The Interloper
Black rain clouds, white water vapor.
The clash between hot and cold caused the clouds in the sky to churn violently, and the drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour.
The heavy rain didn't have much of an impact on Katsuki. He had gradually gotten used to the rain in the Land of Rain, and even when he was soaked to the bone, he didn't have much of a psychological barrier.
The real concern was the flash of light in the sky, followed by a deafening roar that nearly ruptured my eardrums. For a moment, it felt like someone had hit me hard on the head with a hammer, leaving me completely stunned. I didn't even have time to look at the waterspout he had wrecked with a bolt of lightning, let alone the grasshoppers on the ground.
"Damn it, did we fly too high?" Katsuki reached up and wiped her nose, her palm immediately stained with crimson, but she didn't notice, only looking up at the dark clouds that seemed to be right above her.
Just now, in order to avoid the fierce steam, Katsuki drove the chariot to higher ground, and then this happened. The power of thunder in nature is indeed beyond human reach. The rolling thunder in his ears completely suppressed the roar of the chariot, and his head was shaken and dizzy. Lightning shuttled through the clouds, and the bright light made his eyes start to sting, and tears flowed involuntarily.
"This is bad, we have to get out of here right now!"
With a snap of his teeth, and because his head was still a little dazed, a small piece of flesh on the tip of his tongue was bitten off. The pain brought tears to his eyes. Although the process was quite difficult, at least the suffering wasn't in vain. Katsuki shuddered and his mind cleared up considerably.
Gazing at the inky clouds overhead and the lightning bolts that danced like silver snakes, a chill ran through him. He couldn't stay any longer! The feeling of being struck by lightning seemed to return; his chest heaved, and he could hardly breathe.
This place has become a place of great misfortune; thunderclouds and rainclouds are completely different concepts.
He dared to drive the Thunderclap Chariot and hide in the rain clouds to make adjustments and modifications, but he didn't have the guts to go around in the thunderclouds. As the name suggests, thunderclouds are rain clouds with the most intense cloud friction, and are the place where thunder and lightning are born. They contain enormous and magnificent power. Sensing that energy that is difficult to describe in words, the last bit of hesitation in Katsuki's heart was completely eradicated.
"Let's go, let's go!"
Anxious, he steered the Thunderclap Chariot downwards, the silvery light falling rapidly. Just seconds after Katsuki left, the clouds in the sky shifted, and suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed through them. If he had been three or four seconds later, he would probably have returned to the ground as a charred corpse.
As the altitude continued to decrease, the majestic heavenly aura hanging overhead gradually faded away. Katsuki looked up at the distant sky and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Huh? They escaped? At least..."
At this moment, Katsuki had the mind to pay attention to the two prey, but the ground was empty and she could not sense any Chakra fluctuations.
The White Zetsu, disguised as Rain Ninja, escaped. He wasn't discouraged; instead, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If things had continued, he didn't know what to do. To be fair, after mastering the Lightning Release Materialization technique, his combat power had skyrocketed. If he went all out, taking down the White Zetsu wouldn't have been difficult.
But he didn't want to do that. Killing one as a form of retaliation was enough. If he really killed them all, things would escalate, and it might attract the 'Kage' level experts among the White Zetsu, which was not what he wanted to see.
This is good enough for now. Hopefully, Madara Uchiha won't be angry about it. Just thinking about someone who can hide in the Katsuki and endure for decades, even scheming about what will happen after his death, sends chills down Mizuki's spine. Even though Madara is always caught up in Black Zetsu's schemes, it's only because of various restrictions. In any case, he is not someone Mizuki can underestimate.
"So... what should we do next?"
Katsuki scratched his head. After the great battle, the surrounding terrain had changed drastically. Fortunately, he had left his residence at the beginning because he was testing the Lightning Release Materialization technique. Otherwise, after the battle, the ground would have been stripped bare, and if the house had collapsed, it would have been a huge mess.
The current situation is actually not bad. Putting aside the unpleasantness of being attacked by the White Zetsu, the whole thing is not bad in terms of outcome. In fact, if it weren't for the help of these 'kind people' like the White Zetsu, he doesn't know how long it would have taken him to control the power of the Hito Hito no Mi and master the technique of Lightning Release Materialization. It would have taken quite a while.
Now, he rides the Thunderclap Chariot through the air, easily shaping lightning into various forms and imbuing them with souls, allowing them to materialize.
However, after a fierce battle, Katsuki gained some understanding of the Hito Hito no Mi to separate souls.
That is, even though it is the same lightning materialization, the power exerted by the different objects it transforms into is different, and it is not a matter of the amount of Chakra.
Simply put, a giant beast was created by consuming the same amount of Chakra as the Thunderclap Chariot. After being given a soul, it could be controlled as if it were an extension of its own arm, but it completely lacked the combat power that should be present for its enormous size. The swift and fierce power of lightning was not manifested at all, and it was useless except for looking scary when it moved.
On the contrary, the Thunderclap Chariot, which is not very large, fully demonstrates the swiftness of Thunder. When the chariot is running at full speed, its speed cannot match the power of real thunder in nature, but it can still surpass the speed of sound. Moreover, the Thunderclap Chariot can use techniques such as the Thunder Lightning Gun to fight against S-rank Water Release Technique without being at a disadvantage, and its battle record is remarkable.
That's true, but everything is still in the exploratory stage, and I have many ideas that I want to verify.
"Characteristics... Does it mean that only by meeting certain characteristics can the power of lightning be unleashed?"
The Thunderclap Chariot hovered in mid-air. Katsuki stood on the chariot with her arms crossed, pondering the key points of the Lightning Release Materialization. On the ground, teams of Shadow Clone ran around, using Earth Release to fill in the potholes and restore the field to its proper appearance as much as possible.
"Lightning's characteristics include speed, penetrating power, extremely high temperatures, and a paralyzing effect on living organisms... What else? That's about it!"
Katsuki counted on her fingers, and only after the Shadow Clone had restored the field to the best of their ability did she steer the Thunderclap Chariot back.
Beneath the ground, in the soil and rocks, lurked human-shaped shadows.
"Whispering sound!"
Sensing the chaotic Chakra bodies on the ground and the massive Chakra suspended high in the sky, White Zetsu let out a cry of unwillingness.
They had hoped that Katsuki would leave that strange chariot, and once it returned to the ground, they could launch a surprise attack. If they could catch it off guard, they were confident they could take its head.
But now... things aren't going as planned. A bunch of Shadow Clone are flailing around on the ground, and it's even impossible to tell whether the Chakra in the sky is the real body or not. The plan has failed before it could even be implemented.
With their last resort useless, the leader of the White Zetsu suppressed his frustration and led the rest of the White Zetsu away. There was no point in staying any longer; once Nagato and the others returned, there would be no chance left. It was better to report the mission's failure as soon as possible.