It wasn't... a ninjutsu? What was he trying to do?! In that instant, as he watched the hand turn with the boy's twisting body, shock appeared once more on the Third Raikage's face. At the same time, scenes from just moments ago flashed through his mind.
That punch, which had seemed like an attack, had actually been a twist using the momentum of an evasive posture. Then there had been the Exploding Tag Kunai meant to buy time, and now this fist that, in his imagination, ought to have been forming ninjutsu hand seals! At this moment, his descending lightning elbow was about to smash into Taki Chiba's waist and ribs, while the Black Lightning in his right hand grew denser and denser. The crackling current gradually became more urgent, and amid the flashing, colliding Black Lightning, the shape of a leopard's head emerged. Clearly, Lightning Release: Black Spotted Vulture was ready to strike. If his elbow missed, it would howl toward the direction Taki Chiba dodged. Given Black Spotted Vulture's power and its property of bursting into a pool of Black Lightning upon contact, if it hit, Taki Chiba's Rock Hardening Technique would likely peel away instantly due to elemental restraint. Even if Taki Chiba did not die, the continuous Black Lightning would paralyze his body. As long as he was paralyzed—even for one second, no, less than a second—the Third Raikage could shatter his heart.
At that point, no matter how strong Taki Chiba's life force was or how powerful the recovery ability of the Medical Ninjutsu he had learned, he could never survive with his heart shattered.
For Taki Chiba, this was already a desperate situation!
No matter how he looked at it or thought about it, Taki Chiba, who had prepared no escape ninjutsu, had absolutely