"Die, you Konoha bastard!" Raiga roared as Kakashi charged at him like a bolt of lightning, his Lightning Blade cleaving through the storm with murderous intent.
Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning!
The moment Raiga unleashed his jutsu, the natural lightning raging in the heavens gathered and twisted, fusing into a colossal sphere of crackling destruction nearly ten meters wide.
With a shrill whistle, it came crashing down toward Kakashi like a judgment from the sky.
"Raikiri..." Facing the catastrophic lightning sphere, Kakashi did not evade.
Instead, his right hand crackled with piercing light, his palm cloaked in chakra like a blade of thunder. With no hesitation, he charged directly into the heart of the storm.
Raiga's eyes widened in surprise before twisting with cruel delight. Kakashi had rushed headlong into certain death.
"Seeking death!" Raiga spat coldly, his lips curling into a mocking smile.
He had feared Kakashi might evade, ruining the inevitable kill. But to think his prey would dive into the lightning itself—ridiculous! Even Raiga, the caster of this jutsu, could not withstand such a direct assault, let alone an enemy bare-handed. The rumors about Kakashi were nothing but empty praise!
"Tch… Then I should deal with Ranmaru's side next. That ominous feeling earlier was... unpleasant." Raiga's thoughts turned dark, and he quickly shifted his gaze toward the spot where he had abandoned Ranmaru.
But in that instant—
Crack!
The gigantic lightning sphere split apart from its center, cleaved in two by a single blade of living thunder.
"N-Nani!! He actually cut through a Banquet of lightning with Lightning Release Jutsu?!" Raiga's eyes widened in horror. His face twisted in disbelief as the impossible unfolded before him.
And before he could even process it, a flash of lightning flared before his eyes, striking like a phantom.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan…"
Raiga's body froze, his pupils dilating in terror. Just as he tried to swing his blade, his vision blurred, and his movements stalled for the briefest moment.
That instant was all Kakashi needed.
A piercing hand of lightning struck straight through Raiga's chest, the smell of burning flesh filling the air.
"Sha… Sharingan? So that's how it is…" Raiga's voice trembled as he regained clarity, staring at Kakashi's cold gaze at arm's length. "I didn't expect… this ending…" His words were filled with bitter regret.
But no matter his unwillingness, the gaping wound in his chest and the paralysis spreading through his body had already sealed his fate.
"Your path as a rogue ninja was decided long ago," Kakashi said coldly, though his calm expression masked his hidden relief. "Dying here… is the only end left to you."
If Raiga had managed to resist even a second longer, Kakashi's depleted chakra would have betrayed him. Fortune had been on his side.
"Heh… heh… mocking me, Kakashi?" Raiga's lips twisted into a bloody grin, his bloodshot eyes wild. "Don't celebrate too soon. Even if I fall… my men will take yours with them to the grave!"
"On the road to hell… I won't be alone! Hahaha!"
"What?! You still have accomplices?!" Kakashi's face darkened instantly. With a swift kick, he sent Raiga's body flying, snatched the twin Lightning Swords, and turned on his heel, sprinting back toward the cargo ship.
Taro Jiro, Ishikawa… hold on! Don't die on me!
"Ranmaru… I can only help you this much." As Kakashi disappeared, Raiga's gaze softened faintly, turning in one direction with lingering hope before his body sank slowly into the depths of the sea.
If Kakashi failed to find Ranmaru… perhaps the boy's red eyes would still keep him alive beneath the waves. He only prayed that dreadful premonition had been nothing more than an illusion.
At that same moment, on the cargo ship.
"Oh? Looks like Boss Raiga's battle is finished," a youth in a black robe sneered from the deck, his eyes narrowing with malice. "Time for us to wrap things up here."
"Yeah. Otherwise, if Boss finds out we were stalled by two Genin brats and a dog, we'll get shouted out again." His partner's gaze was cold and disdainful as he glared across at their opponents.
If it weren't for that damn dog, they wouldn't have been discovered and delayed for so long!
"Damn it, I'm not a dog! I'm a Ninken! A Ninken!!" Pakkun snarled, blood dripping from his brow. His small frame trembled with anger and humiliation, though his heart weighed heavily with unspoken despair.
Against two Chunin, he had pushed himself to the limit, buying every last second for the two Genin to stand and fight. But Taro and Jiro were already drained of chakra, their bodies battered and bloodied. In this condition, even a casual strike from the enemy could be their end.
It's over…
"Pakkun, fall back! Staying here any longer would just be a meaningless sacrifice…"
"He's right! If you die here, no one will know about Team 7's final stand. Even if we give our lives, our names must be engraved on the Spirit Monument!"
Taro and Jiro exchanged a look, and with the weight of despair pressing down on them, they spoke in unison.
They didn't know what Kakashi-sensei and their older brother were up against, but just the lightning vortex and that massive lightning sphere from before made it clear—those enemies were monsters beyond imagination!
Against these two Chunin, they had already pushed themselves past their limits, scraping together every last ounce of strength just to hold out. Without the weapons and gear they had stocked up on earlier, survival until now would've been impossible.
So, in this situation, even though unwillingness burned in their chests, there was little room for complaint. What they felt most was not anger, but helplessness at their lack of power… and a bitter sigh at their cursed luck.
Their last C-rank had thrown them against the Raikage himself. And now? Once again, opponents far beyond their reach.
It was as though the Shinigami had already marked them! This was fate's trial—a destined tribulation!
"Forgive me… I'm a tracker, not a fighter. I'll carry news of your heroic sacrifice to the Third Hokage…" Pakkun exhaled, heavy with regret, already preparing to release the summoning and return to Konoha.
But even as he prepared, he couldn't stop himself from thinking of Kakashi. Was his old friend still alive out there? Could he survive this hellish mission?
"Run, you say? That depends on whether we let you."
"This is the end of the line, brats!"
Almost the instant Pakkun spoke, the two enemies burst forward, blades gleaming with killing intent as they rushed straight for Taro, Jiro, and the Ninken. The long swords sliced the air, aimed to cut them down in one swift strike.
"Caaaw!"
And in that desperate moment, as Pakkun readied himself to vanish back to Konoha, an eagle's cry ripped through the sky, piercing the night!
Before Taro, Jiro, and Pakkun could react, a black shadow swooped down like lightning, slamming into the two Mist Chunin head-on.
Caught completely off guard, both were knocked back, their footing broken by the sudden assault. But as veterans of the Hidden Mist, their reflexes were sharp. In an instant, their blades lashed out, slashing at the eagle—
—and in the next heartbeat, the black eagle erupted in a blinding white light!
"BOOM!!"
The sea shook with the thunderous explosion, and before the two Mist shinobi could even comprehend what had happened, their bodies were ripped apart by the blast, torn into pieces, and scattered into the depths.
"W-what…?!" Pakkun's eyes widened, the small hound trembling at the narrow escape, disbelief painted across his face.
Beside him, Taro and Jiro were frozen in shock, unable to process the sudden twist of fate that had snatched them from the jaws of death.
"Pakkun! Are you all safe?!"
From across the waves, a familiar voice cut through the night. They turned toward it—and saw Kakashi, sprinting across the shimmering surface of the sea, Ishikawa slung over his back.
Under the pale moonlight, that figure glowed against the darkness—so warm, so unshakable, so beautiful…
--
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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)