Black... flames! The unique texture of the scroll's spindle slowly surfaced beneath his fingertips. On the Third Raikage's face, frozen with killing intent, his eyes gradually widened. A powerful sense of unease suddenly swept through his mind, and his heart inexplicably skipped into a faster beat.
At that moment, upon the scroll his finger had pierced through, the black character for "fire" at the center of the spot his finger had passed through began to blaze. Black Flames ignited, making it seem as though a "fire" character made of Black Flames hung from his finger!
This temperature! He could actually feel the scorching heat even through the Chakra Cloak! At that moment, the heat of the Black Flames on his finger continuously seeped through the Chakra Cloak. Even the Lightning Release Chakra Cloak, impervious to blades and weapons and able to perfectly defend against high-temperature explosions, seemed unable to withstand the flames' heat.
"Hmph!"
At that moment, the boy who had twisted around, his right hand flung aside as if powerless, his entire face distorted and stiffened together—the battered boy whose body was almost entirely charred black by explosions—the curve of his lips lifted a little higher as he sneered.
His eyes were filled with the triumphant delight of a scheme succeeding!
This brat! Seeing that provocative smile and gaze, the Third Raikage's frozen expression abruptly darkened.
What an infuriating brat, right until the very end!
"Crack!"
As that thought flashed through his mind, lightning exploded from the Third Raikage's piercing one-finger thrust. Several arcs of electricity suddenly burst forth, flashing backward and carving blue-white serpents of lightning through the air with a sizzling sound. "Pfft!"
At the same time, the one-finger thrust abruptly accelerated. The scroll was like rotten leather, instantly pierced clean through, and half of the Third