The first time the Third Raikage had direct contact with Fumori Masaki, he noticed that what made him different from ordinary ninjas was his extraordinary ability to suppress his own aura. While ninjas of the Third Raikage's caliber could easily hide their presence, to suppress one's aura to an undetectable level during combat was beyond ordinary people, at least, the Third Raikage himself certainly couldn't do it.
From the Third Raikage's experience, even the ninja most skilled in concealing their aura in Kumogakure couldn't achieve Fumori Masaki's level. This would undoubtedly give Fumori Masaki a certain advantage. In battles between ninjas, aside from one's own experience and foresight, the ability to predict an opponent's attack direction comes from the phenomena caused by their movements. The more powerful the ninjutsu, the stronger the chakra fluctuations it causes.
However, with Fumori Masaki's level of aura suppression, once he attacked, it was almost impossible to predict his movements unless one was close enough to trigger a direct physical instinct. The Third Raikage, with just a glance, realized how difficult he would be to deal with, and couldn't help but feel a headache.
Even within Konohagakure, only a very small number of people knew that Fumori Masaki had mastered the ability to control natural energy and could maintain Sage Mode continuously. This ability to suppress one's aura was a skill possessed by those in Sage Mode, and cultivating senjutsu itself was a difficult task. Even successful practitioners had very little information circulating in the previously isolated ninja world, so much so that the Third Raikage couldn't discover the true nature of this ability.
Just as the Third Raikage was feeling wary, the other party spoke. Fumori Masaki had a faint smile on his face, as if he were talking to a good friend, and said, "Long time no see, Lord Raikage."
"Hmm, long time no see, Lord Hokage," the Third Raikage replied in a deep voice, his gaze fixed on Fumori Masaki, fearing that he might disappear from his sight if he wasn't careful.
"Don't be nervous, we're not having a death match," Fumori Masaki looked very relaxed, as if he was genuinely chatting, "Although this place is rumored to be where the swordsmen of the Land of Iron fight to the death, we are not samurai after all, so there's no need for that."
"You're right." Hearing this, the Third Raikage remembered the purpose of his trip and secretly cursed himself. He had almost forgotten the true meaning of this match due to the pressure the other party put on him. As a village leader, he felt somewhat less self-aware than his opponent.
"Lord Raikage, no, may I just call you A, is that alright?" Fumori Masaki changed his tone, dropping the honorifics and directly addressing the other party by name. This subtly brought them closer. "Since you are willing to form an alliance with our Konohagakure, we should interact more. In this informal setting, there's no need to be overly formal, is there?"
"Makes sense. Then I'll call you Kazamori too." The Third Raikage nodded slightly. He didn't particularly like rules either, but when dealing with others outside, one had to abide by certain rules. However, here it was just the two of them, so there was no need to be as formal as in an official setting. They weren't complete strangers, and they were both of similar age, so a more conventional way of addressing each other would suffice.
"A, I think you should also know that this match is mainly to persuade the stubborn factions within Kumogakure. The outcome is, to some extent, already determined. I just want to ask, do you really want to fight me?" Fumori Masaki said.
"Why even ask? Although I've decided to cooperate with you, you still need to show some definite capital," the Third Raikage said with a serious expression, "Otherwise, I won't be able to confidently persuade my comrades in the village, even if I don't particularly want to conflict with your Konohagakure."
"I understand, just confirming," Fumori Masaki nodded and said, "Equal standing requires demonstrating one's strength, that's what it means, isn't it?"
"In that case, let's start immediately. If there's anything to say, we'll wait until after the battle," the Third Raikage said, slowly tensing his body to quickly enter a combat state.
"Alright. Then I'll explain the rules of the match. We're not really having a death match. Regardless of the outcome, a war between the two villages would break out, and I think neither you nor I want that," Fumori Masaki said calmly. "This battle will be a point-scoring match, stopping when one side surrenders or when a fatal blow can be delivered, how about that?"
"What if I accidentally can't hold back?" the Third Raikage asked cautiously.
"Then we can only consider ourselves unlucky. However, I don't think a respectable Raikage would be unable to stop midway. People at our level aren't unable to control their own strength, nor are they unable to judge the situation," Fumori Masaki said with a smile.
"While that's true, let me guess, do you think you've already won?" the Third Raikage asked.
"What's wrong with having confidence in myself? Or are you saying, A, that you don't have much confidence in your own strength?" Fumori Masaki immediately retorted to this question.
Hearing this, the Third Raikage said nothing more, his gaze still fixed on Fumori Masaki, and asked, "Is there no referee?"
"The upcoming battle might be quite large in scale, and letting people in would easily implicate them, so let's just rely on our own judgment. I'll say this first, I am confident I can stop at the last moment," Fumori Masaki said.
The Third Raikage's eyes narrowed slightly. He could sense Fumori Masaki's strong confidence from his words. Although it was impossible to show weakness to an opponent, this confidence was absolutely backed by strength. Fumori Masaki even claimed he could stop at the critical moment, and the Third Raikage himself wasn't that confident.
"Then what's the signal for the battle to begin?" the Third Raikage asked.
"We'll use this." Fumori Masaki pulled a coin from his body. "When it drops to the ground, that's when the battle begins, no problem?"
"Good." The Third Raikage nodded, indicating his approval.
Fumori Masaki flicked it gently, and the coin flew into the sky. When it reached its apex, it began to descend. Neither of them looked at the falling coin, but instead stared directly at each other. Even a momentary shift in attention could give the opponent an opportunity; this was what ninjas of their caliber needed to be most careful about.
The Third Raikage felt his blood gradually boiling. Although Fumori Masaki didn't emit any powerful chakra aura, the Third Raikage's keen senses could perceive a deeper pressure, like air, omnipresent, firmly binding him.
During the time the coin was falling, countless pieces of information flashed through the Third Raikage's mind, all about how Fumori Masaki would attack next and what method he should use to counter it. When the coin completely fell onto the snow, that almost inaudible sound was as loud as thunder in their ears.
However, neither side immediately acted, as if the match hadn't begun. They stood motionless in the snow, staring at each other. Then, they simultaneously began to walk, moving in opposite directions in a circular pattern, stopping only after three full rounds.
At this moment, the Third Raikage's right arm suddenly erupted with a jet-black lightning glow, a light completely different from conventional Lightning Release. Before ordinary ninjas could react, the lightning glow transformed into the shape of a leopard, letting out a silent roar, and darted towards Fumori Masaki.
—Lightning Release: Black Panther.
This was a secret Lightning Release jutsu created by the Third Raikage, nicknamed Black Lightning, and it was a high-ranking Lightning Release. To facilitate quick casting, the Third Raikage even skipped the vocalization stage, forming a single hand seal to unleash it. While it couldn't unleash the Black Lightning's full power, it had the fastest speed.
However, Lightning Release performed by humans was ultimately not real lightning; its speed could not possibly catch up to natural lightning. If it were natural lightning, it would be an almost unavoidable absolute attack, an ultimate Lightning Release technique that only Uchiha Sasuke would master in later generations.
Although the Third Raikage, as a master of Lightning Release, possessed astonishingly fast Lightning Release, it was nothing in Fumori Masaki's eyes. A clear sword glint erupted, and the jet-black lightning leopard vanished as if melting away. Immediately after, the accumulated snow on the ground was kicked up, and the surroundings instantly became a white blur.
—How could he... The Third Raikage couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly. He couldn't imagine that Fumori Masaki had simply swung his sword and unleashed such powerful Wind Release. One must know that the channels for the human body to output chakra are the hands, feet, or mouth. Therefore, ordinary people rely on these parts when performing ninjutsu. Other methods include the Hyuga clan's ability to output chakra from all their tenketsu, or the Lightning Release Armor, which generates a large amount of active lightning-style chakra to cover the entire body—
It wasn't impossible to use a weapon as a medium to perform ninjutsu, but considering chakra utilization efficiency, the best method was to concentrate chakra on the weapon, rather than releasing it. A weapon is not the body's tenketsu after all, and releasing chakra through it is by no means easy. Even if it could be done, it would certainly consume a large amount of chakra. Any ninja who understood how to use chakra would not adopt such a flashy method.
Not to mention that Fumori Masaki was not a ninja known for his vast chakra reserves; even if he did have immense chakra, he shouldn't use such an inefficient method. Unexpectedly, with just one move from Fumori Masaki, the Third Raikage was somewhat bewildered, unable to imagine how Fumori Masaki had achieved it.
Let alone the Third Raikage, before Fumori Masaki cultivated senjutsu to its current level, he couldn't have imagined being able to release ninjutsu with sword energy leaving his body, like the swordsmen in novels. This was all thanks to Fumori Masaki's mastery of senjutsu. Not only could he control the omnipresent natural energy, but he could also give it a certain degree of elemental transformation, thereby achieving this technique, which regular ninjas would consider a miracle. And most importantly, the chakra consumed was not very large; it mainly utilized the natural energy abundant in the world.
The Third Raikage didn't have the Byakugan to see through everything. With the vast expanse of white snow everywhere, he couldn't clearly see the specific figure. He could only move his gaze, relying primarily on his judgment and secondarily on his vision. However, with Fumori Masaki's aura suppression, the Third Raikage found it difficult to catch him in this situation. Once he sensed him, it was likely that the opponent had already—
As if at that very moment, his body's instincts conveyed a sense of danger. The Third Raikage suddenly turned halfway, seeing Fumori Masaki already less than half a meter away, with the Kazekiri in his hand swinging towards him. It was as if the air was split in two; the sword glint came incredibly fast. Even with the greatly increased speed from covering his body with Lightning Release Armor, the Third Raikage had no time to dodge.
However, the Third Raikage was not one to sit idly by. While moving his body, he raised his arm, tensing his muscles, and forcefully blocked the Kazekiri's slash. Due to his body's movement, the Kazekiri did not fully cut his arm. Although the wind-style chakra on the surface immediately broke through the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Armor, it only cut a wound. Before the blood could fully gush out, it was completely stopped by the active lightning-style chakra.
Fumori Masaki also didn't expect a simple slash to end the battle. His other hand had already condensed an Eight-Trigram Wind Wheel. After years of research and improvement, the Eight-Trigram Wind Wheel had no initial flaws or crudeness. It was now a complete A-rank ninjutsu. Especially since the Eight-Trigram Wind Wheel was based on senjutsu chakra, it might be slightly inferior in subtle attacks on the meridians, but in terms of cutting power, it was in no way inferior to the Rasenshuriken, and most importantly, its consumption was lower than the Rasenshuriken.
Just as he threw the Eight-Trigram Wind Wheel, the Third Raikage seemed to sense something. A fiery red glow suddenly erupted from the Lightning Release Armor covering his entire body. Immediately after, the temperature began to rise rapidly, and scorching flames quickly spread over his lightning-infused right arm, smashing fiercely into the Eight-Trigram Wind Wheel.
The flames seemed to be swept up by a strong wind, their intensity growing more and more, eventually engulfing both individuals. A loud bang was heard, and a pillar of fire soared into the sky, visible to the Land of Iron samurai monitoring nearby. Among them was Saito, who had hosted Fumori Masaki and his companions years ago. Twenty-odd years later, he was now a general-level figure in the Land of Iron samurai corps, and in terms of strength, he was a top-tier taijutsu ninja.
"Tsk, ninjas of this level always cause such a commotion." Saito looked up at the towering flames and clicked his tongue.