Battle with Raidō Again

"You're that Sunagakure ninja?!" a giant of a man with orange hair, a puffy bandage wrapped around his neck, and several green stripes painted on his cheeks roared in shock. This giant was none other than Suikazan Fuguki.

Beside him stood two others. Apart from Raiga Kurosuki, who had already clashed with Souya, the remaining man also had a distinctive appearance.

He had short black hair, no eyebrows, and the same sharp teeth as the giant. A large cross-shaped scar marked his right cheek, and bandages covered his ears and neck. Red stripes were painted on the lower half of his face, and a massive blade as wide as a door hung from his back.

The three were travel-worn and somewhat disheveled, but bore no obvious injuries.

"Didn't expect to run into you here!" Raiga Kurosuki wasted no words, gripping the Thunder Blades in both hands as silver-white electricity crackled across them.

"I don't know you, but since you're from Sunagakure, that makes you our enemy. I'll just take care of you here!" Juzō Biwa drew the Kubikiribōchō, his killing intent undisguised.

"We've made it this far, but we need to finish this quickly. If that guy catches up..." Suikazan Fuguki pulled out Samehada, his tone grave as he warned the other two.

Raiga Kurosuki and Juzō Biwa's expressions shifted, as if the person Suikazan Fuguki mentioned was a demon from hell, enough to make even such brutes tremble.

"Sasori! Let's move!" Souya's face remained calm. Though he faced three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen this time, he had Sasori by his side!

Souya hurled the Gold Rod forcefully into the air above the enemies. As he released the Sealing Technique, the gold dust surged forth like a collapsing dam, a torrent of sand waves engulfing the three of them.

Sasori simply unrolled several scrolls from his back. White smoke dispersed, and three bulky puppets appeared on the ground. Two of them charged at the enemies with a creaking clatter.

Crackle!

A massive surge of lightning burst from the ground buried in gold dust. The Ninja Swordsmen Trio leaped high through the breach the lightning had torn, landing on ground free of gold dust.

Clang! Thud!

A crisp metallic clash and a dull thud followed in succession. The two puppets Sasori controlled extended sharp blades, engaging Juzō Biwa and Suikazan Fuguki in combat.

The third puppet, manipulated by Sasori's Chakra threads, directly unleashed a ninjutsu.

Earth Release: Great River of Mud!

The ground beneath Juzō Biwa and Suikazan Fuguki suddenly turned as soft as a swamp, then began to flow like a swift river.

The two puppets Sasori controlled were unaffected. They launched themselves into the air, sickle-like silver blades gleaming, and slashed fiercely at the pair.

Shlick!

The two were cut cleanly in half at the waist by the sharp blades, but instead of blood and organs, water burst forth like a punctured balloon.

Clearly, they had used Water Clones with great skill. Their figures reappeared not far away, exchanging glances that revealed mutual wariness.

It was obvious that this Sunagakure ninja controlling puppets ranked among the strongest they had faced in all their battles.

Sasori's expression remained indifferent. He waved his hands, directing the two puppets to close in again.

On the other side, Souya spoke to Raiga Kurosuki: "This time, we can have a proper bout!"

Souya hadn't forgotten the near-death experience Raiga Kurosuki had given him last time. For an enemy like that, Souya would repay him twofold, aiming to send him straight to heaven!

Raiga Kurosuki knew in his heart that unless he dealt with this guy, returning to Kirigakure was out of the question.

"Hahaha! Come on!" Raiga Kurosuki seemed to suddenly fall into a frenzy. He swung the Thunder Blades violently, weaving a massive gate of silver-white lightning, its surface crawling with dense arcs of electricity.

Zzzap!

The Gate of Lightning hurtled toward Souya at astonishing speed. Fortunately, Souya had already summoned a vast amount of gold dust.

He raised his right hand, and the surging gold dust formed a thick, solid wall around him.

Boom!

The Gate of Lightning collided with the gold wall. A sharp explosion rang out, accompanied by the stench of scorched air.

The thick gold wall was clearly not something a single Gate of Lightning could break. Souya had no intention of dragging things out. He rapidly formed hand seals.

"Sand Burial!"

A rumbling sound echoed, as if an earthquake had struck. A deep chasm split open beneath Raiga Kurosuki's feet, swallowing him whole.

Raiga Kurosuki, in turn, summoned a layer of lightning armor. His body surface blazed with blinding silver-white light, crackling incessantly.

The two short blades had somehow fused into a single long blade. The sudden fissure beneath him made his stance unsteady.

This crack was exceptionally wide, as if a giant had torn a two-meter-wide gash in the earth.

Thus, Raiga Kurosuki couldn't do what the previous two had done—drive his blade into the side wall.

His body swayed, and he fell in with no choice but resignation.

Souya changed his hand seals again. A gust of wind swirled at his feet as he poured out his Chakra without reserve, his aura astonishing.

The gold dust on both sides of the chasm rose in towering waves. With a crash, it buried the fissure completely.

"Gold Dust Prison Flow!"

The vast gold dust began to rotate slowly, the ground turning into a massive millstone.

The millstone gradually took the shape of a funnel vortex. The rock and soil beneath were churned by this immense force, all assimilated into gold dust.

The gold dust, like demons from the abyss, conjured countless arms, dragging Raiga Kurosuki deeper and deeper, striving to pull him into endless darkness.

Crackle!

A dazzling silver-white bolt of lightning shot up from the bottom of the vortex, as thick as a bucket—a testament to its immense power!

Roar!

The electric arcs stretched and formed a colossal silver-white lightning dragon, so lifelike that its two scarlet eyes sent chills down the spine, its long whiskers fluttering in the wind.

And there stood Raiga Kurosuki, perched atop the dragon's claw, the massive beast gripping him as if he were a mere chick.

Yet judging by the lightning-attribute chakra continuously surging from him into the dragon's body, it was clear that this arrangement better allowed him to control the twenty-meter-tall silver lightning dragon.

Raiga Kurosuki's eyes blazed with battle lust. As he let out a roar, the lightning surging from him grew even more thunderous and fierce.

The lightning dragon, as if injected with a dose of stimulant, bared its ferocious maw in a silent roar.

Then it lowered its head and dove, carrying the force of a thousand thunders, bearing straight down upon Souya.