Dark chakra gradually enveloped Uchiha Yuji. Its profound blackness made it impossible even for the Third Raikage to tell where he was.
Their brief exchange hadn't been enough to reveal the weakness of this technique, which was just like Flying Thunder God.
But he wasn't the type to rely on clever tricks in the first place. It didn't matter!
A sharp whistle through the air mingled with the rumble of thunder, suddenly ringing out as the four-fingered thrusting hand dragged a flash of lightning across the distance in an instant.
This time, the Third Raikage watched Uchiha Yuji closely.
There were no Hand Seals, no activation of a technique. He simply vanished without warning!
As a thought flashed through his mind, the Third Raikage twisted around, and his unstoppable thrusting hand swiftly changed direction.
A cold blade collided head-on with the thrusting hand.
Though a solid construct of Yin Release Chakra had clashed with flesh and blood, the blade hadn't left a single mark on that arm.
Instead, under the Third Raikage's tremendous strength, Susanoo's massive body stalled for a moment.
Seizing that brief opening, the Third Raikage unleashed an even more violent surge of chakra. His left hand, drawn back at his waist, shot toward Susanoo's body at astonishing speed.
"Hell Stab: Three-Finger Nukite!"
The sound hadn't yet spread, and the thunderclap still lagged behind the flash of light, but the three fingers of the thrusting hand collided mid-flight with another blade.
"Crack."
It wasn't even his strongest thrusting hand, yet the black sword formed from chakra had already snapped and shattered. But just as the Third Raikage moved to pierce Susanoo along with it, the two massive figures still locked in their clash suddenly vanished.
The next second, a huge black blade slashed into the Third Raikage's waist at close range.
Like a bowling ball, the dark-brown projectile flashed away amid ripples of displaced air.
"Boom!"
The uneven cluster of hills instantly shattered, exploding as though struck by naval artillery. Dust surged into the sky, enveloping everything, while flying stone fragments easily snapped the nearby trees.
From the billowing dust, the Third Raikage slowly emerged, rolling his neck. The grinding of his bones sent chills down the spine.
He'd taken a full-force slash from Susanoo head-on, yet it seemed to have done little more than tear his clothes, leaving only a few scrape-like scratches.
That showed just how tough the Third Raikage's body was.
"Not bad."
As soon as the words left his mouth, lightning surged toward him once more. The azure chakra roared with astonishing intensity, and its momentum was terrifying.
Amid the lightning thrusting straight at him, the two-fingered thrusting hand stood out sharply.
The thrusting hand was an offensive technique used alongside training in Lightning Release Chakra Mode. The fewer fingers involved, the greater its power.
Three-Finger Nukite had broken through the Yin Release blade, so Two-Finger Hell Stab would surely pierce Susanoo's defenses as well.
Ordinary eyes could barely track the Third Raikage's movements. Even if they managed to, they'd be skewered before they could react. But the Uchiha Clan was different.
With the Sharingan's extraordinary ability to track movement, Susanoo swept the blade in its hand across with a sudden slash.
Two-Finger Hell Stab charged forward without hesitation or fear.
The moment they made contact, the giant Yin Release chakra sword was destroyed. Two-Finger Hell Stab thrust toward Susanoo's chest.
As it happened, Uchiha Yuji was right there.
The enormous Susanoo teleported again. And just like before, as it shifted position, it launched an attack on the Third Raikage.
Its massive hand came crashing down from above.
But the Third Raikage's charging body suddenly twisted at an impossible angle, and he rebounded toward his target at even greater speed.
This time there was no probing or holding back. He opened with the Third Raikage's strongest move: Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite.
Just as the Third Raikage had expected, Uchiha Yuji didn't teleport away this time.
His extreme speed outstripped the descending hand. Following the arm's shadow, One-Finger Nukite flashed with thunder and pierced Susanoo.
Susanoo's powerful defenses in its third stage were of little use against the Strongest Spear.
One-Finger Nukite pierced Susanoo, but the Third Raikage felt no solid impact against flesh.
The pitch-black Susanoo, as imposing as a demon god, rapidly dissipated once its chakra supply was cut off.
"As expected of the Third Raikage of Kumogakure. The Strongest Spear is indeed powerful—it even broke through my Susanoo."
His tone was utterly flat.
Susanoo had been broken, yet Uchiha Yuji remained unhurried and relaxed. He didn't seem to take the Third Raikage, who had nearly skewered him just moments ago, seriously at all.
"Hmph. You're like a mole, doing nothing but dodging. Is that what the Uchiha are?" The Third Raikage's presence was fierce, but the amount of chakra he was releasing had diminished considerably.
A series of lightning-fast turns didn't consume much chakra, but they took a heavy toll on his lower back. He needed a moment to recover.
"My ocular techniques and genjutsu are difficult to use against you."
His space-warping ability worked much like Kamui's, though it allowed a few more ways to manipulate space. None of them could be used against the Third Raikage, however.
Besides, genjutsu in the Naruto world was fundamentally about disrupting the chakra inside a person's body. The Third Raikage's chakra was already violent and chaotic enough.
And really, when had genjutsu ever worked on a beastlike opponent?
"With only an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, I can't take Susanoo directly to its fourth stage. Susanoo at this level is still a little lacking against you."
"Since the Uchiha's fighting style can't deal with you, I'll use my own way."
"I hope you can withstand my attacks."
Uchiha Yuji bent his knees slightly. As his upper body leaned forward, he quietly raised both arms in front of himself, adopting a textbook fighting stance.
"Hmph. All you can do is talk big?"
The Third Raikage casually rolled his sore shoulders twice and aimed his one-fingered thrust at Uchiha Yuji's head.
"Show me what you can do on your own!"
Thunder exploded with a roar, and dazzling lightning snaked forward at blinding speed.
Just as One-Finger Nukite was about to pierce Uchiha Yuji, a pleased smile spread across the Third Raikage's face. The person in front of him suddenly blurred for an instant—and a solid iron fist slammed into his face. The lightning shot backward even faster.
His thickset body bounced off the ground several times. At last, the lightning sputtered out, and he was reduced to nothing but flesh and blood.
"All manner of martial arts—this is the Cosmic Fist Technique!"
Before you continue