"The Fourth Raikage, A?!"
Nagi's eyes widened, unable to believe what was happening. But there A was, right in front of him. If he hadn't managed to block with his Susanoo in time, he wouldn't have even had a chance to draw his sword before his heart was pierced.
The divine Blade, Raikiri, was incredibly sturdy. The scabbard had been pierced through, but the blade itself had firmly blocked the killing blow.
"Dammit," A growled, his face dark. He had launched his sneak attack at his absolute top speed. His body had broken the sound barrier and arrived before the sound of his own voice could even reach Nagi's ears, yet his opponent had still reacted in time to block him.
"Lightning Release: Vant-Bull!"
Since the ambush had failed, it was time for a direct assault. A slammed his fist into the already cracked Susanoo, shattering it completely. But in that brief moment, Nagi had already recovered.
He'd thrown several kunai in all directions. By the time the Fourth Raikage broke through the Susanoo, Nagi had already used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to a large tree ten meters away.
"A, you're looking for death..." Nagi's voice was grim as he looked at his dying eagle and released the summoning. A murderous aura flooded the entire forest. "You refused the path to heaven and insisted on knocking on the gates of hell. Don't blame me for cutting you down today."
"Hmph. We'll see who kills who. I will avenge the desecration of my father's body," A roared back, his face a mask of fury.
"That's a laugh. You're the one who smashed your own father's corpse. Why blame me?" Nagi sneered.
"You impersonated my father..."
"That's right. And you called me 'Dad.' Good boy."
"Aaaah! You're dead!" A war of words was not A's strong suit. Since the ambush had failed, he'd just fight.
In less than the blink of an eye, A was in front of Nagi. His speed wasn't the space-time travel of the Flying Thunder God, but over short distances, his explosive burst was as fast as a true bolt of lightning. Before you could even blink, he would have already killed you.
"Sun Breathing, First Form—"
Nagi didn't dare to be careless. He had already drawn his Nichirin Blade. Minato Namikaze had been forced to dodge and weave because his Rasengan couldn't break through A's Lightning Armor. Nagi had faced the same problem last time, which was why he'd resorted to the Rasenshuriken.
But things were different now. He had his sword forged—a powerful and sturdy Nichirin Blade. Combined with Sun Breathing, its power was more than doubled.
The surrounding moonlight and starlight suddenly dimmed, all the light being absorbed by the blade. Raikiri, which glowed with a yellow flame in the daytime, now shone with a pure, silvery light, like the moon itself.
A pity. The amplification isn't as great at night.
Nagi sighed internally. The lack of sunlight was a disadvantage. The boost his divine blade received at night was less than half of what it could be. Fortunately, the blade itself was forged from a meteorite from the Village Hidden in the Stars, and the meteorite possessed its own vast, mysterious power.
The blade erupted with silver-white chakra flames, its enhanced power clashing with A's heavy punch.
A was shocked to see his Lightning Release Chakra Armor had been cut an inch deep by his opponent's divine weapon.
The Fourth Raikage narrowed his eyes. He knew this was a divine weapon and that he couldn't block it head-on. When he threw his next punch, he consciously avoided the edge, striking the flat of the blade instead. Nagi responded in kind with Sun Breathing.
Even Minato Namikaze wouldn't have dared to fight A in close quarters. But Nagi, relying on Sun Breathing, the dynamic vision of his Mangekyo Sharingan, and his newly forged divine weapon, Raikiri, successfully held his ground.
"This is it! This is it! A battle between life and death, now this is exhilarating!"
"Hahahahaha! Fourth Raikage A, entertain me!" Nagi laughed manically. Fights where he just teleported around were nothing compared to the thrill of a solid, blow-for-blow, blade-to-flesh clash.
BOOM!
The two of them battled from the blood-soaked ground where the eagle had fallen to the other side of the forest, felling countless giant trees along the way. Before the Raikage's fists and Nagi's blade, the ancient trees were as fragile as paper, shattering and scattering across the landscape.
"You bastard!" Raikage A had reached the peak of his fury.
His opponent's speed was inferior to his own, forcing him into a defensive posture. But that damned Sharingan's predictive ability was ridiculously good. Every time he attacked, before his fist could even land, his opponent's eyes had already anticipated the move.
And that bizarre swordsmanship was incredibly frustrating for A. It was like trying to capsize a small sailboat in a raging storm. No matter how ferocious his attacks, the little boat would just ride the waves, its strange swordsmanship neutralizing every blow.
To make matters worse, he constantly had to be wary of the blade's edge, because that divine weapon could truly cut through his Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Each hit only went half an inch or an inch deep, and A could restore the armor by pouring more chakra into it, but one careless mistake...
Suddenly, a powerful voice echoed from the forest. "Big Bro, I'm here!"
A's heart skipped a beat. With perfect coordination, he and his brother unleashed a combination jutsu that had been passed down through generations in the Hidden Cloud, one of their strongest taijutsu combinations.
"Lariat!" +1
"Double Lariat!" +1
Two voices, one after the other, flawlessly executed the A-B combo. The speed was so incredible it was no less than the Flying Thunder God.
Faced with this ultimate A-B combo, a thousand thoughts flashed through Nagi's mind. In the end, he decided to face it head-on.
The Flying Thunder God was too much of a cheat. If he relied on it too heavily, he would never achieve the sublimation that only came from fighting on the razor's edge of life and death. Every time he faced a stronger opponent, his first thought would be, I can't win, but I can run.
Over time, someone who relied too much on the Flying Thunder God would lose the courage to fight opponents stronger than themselves. Every time they were in a life-or-death battle, their only thought would be to teleport away.
So, in this duel with A, he had already decided not to use the Flying Thunder God.
"Twelfth Form: Flame Dance..."
"In the beginning, you must remember the movements and the feeling, you must gather up these elements."
"When you open your five senses, you recognize the shape of your entire body, down to every single blood vessel within."
"This process will be incredibly painful, but as you remember and absorb many things, you then discard the unnecessary parts, leaving only what is needed for the movement, and you seal it away."
Discard the unnecessary movements...
Nagi frantically unleashed the forms of Sun Breathing, from one to twelve, at extreme speed, trying to merge them into one.
"Over time, your blood vessels and muscles will close them in, and completing the action will become as quick and simple as opening your eyes."
"In that way, the light will appear, and the path will open. Your mind will naturally become clear, and you will be able to see the Transparent World."
"That is the domain that can only be reached after giving it your all, after a painful struggle."
Unleashing the twelve forms from beginning to end was the thirteenth form. Nagi had known this for a long time, but he could never figure out how to merge the twelve forms of Sun Breathing into a single move. At this moment, it felt like he was starting to understand.
This state of mind could only be felt, not spoken. It could only be achieved by continuously unleashing the first twelve forms on the brink of death, in a state of self-forgetfulness.
"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form..."
Nagi's entire body became like a spirit of fire, dancing under the night sky. The Blade Raikiri, once shining with a silvery light, now blazed with a yellow flame.
BOOM!
Finally, the three figures passed through each other. In that sliver of a moment between life and death, Nagi had grasped the Thirteenth Form, closing the loop of the previous twelve into a single, seamless move. He had successfully blocked the A-B combo's ultimate taijutsu, the Double Lariat.
"Oh, Big Bro, he blocked it! Unbelievable! Oh, oh, he blocked it~"
The newcomer was, of course, Killer B. His body was also incredibly tough, and with the Tailed Beast's chakra, he could rapidly heal his injuries. He had been sent over shortly after his brother via the Heavenly Transfer Technique. But upon arriving, he had first healed his injuries, then sent out a clone to find and clear away any of Nagi's remaining Flying Thunder God markers. Only after all that was done did he head to the scene to support his big brother, A.