A Solo Battle Against the AB Duo!

"Darui! Shi! Take your teams and deal with those two flying ninja!" Raikage A swiftly made his tactical arrangements.

"Watch out for that scythe-wielding ninja!" Raikage A shared the intelligence he had gathered from their brief clash. "That guy seems to be able to absorb chakra!"

"B! Come with me and meet this arrogant bastard!"

As the renowned "AB Duo" of the Shinobi World, they had rampaged across the battlefield during the Third Shinobi World War, unstoppable and invincible. Only when they later encountered the even faster Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, had they been suppressed.

But Namikaze Minato was already dead. The Fourth Raikage A had become the fastest man in the Shinobi World of this era!

No one doubted the AB Duo's combat strength!

Darui and Shi each led Kumogakure ninja to surround the two enemies floating in the air.

They did not dare let their guard down. Not only had the enemy dared to attack Kumogakure with just three people, but the ability to levitate was exceedingly rare throughout the Shinobi World!

So far, they had only heard that Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, could fly!

Shi, with his short blond hair and handsome face, led several Kumogakure ninja in taking on the Celestial Maiden of Jade first.

Several Kumogakure ninja used Earth Release ninjutsu, causing countless earth spears to erupt from the ground and thrust into the sky, trying to restrict the Celestial Maiden of Jade's movements. Shi and three Kumogakure jonin used the earth spears as footholds to leap into the air, their Lightning Release techniques tearing through the smoke.

However, the Celestial Maiden of Jade's ribbons were as troublesome as venomous snakes. They could extend freely and cut through iron like mud. Once struck by one, an ordinary ninja would either die or suffer severe injury!

Like a dancer, the Celestial Maiden of Jade elegantly "performed" in the air with her ribbons. Kumogakure ninja were pierced through the body one after another, or sent flying with blood spraying from their mouths after being lashed.

For a time, not a single person could get close to the Celestial Maiden of Jade.

Meanwhile.

Grim Reaper of Three swung his scythe as he fought the Kumogakure ninja led by Darui.

"Water Release: Water Bullet!" Several Kumogakure ninja skilled in Water Release formed hand seals and fired countless bullets made of water at Grim Reaper of Three as he flew through the air.

These Water Bullets were as destructive as large-caliber rounds and could pierce an iron plate in a single hit.

Grim Reaper of Three lightly dodged the incoming Water Bullets and charged straight at Darui.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" Darui formed hand seals with both hands!

The blue sphere burst forth with more than ten electrified streams of water, blasting toward Grim Reaper of Three in the sky.

Like they had laser guidance, those water streams shot at Grim Reaper of Three from multiple directions.

Seeing this, Grim Reaper of Three swung his scythe.

Several wind blades tore through the smoke and formed a net of wind in the air, slicing apart and absorbing every Storm Release technique that came at him.

"What?!" Darui was stunned as he watched his prized Storm Release: Laser Circus get effortlessly cut apart by the enemy's wind blades.

Then, the wind blades continued onward and struck several Kumogakure ninja who had failed to dodge in time.

"Argh!" The struck Kumogakure ninja cried out miserably.

Darui hurriedly looked over, only to see that although their bodies had not been cut by the wind blades, they had collapsed to the ground as if dead, unable to rise again.

"Watch out!" Mabui urgently warned, "That guy's scythe can absorb chakra! Don't get hit!"

Skilled at analysis and judgment, Mabui immediately had the Kumogakure ninja adjust their tactics based on the information Raikage A had provided earlier.

Ninja relied heavily on chakra. Once the chakra in their bodies ran dry, death was usually the only outcome.

"I'll keep him occupied! Mabui! Organize a ranged assault!" Worthy of the man who would succeed as the Fifth Raikage, Darui immediately decided to use himself as bait.

Darui used the Raikage Building to keep climbing higher, then leaped toward Grim Reaper of Three!

"Lightning Release: Black Panther!" Though Darui could not use levitation ninjutsu, he possessed large-scale ninjutsu.

Countless dark purple bolts of lightning gathered around Darui, forming a black panther-shaped mass of lightning that pounced toward Grim Reaper of Three!

Grim Reaper of Three swung his scythe again.

Darui directly activated the second stage of Black Panther. The black panther lightning spread outward, transforming into a massive electric net that descended upon him!

Facing the net woven from black lightning, Grim Reaper of Three spun the scythe in his hand like a lawn mower, absorbing every bit of lightning chakra it touched!

"How is that possible?!" Darui stared wide-eyed at the sight from midair.

On the main battlefield.

The fierce battle between Kumogakure's AB Duo and Menma within the smoke had reached a fever pitch.

Raikage A entered his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and combined it with Lightning Release Nintaijutsu, attacking with the force of thunder!

Killer B also wielded all seven Ninja Blades with ease, their movements like a swarm of bees in a frenzy as he coordinated seamlessly with his big brother and attacked from both sides.

Just like his nickname, Killer Bee, his moves were vicious, while his mouth constantly buzzed with irritating rap lyrics.

Yet the mysterious man opposite them used only a single kunai to fend off Killer B's smooth, flowing assault with all seven Ninja Blades, while simultaneously evading Raikage A's Nintaijutsu attacks.

Though it was their first exchange, Raikage A and Killer B felt as if their opponent knew their attack patterns extremely well.

"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!" Raikage A concentrated Lightning Release chakra into his hand, leaped into the air, and dove down with his hand shaped like a blade!

This was the family hand blade, sharpened through bone-crushing training until it was as sharp as a flash of light!

Killer B also swung his Ninja Blades, sealing off the mysterious man's escape routes.

"Mini Spiraling Ring!" Menma caught Killer B's Ninja Blade assault with a kunai in his right hand while gathering a dark purple sphere in his left, which collided head-on with Raikage A's Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.

Though it was called the Mini Spiraling Ring, it was no smaller than Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.

Boom!

The two ninjutsu collided violently. Dark Chakra and Lightning Release chakra intertwined, producing a piercing explosion.

In the end, Uzumaki Menma's Mini Spiraling Ring proved superior. Dark Chakra swept along Wind Release chakra like countless blades, tearing apart the Lightning Release chakra coating Raikage A's hand.

The violent Dark Chakra struck Raikage A's arm, carving countless cuts into his battle-hardened flesh and leaving it drenched in blood!

"Argh! Damn it!" Raikage A grimaced in pain and was blasted back several meters!

Even the metal armguard weighing over a thousand pounds had been torn open by the violent Dark Chakra.

Only Raikage A's body, tempered time and again by Lightning Release chakra, could withstand that Mini Spiraling Ring. An ordinary jonin would have either died or been severely injured from a single hit.

"Yo~ Big Brother, you okay~?" Killer B retreated to A's side and asked with concern.

"B! This guy isn't ordinary! Use Tailed Beast Transformation!" Raikage A knew that they could not defeat their opponent fighting this way, so he prepared to fully unleash their power.

"But, Big Brother~ This is the village~ The Eight-Tails will destroy the village~" Killer B said worriedly.

"Mabui!" Raikage A shouted.

However, when he turned his head, he saw that more than a dozen Kumogakure ninja in the distance had already been killed or injured!

Darui and Shi had also fallen into bitter battles.