This battle was far from the first time they had clashed.
Back when the Cursed Spirit outbreak first began, the Fourth Raikage had acted decisively and issued orders to exterminate every single monster within the Land of Lightning.
Thanks to the relentless and thorough campaign carried out by Kumogakure, most of the weaker Cursed Spirits that appeared in the early stages were killed before they even had the chance to grow strong or develop any special abilities.
In this regard, Kumogakure had actually performed better than Konohagakure.
As a result, the number of Cursed Spirits living within the territory of the Land of Lightning remained the lowest in the entire world, and they were also the weakest and least threatening.
But of course, nothing in this world was without exception.
Everything changed when a Special Grade Cursed Spirit named Kuni was born. From that moment on, the campaign to wipe out all spirits came to a complete halt.
Because Kuni was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit born directly from lightning itself—she was the living embodiment of humanity's primal fear of thunder and electricity.
The Lightning Release techniques that Kumogakure shinobi were so proud of and considered their greatest strength were nothing more than a ridiculous joke in her presence. It was like trying to kill an elephant by poking it with a single strand of hair!
Violent, destructive lightning responded to her will with perfect obedience, as gentle and docile as a stuffed toy in her hands.
After more and more of his soldiers died at Kuni's hands, the Fourth Raikage personally led a large force to hunt her down. This was when the long, bloody cycle of attacks and counterattacks between them officially began.
In the beginning, Kuni—who had only just come into existence—was no match for the Raikage at all. In their first encounter, she had come extremely close to being killed outright.
But Kuni possessed the ability to fly, and could even soar high up into the clouds.
Using this unique power, she managed to escape the Raikage's pursuit time and time again.
There was simply no way around it. No matter how strong or fast the Raikage was, if his opponent was determined to flee, there was little he could do to stop her.
On one occasion, he even brought Killer Bee along with him to hunt her down, hoping that Bee could use Tailed Beast Balls to finish her off once and for all.
The Raikage's plan almost worked perfectly. Clearly, Kuni had no idea that humans possessed such terrifying, hidden power within them.
She had already climbed high up toward the clouds, but she was still caught by the blast of the Tailed Beast Ball.
Unfortunately, because she was so far away and moving at such incredible speed, the attack only managed to graze her. She wasn't struck directly, but she still suffered severe injuries and disappeared from sight for a very long time.
In the period that followed, Kuni grew and improved rapidly after each confrontation. She advanced not only in terms of raw strength, but also in intelligence and tactical sense.
She began to take full advantage of her ability to fly, using hit-and-run tactics. She would launch sudden attacks against groups of Kumogakure shinobi, then retreat immediately before anyone could react.
After repeating this pattern several times, Kumogakure found themselves suffering such heavy losses that they could no longer keep up the pressure.
Helplessly, they were forced to slow down their efforts to eliminate the remaining spirits, and stopped giving Kuni opportunities to launch surprise attacks.
They also began to notice something strange: this enemy seemed to have no interest in attacking ordinary people at all. Instead, she was driven entirely by a fierce desire for revenge.
Someone eventually suggested that they should simply lure her into the village, set up a massive trap, and destroy her all at once!
This plan was understandably extremely risky, and many people strongly opposed it. But in the end, the Fourth Raikage slammed his fist on the table and approved it without hesitation.
That time, Kuni was successfully lured into the trap. What followed was an incredibly brutal and devastating battle.
Because Kumogakure had prepared everything in advance, even though they suffered heavy casualties themselves, they managed to deal severe, crippling damage to Kuni.
By then, it was already too late for her to try and escape by flying away.
Members of the barrier squad immediately activated their formations, trapping her inside. And unfortunately for her, Killer Bee—who had already begun transforming into his Tailed Beast state—was trapped inside the barrier with her as well.
Although both were considered monstrous beings, everyone naturally assumed that the power of a Tailed Beast was far greater than that of a Cursed Spirit.
And based on what they could see at the time, this assumption seemed to be completely correct.
No Cursed Spirit in existence could possibly survive a direct hit from a Tailed Beast Ball.
But right at the moment when her life was on the line, Kuni—who had fought and survived countless bloody battles—finally managed to unlock and unleash the full extent of her potential. She successfully opened her own Domain.
Using the power of this Domain, she seized an opportunity to kill several members of the barrier squad.
Then, she faced off directly against Eight-Tails Killer Bee once more, and managed to break free, flying away into the sky again.
To prevent her from destroying the entire village along with herself, Killer Bee never dared to fire his Tailed Beast Ball during the fight. Later, when he went to apologize to the Raikage for failing, he was instead comforted and reassured.
The plan had failed completely, and their enemy had only grown stronger and more dangerous as a result.
This was truly the worst possible outcome for Kumogakure.
Worse still, not long after that, Kuni returned. She came back alone and launched an attack directly into the heart of Kumogakure Village.
But this time, she had learned her lesson. She didn't land or stay on the ground for even a moment. Instead, she remained high up in the air, using her spiritual powers to summon bolts of lightning to strike down below.
This underhanded, unfair method of fighting was incredibly frustrating and difficult to deal with.
After several such incidents, the Fourth Raikage finally lost his temper completely. He publicly issued a challenge, demanding that she meet him in single combat.
Under the Raikage's aggressive provocation, the still-inexperienced Kuni fell right into his trap once again.
That battle ended exactly as the Fourth Raikage had planned. Even while fighting inside her own Domain, Kuni was unable to gain any real advantage over him.
As she turned to flee again, Killer Bee seemed determined to make up for his earlier failure and deal her a fatal blow this time.
But before he could do anything, the Raikage—who had recovered somewhat after the fight—stopped him immediately.
He knew very well that if this attack failed to kill her, Kumogakure would never know peace or safety ever again.
And his judgment proved to be completely correct.
After that, Kuni seemed to have developed a taste for fighting. Every once in a while, she would appear again, flying straight to the village just to challenge the Raikage to another duel. And this time, she no longer used her Domain.
From being completely defeated at first, to losing by a narrow margin, and finally reaching a point where they were evenly matched...
Kuni's growth was nothing short of astonishing. It was a terrifying level of potential that no human being could ever hope to possess.
Under this strange, unspoken agreement that had formed between them, Kuni no longer targeted the other residents of Kumogakure, and the villagers also stopped trying to hunt her down.
Instead, they focused their efforts entirely on eliminating the other Cursed Spirits scattered throughout the Land of Lightning.
Or at least, that was how things appeared on the surface.
Right now, everyone in the village was watching the two figures fighting in the sky with bated breath.
The outcome of this battle was finally about to be decided!
The massive knight's lance in Kuni's hands, which had absorbed all the lightning energy around it, remained surprisingly calm and still. But the more quiet it was, the more dangerous and threatening it seemed.
The deer-girl stood tall and proud high up in the sky, holding her weapon high. Suddenly, she began to dive downward, accelerating faster and faster with every passing second.
Faster and faster she went!
Until she was nothing more than a blazing streak of lightning cutting through the air!
At last, the knight's lance in her hands shone with its true, brilliant light—so bright that it was almost blinding to look at.
At the same moment, the Raikage also moved.
Wrapping himself in the maximum possible power of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the lightning energy surrounding his body now seemed almost solid and tangible.
He bent his legs deeply, slamming his feet hard against the ground until it cracked and shattered beneath him, and leaped into the air with explosive force!
"Lightning Combat Technique: Must Release Sharp Blade!"
"Cursed Lightning Art: Lightning Fall!"
BOOM!!!!
Two streaks of destructive, violent lightning—similar in nature but different in form—crashed into each other with devastating force.
The terrifying shockwave and energy released by the collision instantly destroyed every building and structure surrounding them.
Even the people standing far away on the ground were swept off their feet and blown away by the sheer power of the impact.
Then came another deafening explosion.
One figure was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the earth and creating a massive crater where they landed.
The other figure, however, shot upward like a cannonball, smashing straight through the clouds above as if they had broken right through the roof of the sky itself.
Who had won?
After what seemed like an eternity, the lightning finally faded away.
Standing inside the large crater was the Fourth Raikage. His entire left arm hung limply at his side, covered in blood and clearly badly injured.
But he paid no attention to his wounds at all. His eyes were fixed intently on the sky above.
____________________
For more advance chapters visit my patreon
patreon.com/kane45
Tier: 10$ Casual Reader - +20 Advance Chapter
20$ Intermediate Reader - +40 Advance Chapter
40$ Expert Reader - +80 Advance Chapter
Update: "Monday to Friday - Update 3 Chapters a Day"
"Saturday and Sunday - Off"