"It looked like he had to show some real skill..." Darui no longer dared to be careless. You reaped what you sowed; no amount of strength came from nowhere. The Life-Burning Forbidden Jutsu was simple and brutal, burning away one's life to gain power. If such an attack could be easily blocked, it would not deserve to be called a forbidden jutsu.
Pitch-black lightning writhed around Darui's gleaming skin like a swarm of twisted, violent thunder serpents. The electricity continuously stimulated his muscles, and beneath the black glow, the muscles in his arms swelled several times over. That most primal beauty of sheer muscle stunned everyone present.
The black lightning collided with the scarlet blood aura like two primal beasts tearing at each other. The other ninjas swallowed nervously. Facing a ninja who wielded Chakra with nothing but a mortal body—this was the power of a forbidden jutsu!
Moriyue felt power flooding his limbs as unrestrained Chakra rampaged through his body. It felt like a high-speed train racing through a maze—the train was the violent Chakra, and the maze was Moriyue's flesh.
If he did not vent this power, he was going to explode. Moriyue let out a low roar and threw a plain, unadorned punch at Darui.
The howl of breaking wind came from in front of Darui. His blond hair stirred without wind as black lightning formed an armor of electricity over his arm. A layer of vapor resembling laser beams spiraled around his arm, forming ring after ring of light. His opponent was burning his life to fight him, so he had to show some sincerity as well.
"It's here! Captain Darui's Storm Release! That black lightning... it's Black Panther! After the Third Raikage, Captain Darui is the only one who has mastered this move!" One ninja had stars in his eyes. To him, Darui was practically an idol. Black lightning—setting everything else aside, it was genuinely cool. No Kumogakure ninja could resist the allure of black lightning!
"Storm Release... Now that you mention it, I'd forgotten Captain could use Storm Release..." The other female ninja was much calmer. Darui was lazy as hell, and during missions, they had only ever seen him end battles with a single sword. They had genuinely forgotten that he knew Storm Release.
The starry-eyed ninja had not been here long and was still at the age where he was curious about everything. He scratched his head in confusion.
"Storm Release? What's that?"
"Hey, hey, hey, you seriously don't know? Storm Release is a very famous Kekkei Genkai... Forget it, looks like you really don't know..." The female ninja looked speechless. So there really were people who did not know about Kekkei Genkai or Storm Release. It seemed she had taken too much for granted.
"Put simply, Storm Release is a ninjutsu created by combining Lightning Release Chakra and Water Release Chakra. It possesses the attack power and destructive force of lightning, while also having the fluid freedom and controllable flexibility of water."
"When the two are combined, lightning becomes lasers whose direction and angle can be freely controlled. Storm Release makes up for lightning's weakness of being difficult to control. It is a Kekkei Genkai that combines the strengths of lightning and water! You only need to know that this jutsu is incredibly powerful."
The female ninja spent a great deal of effort explaining Kekkei Genkai and Storm Release to him. In truth, Darui's actions also shocked her somewhat. His opponent was merely an ordinary person empowered by a forbidden jutsu. Was such an extravagant display really necessary?
"Then isn't this kid definitely going to die?" The male ninja was sweating as well. They had come to test whether Moriyue met the required standard. Why did their captain seem to be trying to kill him right from the start?
While the two were talking, Moriyue's and Darui's fists had already collided. There was none of the dazzling brilliance of ninjutsu countering one another, nor the thunderous barrage of firearms and Explosive Tags. The two simply crashed together in the most primitive way possible, fist against flesh, every impact accompanied by blood, lightning, and flame.
Centered on Moriyue and Darui, a terrifying shockwave erupted from the square stone platform. Dust obscured their figures, and the force of their punches made the two ninjas squint.
"Is it over? How's Captain? That kid didn't die here, did he?"
"Captain is definitely fine, but that kid might be in trouble. No matter what, the test is over, so our mission is complete. Let's go check on Captain."
The noise gradually faded. The two ninjas formed hand seals and used Wind Release to disperse the dust filling the air, revealing the two figures at the center of the stone platform.
"Huh? That kid isn't dead? Did Captain pull his punch? I knew Captain wouldn't be so reckless."
"No, Captain didn't hold back. Look at that guy's hand..."
The other ninja pointed at Moriyue's arm. Things were not that simple.
Following her finger, the ninja saw a sight that made his scalp go numb.
His blood had evaporated under the impact of the raging lightning outside and the violent Chakra within. One of Moriyue's arms had turned black, black arcs of electricity occasionally leaping from his shoulder. The hand he had used to clash fists with Darui exposed plenty of stark white bone, looking exceptionally savage.
Darui, on the other hand, remained fairly composed. After all, he had used ninjutsu; this fight had never been fair. Yet even so, a blood-red fist mark had appeared on his chest. Feeling the pain from his chest, he developed a trace of respect for Moriyue.
That punch had erupted with tremendous force. Moriyue even wondered whether such a powerful attack had truly come from him. But before he could rejoice, a weakness that reached deep into his soul began spreading from his limbs.
With a thud, Moriyue's limbs went limp and he collapsed to the ground. He wanted to stand, but his arms and legs could not muster any strength. At that moment, he was like a piece of thinking meat, capable of nothing except thought.
"You are a warrior. I acknowledge you." Darui hoisted Moriyue onto his back. He had never given such an evaluation to a "ninja" rapidly forged through a forbidden jutsu. Though no one said it outright, nearly all ninjas regarded these "forbidden jutsu users" as cannon fodder, tools used in war to deplete the enemy's Chakra.
"Did... did you hear what Captain just said? He said he acknowledged that forbidden jutsu user? Doesn't that mean..." The male ninja could hardly believe it. He grabbed the female ninja by the shoulders and shook her back and forth.
"Stop shaking me. I'm not deaf. Looks like that guy has become an official member. That's an opportunity even we envy. Seriously, what does Captain see in that kid?" The female ninja shoved the stunned male ninja away. Do not ask her; she did not understand either.
Darui supported the utterly drained Moriyue. He decided to let Moriyue join his squad, for no other reason than that Darui had seen a quality in Moriyue's eyes that many ninjas lacked.
It felt as though Moriyue no longer cared whether he lived or died. Every action was solely for the sake of killing his opponent; his own survival did not factor into his considerations at all. Darui had only seen that kind of disregard for life in the eyes of death warriors.
"Congratulations. You passed the test. From now on, you are one of our team members."
Before you continue