Chapter 39: The Third's Wrath
Akatsurugi was unaware that his actions had drawn the personal, murderous attention of the Third Raikage. At that moment, his focus was on a small patrol team from Kumogakure—three chunin and six genin, no jonin in sight. He saw no reason to let them pass. If he encountered them, they died.
He dispatched the three chunin himself with swift, efficient strikes. The remaining six genin, he left to Kato Ei.
Relying entirely on his immortal body, Kato Ei fought with a brutal, reckless abandon. He traded fatal blow for fatal blow, ignoring defenses completely. By the end, all six genin were dead, and Kato Ei himself was a bloody mess, his body crisscrossed with wounds that would have killed any normal man a dozen times over.
Akatsurugi watched him heal with a sigh. "Kato, forget about complex ninjutsu. Your chakra reserves are too low. But your body... it's your greatest weapon. Focus entirely on taijutsu. If you become strong enough, you could potentially take down a Kage-level opponent."
After observing him, Akatsurugi had concluded that Kato Ei was built like the future Rock Lee—a natural-born brawler. His immortality made a suicidal, all-offense fighting style not just viable, but terrifyingly effective. If his physical skills were honed to a high enough level, drawing a single drop of blood from a Kage could be a death sentence.
A wild thought crossed his mind: If Kato Ei learned the Eight Gates... would he become a god? The side effects of that forbidden technique might mean nothing to someone who couldn't die. But without the training method, it remained a fantasy. For now, he would just have to push Kato Ei's physical conditioning to its limit.
That night, Akatsurugi rested on a high branch while Kato Ei slept soundly and defenselessly on the ground below.
Suddenly, Akatsurugi's consciousness was pulled into a strange world—a landscape of endless, burning desolation. The very ground was fire, the sky a canopy of flame. As he stepped onto this scorched earth, he faintly heard a voice, ancient and powerful, whispering on the wind.
He sat, cross-legged, and listened with his entire being. The voice grew clearer, resonating deep within his soul.
My name... is Ryūjin Jakka!
Akatsurugi's eyes snapped open in the real world. A torrent of energy flooded his system, merging with his chakra and causing it to swell, nearly doubling in volume. He looked at the sealed sword in his hand, a surge of exhilaration coursing through him. Finally.
After all this time, after countless failed attempts to communicate, the combined soul energy he had harvested—especially the potent essence of the Two-Tails—had finally strengthened his spirit enough to hear his zanpakutō's name.
The urge to test its power was overwhelming. He imagined the techniques: Ennetsu Jigoku (Blazing Hell), a city-destroying inferno; Taimatsu (Torch), a rotating pillar of flame that incinerated all it touched...
His thoughts were interrupted. Instinct screamed. He dropped from the branch, grabbing the still-sleeping Kato Ei and flashing away just as a volley of shuriken and kunai embedded themselves where they had been.
"What? What's wrong?" Kato Ei sputtered, jolted awake.
Akatsurugi didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the figures now emerging from the shadows. His blood ran cold.
The Third Raikage. And he wasn't alone. Flanking him were six shinobi whose chakra signatures screamed "elite jonin"—the Raikage's personal guard.
"Akatsurugi," the Third Raikage's voice was deceptively calm, a low rumble of thunder. "You have quite the nerve. After slaughtering so many of my Cloud-nin, you still travel with a child?"
Without a word, without a moment of hesitation, Akatsurugi shot into the sky, pulling a stunned Kato Ei with him.
The Third Raikage could only watch, dumbfounded. He had expected a fight, a confrontation. He had not expected his target to simply... fly away. A profound sense of foolishness washed over him. I should have just killed him.
"Lord Raikage, do we pursue?" one of his guards asked.
The Raikage shot him a withering glare. "Of course we pursue! We have a sensor. He cannot hide from us forever."
After putting significant distance between them, Akatsurugi landed. "That was the Third Raikage and his guard. If they catch you, you're finished." Even an immortal could be captured and sealed away for eternal study.
"They're coming. They have a sensor. You run. I'll find you later." Without waiting for a reply, Akatsurugi turned and flew back toward his pursuers.
If he was lucky, impossibly lucky, he might draw the Raikage's blood. But he knew the odds were minuscule. The man's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was legendary—the "strongest shield." Penetrating it was a feat few in the world could claim.
He hovered high above as the Raikage and his team arrived.
"Lord Raikage, the child is fleeing in that direction," the sensor ninja reported.
The Raikage ignored him, his focus entirely on the figure in the sky. "Akatsurugi! Do you plan to hide in the clouds forever? You cannot kill me from up there! Where is your vengeance for your master?"
"I will have your head," Akatsurugi's voice was cold, carrying clearly through the night air. "Your village will learn to live in fear of my shadow."
The Raikage scoffed. "A coward who dares not face me speaks of fear? How pathetic."
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Akatsurugi's hands flew through seals. He drew a deep breath and exhaled a cataclysm. A tsunami of black-red fire descended upon the group below, so vast it seemed to blot out the sky.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Two of the Raikage's guards reacted instantly, spewing powerful jets of water to form a protective dome.
The Third Raikage didn't even flinch, his arms still crossed. He had weathered countless Fire Styles.
But this was different. The water met the flames and did not quench them; it vaporized into a massive, blinding cloud of steam. The black-red fire, now uncontained, splashed and spread, engulfing the entire area in a sea of unnatural flame. The heat was intense enough to make the Raikage's own chakra cloak sizzle.
For the first time, the Third Raikage's expression shifted from contempt to sharp focus. This was no ordinary fire.