Thunderfall

The houses constructed by the Four-Pillar House Technique extended all the way outside the courtyard, and only then did Ruri heave a sigh of relief.

"Everyone, get inside the houses!" Ruri shouted. This method was a bit unsightly and far inferior to Gaara simply blocking all ninjutsu with sand, but it was the strongest defense he could manage at the moment.

Hagane Maomori recovered some of his stamina and took over the task of command. The group entered the houses in an orderly fashion, one by one, until finally, Hagane Maomori was helped inside by Hagane Masamasa.

"Damn Wood Release! How did I not know this guy could use such ninjutsu? But a technique of this magnitude must have consumed a massive amount of chakra! Retreat for now!" Kubi Ichiro watched as his subordinates' ninjutsu failed to take effect against the houses and departed. In any case, his goal of draining Ruri's chakra had been achieved.

If it took this much chakra just to defend against their ninjutsu, what would this group have to withstand once Rihei unleashed his forbidden technique?

"As the connected houses extend further away, this area will become extremely dangerous in a moment. Those who can use defensive ninjutsu, don't stop!" Ruri continued to build houses. The quality of the Wood Release structures was excellent, but he wasn't certain they could withstand a forbidden technique on the level of Dofuten, so he could only keep building houses to move away from the center of the technique.

After witnessing Ruri doing his utmost to protect them, the group had come to accept this Takikage and followed his orders without a shred of hesitation.

"Faster!" Ruri helped up a middle-aged ninja who had stumbled. In his perception, natural energy was gathering at a rapid pace; the eruption was not far off!

The next moment, a surge of explosive power erupted from Rihei, covering a small portion of Takigakure and the location where Ruri and the others were. Everything bowed under this oppressive force, and even the air was whipped into a hurricane.

The waterfall nearby bore the brunt of the impact; a waterfall dozens of meters high was directly leveled into a lake!

Feeling the weight of this power, Ruri's heart sank. The range of the blast likely engulfed many of the village's homes and bungalows. Even if the coup was quelled, it would take a long time for the village to recover its vitality.

The ninjas in the wooden houses with Ruri were all survivors of war. Despite knowing they might be doomed, they reacted instantly, adjusting their postures to minimize the impact. Combined with the wooden houses and the various defensive ninjutsu they had prepared to buffer the force, they mitigated most of the shock. Even so, many still suffered broken bones and displaced internal organs under the forbidden technique.

It was time to put an end to this. Once the shockwaves subsided, Ruri used Wind Release to clear away the ruins. He hadn't sustained any injuries, only a heavy depletion of chakra, but even so, his remaining chakra was sufficient.

In his perception, Kubi Ichiro and the elite ninjas of the Kubi Clan were with Rihei, hiding from the energy fluctuations at the center of Dofuten. This gave Ruri a chance to take them all out at once.

The changing weather caused by the massive flow of natural energy was exactly what Ruri needed. He performed a series of hand seals, circulating his chakra to control the shifting dark clouds in the sky, and lightning began to crackle within them!

"Lightning Release: Kirin!" With a thunderous roar, electricity manifested from the void, and the lightning exploded, turning the world as bright as day!

As someone with a lightning affinity, how could Ruri not have put his all into developing an ultimate technique like Kirin? This was his first time using it since successfully developing it, and he struck with fury; its power was no less than that of Sasuke in the original story!

Because he lacked the Sharingan, Ruri could not guarantee the flow of the lightning, so he had to hold his Truth-Seeking Orb in front of him to defend. Yet, it was these stray bolts of lightning striking toward him that made him appear as if he were wielding the lightning itself—a god of thunder descended!

The earth-shattering strike of lightning descended from the sky under Ruri's guidance. The lightning of Kirin struck the natural energy, turning it into nothingness, melting it away as quickly as snowflakes under a scorching sun until it vanished into thin air. It then struck Rihei and the Kubi ninjas at the center of Dofuten. As for the result, there was no need to look; under this blow, unless they used an even more powerful technique to defend, there was absolutely no possibility of survival!

"What kind of ninjutsu is this? Is it the lightning of divine retribution?" The Takigakure ninjas beside Ruri looked at each other, unable to stop their exclamations. The timid ones even began to tremble, forgetting the pain of their displaced organs! This strike from nature itself was simply unbelievable; in terms of power, it was no less than the Dofuten from moments ago, and in terms of shock, it was even greater!

After a brief rest, Ruri led everyone back to the village. Halfway there, Hagane Maomori and Hagane Masamasa could not suppress their curiosity, and wanting to check for survivors, they went to inspect the place where Kirin had landed.

"This charred, massive thing... is that the lizard?" Hagane Maomori gasped. No large summoning beast had ever died in the ninja world, as they would be automatically summoned back to their camp upon receiving fatal damage. This showed just how fast the lightning had been—the summoning technique hadn't even been able to react!

The blurred humanoid figure atop the giant charred corpse was likely Kubi Ichiro. Thinking of how he had been acting so arrogantly just minutes ago, only to end up like this, Hagane Masamasa felt a sense of melancholy. The power of this Takikage had already exceeded their level by several tiers!

"Kubi Jiro... Kubi Saburo... Kubi Shiro... Kubi..." Hagane Maomori counted. The elite ninjas of the Kubi Clan were all lying here, not one left. Their bodies were charred black, almost unrecognizable. It seemed the Kubi Clan, which had once dominated the region with their giant lizards and forced even small nations to treat them with courtesy, had been wiped out this time.

"Wait, Tsuchigumo Rihei is not here!" Hagane Masamasa noticed something wrong. All the members of the Kubi Clan were here, but the head of the Tsuchigumo Clan, who had forced them to cower in the wooden houses in such a wretched state, was gone!

"He survived?" Ruri was slightly surprised, but it was of no great consequence. This was his first time using Kirin, and the final step of guiding the lightning hadn't been refined enough to reach maximum power. As the head of the Tsuchigumo Clan, who could manipulate natural energy, it wasn't unexpected that he could withstand it, but after taking that hit, he would be dead or crippled.

"Hurry back to the village. Seeing the commotion here, the Fuma Clan in the village should be moving against Kakuzu as well." Ruri had left Kakuzu in the village precisely for this consideration; it would draw away some of the ninjas and prevent any survivors from attacking the villagers when they saw that things were hopeless.

"Understood!" the group replied in unison. Although most of them were still injured, their anger had not diminished. The humiliation they suffered during their imprisonment had to be repaid. With such a powerful Takikage here, what was there to fear? The Fuma ninjas in the village were the perfect outlet for their rage!

The subsequent events proceeded very smoothly. Ruri led the people back to the village, and the Fuma ninjas who were acting all over the place were stunned. They had assumed the Takikage and the others would die under the Tsuchigumo Clan's forbidden technique. The group immediately fanned out, suppressing the Fuma ninjas with their superior numbers. Ruri himself easily defeated the head of the Fuma Clan. Realizing the disparity in strength, the Fuma ninjas surrendered quite readily.

The only thing that didn't go smoothly was that Kakuzu was injured, and not lightly at that.