Hey, Why Are You Running?

Before his words had even faded, Lin Zi suddenly thrust both arms out!

Screech!

The edges of his hardened arms turned razor-sharp, like a pair of long blades. They traced two dazzling arcs in the sunlight, slashing straight toward Ai's chest.

Every hair on Ai's body stood on end. Instinctively, he pushed his Lightning Release Armor to its limit and shot backward like a bolt of blue lightning, moving so fast that only a blur remained where he'd stood.

His razor-sharp arms skimmed past the lightning surrounding Ai's chest, sending up a string of dazzling sparks.

They sliced a long gash through Ai's clothes, and a searing pain flared across his skin. He'd nearly drawn blood.

When Ai landed, he glanced down at the gash across his chest, then looked at Lin Zi, who was slowly lowering his arms. His expression was dark enough to drip water.

Lin Zi shook out his wrists and licked his lips. His tone was light, but his words cut straight to the heart.

"That all?"

He tilted his head, his snake-like pupils full of scorn.

"So-called Lightning Release Armor... it's nothing special."

"What did you say?"

Ai's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. The lightning wrapped around him surged, becoming a thundercloud in a full-blown rage. He stopped holding back, driving his chakra into a frenzy as the power of his Lightning Release Armor instantly climbed to its absolute limit.

Boom!

The ground exploded into a charred crater. Ai split into three azure afterimages, attacking at once with the Lariat from the front, the left, and diagonally above! The air tore with three sharp whistles—the thunderous booms of his speed breaking the sound barrier.

"Getting angry? Are all you Cloud Village shinobi this temperamental?"

Lin Zi's snake-like pupils spun rapidly. His Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode had given him a snake's keen senses, and, combined with the feedback from the Many Snakes Array already spread across the battlefield, it was as if he had eyes everywhere.

His arms constantly shifted their hardened angles, catching each of Ai's attacks with a perfectly timed block.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Every collision was like a warhammer crashing against an anvil. The force coursed through Lin Zi's body and into the earth, making the ground beneath them explode inch by inch as spiderweb cracks rapidly spread.

"You're fast..." Lin Zi tilted his head as he blocked, still with enough time to spare. "But you're always just a little short, Lord Raikage."

The longer they fought, the more uneasy Ai became.

The man's predictions were practically uncanny. In the split second before each Lariat landed, his hardened arms were already there to block it.

At this rate, forget taking Killer B away—Ai himself might get worn down here!

"Shut up!!"

Ai flew into a full-blown rage and roared at the sky. In an instant, he stopped letting his Lightning Release Chakra radiate outward. Instead, he drew it inward, compressing it again and again, until finally—

Screech!

His hair stood on end, burning above his head like a blue flame. The lightning across his skin condensed into solid armor, and his speed exceeded the limits of what the eye could track.

Strongest Lightning Release Armor!

This time, Lin Zi's snake-like pupils caught no more than a flash of azure lightning.

Boom!!!

A Lariat slammed squarely into Lin Zi's chest before he could fully harden it. The crack of breaking bones rang out clearly. Lin Zi flew backward like a rag doll, smashing through half a mud wall as dust billowed around him.

"Cough..."

In the dust, Lin Zi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at the azure streak rushing toward him again. For the first time, his golden, slit-pupiled eyes narrowed to pinpoints.

"I can't... keep up with him head-on."

Before he'd finished speaking, the blue flash was already upon him!

"Triple Rashomon!"

Lin Zi slammed both hands onto the ground. With three tremendous rumbles, three enormous iron gates erupted from the earth, standing across the battlefield like three city walls.

At nearly the same moment, his cheeks bulged, and a dazzling red glow lit deep in his throat.

"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!"

The Red Light Dragon roared from his mouth and exploded in front of the Rashomon!

Ai was moving too fast. Carried by his momentum, he crashed into the first gate and smashed through it with a punch! The second! The third!

But the blinding light and shrill sonic waves of the White Rage Technique erupted in front of the last gate. The sudden assault on his senses threw Ai's nervous system into disarray, and his movements faltered for several fatal seconds.

Now!

Lin Zi's true body burst out of his mouth, like a snake shedding its skin, and slid three yards across the ground.

The body he'd left behind was punched through by Ai, bursting into countless pale snake skins that drifted through the lightning.

"You're in such a hurry..."

The real Lin Zi knelt on one knee and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You really think you can get the better of me?"

Lin Zi looked back at Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"You two done yet? I'm getting impatient waiting."

"Oh~ This sage is coming!"

Jiraiya pressed his palms together. The two sages, Fukasaku and Shima, joined their chakra with his. His white hair grew longer, and the markings of Sage Mode spread across his cheeks.

Tsunade stepped forward too, taking her place beside Lin Zi. The Yin Seal on her forehead shone blindingly, and chakra rose around her like a tangible aura.

"It's been a while since we worked together, Jiraiya, Orochimaru." Tsunade cracked her knuckles. "Let's get ready!"

"Got it!" Jiraiya grinned.

"Understood, Tsunade." Lin Zi licked his lips, a flicker of excitement in his snake-like eyes.

Jiraiya drew a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and opened his mouth, unleashing a vast torrent of Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!

The sticky Toad Oil mixed with blazing flames, surging toward Ai like a burning beast and pinning him in place.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Lin Zi formed Hand Seals, and a gale roared from his mouth, feeding the flames. The sea of fire instantly swelled to three times its size, swallowing Ai completely.

Then he slapped one hand against the ground. Triple Rashomon rose up, forming a triangle that enclosed the burning center in an iron cage!

"Here we go, Tsunade!" Jiraiya formed Hand Seals again, gathering Senjutsu Chakra in his throat. "Sage Art: Frog Call!"

The soul-piercing sound of a toad surged toward the inside of the Rashomon from every direction, weaving an illusory cage of sound waves.

"Don't worry, my genjutsu won't hurt you!" Jiraiya shouted to Tsunade.

Lin Zi nodded to Tsunade.

Tsunade drew a deep breath and pushed her Ninjutsu: Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique to its limit.

Chakra patterns spread across her body. She poured explosive strength and the Senju Clan's Strength Enhancement into her right fist.

She leaped into the air, shooting up like a cannonball to the top of the Rashomon. From above, the light gathering around her fist pierced the night sky.

"Die!!!"

Boom!!!

Tsunade's Strength Enhancement Punch, Jiraiya's Sage Art fire and genjutsu, and Lin Zi's Wind Release and Rashomon crushed together in the cramped space, their three forces colliding with a thunderous crash!

"You've got to be kidding me!!!"

Ai's deafening roar came from inside the Triple Rashomon. He drove his Lightning Release Chakra to the limit, trying to withstand the combined assault with his Strongest Lightning Release Armor, but his body could only be battered back again and again.

Bang!!!

Under the crushing assault, the Lightning Release Armor covering Ai shattered completely, bursting into a storm of blue-white sparks.

All that remained was the body he'd trained for years, exposed at the heart of the destruction, as he desperately tried to dodge the blast's shock waves and the terrifying force behind Tsunade's fist.

"Ai!!"

Killer B's heart-rending roar sounded from behind them.