Leaving

Mingyou reached out, pulled Samui to his side, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Why should you go back with them? To keep being a breeding tool for them? To live like a puppet?"

Samui raised a hand to cover Mingyou's mouth, signaling for him to stop talking.

Then she looked calmly at Darui. "You should know that I can't go back anymore."

"The mistake was that you never should have hidden all of this from me. Being used as a tool by others feels truly awful."

Darui shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Samui, I think you should understand as well. Your heart is too soft. With your personality, you would never have accepted Lord Raikage's proposal."

"Heh." Samui laughed at herself. "So you came up with such an absurd method? Don't you think it's ridiculous?"

"Lord Raikage wasn't wrong to seek greater strength for the Land of Lightning, but his mistake was using me like this."

"Looks like there's no need to keep negotiating." Darui frowned deeply, lifting the massive cleaver in his hand, ready to attack at any moment.

"Attack!!"

Following Darui's shout, hundreds of Land of Lightning ninja surrounding them in a circle moved in an orderly fashion, with one ring of them stepping forward.

Their hands rapidly formed the same set of seals.

"Water Release - Water Formation Wall!"

The ninja shouted in unison. Holding one hand by their mouths, they puffed out their cheeks and spat streams of water forward.

The farther the water streams traveled, the more powerful and surging they became.

In an instant, massive circular currents appeared around Mingyou and Samui, pouring down upon them.

After the first group of ninja finished casting their jutsu, they quickly retreated.

Whoosh~~

The second group of Land of Lightning ninja stepped forward. This time, they were no longer forming the same hand seals.

But soon, lightning blazed before them. Clearly, they were preparing to unleash the Lightning Release jutsu they excelled at most.

"Lightning Release: Earth Run!"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Sand Needles!"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Fang!"

Crackling currents spread through the water rushing ahead.

Layers of electric arcs rapidly raced across the water's surface, producing waves of piercing crackles.

These people had once again used a combination of Water Release and Lightning Release jutsu to maximize its power.

"Heh. What an impressive display."

Mingyou turned to look at the nearly ten-meter-high torrent around them. It poured down like surging waves, yet he did not even furrow his brow.

No matter how skillfully these ninja used their combination jutsu, before Mingyou's Kamui ability, they were still worth less than nothing.

But this time, Mingyou did not choose to use Kamui. Instead, he formed a set of Earth Release hand seals and then slammed a fist fiercely into the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Fissure!"

Rumble rumble~~

The earth began to tremble.

In an instant, the center of the town seemed to have been struck by an earthquake, as fissures split open across the ground.

The rushing waves could not overcome physical inertia. Most of the water poured into the cracks, weakening the tide's momentum.

Even chunks of earth and stone rose up, blocking the surging water.

"Samui, let's go."

Without another word, Mingyou grabbed Samui's small hand and leaped away, breaking out of the encirclement.

"Don't think you'll get away!!"

A man's voice rang out. Seizing the moment, Darui swung the massive cleaver in his hand and slashed directly at Mingyou.

Lightning suddenly flared across Mingyou's body. The Raikage's Chakra cell-activation ability had already been activated.

Whoosh~~

Mingyou vanished from the spot at an unimaginable speed, dodging Darui's slash before viciously kicking him in the abdomen.

Bang~~

"Argh!" After a dull impact and a cry of pain, Darui suffered a heavy blow to the stomach. He rolled more than ten meters across the ground before finally stopping.

"For Samui's sake, I already gave you a chance. Do you insist on forcing me to kill you?"

Mingyou's face was cold as he dispelled the crackling lightning around his body and slowly walked toward Darui while holding Samui's hand.

"Damn it~~ You can even use Lord Raikage's abilities."

Darui raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. After that blow, he had clearly felt the gap between himself and Mingyou.

Though the essence of ninjutsu was deception,

such an absolute gulf in strength was not something ordinary schemes could overcome.

Darui understood this very well, but his loyalty to the Land of Lightning forced him to stand up and continue fighting Mingyou to the death.

"Die, you bastard~~"

Darui gritted his teeth and formed a set of Lightning Release hand seals.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Suddenly, black lightning flashed before Darui. Several straight black arcs shot directly toward Mingyou.

"What, one last desperate counterattack before death? I'm afraid I can't grant that wish."

Mingyou raised a hand. Blue, translucent energy surged over his body, and a gigantic skeletal claw of Susanoo appeared, shielding both Mingyou and Samui within it.

Crack~~

The black lightning collided with Susanoo's skeletal claw, producing a burst of cracking sounds.

Looking closely, the skeletal claw's surface defense had been breached, and cracks spread across it like a spiderweb.

But unfortunately, the black lightning's attack stopped there, unable to inflict any deeper damage upon the claw.

The hundreds of Land of Lightning ninja around them stared in shock. Faced with such a powerful clash of jutsu, they could not help but stand there in a daze.

"Looks like your attack is quite impressive. It's comparable to Lord Raikage's full-strength punch."

Mingyou nodded, acknowledging Darui's strength.

"However, I'm sorry. Today, I'll send you to hell!"

Just as Mingyou was about to rush forward and deliver Darui a fatal blow, a pair of pale, jade-like hands tightly grabbed him.

"No, Mingyou. Can you let them go?"

Samui's eyes brimmed with tears, and the pleading in them was unmistakable.

Several times just now, Mingyou had wanted to attack the Land of Lightning ninja, but Samui had tightly held him back each time.

"Fine." Mingyou frowned and hesitated in place for a long time before finally nodding in compromise.

Mingyou reached out and placed a hand on Samui. Amid an intense wave of spatial distortion, both of them vanished from the spot.

A long while later, Mingyou and Samui appeared within a dense forest.

After all that commotion, dawn was almost upon them.

But at a time like this, no ships would be departing from the seaport of the Land of Hot Springs.

So they could only rest where they were and continue their journey after daybreak.

"Samui, there's something I hope you understand. The enmity between me and the Land of Lightning has already been forged."

"I know you also have deep feelings for the Land of Lightning, but since you chose to stand by my side, I hope you'll think carefully about what you must give up and what you must choose from now on."