Ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village were renowned for their mastery of nin taijutsu—a special combat style combining taijutsu techniques with ninjutsu. Their battle tactics essentially boiled down to two main approaches: the first was a frontal assault, brute force, and the second was a frontal assault by any means available, come hell or high water.
Shi, as an experienced and seasoned shinobi, fully understood that Satoru possessed colossal physical strength. Therefore, the Cloud ANBU Captain decided to change tactics: break the distance and switch to mid- and long-range combat, wearing down the opponent and not letting him get close.
However, the young ninja from Konoha had already perfectly mastered the nature transformation of Lightning Release. Thus, his shuriken and kunai thrown at mid-range were enhanced with lightning chakra, making them incredibly fast and dangerous.
Shi found himself in a difficult spot. Deep down, he was a close-combat warrior, and while fighting at range allowed him to avoid Satoru's crushing attacks, he had no real chance of victory in such a shootout.
"I never thought some seven-year-old brat could hold me off this long today!" The leader of the Cloud ninjas was beside himself with rage and frustration. He decided to hold nothing back and hide no more trump cards.
"His power may be incredible, but even he can't break through my technique, known as the 'strongest shield'!" Shi's gaze changed, filled with cold determination.
"Even if I just hold him here, his comrade will be taken out by my subordinates, who will then swarm this boy en masse, and victory will be ours in the end... But that goes against my principles! I'm one of the strongest warriors of the Hidden Cloud! I must defeat him single-handedly, no matter the cost!" Having made a firm decision, the ANBU Captain concentrated his chakra, and his body instantly transformed.
Satoru couldn't help but be surprised by this. After all, this technique wasn't some common or easily accessible one. As far as he remembered, only the Third and Fourth Raikage possessed it!
"Lightning Armor!" Shi roared, and his body was enveloped in a dense cloak of sparkling electrical energy. This high-level Lightning Armor could withstand even a direct hit from a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, which spoke volumes about its incredible durability.
"You want to hide like a cowardly turtle in your shell?" Satoru thought, mistakenly assuming Shi intended to cower behind this impenetrable defense forever. In reality, however, the Cloud ninja aimed to use his strongest form to annihilate the youth as quickly as possible.
"Grrr! Brat! You haven't seen the full terrifying power of this technique yet!" Shi finally completed forming the Lightning Armor and charged at Satoru with incredible, almost unimaginable speed.
The young shinobi had never encountered such speed before. He'd seen plenty of ninjas specializing in speed combat, but this guy was undoubtedly the fastest of them all.
"So that's it... He wasn't planning to turtle in defense. He's using lightning power to multiply his speed many times over? Looks like his Lightning Armor is more speed-oriented, like the Fourth Raikage's," Satoru instantly analyzed his opponent's abilities.
"But facing me, you could say you've met your doom!" The youth possessed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan as well as the Byakugan. His perception abilities, enhanced by Observation Haki, were so advanced that tracking the movements of even such a super-fast opponent was a piece of cake for him.
Since Satoru could foresee the opponent's attacks, he could naturally dodge them in advance. This time, he used the nature transformation of Wind Release. The speed granted by Wind was even greater than that of Lightning.
Satoru effortlessly evaded all of Shi's attacks, which rained down on him with the fury of a hurricane.
"What... what's going on?! My attacks are so fast I can barely track them myself! How can you still dodge them?!" Shi was utterly baffled. He was used to this technique always bringing him victory; he'd never lost using it. And now, he—one of the Cloud's strongest warriors—was at an impasse against some seven-year-old boy.
"Not bad, not bad," Satoru smirked, continuing to dodge gracefully. "Trying to overwhelm me with speed using lightning power? I have to give you some very bad news.
"I'm a specialist in Wind Release, and as you know, it perfectly counters your Lightning Release." Finishing his sentence, the youth concentrated his chakra and used the Shadow Clone Technique! In the next instant, one of his shadow clones formed a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in his hands.
"What a sharp, piercing sensation! If that thing hits me, even with my Lightning Armor, I'm done for, right?" Shi felt a chill run down his spine. Though his Armor was modeled after the Raikage's technique, it hadn't yet reached the level of absolute, impenetrable defense.
Satoru completed forming the technique and hurled the Rasenshuriken. The projectile wasn't flying too fast, so Shi easily dodged it.
However, the very moment the Cloud ninja evaded, the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken suddenly transformed... into another Satoru! In truth, it was a shadow clone using the Transformation Technique.
"Die!" The shadow clone with the Rasenshuriken charged at Shi. The ANBU Captain reacted instantly, already preparing to retreat at full speed.
"Not so fast!" Satoru's voice came from underground. When he created the shadow clones, he'd immediately ordered one to use a technique to burrow underground. Now Shi was completely pinned, his legs as if rooted to the ground.
The Wind Release: Rasenshuriken instantly struck the Cloud ninja. Though Satoru's shadow clone vanished afterward, their goal was achieved.
"Vwee-ee-ee-eek!" The piercing, ear-rending sound of the spinning Rasenshuriken filled the air. A flash of blinding light, and Shi lay on the ground, his body covered in numerous bloody wounds. He breathed heavily, exhausted and drained.
"Lord Shi!" The Cloud ninjas who had been besieging Tenzō watched their leader's duel with anxiety. Seeing their captain defeated, they immediately rushed to his aid.
"Lightning Release: Four Pillar Binding Technique!"
"Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Binding Technique!"
Numerous Cloud ninjas rushed to aid their commander, using various Lightning Release techniques to bind the enemy. However, Satoru possessed the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Lightning at this level, created by ordinary ninjutsu, couldn't harm him at all. He quickly destroyed all those electrical pillars with his own techniques.
Having shattered the bonds, Satoru saw that the Hidden Cloud ANBU operatives were already carrying the gravely wounded Shi northeastward, fleeing.
"Tenzō-san? You okay?" The young ninja turned to his comrade and saw that the former leader of the Twelve Ninja Guards was seriously injured.
"Don't worry about me! Chase them!" Tenzō looked very bad; his wounds were severe.
Satoru couldn't abandon his comrade in trouble, but he also couldn't fail the mission.
"I'll leave a shadow clone with you," the youth quickly decided. "He'll give you first aid and get you to the medics. I'll go after them alone."
"No! You can't handle them alone! Call for reinforcements!" Tenzō objected, worried for his young friend.
"We can't! If we wait for reinforcements, they'll get away! We can't let them escape! At the very least, we need to teach them a lesson they'll remember forever!" Satoru didn't let Tenzō argue, immediately creating a shadow clone and sending him with the wounded comrade toward the hospital.
As for the original, using his heightened senses, he rushed in pursuit.
Not even a few minutes passed before Satoru started encountering numerous traps. He was in a great hurry, and even if his Sharingan spotted an ambush, he didn't always pay attention to it, striving to catch the enemy as quickly as possible. As a result, several explosive seals detonated right in front of him.
"BOOOOM!" Everything around shook from the powerful explosions.
"Those bastards... even while fleeing, they keep setting traps to slow me down... If they know I'm chasing them, does that mean they have a sensor ninja among them too?"
Continuing the pursuit, Satoru soon noticed that several Cloud ninjas had stayed behind, obviously to delay him.
"You want to stop me?" The youth decided not to waste time chasing Shi and his group directly but to first deal with these rearguard squads as quickly as possible.
"I'll show you what real blitzkrieg is! Try my 'Sparkling Strike'!"