The dark clouds overhead grew heavier, two vast slabs of leaden gray pressing down, leaving only a sliver of golden light splitting the sky.
Morton, still gripping his blade, was cleanly bisected—along with the judge's bench. Dozens of coffins stood ominously in the square as the people of the Land of Waves surged in panic, orange and black figures clashing amidst shouts, screams, and chaos.
Yet, on the other side of the square, an eerie silence prevailed.
Blackmail Zabuza—no, Blackmail Raiga—crossed his twin blades defensively, his posture slightly hunched. His emerald eyes flicked between the two opponents before him, his earlier madness replaced by cold focus. That long-range wind slash had been enough to sober him up.
The girl, he didn't recognize. But the tall, silver-haired man with the mask, a single visible eye, and the Konoha headband?
That one was unmistakable.
"You're Konoha's Copy Ninja—Hatake Kakashi!"
His mind, now clear, worked swiftly.
"Ranmaru, keep feeding me chakra."
He didn't dare take his eyes off the two, not even for a second.
"Y-Yes…" Ranmaru's voice trembled from behind him, his small body paralyzed with fear. If not for Raiga pulling him from the judge's stand, he'd have been sliced apart by that wind technique.
"Sensei's reputation precedes him, huh?"
Hearing the title "Konoha's Technician", Hikari nearly laughed. It sounded like something out of a shady massage parlor rather than a shinobi's epithet.
Kakashi shot her a sidelong glance. "Laugh now. You won't be later."
He turned back to Raiga, his Sharingan locked onto the enemy.
"The Lightning Man of Kirigakure."
Titles were important in the shinobi world. They weren't just for intimidation—they were intel.
A name like "Lightning Man" told you everything: Avoid Earth Release. Expect speed. Beware instant-kill techniques.
Likewise, Raiga calling him "Copy Ninja" meant he knew about the Sharingan. That warning to Ranmaru? A direct counter to genjutsu.
This was a game of psychological warfare.
While Kakashi and Raiga sized each other up, Hikari and Ranmaru were already locked in a silent battle of dojutsu.
Her Byakugan flared, veins bulging—but for the second time in this tiny country, her vision was blocked.
Two piercing red lights, like car headlights in the dark, flooded her sight with crimson. A dense chakra barrier wrapped around Raiga and Ranmaru, distorting her perception.
"Red Eyes…"
A rare kekkei genkai, said to be the natural counter to the Byakugan. Not only could it mimic the Byakugan'x-ray vision and long-distance view abilities, but it could also create chakra illusions to deceive it.
She didn't remember much about Raiga's abilities, but Ranmaru's Red Eyes?
That was a problem.
Meanwhile, Ranmaru was shaking like a leaf.
"T-The silver-haired man… His chakra is on par with yours. His muscles and bone density suggest high taijutsu proficiency. His hands… have minor electrical burns—he frequently uses a high-level Lightning Release technique."
His voice grew even more strained.
"The girl… There's a barrier around her. I can't see through it. She's also a dojutsu user, and her ocular power is terrifying. My Red Eyes can't fool her—only blur her vision slightly."
He swallowed hard.
"Raiga… She's the real threat. A hundred times more dangerous than him."
Raiga's grip on his blades tightened.
If this girl had a barrier specifically countering Red Eyes, was it coincidence… or premeditated?
And that oppressive, drowning fear radiating from her—
It wasn't Kakashi making his skin crawl.
It was her.
A twisted excitement surged through him.
Without warning, electricity crackled along his twin blades.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Fang!"
The air itself split as twin arcs of lightning erupted from his swords, lashing out faster than thought.
"I'LL GIVE YOU A FUNERAL WORTH REMEMBERING!"
The attack was instantaneous—no hand seals, no buildup. Just raw speed.
Countless enemies had died to this very technique, their bodies charred before they even realized they'd been hit.
But—
"D-Don't let your guard down! Their chakra hasn't dropped at all!"
Ranmaru's warning came just as a nearly invisible distortion sliced through the air—
"MOVE!"
Raiga's body erupted with lightning, his muscles supercharged as he blurred sideways.
WHOOSH!
The ground where he'd stood split open, a ten-meter-long gash carved into the stone like butter.
"Tch…"
Raiga's teeth ground together.
That wind slash could've bisected him just as easily.
As the smoke cleared, his eyes widened.
A shimmering, geometric barrier of red light encased the girl, its diamond-like facets unbroken despite the lightning's fury.
"That's the barrier blocking my vision!" Ranmaru gasped. "It was clinging to her like a second skin—now it's reshaped into a shield!"
"Offense and defense… What a pain."
Kakashi, who'd wisely taken cover behind Hikari, whistled.
"That's one hell of a shell you've got."
"Anbu Barrier: Mimic Veil of the Hidden Mind Technique," Hikari replied calmly. "You should know it."
"Bullshit." Kakashi's eye twitched. "That thing needs thousands of hand seals or a room-sized seal array. It's for guarding bases, not combat!"
"I modified it."
Her tone was as casual as if she'd just tweaked a recipe.
Over the past five years, while waiting for her Byakugan and Senju body to mature, she hadn't been idle.
Her "Perfect Combat Body 1.0" plan—reinforced bones, optimized muscle structure—had already made her a physical monster.
Now?
Version 2.0.
Beneath her skin, intricate chakra-seals pulsed like circuitry, each one a self-contained jutsu.
Weapons like the Seven Swords of the Mist used chakra-conductive metal and inscribed techniques to function.
So why not the human body?
She'd turned herself into the ultimate weapon—one that could deploy barriers, techniques, and enhancements instantly, without hand seals.
This was the foundation of her path—
The physical mastery of a Six Paths-level taijutsu shinobi.
---