Flash of Thunder

The cat demon burning with blue flames, the emerald-armored giant, and the tentacled Eight-Tails Gyuki—these three behemoths fought as they moved, quickly approaching the battlefield near the fortress.

Wherever they passed, the earth shook and mountains swayed; trees were snapped and shattered, their destructive power far surpassing that of any giant Summoning Technique seen before.

Ninjas on both sides were left dumbstruck, their minds shaken by the spectacle as they retreated in haste.

"Susanoo?"

Fugaku Uchiha recognized the technique of his own clan. His eyes narrowed, and upon catching sight of the figure within the giant, he exclaimed in shock, "Shisui? It's actually him?"

Given Shisui's talent, he was certainly qualified to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, but how old was he? How could he possibly manifest Susanoo to such a degree?

The other Uchiha soon spotted Shisui controlling the Susanoo. After the initial shock came wild ecstasy; their emotions surged, and a sense of pride flooded their entire beings.

So, their Uchiha clan now possessed a powerhouse capable of contending with a Tailed Beast!

"Uchiha Shisui... so he was the one entangling Yugito and Killer B."

The Fourth Raikage also recognized the forbidden eyes of the Uchiha clan, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

It could be said that it was precisely because of Shisui's presence that their Kumogakure forces had suffered a total failure in this war.

"He cannot be allowed to live!"

The Fourth Raikage made up his mind. His body transformed into a bolt of lightning, and he quickly arrived at the area where the three behemoths were clashing.

The moment the Fourth Raikage arrived, the two Jinchuriki from Kumogakure immediately changed their combat strategy.

The Two-Tails Matatabi stopped fleeing and opened its mouth to spew countless Scorch Release fireballs, bombarding the chest plate of the Susanoo and forcing it to retreat repeatedly.

Taking advantage of this opening, the Eight-Tails Gyuki extended its tentacles, completely binding the legs and feet of the Susanoo.

In an instant, the Susanoo was unable to struggle, held firmly by Gyuki with no room to dodge.

The Fourth Raikage naturally would not let such a good opportunity slip by. His body became a thunderbolt, striking down repeatedly like a heavy hammer.

Unable to bear the burden, the Susanoo began to crack layer by layer like an eggshell under the rain of fists.

Seeing this, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki Yugito felt a surge of satisfaction. She had pushed herself to the limit for so long before reverting from her Tailed Beast form just for this moment.

"Die, Uchiha Shisui!"

Inside the Susanoo, blood-red tears streamed from Shisui's eyes. The pain caused his entire face to contort, and he couldn't help but collapse to his knees.

No, I have to keep going.

By now, Shisui's vision had deteriorated severely. He could no longer see the specifics of the battle, but he kept the order to entangle the Jinchuriki firmly in mind, persisting blindly.

He reached into his robe, pulled out his final syringe, and plunged it into his arm.

Injecting the genetic serum would not further enhance his physical constitution, but as a means of recovery, it was highly effective.

It was just too extravagant—a purely wasteful act.

Feeling strength once again flood his body, Shisui began to squeeze his ocular power, attempting to repair the Susanoo.

However, unlike before, this forced extraction caused his eyes to revert from the Mangekyo Sharingan state, and he could no longer even maintain his standard Sharingan.

He was truly tapped out.

The Susanoo vanished amidst the entanglement of the Eight-Tails, and Shisui, losing his support, plummeted from the air.

Though his ocular power was exhausted, he still had chakra remaining. What truly left Shisui bewildered, even panicked, was that his vision was fading at a clearly visible rate.

A layer of mist covered his eyes, the world before him began to blur, and darkness encroached upon his field of vision bit by bit.

The reckless extraction of ocular power from before was now beginning to take its toll.

Struggling to fire a kunai tied with a thin wire, Shisui made one last desperate attempt while he still had a sliver of sight.

He smiled bitterly to himself; even in his normal state, how could he hope to outspeed the Fourth Raikage?

"Finally broke that turtle shell. As expected of Big Brother."

Killer B let out a sigh of relief, but his mind remained sharp. His eyes locked onto Shisui, and he swung a tentacle, which whistled through the air toward him.

At the same time, the Fourth Raikage stepped onto the tentacle to halt his descent, his arm crackling with lightning as he struck fiercely toward Shisui.

Clang...

With the sound of a blade, Orochimaru blocked the Fourth Raikage's fist, grinning as he said, "To strike at my people so recklessly... you really don't hold me in any regard."

The Fourth Raikage's hair stood on end, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on Shisui.

Orochimaru was stretched thin; he could block him, but he couldn't block Killer B.

However, what happened next left him stunned. A flash of lightning streaked by, and the Eight-Tails' tentacle swung at nothing but air.

Who on earth is that? That speed... it's almost on par with my Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

In the dense forest, Kakashi set down the Shisui he was carrying and formed hand seals. "Summoning Technique!"

As the white smoke cleared, a snake several meters long appeared before Kakashi.

"Don't resist. I'm sending you to a safe zone to rest."

Shisui was no stranger to Kakashi's voice. He relaxed his body, allowing the snake to swallow him inch by inch.

After dispelling the Summoning Technique, Kakashi covered his left eye with his forehead protector and leaned against a large tree, gasping for air.

Based on the Breathing Technique taught by Orochimaru, he had developed his own lightning-style technique, one that surpassed the Chidori in its lethality.

However, his current physical condition could not support using it more than a few times.

"Should I continue to participate in the battle?"

Kakashi steadied himself against a large tree, his gaze fixed on the distant battlefield.

In this battle, Lord Orochimaru had assigned him only one task: to rescue Shisui at the critical moment.

Given his personality, he would normally have continued to participate in the fight against Kumogakure after completing this mission.

But what worried Kakashi was that the mysterious enemy who could use space-time ninjutsu had not yet made a move.

If that person were to launch a surprise attack while Orochimaru was fighting the Fourth Raikage, Orochimaru would be in great danger.

Kakashi reckoned that in his current state, he could still perform the Flash of Thunder one more time, which might prove useful at a crucial moment.

Having made up his mind, Kakashi flashed into the shadows at the edge of the battlefield, ready to provide support at any time.

Just then, a powerful surge of energy erupted from the center of the battlefield.

Kakashi was slightly startled; he adjusted his forehead protector, the tomoe in his Sharingan spinning as he locked his gaze onto Orochimaru.

"Is this... that technique from back then?"

The Fourth Raikage also sensed the sudden change in Orochimaru, his expression turning as dark as water as he braced himself for a formidable foe.

"Heh... your fortress has been destroyed, and Kumogakure has suffered a total defeat; this war should come to an end here."

"Orochimaru" grinned, his face twisted with malice, "Yet why do you not retreat? Could it be that you still intend to keep me here?"

Having his intentions seen through, the Fourth Raikage's expression remained unchanged.

Upon learning that the fortress had been breached by four giant snake-type summoning beasts, he had grown suspicious. After a brief probe, he discovered that Orochimaru had less than ten percent of his chakra remaining.

The reason Orochimaru had not used that white snake form from that night was likely because more than half of his chakra was being used to maintain the summoning beasts.

Furthermore, during the previous battle, his opponent had been repeatedly struck by him, and healing those wounds had consumed a massive amount of chakra.

Now was the moment of Orochimaru's greatest weakness, while the Fourth Raikage felt he could still fight for an entire day.

"To think you would use such a chakra-draining ability at a time like this; you are simply courting death. As long as I block this move..."

The Fourth Raikage's eyes erupted with unprecedented fighting spirit; he absolutely could not return to the village empty-handed and covered in the shame of defeat.