Chapter 74: The Breaking of the Siege
At that moment, the Third Raikage's vision cleared just as the two-meter-wide Blaze Ball was a mere arm's length away. He didn't take it seriously. A fireball of that size? A joke. He could walk through one ten times larger without breaking a sweat. His confidence in the Lightning Release Chakra Mode was absolute.
So, without a second thought, he threw a punch, lightning crackling violently around his fist. He could even see Akatsurugi standing behind the fireball and decided the shortest path was a straight line, aiming to catch him off guard.
"No!" The instant his fist penetrated the heart of the fireball, he felt it—a searing, agonizing heat he hadn't experienced since first mastering his ultimate defense.
"Water Style: Great Water Wave!"
Dozens of Mist ninja behind him acted in unison, unleashing a massive wave of water that crashed over the fireball. The Raikage, with no time to dodge, was engulfed in the conflicting forces of fire and water. His long, golden hair was singed to crisps, and his skin was flushed a painful, angry red—a testament to the terrifying, concentrated power of Akatsurugi's Sage-enhanced flames.
Had it not been for the Mist ninja's timely intervention, that single, focused attack might have been enough to severely injure, or even kill, the Lightning Shadow.
"Haha! An unexpected gain," Akatsurugi said with a sharp smile. "It seems the 'Strongest Shield' isn't so absolute after all."
"There's something fundamentally different about his Fire Release!" the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki shouted, his voice grave.
Just then, the dark markings around Akatsurugi's eyes faded. He could no longer maintain Sage Mode.
"His Sage Mode has ended! This is our chance! Kill him now!" the Third Mizukage roared.
Beside him, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Aso, crouched low, a swirling sphere of black and red chakra forming between its jaws.
Tailed Beast Bomb.
Akatsurugi's eyes narrowed. A Tailed Beast Bomb was not something to be caught or blocked. But why would he need to? This wasn't Konoha. There were no allies behind him. He could simply evade.
No, he thought, a new plan crystallizing. I have to take one of them out. His Sharingan ached, his left eye swollen and painful from overuse. While his vision wasn't blurry yet, he knew he was pushing them to their limit. But if he could use them to eliminate one of the Kage, it would be worth it.
Ōnoki was airborne and hard to pin down. The Raikage, though burned, was still protected by his formidable chakra mode. That left the Third Mizukage. His mastery of Water Style made him the greatest tactical threat. Eliminating him would break the Mist's coordination.
His decision made, Akatsurugi hurled several kunai toward Ōnoki in the sky. His hands flew through a single seal.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The handful of kunai multiplied into a thousand, blotting out the sky.
Ōnoki sneered, encasing himself in a shell of rock. "You think you can kill a Kage with kunai? Have you ever heard of one dying to such a basic tool?" The kunai clattered harmlessly against his stone armor.
At that moment, the Tailed Beast Bomb was unleashed, screaming toward Akatsurugi. He had been waiting for this. His Mangekyō swirled, its pattern a vortex of intent. None of his enemies could predict the exact moment his ocular power would activate.
A fresh trail of bloody tears streamed from his left eye. In that instant, his figure vanished, and the Third Mizukage appeared in his place.
"NO!" the Raikage bellowed.
It was too late. The Tailed Beast Bomb struck the Mizukage head-on. The result was as absolute as it was brutal. One did not need to be a Jinchuriki to survive such a point-blank impact. The Third Mizukage was vaporized before he could even utter a sound.
Meanwhile, Akatsurugi had appeared beside the stunned Three-Tails Jinchuriki. His palm slapped against Aso's chest.
"Crimson Flame Seal!"
He leaped away instantly, just as a massive tail swept through the space he'd occupied. The Jinchuriki looked down at himself, confused. He seemed fine. But as he took a single step, crimson flames erupted over his entire body, burning without fuel.
Akatsurugi paid him no further mind. He raised Ryūjin Jakka and flashed to the Raikage's side, his blade descending in a fiery arc. The Raikage, though in pain, was still impossibly fast. He snorted, easily evading the swing.
"Hell Stab!" His finger shot out, piercing through Akatsurugi's elemental body. Akatsurugi's zanpakutō, however, continued its path, forcing the Raikage to block with his crossed arms. Another burst of flame washed over him, scorching but not piercing his ultimate defense.
Akatsurugi didn't press the attack. He simply smiled. Your chakra must be running low.
The remaining Mist ninja assessed the situation in horror. Their Mizukage was dead. Their Jinchuriki was reverted to his human form, wreathed in a cursed flame that ignited with any attempt to mold chakra. If he didn't use chakra, he was fine, but he was effectively neutralized.
This was the "Crimson Flame Seal," a forbidden technique Akatsurugi had developed after studying the Scroll of Seals. It turned the victim's own chakra into a self-immolating catalyst. Forcibly molding chakra resulted in a catastrophic, internal conflagration.
He had spared the Jinchuriki to send a message. He was giving the Mist a choice: retreat now with your crippled weapon, or stay and die pointlessly.
The Mist ninja made their choice. In a flash, they grabbed their immobilized Jinchuriki and vanished into the landscape, abandoning the battlefield entirely. With their Kage dead and their ultimate weapon silenced, staying was suicide. Revenge would be a problem for the next Mizukage.
Seeing the Mist forces flee, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, knew the trap had sprung empty. There was no profit left here. With a final, calculating glance at the exhausted Raikage and the still-standing Akatsurugi, he decided to cut his losses. If the Raikage also fell here, it would be a net gain for Iwa.
Without a word, he turned and flew toward the horizon.
The Third Raikage was left alone, burned and seething, facing an opponent he could no longer defeat. The grand ambush, a year in the making, had ended in catastrophic failure.