Chapter 211: Nara-Raikage's Bizarre Adventure!
"Kokuō! Now!"
Nara Keisuke stood atop the Five-Tails' head, issuing commands like a seasoned Pokémon trainer. "Use Boil Release!"
Kokuō, feeling that something was a little off but unable to put its finger on it, obediently unleashed its Tailed Beast chakra.
Boil Release!
A dense, white plume of steam erupted from its body, but instead of spreading out, it shot straight into the heavens. The continuous torrent of high-temperature steam cooled and condensed in the upper atmosphere, rapidly forming a dark, heavy cumulonimbus cloud. Silver-white lightning, like coiling serpents, began to dance within it. A dull, rumbling thunder began to spread in all directions.
Rumble—
Once the storm cloud had accumulated enough electricity, Keisuke seized the perfect moment. He raised his right hand and, following the method recorded in the Kirin scroll, used his own chakra to take control of the natural energy filling the atmosphere. Though he was not a Lightning Release ninja, his hand began to glow with a faint light, as if in response to the thunder in the sky.
"ROAR—"
With a heaven-shaking crack of thunder, a ferocious, silver-white Kirin, composed entirely of pure, natural lightning, thrust its head from the inky clouds. It let out an angry roar, demonstrating the supreme majesty of the storm. Even Kokuō was stunned by the sight, recognizing that the massive, beast-like creature was made of pure natural energy. 'Is this the combination jutsu Keisuke was talking about? Ninja are truly...'
Before Kokuō could finish its thought, Keisuke's cold voice rang out.
"Disperse with the thunder's roar!" He swung his right arm down, as if pulling an invisible rein.
"KIRIN!"
BOOM!!
Time itself seemed to freeze. The Kirin, moving at the speed of light, fell from the sky and struck a distant mountain peak. A blinding flash of lightning illuminated the entire sky. In an instant, the mountain cracked and the earth split, the sound of the impact echoing for miles. The Kirin's power had completely obliterated the peak, sending massive boulders flying as the shockwave pulverized the landscape.
When the light faded and the dust settled, the mountain was nearly gone.
"What an amazing jutsu," Kokuō breathed.
"The power is still a bit weak," Keisuke said.
They had spoken at the exact same time. Kokuō turned, stunned. "Keisuke, an attack of that magnitude... and you call it weak? That's the strongest Lightning Style I've ever seen. It's almost as powerful as a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"That's the problem. I'm comparing it to a Tailed Beast Bomb, which is why I think it's weak," Keisuke replied, patting its head and signaling it to return to the hot spring. "Did you forget that jutsu I used against the Eight-Tails?"
If he had to rank them, Kirin was stronger than his Spiraling Shadow Killing Cannon, but weaker than his Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere. In terms of pure destructive power, Kirin was now his second-strongest attack.
"How could I forget that?!" Kokuō said, trotting back to the spring and jumping in. "But Keisuke, in your eyes, are only the Tailed Beast Bomb and that... other thing... considered powerful?"
"To be honest, even the Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere is a bit lacking," Keisuke said, sinking into the water, his head resting on the bank. "I feel it still has a lot of room for improvement."
As someone who knew exactly what the Fourth Great Ninja War would look like, how could he be satisfied with his current power? He didn't expect to be slinging around Truth-Seeking Orbs or All-Killing Ash Bones, but something on the level of Dust Release should at least be the benchmark. His current arsenal? Far from it.
"I'm still not strong enough."
Keisuke's lament completely broke the Five-Tails. The great white deer promptly dove underwater and refused to surface, not wanting to talk to this overly diligent Nara. From its own discerning perspective, Keisuke's strength was already in the absolute top-tier of all the ninja it had ever met. It couldn't even think of a handful of people who were stronger.
With Kokuō submerged, Keisuke relaxed in the water, analyzing the Kirin experiment. As a "pseudo-Sage Art"—one that manipulated natural energy but didn't require sage chakra—it was the strongest of its kind he had ever seen. Its only "drawback" was the setup time, and Kokuō's Boil Release had just rendered that drawback completely moot. They could, in theory, spam Kirin whenever they wanted.
'Of course...' he mused, 'the Land of Hot Water is warm and humid, which definitely amplified the effect. If I tried this in the dry Land of Earth, it would be much harder. But... if I used it in the Land of Rain... now that would be a beautiful sight...'
'Natural energy can take many forms. If I, with no lightning affinity, can use it to create a jutsu like this, does that mean I can eventually learn to convert it into other chakra natures as well?'
He tabled the thought as too advanced for now. The Third Raikage's scroll had been an incredible prize. *'Now to see what the Raikage himself will 'produce'...'
While Keisuke and Kokuō were relaxing in the hot spring, the Kumo trio was racing back to another of their secret camps. The sensor-nin, detecting their approach, had gathered the other Cloud shinobi to welcome their leader's triumphant return.
However, they were not greeted by their undefeated myth. They were met by a white-haired old man, soaked in blood.
"Lord Third!" The Kumo chief of staff, Dodai, rushed out from the crowd, his face a mask of anxiety and barely-concealed horror.
The Third Raikage, the man with the "Strongest Spear" and "Strongest Shield," who had brawled with the Eight-Tails and returned virtually unharmed... who in Konoha was a monster capable of wounding him this badly? 'Could it be... the Shadow of Darkness?'
The "Nara-Raikage" impatiently waved his hand. "We'll talk inside the camp!" He strode past them and into the main tent. Dodai, A, and B followed.
"Send word to the village. Have all of our ninjutsu scrolls sent to this camp immediately!" he barked. "And the Amber Purifying Pot!"
"Lord Third..." Dodai began, wanting to tell him to return to the village to recover. But seeing the man's bloody state, he swallowed his words and signaled the medical team to rush in.
As the medics began to treat the "Raikage" and the wounded Killer B, Dodai carefully continued, "Lord Third, are you certain you need all of the village's scrolls?"
"Of course!" the Nara-Raikage snapped, not bothering to explain. Instead, he dropped another bombshell. "If I can't find the answer I'm looking for in those scrolls... then you are to prepare a peace treaty with Konoha!"
The entire tent was stunned into silence. Even the medical-nin's hands trembled.
"Lord Third, why?" Dodai asked urgently.
"First: the Shadow of Darkness can fly. Second: he has a jutsu just like the Tailed Beast Bomb," the Raikage explained, his voice flat. "If you have a way to solve both of those problems, you can have my job."
The Kumo ninja were horrified. They knew how to deal with a Tailed Beast Bomb; they had their own. But an enemy who could fly... and spam Tailed Beast Bomb-level attacks from the sky? He could fly over Kumogakure itself and level the village from above. How could they possibly fight a war like that?
Dodai's face was grim. He had no choice. "I will contact the village immediately! We will have the scrolls and the Amber Purifying Pot sent to the front line at once!"
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