, lethal thrust aimed straight at Kizaru's head.
Kizaru tilted his head slightly.
The blade missed by a hair's breadth.
"Ooh, that was close. I almost died."
His tone was light, almost amused.
Kintarō said nothing. The instant the thrust failed, he changed angles and brought the blade down in a brutal slash.
It sliced through Kizaru without meeting the slightest resistance, like it had cut through nothing at all. There was no blood, no wound—his body simply scattered into light for an instant, as if the attack had never truly touched him.
Kintarō's eyes sharpened at once.
He spun, senses flaring in every direction.
"Hey, hey... I'm over here."
Kizaru's voice drifted from behind him.
Kintarō whirled and slashed without hesitation—
—but struck only empty air.
"It's a little too easy, you know."
Kizaru was already back in front of him, one hand raised.
A beam of light shot from his fingertip and pierced through Kintarō's right chest.
"Guh—!"
Kintarō let out a pained grunt and staggered.
As he turned back toward the enemy, the light at Kizaru's fingertip flared again.
A flash.
His vision went white.
Kintarō stumbled, half-blind, forcing himself to endure the pain as he swung wildly forward.
Then Kizaru's voice came again.
"This is the end."
Another laser fired.
It tore clean through Kintarō's heart.
His body hit the ground hard.
Clutching his chest, his fading vision barely recovered enough to catch sight of Kizaru's back as he walked away without a second glance.
Lord Raikage... I could only do this much...
A deep unwillingness filled his heart.
Then Yotsuki Kintarō slowly closed his eyes.
Sensing the life behind him disappear, Kizaru pushed off the ground and flashed toward the Third Raikage's position.
By the time he arrived, the Third Raikage was already forcing himself back to his feet.
A terrible wound carved across his back, splitting flesh so deeply that bone could be seen beneath it. Blood poured down his body, but the Raikage used his Lightning Release chakra to stimulate his muscles and forcibly clamp the wound shut.
Even so, his breathing had turned rough and heavy.
Kizaru landed nearby and looked him over.
"Ooh... that's terrifying."
The Third Raikage stared at him in silence, his expression grim.
Inwardly, he had already come to a conclusion he didn't want to admit.
This man was a monster.
And worse—
he was a monster the Third Raikage could not defeat head-on.
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