'Shadow Clone Jutsu!' Suguru put his hands together to form the iconic seal.
Several clones appeared around him, each carrying a giant shuriken in their hands. Then, they dispersed. Killing intent flashed in their eyes.
Meanwhile, two of those clones stayed behind. Suguru had created them with just enough chakra for one single jutsu. Upon waiting long enough, they put their hands together and formed a seal.
[Bird].
'Vampiric Gaze,'
A pair of ethereal eyes appeared in front of Raiga and Ranmaru. Weakened by the earlier ambush, Raiga could not force himself out of Suguru's gaze. Ranmaru was the same.
They were left incapable of defending themselves.
Chakra began to flow from their eyes, pouring into the Shadow Clones who used the jutsu. Meanwhile, Suguru's other clones all threw each of their shurikens.
A barrage of shurikens rapidly approached, threatening to slice both Raiga and Ranmaru into pieces.
"Graaaah!"
Suddenly, Raiga screamed. His chakra flared like a madman and he pulled himself out of Suguru's gaze.
Compelled by the threat of death, his instincts had saved him as he dragged Ranmaru through the deadly rain. He now faced the eight clones who had approached him with their kunai.
With a swift buildup of chakra, he rushed forward with lightning once again arcing throughout his body. Using what remained of his reserves, he would kill the shinobi who attacked him.
Raiga swung his swords in a wide arc, aiming to slice each clone into two. However...
'Vampiric Gaze!'
Another pair of eyes appeared before him, stunning him in place. The chakra siphoned from him was now an accomplice to his downfall.
"Goodbye, Raiga."
A voice spoke like a deadly whisper.
"Goodbye, Ranmaru."
It spoke to both of them, one by one.
"Your deaths... are quite beautiful in some sense. I will make good use of your legacies."
'Dark Release: Inhaling Maw!'
The last bits of their chakra would disappear. Suguru then took Raiga's own blade from him. Gripping it in his hands, he felt the wonderful balance of its craftsmanship. A vague feeling that he could cut through anything resonated within his mind.
'Then, let's test it out, shall we?' Suguru wielded one-half of the Kiba blades. Then, with a simple swipe and a satisfying—
—Slash!
"Huh?"
There was still a clang of defiance. The other half of the twin swords had moved to block Suguru's deciding strike.
"You..." Raiga's ragged breaths gave Suguru a chill.
The swordsman was supposed to be trapped in his Vampiric Gaze and out of chakra. Was the threat of death truly that strong? So much so that the human body could abandon all its reservations to prevent its demise?
Suguru leaped backward as he sluggishly parried Raiga's counter-attack. A cut appeared on his arm, burned by the electric arcs that spread towards him.
In reply, he sent his clones.
They threw shurikens at differing intervals. Furthermore, they weaved several hand signs in but a single moment.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!'
Several fireballs were fired, forcing Raiga to release just as many electric arcs in an attempt to defend himself.
He spun, brandishing the only blade he had left. Lightning and flames clashed in a beautiful display of warm and cold colors. Suguru ducked below the arc of electricity. Despite the numerical advantage, his fireballs were outmatched!
Raiga thus lunged forward with his sword at the ready. He blitzed into Suguru's guard and met his gaze.
"Die!" He said, oozing with bloodlust.
That would be his mistake.
Suguru's eyes flashed, and his eyes turned red. Three tomoe markings appeared in his eyes.
'Genjutsu: Sharingan!'
Shocked by the sudden appearance of a legendary Dojutsu, Raiga couldn't pry his eyes out of the way.
Thus—
"No!"
Ranmaru's cry reached the two shinobi's ears. Unfortunately, there was no stopping the flow of lethality.
A head flew into the air. It carved a bloody parabolic trail and painted a gruesome image.
Just as Raiga had done several minutes ago, the same thing occurred to him. Suguru grabbed the remaining Kiba sword and threw it at the grieving Ranmaru.
"Ah!" Ranmaru staggered back in fear.
And yet the sword spun like a wheel of death, decapitating the child with the cold twang of steel and bone.
"Karma truly has a way with swords." Suguru chuckled as he held the other twin sword in his hand. When the other sword returned to him due to the pull of electromagnetism, he sheathed them as if they had been in his possession for years. The crimson gleam of his Sharingan intensified for a moment.
Then, his clone caught one of the falling heads before passing it to the real Suguru as if it were a ball.
With two swift movements, he plucked out Ranmaru's eyes and held both of them in his hands. Blood stained his fingernails.
Suguru's Sharingan shattered into silver pieces to return to its base state. Then...
'Kaisugan!'
With his own eyes resonating with the eyes in his hands, Suguru watched as Ranmaru's eyeballs turned into a pure and special kind of chakra. They dissolved into some viscous crimson honey and poured into Suguru's eyes.
As if this chakra healed him, Suguru's eyes reformed into beautiful brown eyes. The same eyes that Ranmaru had.
Then—
Suguru poured chakra into his new eyes. The beautiful brown color suddenly glowed in a deep, blood red.
"Crazy..!"
An inevitable gasp escaped Suguru's lips.
"It's even better than my Kaisugan!"
Having the Kaisugan, Suguru thought that no other existing Dojutsu would surprise him. However... Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai was much stronger than his own Kaisugan in terms of the abilities they shared.
Of course, Ranmaru could not mirror and absorb other Dojutsus.
However, he had what could be called a glorified version of the Byakugan and Sharingan combined!
Seeing long distances like the Byakugan? Check.
Hearing from afar like Hiruzen's Telescope Technique? Check.
Extrasensory perception and heightened analytical prowess like the Sharingan? Check.
Powerful genjutsu that cannot be sensed or resisted even when known? An unlimited Kotoamatsukami if used right? Check.
"..." Suguru had to confirm the last set of abilities, however, there were still some more abilities he hadn't mentioned.
To list them down explicitly...
• Locating and Tracking.
• Red Dust Manipulation and Chakra Stealth.
• Chakra Masking and Fabrication.
• Life Force Vision and Inner-Thought-Reading
• Life Force Transfer and Ressurection.
'...Insane,'
Such was Suguru's only conclusion. Suddenly, he felt depressed. A mere genetic mutation was better than the Chakra Field Hacking he was so proud of.
Suguru stored Ranmaru's head and body in a special scroll. Studying the boy's DNA and chakra would be very useful for future endeavors. If there was any special reaction between Hashirama's Cells and Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai, then Suguru would be rich.
'Calling it Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai is tedious...'
Suguru thought for a bit.
'Let's combine the word for [Divine], the word for [Crimson], and [Ranmaru]'s name...'
Divine, because his eyes were overpowered. Crimson from the fact that they emitted red light. And of course, Ranmaru's name to pay homage to his sacrifice.
'Let's call it the [Shinrakugan].' Suguru decided on its name.
Suguru thus deactivated his Kaisugan, returning his eyes to its beautiful silver.
"...Oh?"
Suddenly, Suguru felt another change. Chakra began to surge within his eyes. He blinked, and blood once again began to drip down his cheeks.
'Kaisugan!'
Suguru's [Clairvoyance] spanned a larger radius.
It was a 75-kilometer radius and therefore, a 150-kilometer diameter. He had enough to span the entire Konohagakure and more!
Frankly, it was astounding. Especially when Suguru considered the fact that with Ranmaru's Shinrakugan, he could now also hear the events within the vicinity of any point inside this range.
His espionage capabilities were now around S-rank if Suguru had the leisure to call it that. Although different from his sensory abilities given its special nature, it was a sufficient specialty.
Nothing could escape his gaze should he choose to observe their movements.
Not even—
'Zetsu... who do you think you're approaching?'
With his expanded vision and the Shinrakugan's ability to sense and read someone's innermost thoughts, Suguru instantly noticed an anomaly.
There was something moving through the root systems beneath the earth. It did not have any chakra signature. However, it had thoughts.
And...
'Plants don't think,'
Suguru chuckled as he built up his chakra. He was curious as to why the Akatsuki was after him.
However, playing a little game with Zetsu wasn't on his bucket list. If Tobi was nearby... Suguru would have difficulty escaping his space-time prowess.
[]=[]=[]=[]
Annoyingly, I lost my document where I wrote the next four Advanced Chapters. Thus the lack of upload yesterday. //weeps
I appreciate your support on P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can read up to 35 chapters ahead!
[]=[]=[]=[]