"Ha! How was that, Ranmaru?"
Raiga's breath was somewhat unsteady after releasing so many lightning balls at once.
Although Kiba possessed the effect of enabling various Lightning Release attacks, it also consumed the user's Chakra and physical energy.
He tilted his head slightly, asking the little guy hidden within the cloak on his back.
Ranmaru was a child he had found in a village infiltrated by spies.
The little guy had awakened a Kekkei Genkai called the [Red Eyes], but ironically, because of this ability, he was ostracized by the villagers.
That night, Raiga and other Kirigakure's Ninjas killed everyone in the village to eliminate the spies.
And Ranmaru should have been among those corpses.
But somehow, the kid's Red Eye seemed to truly possess the power to see through everything… it even managed to perceive the emptiness in Raiga's heart.
Afterward, Raiga became Ranmaru's legs, and Ranmaru became Raiga's eyes. The two became like one.
Ranmaru was currently clinging to Raiga's back, but the hood couldn't block his vision at all.
But Raiga didn't get a response from Ranmaru.
Puzzled, he pulled off the hood to check on Ranmaru's condition-
only to find the little kid showing an expression of fear for the first time.
You have to understand, even when he was about to be killed back then, Ranmaru had never looked like this.
"No… inauspicious-"
Raiga could only barely make out this word from Ranmaru's trembling lips. Then, a mighty roar erupted from ahead.
"Roar-"
The dust completely settled, black-red flames swirling around the giant black dog like ominous clouds.
Judging from the wounds on Sasuke's body, that previous wave of high-frequency Lightning Release attacks hadn't been useless.
But soon, Raiga's expression turned grave.
Because he saw the black-red flames around Sasuke actively attaching themselves to those wounds, which then rapidly began to heal.
And Sasuke seemed completely indifferent to the pain.
'Hmm... This transformation ability also greatly enhanced my physical strength.'
Sasuke had intentionally not dodged, wanting to see exactly what level he had reached now.
At this moment, Sasuke had a vague perception of his transformation ability, and the name [Huodou] seemed etched into his consciousness like a biological instinct-
Even though he himself didn't know what a [Huodou] was.
But he had a preliminary understanding of the function of those black-red flames, or rather, the [Calamity Flames].
Calamity Flames were the main manifestation of Huodou's ability. They seemed to combine with the Sharingan's power, granting Sasuke the ability to observe the 'misfortune' others had encountered.
Simultaneously, whether it was the misfortune of others or misfortune inflicted upon Sasuke himself, it would generate Calamity Flames.
These flames could not only be used to repair his body and eyes but were also formidable in attack.
Just like this.
"Roar!"
A beastly roar erupted, and simultaneously, overwhelming flames encircled the entire clearing.
Although they didn't radiate much heat, every living being within them felt an instinctual threat to their lives.
Raiga naturally wouldn't just stand there. He leaped toward the rocky mountain behind him, trying to escape the shrinking ring of fire.
But the moment he left the ground, the flames shot out like striking serpents, transforming into fiery ropes that wrapped around Raiga and Ranmaru.
"Ahhh!!"
Both of them cried out in pain.
The burning sensation didn't come from their bodies but from something deeper.
Perhaps their ethereal souls, or their minds.
In any case, hardly any wounds appeared on their bodies… at most, only some burn-like marks appeared.
But the psychological blow was significant.
Raiga fell from mid-air, clutching his head and glaring fixedly at Sasuke. The muffled grunts of pain from Ranmaru, who was suffering even more, fueled his anger.
"Damn it! What have you done to us…!"
Since he couldn't escape, Raiga plunged both swords into the ground.
[Banquet of Lightning!]
Electricity rapidly spread across the ground toward Sasuke.
However, this old trick could no longer threaten him.
With Observation Haki, Sasuke had completely predicted the incoming attack the moment Raiga began to move. The Huodou's physical speed, while not matching Garuda's, was still nothing to scoff at.
Flaming paw prints rapidly approached Raiga from the other side, followed by a sharp claw swiping toward his back.
Even though Ranmaru appeared to be an ordinary child-
once they had become enemies, Sasuke would not hold back.
At the critical moment, Raiga dropped low into a forward roll, dodging the claw strike, then spun around and slashed with another burst of lightning.
His Lightning Release didn't even require hand seals… there was absolutely no wind-up to his attacks, making them faster than even the Chidori.
Of course, their power was a matter of opinion.
Sasuke, who had missed with his claw and been slashed, frowned, allowing the Calamity Flames to repair the wound on his foreleg.
He still wasn't very accustomed to fighting in his beast form.
'Human-Beast Form… Human-Beast Form...' Sasuke chanted in his mind, his body beginning to shift toward a 'werewolf' form.
But it seemed like something was missing. Sasuke's mastery over the Huodou was still lacking, and the transformation process stalled halfway.
Although Raiga didn't know what Sasuke was doing, his combat instincts from being a Ninja told him he absolutely could not let the other succeed.
"Hidden Mist Technique!"
As one of the original Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he naturally knew Kirigakure's signature technique.
A thick fog capable of obscuring everything rapidly filled the area.
Ranmaru, having just struggled free from the soul-deep pain, forced one eye open to guide Raiga.
Raiga became a blur within the dense fog, silently arriving behind Sasuke.
By now, Sasuke's Observation Haki had penetrated the mist and detected the enemy. But caught mid-transformation, his attempt to control his body to dodge and counter resulted in a conflict between his beast and human form instincts, freezing him in place.
"Here!"
Ranmaru's eyes could see weak points through the body, similar in function to the Byakugan of Konoha's Hyuga Clan.
Raiga trusted Ranmaru's words one hundred percent. Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged both swords into the spot.
Sasuke tried to summon Armament Haki for defense, but this time, it just so happened to fail him.
The blades pierced flesh, followed immediately by a powerful electric shock.
Raiga poured almost all of his remaining Chakra into the attack, determined to make it a sure kill.
The flicker of lightning within the thick fog was clearly visible even to Naruto and the others at the mountain's base.
"Is it okay, Naruto?"
Jiraiya looked somewhat worriedly at Naruto, who responded with a reassuring expression.
"It's fine. Sasuke has already succeeded."
The mist dispersed, and Raiga, who is leaning on his swords and breathing heavily, appeared.
The blood lingering on the blades had been evaporated clean by the lightning.
"Hmph... You should finally be-"
His words was caught in his throat.
A large hand tipped with sharp claws pierced through the remnants of the mist and clamped around his neck.
"That really hurt-"
Calamity Flames swirled around Sasuke's body like ribbons. The misfortune represented by that pain had once again amplified Sasuke's power.
The little bit he was missing had finally been supplied by Raiga's last attack.