Young Master, Please Become Hokage

Last time, Shirakumo Hayama was only lightly injured after being hit by a move, which explained everything.

"Amazing... the Third Hokage's son... Akira Sarutobi..."

After a brief moment of confusion, Kurotsuchi Raiga calmed down.

What kind of ninja becomes a Jonin if they haven't fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood?

Especially in a brutal place like Kirigakure, Kurotsuchi Raiga's resilience was beyond question.

He might have some mental issues, but he was definitely not an idiot.

"Heheheh..."

A hoarse voice, accompanied by a low chuckle, formed a frenzied face.

"You've got some skills... and you even bribed Ringo Ameyuri..."

What kind of existence were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?

In the Land of the Mist, this title was as important as Konoha's Sannin.

It was a symbol of glory, and also... of many things.

If one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were bribed by the enemy, it would be a huge blow to morale.

In the original story, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were defeated by Might Duy, and Kirigakure chose to retreat, which was an example.

Facing Kurotsuchi Raiga's misunderstanding, Akira Sarutobi was somewhat interested in explaining.

"You seem to have misunderstood one thing... I just couldn't stand seeing a loyal person being harmed, so I intervened."

"A boring 'comrades' speech? As expected of a Konoha ninja..."

Kurotsuchi Raiga remained noncommittal.

Due to the distance between them, Nonō and the others couldn't hear their conversation clearly.

"Enough talk. Since we're ninjas, let's settle this the ninja way!"

Kurotsuchi Raiga shouted, and as his voice fell.

Akira Sarutobi also moved instantly: "Hah!"

With a loud shout, he stomped on the ground and formed a hand seal with his left hand.

The entire ground seemed to tremble under that one step.

Then, a terrifying killing intent appeared before him.

What seemed like a simple charge contained multiple techniques.

Taught by Konoha's White Fang, Akira Sarutobi learned more than just swordsmanship.

Konoha's White Fang's swift movement technique, "Left Hand Seal: Body Flicker Technique," was also something Akira Sarutobi had learned.

The Body Flicker Technique, a ninjutsu, only required one hand seal.

Usually, it was done with the right hand.

The Body Flicker Technique was divided into... normal, water, lightning, and other variations.

When mastered to its peak, it could even be performed without hand seals.

In Akira Sarutobi's understanding, there were probably only a handful of people in the entire Shinobi World who possessed the ability to perform the Body Flicker Technique without seals.

One of them was Kagami Uchiha.

Of course, Akira Sarutobi's current strength couldn't compare to Kagami Uchiha.

But just learning a part of it was enough for a lifetime.

While activating the left-hand seal, his free right hand could launch an attack simultaneously.

Thus, Akira Sarutobi turned into an afterimage, appearing before Kurotsuchi Raiga almost instantly.

If it were an ordinary Jonin, Akira Sarutobi would have instantly killed them with this move.

But Kurotsuchi Raiga's primary attribute was "Lightning."

All Raiton ninjas had extremely sharp reaction speeds.

Unless this Raiton ninja had a congenital dynamic vision deficiency like Kakashi.

If the dynamic vision conditions were met, then he would definitely be able to react swiftly.

And so...

Amidst the overwhelming scent of blood, Kurotsuchi Raiga, with his hair standing on end, instinctively swung the twin blades in his hands.

Another characteristic of the Lightning element – "Sharpness."

This was perfectly displayed on these twin lightning blades.

With one slash, it was as easy as cutting through an earthen wall.

If imbued with Raiton, they could even easily cut through metal.

Crackles!

White electricity crackled.

Unlike the blue Raiton Ringo Ameyuri used.

Although both were lightning-based, Kurotsuchi Raiga's chakra nature had subtle differences.

But just as his twin blades swung down fiercely, Akira Sarutobi's body flickered, already moving to the side.

Then, with a powerful stomp of his right foot, his body flickered again, almost circling behind Kurotsuchi Raiga.

"So fast!"

Kurotsuchi Raiga's pupils constricted sharply, astonished by Akira Sarutobi's speed.

Akira Sarutobi's speed looked like he was shrinking the distance with each step.

The Body Flicker Technique was ninjutsu.

It didn't require physical strength.

In the original story, Gaara, due to the weight of the sand in his gourd, used the chakra-based movement of the Body Flicker Technique instead of physical movement.

And Akira Sarutobi now not only used the left-handed Body Flicker taught by Kagami Uchiha.

But on top of that, he added a burst of physical strength.

His feet pushing off the ground generated a reaction force, and then ninjutsu propelled his body.

The combination of the two increased his speed even further.

Bang!

Another movement.

Kurotsuchi Raiga turned, swinging his blades horizontally.

At the same time, his eyes scanned the spot where Akira Sarutobi had stepped.

The crater left on the ground was very conspicuous.

"So that's how it is..."

He understood.

The power generated by his formidable Taijutsu, combined with the Body Flicker Technique...

It was truly... astonishing.

However...

"You think you can just come here and defeat me? You're overthinking it!"

Kurotsuchi Raiga sneered coldly, crossing his twin blades.

"Ninpō: Lightning Armor!"

Boom!

White lightning surged, and the chakra emanating from Kurotsuchi Raiga was transmitted through the Lightning Blades, returning to him.

This Lightning Armor technique.

It was his own unique creation.

Even Ringo Ameyuri didn't possess it.

"This guy..."

Watching his ninja blades being used by someone else, combined with a jutsu to create a new application, Ringo Ameyuri's expression turned strange.

Chapter Forty-Two: Elimination

Completely wrapping himself in lightning.

Thereby increasing his offense, defense, and reaction speed.

"Hahaha..."

Kurotsuchi Raiga burst into laughter.

With his abilities suddenly enhanced, he began to gradually keep pace with Akira Sarutobi's movements.

However, he didn't know that this was just the beginning.

Akira Sarutobi raised his right palm and struck out fiercely.

With a thunderous roar.

The palm strike, delivered through the air, was accompanied by explosive air currents.

In Kurotsuchi Raiga's eyes, the might of this "Crushing Palm" was like the sky collapsing and the earth shattering. A chilling power, mixed with overwhelming killing intent, swept towards him.

Kurotsuchi Raiga never expected that Akira Sarutobi also had a hidden ranged Taijutsu attack.

At this moment, he even mistakenly thought it was the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

But the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm absolutely did not possess such power.

Only at the level of "Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher" would it have such force.

After one palm strike, Akira Sarutobi's arm went numb from the Raiton.

Kurotsuchi Raiga, on the other hand, was sent flying by the impact, and the Lightning Armor wrapped around his body flickered a few times before actually dissipating!!

"Huh?!"

Kurotsuchi Raiga's feet carved two tracks into the ground.

He barely stopped himself, his eyes growing more astonished.

In a flash of lightning, the two had already exchanged several blows.

The surrounding Kirigakure ninja watched, dumbfounded.

The battle was so explosive that they hadn't even reacted at all.

It wasn't until Akira Sarutobi's right hand trembled slightly that they considered whether they should step forward to help Kurotsuchi Raiga...

Wait.

At this moment, a thought occurred to everyone.

What if Kurotsuchi Raiga was killed...

Negative desires began to sprout.

The tradition of infighting within Kirigakure caused the more than 20 surrounding Kirigakure ninja to halt in their tracks.

They... were like bloodthirsty sharks, and after devouring Ringo Ameyuri, they were even waiting to devour Kurotsuchi Raiga next...

On Akira Sarutobi's side, he clenched his fist.