Sora summoned two Rashomon gates to stand before him.
Summoning the first level of Rashomon required a large amount of chakra. While Sora could summon the third level of Rashomon just like Orochimaru, he needed to conserve his chakra.
The first Rashomon was broken through by the Third Raikage almost instantly, but the Raikage's speed noticeably decreased.
When the Third Raikage broke through the second Rashomon, frustration was evident on his face.
Sora seized this opportunity and took his stance. Veins popped out all over his body as lightning surged around him.
"Breath of Thunder: Seventh Form—Fire Thunder God!"
Sora charged forward at an ultra-high speed completely imperceptible to the naked eye. The trajectory of his movement produced a blue thunder dragon as he slashed towards the Third Raikage with a horizontal sweep of his ninja sword.
Facing Sora's attack, the Third Raikage's pupils contracted. This time, instead of standing his ground, he raised his arms to block.
Sora's ninja sword struck the Third Raikage's arms.
This time, Sora's attack made a breakthrough.
The blade of the ninja sword embedded itself into the Third Raikage's skin.
But that was the extent of the damage.
Sora and the Third Raikage simultaneously distanced themselves from each other.
The Third Raikage looked at his bleeding forearm with no expression.
But Sora could clearly sense the change in the Third Raikage's demeanor.
The Third Raikage looked at Sora. "Kid, what's your name?"
Sora was slightly confused. When Kitsuchi had announced his name, hadn't the Third Raikage heard it?
Sora replied solemnly: "Sora!"
The Third Raikage nodded slightly. "So, you are the Blood-Eyed Shura who seriously injured A and Killer Bee. You kid, you managed to hurt me. I acknowledge your strength."
"Injuring you is just the beginning. I plan to take your head!"
Sora's tone was disdainful, but a faint smile appeared on his face.
The corner of the Third Raikage's mouth also curved upward. "Then let's put that to the test!"
"The strongest Lightning Style Armor!"
The Third Raikage maximized his Lightning Style chakra, causing his hair to stand on end.
Sora regarded the Third Raikage's transformed state with serious eyes.
Before, the Third Raikage had fought with the objective of stalling for time.
But now, he was clearly getting serious.
Sora made the first move.
"Fire Style: Hiding in Ash Technique!"
Sora gathered chakra in his throat, converted it into high-temperature flames, and expelled it from his mouth, causing everything nearby to instantly ignite.
He then used the explosive air wave to stir up the scorching ash and spread it around.
Sora took the opportunity to conceal himself within the ash cloud.
The range of the high-temperature ash was extremely wide. Many Rock shinobi couldn't dodge and were severely burned. Some even died in agony after inhaling the burning ash.
The Third Raikage stepped back, away from the ash cloud, and carefully observed his surroundings.
He knew Sora would attack—he just needed to find him or wait for Sora to make a move.
The Third Raikage suddenly noticed Sora leaving the ash cloud and seemingly hiding among the Rock shinobi forces.
Almost instantly, the Third Raikage rushed toward Sora at a speed that even Sora's Mangekyō Sharingan struggled to track. Many Rock shinobi in his path were killed instantly.
The Third Raikage grabbed what he thought was Sora's body. "I've got you, kid!"
"Lightning Bomb!"
The Third Raikage lifted Sora up and slammed him into the ground with tremendous force. The ground cracked and Sora's body lay twisted in a deep crater.
Immediately afterward, the Lightning Style chakra surrounding the Third Raikage's body exploded, engulfing Sora.
"His strength was impressive, but he was too arrogant. It's a shame he wasn't a shinobi of our Hidden Cloud Village."
The Third Raikage turned to face the Rock shinobi. Just as he was about to attack, he felt someone grab his ankle.
Looking down, the Third Raikage saw Sora.
So that meant the one he had just defeated...
The Third Raikage glanced back at the "Sora" in the crater and realized it had transformed into a Rock shinobi.
"Sharingan... was I caught in a genjutsu?"
Sora, who had been hiding underground, pulled hard on the Third Raikage's ankle and dragged him into the earth.
At that moment, the Rock shinobi launched their jutsu, attempting to kill both Sora and the Third Raikage together.
Before Sora could escape from the ground, the surrounding rocks squeezed him tightly, while simultaneously crushing the Third Raikage.
"Ten Thousand Rejections!"
Blood tears flowed from Sora's left Mangekyō Sharingan.
When the "Ten Thousand Rejections" took effect, the rocks squeezing Sora suddenly ceased their pressure.
Sora smirked.
These damned Rock shinobi had originally planned to launch a series of attacks after trapping the Third Raikage underground, but now they were interfering with their own strategy.
Sora formed several hand signs and then emerged from the ground.
The moment he surfaced, he saw a fist headed straight for his face.
"Just as I predicted."
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Because Sora had prepared the hand signs in advance, his form instantly transformed into a wooden log, and the Third Raikage's fist hit nothing but air.
Kitsuchi's scalp tingled with apprehension.
Initially, he had believed that while Sora was an Elite Jōnin famous throughout the shinobi world, he should be comparable to Minato Namikaze.
Rock shinobi had fought Minato Namikaze many times.
Because Minato was too fast to defeat, they always chose to retreat when encountering him.
Although Minato was versatile, his direct attack strength wasn't particularly high. He excelled at using the Flying Thunder God Technique for swift, lethal strikes.
Sora was also renowned for his speed. Kitsuchi had assumed he would be similar to Minato, but now realized the two were quite different.
Sora's combat ability far surpassed Minato Namikaze's.
Sora and the Third Raikage fought each other with their speed as their greatest advantage.
As for the Rock shinobi, speed was their greatest weakness.
Therefore, the Rock shinobi's attacks could barely hit either Sora or the Third Raikage accurately.
And each time Sora and the Third Raikage clashed, several Rock shinobi lost their lives.
They, the Rock shinobi, had become mere background casualties in the battle between Sora and the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage looked at the multiple images of "Sora" before him and frowned.
Genjutsu cast through ocular techniques could only be broken when someone else disrupted the flow of chakra.
In other words, the Third Raikage, now trapped in the illusion, couldn't break Sora's genjutsu by himself.
"In that case..."
The Third Raikage charged into the crowd of "Sora" illusions.
It didn't matter which one was the real Sora—he would attack them all!
While the Third Raikage was caught in the illusion and slaughtering Rock shinobi, Sora had already positioned himself, body slightly arched.
"Breath of Thunder: First Form—Thunderbolt Flash! Divine Speed!"
Sora transformed into a streak of blue lightning and rushed toward the Third Raikage, who was cutting down everyone in his path, at an extraordinary speed.
The moment he was about to make contact with the Third Raikage, the effect of "Ten Thousand Rejections" activated, and the Third Raikage's strongest Lightning Style Armor suddenly dissipated.
The hair on the Third Raikage's body stood on end as he sensed the danger, and he instinctively tilted his head.
Sora's ninja sword pierced through the junction of the Third Raikage's neck and shoulder.
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