The darkness moved with incredible speed, engulfing everything in its path.
Once caught in the darkness, the battle was over.
The Cloud Ninja didn't fully understand but immediately moved to avoid it.
His speed was impressive, lightning flashing around his body as he quickly retreated, with the darkness right behind him but unable to keep up.
At that moment, he finished forming his hand signs.
"Raiton! Raimei Kyoujuu!" (Lightning Release: Thunder Roaring Beast!)
A massive thunderous roar echoed.
A giant lightning beast charged forward.
It plunged its head into the darkness.
An irrational jutsu, completely unaffected by the darkness, rushed straight at Gin.
With a single Shunshin, Gin quickly moved away.
But the lightning beast continued to pursue.
Everything in its path turned blackened, whether trees or rocks were shattered under its onslaught.
Gin also noticed that the beast's tail was connected to the Cloud Ninja's hands.
The opponent was controlling the beast's pursuit.
"Ankton! Ankaiheki!" (Dark Release: Dark Barrier Wall!)
Solid darkness quickly formed in front of Gin, creating a massive shield.
Boom!
The dark shield shattered on impact.
The lightning beast also dissipated, turning into scattered lightning.
Lightning quickly spread around.
"Raishunshin no Jutsu!" (Lightning Body Flicker Technique!) The Cloud Ninja appeared behind Gin.
One hand held a long blade, while the other was still forming hand signs.
Lightning flickered on it.
In an instant, Gin's figure was sliced in two.
The two halves turned into solid darkness, wrapping around the Cloud Ninja.
But just then, the Cloud Ninja's other hand completed its signs.
"Raiton! Genkou Raitei!" (Lightning Release: Phantom Light Thunder!)
The shadow-wrapped figure turned into a cluster of white lightning.
And in front of Gin, the Cloud Ninja appeared, blade raised to kill.
In a flash, the Cloud Ninja's form vanished into lightning.
The Cloud Ninja reappeared.
The jutsu he used was essentially genjutsu, causing the target to reveal their location instantly.
The Cloud Ninja spun mid-air.
Lightning gradually gathered on the blade.
"Raiton! Tenrairyuugeki Zan!" (Lightning Release: Heavenly Lightning Stream Slash!)
This time, it was real.
He descended like a bolt of lightning.
The speed was astonishing, and the power it contained was not to be underestimated.
But when he saw Gin's lifted eyes, that striking red color—
The tomoe was spinning.
"Damn it!" he cursed inwardly.
The blade quickly descended.
Boom!!
A powerful strike shattered everything.
Everything, whether objects or people, turned to blackened fragments under this blow.
The ground even bore a long cut, demonstrating the power of that attack. Not just anyone could withstand it.
Yet there was no joy on his face; instead, he formed a seal immediately.
"Genjutsu: Kai!" (Genjutsu: Release!)
The scene shifted.
He was still in the stance of striking down with his blade, but Gin had sidestepped, and a cracked blade was coming at his neck.
If things continued, his blade would miss, and he would be killed by Gin's strike.
Gritting his teeth—
He twisted in mid-air to block Gin's strike.
But there was no sound of blades clashing; his blade passed through Gin's cracked blade, slicing through empty air, while Gin's blade hadn't changed direction.
He increased the frequency of the current in his body, instantly speeding up.
The two crossed paths.
Gin swung the demonic blade, blood flowing down from the blade.
A deep wound, revealing the bone, appeared on the Cloud Ninja's shoulder.
"A genius ninja, huh?"
The Cloud Ninja turned to look at Gin; after a few exchanges, he was already at a disadvantage.
The sudden twist and acceleration had a cost, and injuries had already appeared within his body.
But he could endure the effects of those injuries.
"It seems I must go all out."
The Cloud Ninja bit his finger.
"I'll be watching closely."
Gin also rolled up his sleeves.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique!)
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique!)
A gray bull appeared beneath the Cloud Ninja.
Shiro appeared beneath Gin.
Some ninjas relied heavily on their summoned beasts for their true strength.
Gin knew that this opponent wasn't weak, and with a summoning beast, he would be even stronger.
"Charge!" The Cloud Ninja gave the command, firmly standing on the bull's back, arcs of electricity forming on the bull's horns, while he rapidly formed hand signs.
"Denushi Reibun no Jutsu!" (Electric Bull Thunder Rush Technique!)
A powerful blue current wrapped around them, forming a huge blue sphere that rushed at Shiro in an instant.
Anything they crashed into was scattered.
"Shiro!"
Gin clasped his hands together.
"Karyuu Kyou! Ja Kei!" (Dragon Transformation Scripture: Python Form!)
Shiro's body quickly expanded to a length of nearly twenty meters.
Dragon Transformation Scripture was a Yang release technique that allowed transformation of the body.
It was created with that concept as its foundation.
With its body enlarged, Shiro bit towards the charging electric bull, intending to swallow it whole.
But as soon as it collided with the glowing sphere—
The powerful current quickly spread.
Gin leaped to a distant spot.
Shiro's beady eyes turned into swirls; its entire body was knocked into the air, snake fangs falling to the ground, with arcs of electricity flashing over it.
Bang! Shiro turned into smoke and disappeared.
"I shouldn't have expected anything from it."
Gin was speechless about his summoning beast.
Other than changing size, it could quickly recover from injuries.
Although it wasn't particularly fast, its reaction and strength were greater than other beasts of similar size.
And yet, it went down with just one electric shock?
It was a bit disappointing for the technique he had developed.
"I'll have to upgrade it later."
The blue sphere was already charging at him.
Gin raised the demonic blade, and it shattered, expanding into a massive long blade, which he swung at the incoming blue sphere.
Unexpectedly—
The blade was deflected.
Gin used Shunshin to distance himself, but his opponent chased relentlessly.
"As expected, you can't underestimate an elite Jonin."
Gin quickly formed hand signs.
"Ankton! Antouheki!" (Dark Release: Dark Pillar Wall!)
Solid darkness formed an arch to enclose him.
But under the opponent's charge, it was torn apart instantly.
Inside, Gin had vanished.
The opponent did not stop, moving quickly to evade the darkness that burst out.
Gin could only watch as his opponent moved swiftly away.
At the moment, Gin was powerless against him.
The opponent's electric shroud was the perfect defense, and the extreme speed couldn't be restrained. The impact force wasn't something that could easily be countered either.
It was like a hedgehog that couldn't be touched.
How did someone like this have no name in the future? How did he die in the Second Great Ninja War?
Gin's gaze shifted to the ground.
"If that's the case, I'll make sure you have nowhere to stand."
"Doton! Yomi Numa!" (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!)
The ground instantly turned into a muddy swamp.
As they fell into the swamp, their high-speed movement stopped.
"As expected, Earth Release counters your technique!"
(End of Chapter)