The Cloud ninja weren't stupid. They possessed the same level of cunning as anyone else. But due to their legendary tempers and their massive, dark-skinned physiques, the rest of the world viewed them as a pack of muscle-brained brutes.
Given their volatile nature and the ninja requirement for "endurance" (Shinobi literally meaning "one who endures"), calling them "brutes" wasn't technically inaccurate.
Case in point: Saiki's cold, matter-of-fact death sentence sent Kukai into a blinding rage.
Saiki wasn't trying to be arrogant; he was just stating a fact. If the giant didn't have a trump card, he was a dead man.
But to Kukai, Saiki's words were the ultimate insult. He didn't understand how the boy had blocked his Black Panther, but he refused to accept that a child could look down on him.
"You Leaf brat... who the hell do you think you're looking down on?!"
With a roar, black lightning exploded from Kukai's skin. He entered a state that mimicked the legendary Lightning Style Chakra Mode.
The true Lightning Armor was a secret passed down through the Raikage lineage, but to bolster the village's strength, high-ranking veterans were taught partial versions of the Lightning Body technique.
The technique wasn't widely used, mostly because it required an absurd level of natural talent. Not everyone could master it.
Saiki, a monster who mastered three nature transformations before age ten, was an outlier. Nagato, with his Rinnegan cheat-code, was an even bigger one.
But for the average ninja, mastering even one nature transformation in a lifetime was a respectable feat.
The difficulty of shape transformation, coupled with the biological compatibility for high-voltage electricity and the secret scrolls themselves, kept the technique exclusive.
The only ones to ever fully master the Lightning Armor were the Third Raikage and his son, the Fourth. After them, the complete art was effectively lost to history.
The brute before Saiki lacked the lineage and the talent for the perfect armor, but through his own grit and experimentation, he had developed his own variant.
"Lightning Style: Black Panther Armor!"
The obsidian electricity coated Kukai's body in a thin, shimmering layer of chakra. Black arcs of energy lashed out at the surroundings, and his presence expanded with violent intensity.
Feeling the raw, crushing weight of Kukai's power, Saiki couldn't help but let out a low whistle of appreciation. He felt a spark of genuine excitement.
Saiki was also a Lightning specialist. He had already reverse-engineered the Chidori and Raikiri, but the Lightning Armor had always remained a mystery to him.
He had found that even with his "Iron Body," channeling that much raw electricity directly into his cells caused severe internal damage.
Currently, the most he could do without hurting himself was the Chidori-level activation. He was still a long way from the Raikage's level of creating a literal shield of electricity that boosted speed, strength, and defense simultaneously.
But watching Kukai's activation gave Saiki several new ideas for his own development.
Kukai had achieved a partial cellular activation and a basic chakra shield. He couldn't manifest the Raikage's "Hell Stab" fingers, so he drew his katana again, choosing to settle the duel with his blade.
In their previous exchange, Saiki had the advantage in speed and power, but Saiki's blade had chipped. Now, with his Black Panther Armor active, Kukai was confident he could shatter Saiki's sword and his skull in one move.
Saiki read his intent instantly. He didn't back down. His blade was damaged, sure, but a real man meets his problems head-on.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!"
If his Lightning Style wasn't enough, he would use the element that countered it. Wind's shredding power was the natural predator of Lightning's conductivity.
He didn't need signs. As Saiki tightened his grip on the hilt and dropped into a low crouch, Wind-natured chakra flooded into the high-grade metal. Under his masterful control, the blade began to hum, manifesting a layer of razor-sharp white energy that extended the reach of the steel.
It took time to describe, but the entire exchange happened in a heartbeat. Kukai's Black Panther Armor flared; Saiki's Vacuum Blade sang.
They locked onto each other's rhythms and exploded forward.
To a bystander, Kukai was a dazzling storm of black lightning. But a master would have been terrified of Saiki: he was maintaining a Wind Style attack while using Lightning Style for his Body Flicker. The level of dual-nature control was unheard of.
Saiki's foot hit the dirt. The ground crumbled beneath the pressure, and he launched himself like a railgun projectile. His speed was so great that Kukai's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
"How?!"
Kukai's reflexes were boosted by his armor, but they weren't enough. Saiki's Spiritual Sense was tracking every microscopic twitch of the giant's muscles.
There was no struggle, no clashing of steel. There was only a blur of motion as they passed through each other.
VMMMM!
Saiki completed his follow-through. The white arc of wind energy attached to his blade continued its flight, a crescent moon of destruction that tore into the night.
BOOM!
The wind blade slammed into the earth several meters away, carving a blackened trench dozens of meters long.
"Ugh... I pushed it a bit too hard. Hope this thing lasts a bit longer," Saiki muttered, looking at his katana.
Under the moonlight, the blade was vibrating with an angry, high-pitched whine. It was clearly at its breaking point, unable to handle the sheer volume of chakra Saiki was forcing through it.
Saiki's physique was an anomaly. His raw strength made steel feel like soft clay.
Watching his blade struggle, Saiki couldn't help but wish for the legendary blades of his past life's lore—the "Great Grade" or "Supreme Grade" swords that could split oceans and islands.
He decided that if he couldn't find a proper weapon, he'd forge one himself. He had his Pre-natal Qi, and according to legend, Sages always crafted their own artifacts.
He turned around. Kukai, the father of Darui, actually found the strength to turn and face him. But his sword was shattered, and a horrific wound stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip, nearly bisecting him.
Had Saiki been a few inches taller, or had he swung just a fraction higher, Kukai would already be two separate pieces.
"You..."
Kukai tried to speak, but the effort broke his final hold on life. A torrent of blood erupted from his throat, and his massive frame toppled forward into the mud. He died wondering how he could have possibly lost to a child.
Kukai's death was inevitable. Even before his breakthrough, Saiki had slaughtered a Sand specialist who was pushing Kage-tier strength.
Kukai was an elite, but post-breakthrough Saiki was simply operating on a different scale of existence. He had used his full power. A one-shot kill was the only logical outcome.
Ninja, Saiki reflected, were just too goddamn fragile.