'Calm down.'
Darui tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword.
The other man's words were undeniably provocative—but he couldn't allow something so blatant to disrupt his composure.
'Don't get angry.'
Focus returned to Darui's eyes. Since the opponent had declared he wouldn't strike first, Darui decided to open with basic taijutsu—test the waters before committing further.
He pushed off the ground.
In an instant, Darui shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring. The massive blade whistled through the air, cleaving down toward Roshi's shoulder and neck in a decisive arc.
"Kenjutsu?" Roshi said lightly. "That's not my specialty."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, a kunai was already in Roshi's right hand, held in a reverse grip. He angled it upward—
Clang!
The sharp, metallic impact rang out across the training ground.
Darui's pupils shrank. The recoil that traveled up through his weapon was far heavier than expected.
Using the rebound force, Darui twisted his waist and shoulders, flipping his wrist to turn the downward chop into a sweeping follow-up—
Only for his motion to halt abruptly.
At some point he hadn't even seen, Roshi's left hand had clamped around Darui's sword arm like an iron vice, completely cutting off the flow of power.
Then, just as casually, Roshi released him.
His right hand returned the kunai to its pouch. His left hand let go of Darui's wrist.
From beginning to end, Roshi's feet hadn't moved even a single inch.
From the observation stand, the Fourth Raikage spoke in a low voice.
"His raw strength far surpasses Darui's."
Karai and Amai's expressions darkened.
Even without Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Darui could wield that massive blade with ease—proof of physical strength well beyond that of an ordinary shinobi. For him to be overpowered so completely in a pure contest of strength was nothing short of shocking.
Darui inhaled deeply, forcibly suppressing the tremor in his chest.
Roshi still stood there, calm and unmoved, as if he truly intended to remain the passive party.
There was no advantage in strength. His reaction speed was inferior as well.
There was no point in continuing the taijutsu probe.
Darui swung the massive sword back onto his shoulder and leapt backward, opening distance between them.
If taijutsu couldn't reveal anything—
Then ninjutsu would.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
"Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave!"
A torrent burst from Darui's mouth, and almost simultaneously, brilliant lightning poured into the water. The wave surged forward, writhing with crackling arcs like electric serpents, charging straight at Roshi.
On the observation stand, Iruka unconsciously held his breath.
Yūgao and Hayate had been forced into a corner by this very combination—its flawless coordination had shattered their Konoha-style kenjutsu almost instantly.
After Roshi had arranged targeted training, they had privately discussed counters. Their conclusion was simple: Earth Release—specifically Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall—was the safest response.
Darui's technique relied on water flow to carry the lightning's damage, rather than penetration alone.
"Captain Roshi is a master of ninjutsu," Hayate had said earlier, coughing lightly. "Earth Flow Wall should be trivial for him."
But Roshi did not raise an earth wall.
Facing the incoming flood of water and lightning, he merely lifted his hands.
His seals were so fast they left afterimages.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu."
A massive water dragon erupted behind him—far larger than the Wild Water Wave, its form so solid it looked alive.
With a silent roar, it slammed head-on into Darui's lightning-infused wave.
BOOM!
The collision detonated into a violent surge.
Darui's attack was swallowed whole.
Then the water surged backward—now under Roshi's control, infused with his chakra, its power multiplied—rushing toward Darui with unstoppable force.
Darui's expression changed instantly.
He cut off the lightning chakra at once and rushed through hand seals, trying to counter—
Too late.
The amplified wave smashed into him, hurling his body backward. He crashed hard against the stone wall of the training ground with a dull, heavy impact.
The water spread out of control, flooding the field in moments.
Darui dragged himself upright, soaked through, chest heaving. Water streamed down his face as a dull ache pulsed from his sternum.
Roshi still hadn't moved.
Looking at the drenched Darui, he spoke evenly.
"Water and Lightning Release are an excellent combination. Because flowing water is difficult to stop, it greatly amplifies Lightning Release's conductivity and range."
"However," he continued calmly, "that only works if your Water Release is strong enough to control the battlefield."
Samui frowned.
To dismantle Darui's technique like this… this man wasn't just arrogant—he had the strength to back it up.
Darui's taijutsu and kenjutsu had been casually shut down. His signature combination ninjutsu had been crushed outright.
And judging from Roshi's relaxed posture, he hadn't even begun to fight seriously.
Darui's hand trembled slightly—not from fear, but from a deep, creeping sense of powerlessness.
The gap was far wider than he had imagined.
Black Lightning…?
If he used Black Lightning—Lightning Release pushed to a higher realm—could he break through?
Or perhaps…
Storm Release?
His thoughts churned in disarray.
And for the first time since stepping onto the field, Darui hesitated.
Bang!
The sharp explosion shattered Darui's wavering thoughts.
On the observation deck, the Fourth Raikage slammed his fist into the stone steps beside him. Rock fragments burst outward like scattered dust.
He rose to his feet in one motion, his roar crashing across the training ground like thunder.
"Stop hesitating, Darui!"
"Why are you thinking so much at a time like this? Fight with everything you've got! Show me your resolve!"
It was like having a bucket of icy water poured over his head.
Darui shook violently, forcibly clearing his mind of all distractions. The Boss hadn't come all this way to watch him hesitate—to see uncertainty and self-doubt.
No more holding back.
Black Lightning surged into Darui's palm, twisting and condensing into the shape of a ferocious beast.
"Lightning Release: Black Panther!"
The lightning construct tore free, ripping through the air as it lunged straight toward Roshi.
A flicker of interest finally appeared in Roshi's eyes.
Against this higher-stage Lightning Release transformation, a direct clash with Lightning of his own would be unwise—his mastery was still within conventional limits.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
He pressed one hand into the soaked ground beneath his feet.
Rumble—!
With a deep, resonant roar, the earth beneath Roshi and the wide area in front of him surged upward. A massive wall of stone erupted from the ground—not merely blocking an attack, but forcibly reshaping the terrain itself.
The Black Panther slammed headlong into the rising wall.
Blinding arcs of black lightning exploded outward, blasting earth and stone into the air and carving a scorched, smoking crater into the thick barrier.
Even though Lightning Release naturally countered Earth Release, an attack focused on a single point could not overturn such an overwhelming alteration of terrain.
The lightning beast flickered violently, struggled for a moment—
Then dispersed.
Darui exhaled heavily, staring at the towering wall—and at the figure standing atop it, utterly unharmed.
Taijutsu.
Conventional ninjutsu combinations.
Black Lightning.
Everything except Storm Release.
And still, he hadn't forced Roshi to take even a single step.
The gap was undeniable.
Slowly, Darui lowered his hands from the final seal, retrieved his fallen sword, and slung it across his back.
He looked up at Roshi and shouted with every ounce of strength he had left.
"Roshi-san! Please attack!"
"Let me see how a truly powerful ninja fights!"
Roshi studied the fire still burning in Darui's eyes and gave a small nod.
"You've already shown Water and Lightning Release," he said calmly. "My own Water and Lightning won't offer you anything new."
"So I'll add a third element—just a slight variation."
His hands moved again.
A Shadow Clone appeared at his side.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
From the clone's mouth, a tightly compressed jet of water erupted—far denser and more forceful than the earlier Wild Water Wave—blasting straight toward Darui below.
Almost simultaneously, Roshi completed another set of seals.
"Wind Release: Vortex!"
What he exhaled wasn't a roaring tornado, but violently compressed, rapidly spinning airflow. It merged seamlessly into the water jet.
Under the tearing force of the wind, the water's shape warped violently. The once-solid jet transformed into a massive, howling water vortex.
At the same time, countless microscopic water threads and needles—shredded apart by wind blades—spread throughout the space between them.
And then—
Lightning flickered around Roshi's body.
The electricity surged outward, merging into every suspended droplet.
Sizzle—crackle—!
Each tiny droplet, driven by wind and moving at extreme speed, became a perfect conductor.
In an instant, a vast, intricate web of lightning—woven from blinding blue-white arcs—filled Darui's entire field of vision.
It was as if the training ground itself had become the eye of a thunderstorm.
No cover.
No escape.
The roaring, lightning-wrapped water vortex surged toward Darui.
On the observation deck, lightning flared around the Raikage's body as his muscles tensed—
But just an instant before the composite ninjutsu could engulf Darui—
The wind stopped.
The water vanished.
The lightning faded.
Only faint blue sparks lingered briefly in the air before dying out, leaving no doubt that what had just occurred was terrifyingly real.
Roshi lowered his hands and looked down calmly.
Darui still stood where he was—pale, drenched in sweat, chest heaving violently. His eyes were wide, fixed on the now-empty training ground, as if his mind hadn't yet caught up to what he had just witnessed.
Roshi spoke evenly.
"I suppose… that concludes the guidance."
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