'I finally found you—the red-eyed boy behind Raiga!' Through the poisonous snake's infrared perception, Ishikawa locked onto the two overlapping thermal images and silently confirmed the target.
Knowing that his opponent was Kurosuki Raiga, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, how could Ishikawa not recall the relevant intel? The reason the enemy could strike from the hidden depths of the sea was because of the boy named Ranmaru.
Ranmaru's eyes—his Kekkei Genkai—were the legendary Red Eyes, which could penetrate objects like the Byakugan. But beyond that, these eyes possessed perception abilities that even surpassed the Byakugan!
And more terrifying still was the Red Eyes' ability to project chakra illusions—realistic, lifelike mirage-images of human chakra networks. So real were they that even the Sharingan couldn't distinguish truth from illusion within the dense fog.
Yet those deceptive mirages—so indistinguishable to human eyes—were completely transparent before the snake's infrared sensors!
'Hmph, you bastards nearly got me killed just now. Let me show you what it means to anger a Transmigrator!'
Recalling the close brush with death, Ishikawa couldn't help but feel both resentment and lingering fear.
If not for his split-second use of medical knowledge to avoid vital organs and feign death as a tactic of retreat, he'd be a corpse already!
Though he had narrowly escaped, his injuries were serious, and staying underwater much longer would be impossible.
With that in mind, Ishikawa used the sea as cover and began swimming toward Raiga...
At the same time—
"Damn it, this can't continue!"
After once again striking nothing but air, Kakashi's lightning arc scattered. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a scroll and began forming hand seals at high speed.
He needed to finish this fight quickly—and check if Ishikawa could still be saved. Dragging things out any further would only worsen their situation.
"Oh? Planning to use ninjutsu now?" Within the fog, Raiga snorted mockingly after Ranmaru relayed Kakashi's movements. "It's a pity your eyes can't find me. So this is the so-called Sharingan Kakashi? How disappointing…"
"Really?" Kakashi's tone didn't change. "But it seems you've forgotten—when eyes don't work, there's still the sense of smell."
With blood dripping from his fingers, he swiftly traced symbols across the scroll's surface.
"Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique!"
With a loud pop, a summoning array erupted across the sea's surface. Seven fierce ninja dogs appeared in a flash, barking and charging across the water toward Raiga.
Since they couldn't locate the enemy's scent underwater, the ninja dogs chose a head-on assault!
"Raiga, be careful! Ninja dogs are coming from all directions!" Ranmaru immediately warned him the moment he saw them, unintentionally revealing their exact location.
"There!" With the hounds' barking as confirmation, Kakashi's eyes lit up. He formed seals at lightning speed and dashed forward, Chidori crackling in his hand.
His gaze turned ice-cold.
"So what if you've found me?" Raiga roared. "Don't underestimate me!"
Crossing his dual blades, Raiga swung them with explosive force.
"Lightning Release: Fangs of Lightning!"
Twin arcs of massive lightning shot out in an X-shape, violently ripping through the fog and slamming into the sea.
Blinding flashes and thunderous explosions erupted as the lightning struck the waves, sending walls of water flying and disorienting both Kakashi and the ninja dogs in the chaos...
'Perfect chance!' Underwater, Ishikawa's eyes gleamed at the sudden shift in the situation. 'I was worried about being spotted by Ranmaru, but now—with Sensei and the ninja dogs covering me—it's a sure thing!'
While seawater conducted electricity and enhanced Raiga's lightning attacks on the surface, it also diluted their strength the moment they entered the vast ocean.
Which meant that, though the sea made Raiga's technique grander, it severely weakened its killing power below the surface.
At least for Ishikawa, who was over ten meters deep, the Lightning Release had little effect. He remained unscathed and continued swimming straight toward Raiga—with deadly intent in his eyes.
"Twelve o'clock... eight o'clock, four o'clock, seven o'clock, five o'clock—quick, behind you..."
"Damn it, I'm in trouble. I didn't expect the enemy's perception to be this sharp!" Kakashi grimaced as he listened to Ranmaru's constant warnings.
"At this rate, there's no way I can get close enough to end this quickly!" He rapidly shifted direction to dodge another lightning strike, a bitter expression on his face.
By now, three of the seven ninja dogs had already been blown away by the relentless lightning, and the remaining four weren't going to last much longer.
"Ah... Ranmaru!" Just as Kakashi was preparing to retreat temporarily and go find Ishikawa, Kurochu Raiga's sudden scream echoed from within the thick fog, making Kakashi's expression shift sharply.
Elsewhere, Raiga was livid—his eyes wide with fury—as he stared at the venomous snake that had suddenly leapt from the seafloor and bitten into Ranmaru.
"Damn it, where the hell did this snake come from?!"
Without hesitation, Raiga abandoned his assault, yanked the snake off, and prepared to fry it with lightning.
But the moment he tore the serpent away, the snake—thick as an arm—opened its vicious mouth... revealing several sizzling detonating tags inside!
"What?!" Raiga's expression instantly darkened. He hurled the poisoned Ranmaru away and activated his Lightning Strike Armor for defense.
"BOOM—BOOM—!"
In the blink of an eye, the explosion tore through the water, generating a colossal shockwave! This was far beyond the blast of a few ordinary exploding tags—at least the equivalent of dozens of them going off at once!
Clearly, more concealed detonating tags had been hidden inside the snake's body!
"Urgh—!"
A moment later, Ishikawa—still underwater—snapped his eyes open. He swam to the surface, burst through the water, and coughed out a gush of seawater from his lungs.
Spotting the massive plume of explosion mist a hundred meters away, Ishikawa grinned. Despite the stabbing pain in his back, he shoved three pills into his mouth: a military pill, a painkilling pill, and a blood-increasing pill.
"Heh... I used every last poisonous snake tied to my blood contract for that suicide strike, and you're telling me it still wasn't enough to screw you over?!"
Thinking about the 15,000 ryō worth of detonating tags he'd just vaporized, Ishikawa felt like he was bleeding internally.
But despite the sting of financial loss, he had no regrets—only gratitude for his foresight.
To maximize the effectiveness of his Spirit Transformation Technique, he hadn't just picked a highly venomous snake as his contract summon. He'd also spent a ridiculous sum stuffing its body with fifty detonating tags, in case of emergencies.
Naturally, the other Black Hawks and Wild Dogs had received similar setups. Better to lose money than lose his life—that was Ishikawa's harsh but necessary survival strategy for the time being.
"Now, where is that kid?" Suddenly recalling the direction Ranmaru had been thrown in—thanks to the snake's sensory feedback before detonation—Ishikawa immediately dived back into the water and swam toward it.
Now that he'd finally separated Ranmaru from Raiga, there was no way he'd let them reunite.
As for actually killing Raiga with that explosion?
That thought hadn't even crossed Ishikawa's mind. It was enough to catch him off guard and cause some damage.
But killing an elite Jōnin with that? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
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P@atreon/Arvinstorm (35+ Advanced Chapters)
Check out my other novels:
-->Harry Potter: The White Devil Who Grows Stronger with Reputation
-->Naruto: I'm a Teacher, But the System Thinks I'm Naruto's Classmate! (Completed)