"Chirp, chirp, chirp—!"
The Lightning Blade, flashing with dazzling blue-white lightning, came crashing down at the boy amid the chaotic cries of a hundred birds. It carried unstoppable momentum, like a sudden bolt of thunder tearing through the pitch-black night.
It seemed to carve an arc of lightning through the air, descending from above.
It illuminated the grassland as its lingering radiance faded into the night. It also lit up the boy's cold face as he turned his head left, his punch missing diagonally downward while his body spun—and the face of the aged man whose eyes widened slightly, his naturally imposing expression slowly giving way to shock. What...
The Third Raikage's mouth fell open involuntarily. His body gradually tilted aside with that slash, and in his widened, horrified eyes was reflected the descending lightning blade, as well as the hair at the back of his head standing on end with a sizzling sound from the current.
This guy! This Taki Chiba! He actually... actually...
At that moment, time seemed to slow. The strike that was certain to hit, the strike that should have taken this brat's head, slowly grazed past the edge of the back of the boy's head as he spun.
That was right. That lightning-fast, certain strike had been dodged! As expected, he deliberately passed by my side to throw me off balance and create an opening for himself!
Although this Third Raikage's fighting style after being reanimated had been somewhat straightforward, to the point that he had even been sealed easily, that was ultimately because Kabuto had been controlling him completely from behind. The one truly launching attacks and deciding his intentions had not been him, but Kabuto behind him. His straightforwardness had merely resulted from Kabuto's lack of understanding of him—or rather, Kabuto simply did