Chapter 162: Who are you?
The scent of dust and rotting wood filled the air, while the dim light of hanging lanterns flickered against the cracked walls. The floor was damp, the sound of water droplets leaking through the broken ceiling mixed with the tense silence.
Then, in an instant, the world exploded.
A bluish flash tore through the darkness. The air filled with electricity, and Shōgeki's chakra shook the entire structure as if thunder had struck the heart of the warehouse.
Kagerō tensed, Hokujin instinctively leaped backward, Borei remained still. But in that instant, all three understood.
They were no longer fighting just one man.
Two lightning clones detached from Shōgeki's body, solidifying into perfect copies. Sparks crackled along the floor, the wood blackened by the intense heat of the Raiton chakra.
Shōgeki watched them from above, seated on a rusted metal beam. His gaze gleamed with pure confidence.
"Now, we fight on equal terms."
The three charged at the ANBU.
One of Shōgeki's clones dove toward Hokujin with terrifying speed.
"Too slow."
The clone leaped into the air, its hands charged with pure lightning.
Raiton: Hageshii Dengeki (激しい電撃, "Violent Shockwave")
A wave of electricity erupted from its body, engulfing everything it touched.
Hokujin immediately liquefied, transforming into a transparent fluid to evade the attack.
But something went wrong.
His water body began to sizzle, the Raiton chakra refusing to let it fully disperse.
Hokujin reformed with a strained groan, collapsing onto his knees. His breath was short, his body still convulsing from the lingering pain.
He was too weak against Raiton.
The clone didn't let up.
It appeared behind him, its blade surging with lightning. Hokujin looked up, too late to dodge.
BOOM!
A lava blast interrupted the attack.
Kagerō lunged into the fray, his sword wrapped in Lava chakra. The clone facing him was fast, its movements erratic and unpredictable.
But Kagerō didn't need to follow it.
He closed his eyes for an instant. He felt the chakra boiling inside him.
Futton: Kōmu no Jutsu (沸遁・巧霧の術, "Corrosive Steam")
A whitish mist spread throughout the warehouse, filling it with a toxic haze.
Shōgeki's clone jumped back, but too late.
The very air turned into poison.
Its skin began to dissolve, the electric chakra unstable.
But instead of screaming… it smiled.
It dissolved into a lightning flash.
And an instant later, another clone appeared behind him.
Kagerō turned, but an electric punch hit him square in the chest. His body crashed into a wall, partially breaking it.
For a moment, the world trembled.
Kagerō spat blood. Then, he got up.
His eyes gleamed with intense light.
Finally, a worthy opponent.
Now, he was fighting seriously.
While the clones continued battling, the original charged at Borei.
One moment, he was far away.The next, he was already upon him.
His sword was cloaked in a dense, dangerous electric aura.
Raijin Shinken (雷神震剣, "Blade of the Thunder God")
Borei did not move.
His hands snapped forward, Wind chakra flowing through his knuckle kunai.
Shōgeki's blade struck.
Borei blocked.
SPARKS EXPLODED.
The shockwave shook the entire warehouse.
The wind sliced through the air, while the lightning lashed like an electric whip.
Borei slid to the side, but Shōgeki didn't let up.
Three rapid slashes.
Borei dodged them all.
The wind cut.The lightning burned.
Then, Shōgeki leaped back, then he stared at him.
"Who the hell are you?"
Borei did not respond.
His knuckle kunai shimmered with Wind chakra.
He prepared himself.
The battle had just begun.
- - -
The rotting wooden beams groaned under the weight of chakra waves, while the splintered walls of the warehouse vibrated with every blow.
The air was thick with lightning and steam, a maelstrom of pure destruction that made even breathing difficult.
Shōgeki did not stop.
His three clones moved in perfect synchrony, pushing the ANBU to their limits, forcing them to remain on the defensive.
Time stretched, every impact echoing through the crumbling building.
But something was wrong.
His breathing was heavier.
His chakra flow was slowing.
He knew.
I'm burning too much chakra.
If this continued, he would be the one to fall first.
He couldn't allow it.
He needed to buy time.
He needed to send the signal.
The Clones Hold the Line
Kagerō charged forward with his blazing sword.
The clone dodged with inhuman speed, appearing behind him in a blue flash.
Too fast.
Kagerō instinctively turned, raising a hand.
Yōton: Sekkaigō (熔遁・石灰合, "Solidified Quicklime")
A stream of molten lime flooded the ground, creating a wave of rock that trapped the clone in a cage of searing stone.
CRACK!
The lightning crackled against the rock.
Then, an explosion of sparks.
The clone vanished.
One down.
But Hokujin was still struggling.
The remaining clone moved like lightning, striking Hokujin without giving him room to react.
Every time he tried to liquefy, the electric chakra jolted through his water form, forcing him to solidify in agony.
Damn it.
Then, he saw an opportunity.
The clone prepared a finishing blow, its blade crackling with electricity.
Hokujin let himself be hit.
A slash tore through his chest.
The clone smirked.
Then, its eyes widened.
Hokujin wasn't there anymore.
In his place, only water.
The entire floor turned into a river beneath the clone's feet, the water flowing in perfect control, a flawless deception.
Suika no Jutsu (水化の術, "Hydrification Technique")
From nowhere, Hokujin emerged behind the clone.
"You're not the only one who can use clones, hehehe."
Two water tendrils rose, coiling around the enemy, tightening into a crushing hold.
But the clone's electric chakra surged, its energy rippling through the water, causing it to sizzle violently.
The Hokujin clone convulsed for a second, before dispersing into liquid.
Then, a voice whispered through the air.
"Bad choice."
Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu (熔遁・灼河流岩の術, "Scorching River Magma Bullets")
From Kagerō's mouth, three spheres of molten lava shot forward, aimed directly at the unbalanced clone.
There was no time to react.
The spheres struck their target head-on.
CRACK!
The clone's body twisted in a frenzied surge of electricity before dissipating completely.
The second clone was eliminated.
Hokujin, still gasping for breath, turned toward Kagerō.
"For a moment there..."
Kagerō raised an eyebrow.
"I just saved your skin."
Hokujin chuckled weakly.
"All part of the plan."
Then, both of them turned their gaze toward the real problem.
- - -
Shōgeki's clones were vanishing, one by one.
Despite his numerical advantage, he had failed to overpower them.
They were holding their ground.
And he...
I'm burning out faster than they are.
He clenched his teeth.
Damn it.
Borei's voice broke through the charged air.
"If A saw your current state, do you think he'd be proud?"
A spark of rage.
Borei's lips barely curled into a smile.
"Or would he think you're tarnishing his name?"
Shōgeki felt his blood boil.
Bastard.
He was a mind player.
A manipulator.
Shōgeki knew he had to act. Now.
He looked at Borei.
He felt Kagerō and Hokujin behind him.
He closed his eyes for a millisecond.
When he reopened them…
He smiled.
Then he launched forward.
One strike, One move.
A pure lightning slash.
"Raiton: Raijin Metsukiba!"
(雷遁・雷神滅牙, "Fangs of the Thunder God's Annihilation")
His blades surged with black electricity.
The entire warehouse blazed in a blinding glow.
Then, he struck.
Borei couldn't dodge.
Couldn't block.
Couldn't evade.
The lightning fangs pierced through his chest.
The silence was absolute.
Kagerō froze.
Hokujin held his breath.
Shōgeki grinned.
"Finally..."
Then.
Suddenly.
Puff.
A cloud of white smoke.
Borei vanished.
He had never been there.
Only a clone.
Shōgeki's eyes widened.
And before he could even react…
A cold, sharp voice whispered behind him.
"Too slow."
A Flash of Blades
In the next instant...
Something fell to the ground.
Not Borei's body.
Two things.
Two chunks of flesh and bone.
His arms.
Severed.
Shōgeki's gaze locked onto the hands that had, just a second before, gripped his swords.
Now, they were on the floor.
Still clutching the kodachi.
But no longer attached to his body.
A blink.
Only then did the pain explode.
Only then did he realize.
Those knuckle kunai Borei wielded…
At the very last moment, they had extended their range, creating the illusion that he had blocked the attack.
Only then did he scream.
Shōgeki staggered back, blood pouring like rain, his chakra leaking uncontrollably from the open wounds.
But before he could take another step…
FLASH!
A seal illuminated beneath his feet.
His chakra locked instantly.
His body froze.
His muscles refused to move.
He could do nothing.
But he could still speak.
And he laughed.
His laughter filled the warehouse's silence, bouncing off its damaged, filthy walls.
Kagerō stared at him with cold eyes.
Hokujin remained motionless, his chest rising and falling slowly, still shaken by the battle.
But Borei...
He took a step closer.
Shōgeki grinned, his teeth painted with blood.
"In the end... you're only fooling yourselves."
More blood spilled from his mouth, yet his smile remained.
"I... have already won."
He laughed again.
"I don't care if I die."
His gaze lifted toward the ceiling, his lips curling in a knowing smirk.
"Because... Kumo's ninja are already on their way."
The silence grew heavy.
Then, Borei spoke.
"Do you think we didn't figure out you were stalling for time?"
Shōgeki stiffened.
Borei tilted his head slightly, his voice calm, but sharper than any blade.
"Kumo's ninja will never arrive."
The laughter stopped.
The smile vanished.
"...What?"
Borei crouched beside him, his shadow looming over the bloodstained floor.
"The entire perimeter has been sealed."
Shōgeki looked down.
Only then did he see them.
The seals.
Carved into the beams.Etched into the floor.Painted into every corner of the warehouse.
He had stepped over them hundreds of times.
He had ignored them.
Now, he understood.
It was over.
He had always lost.
From the very beginning.
A shadow flickered in his fading vision.
A silver flash gleamed in the night.
Then, it struck.
For an instant, Shōgeki saw the world spin.
Then.
The ceiling.The beams.Borei's feet.
But upside down.
Only then did he realize.
His head had been severed.
But his brain was still active for a few seconds.
And in those few seconds.
He thought.
Who the hell are they?How did they defeat me so easily?Could they be from Konoha?
Then, a more terrifying thought struck him.
No...What if Konoha and Kirigakure had allied?
An impossible idea.
But now, nothing felt certain anymore.
The world faded to black.
And Shōgeki vanished forever.
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