"Damn it."
Darui hadn't expected Senju Haruto to suddenly strike.
No… he should have expected it.
This wasn't a spar, nor a simple contest—it was a real battle. From the very start, he had been aiming straight for Haruto's vitals. Of course Haruto would retaliate. That was only natural.
But what Darui never anticipated was the sheer speed of Haruto's counterattack. It was outrageous. Even in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he couldn't dodge in time.
His speed… it was even faster than the Fourth Raikage.
How could Konoha possibly harbor such a monster?
Darui clenched his teeth, breath coming in sharp bursts through his nose. Since he couldn't evade, his only option was to meet the attack head-on!
In a reflex, he drew his blade, flooding it with Lightning Release chakra to sharpen its edge.
But the instant Darui's lightning-forged blade clashed with the chakra sword of Susanoo, it was severed clean through.
BOOM!
A thunderous crash rang out as Susanoo's blade smashed into the floor, embedding half its length deep into the ground. Darui tumbled away in a desperate roll, blood trailing in his wake.
Haruto's eyes followed the movement, and he saw the gash carved across Darui's thigh—deep and gruesome.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Darui gulped air, forcing it back out in heavy bursts. Only then did he realize—
It wasn't that his speed had failed him. Nor that Susanoo was impossibly fast.
No, in that moment, his body had frozen because fear had surged from deep within his heart.
That fear had robbed him of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode's signature speed.
In the critical instant, Darui had used pain to jolt himself awake. That pain was the only reason he'd managed to slip away from Haruto's attack.
The cost, however, was his ruined thigh.
And here, without a medical-nin, such an injury would weigh heavily on the rest of the fight.
"There is no 'rest of the fight.'"
Haruto's voice was low, calm, absolute.
"What?" Darui froze, uncertain if he'd misheard.
Everything he'd just thought—his fear, his doubts—he hadn't spoken aloud, nor muttered under his breath.
So how did Haruto know?
Even as the question rose in his mind, Haruto voiced his thoughts once more, word for word.
It was nothing more than psychological warfare.
The same tactic Kakashi had used the first time he revealed his Sharingan against Zabuza. If Darui had kept calm, he would have realized this.
But now, he was drowning in fear of Haruto, despairing at his own helplessness.
And Haruto's words weren't exactly lies. They were the truth.
From the very beginning, Darui and Ōnoki never stood a chance.
Even if all Five Kage had gathered, they still wouldn't have been Haruto's match.
The only reason they weren't killed instantly was Haruto's own cruel amusement.
But the novelty had already worn off.
Susanoo's skeletal frame suddenly swelled, sprouting muscles, nerves, flesh, and a thick suit of armor.
The chakra blade in its hands grew longer, sharper, more lethal.
Since Ōnoki's earth release had lifted the entire battlefield into the air, Haruto no longer needed to worry about his sword waves cutting through the village below.
"It's over."
Haruto fixed his gaze on Darui. Susanoo raised its sword once more and brought it down in a devastating arc.
A storm of sword-light split through the air.
This time, Darui truly had no chance to dodge.
It wasn't fear or despair holding him back.
It was simply that the sheer speed of a half-complete Susanoo's sword strike utterly outpaced his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
At the last moment, Ōnoki twisted midair, hands clasping together in a seal, unleashing his strongest kekkei tōta.
Blinding white light flared between his palms, expanding in an instant into a massive transparent cube. It swallowed the pyramid of earth restraining Haruto and even cleaved through the sword aura that was about to annihilate Darui.
Within Dust Release, everything was broken down into atoms—sealing jutsu, chakra, anything without exception.
This was Ōnoki's most deadly technique, his ultimate trump card.
"So that's the legendary Dust Release?"
Zabuza couldn't help but let out a low whistle.
In all his years as a rogue, he had seen and heard of many bloodline limits. But bloodline selection—kekkei tōta—was a name he knew only in theory. Until now, he had never witnessed it.
Throughout shinobi history, only Ōnoki and the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, had ever wielded this jutsu.
Even Kakashi's eyes widened in astonishment.
For someone of Ōnoki's advanced age to summon such overwhelming force… If it were the Third Hokage standing here, this battle might have taken a very different turn.
"Thank you, Haruto."
Ōnoki's eyes hardened with resolve.
Just now, he had finally regained his conviction.
Now… it was time to strike back.
Without waiting for Haruto's reply, Ōnoki brought his hands together once more.
To eliminate Haruto completely, he poured every drop of his chakra into the next attack.
"If you've got the ambition and the guts, then take this head-on!" Ōnoki roared.
But his words were nothing but bait.
This wasn't Detachment of the Primitive World. It was Separation by Limitless Detachment.
In both range and destructive power, it surpassed his previous Dust Release.
The drawback, however, was the longer preparation time, making it easier to dodge.
Given the current battlefield, there was no chance of catching Haruto off guard.
So this bluff was the only way to lure him in.
But to Ōnoki's shock, Haruto suddenly vanished where he stood. Susanoo shattered into fragments and collapsed.
"You—"
Before Ōnoki could even finish the word, Haruto flickered into existence right before him, a kunai in hand, its edge shaving a lock of white hair from the Tsuchikage's head.
A heartbeat later, Haruto reappeared at his original spot, calm as ever.
Ōnoki froze in disbelief.
The message couldn't have been clearer: If I wanted to stop you, it would take me less than a breath. The only reason I haven't is because your jutsu isn't worth it.
Shame and anger twisted in Ōnoki's chest.
"In that case… I'll do it for real!"
"Dust Release: Separation by Limitless Detachment!"
His furious roar filled the sky as an even greater Dust Release erupted from his palms.
But as Ōnoki unleashed his full strength, Haruto's eyes began to change.
A ripple pattern spread across his irises—concentric circles radiating outward.
The Rinnegan… opened.