"Ha! Ranmaru, how is it?"
After releasing so many lightning orbs at once, Kurosuki Raiga's breathing became unstable.
Although the Lightning Swords possessed the ability to unleash various Lightning Release attacks, they also consumed the user's chakra and stamina.
He turned his head slightly to ask the little guy hidden behind his cloak.
Ranmaru was a child he'd found in a village infiltrated by spies. This little fellow had awakened a kekkei genkai called "Red Eye" but was rejected by the villagers precisely because of this ability.
That night, Kurosuki Raiga and other Mist ninja killed everyone in the village to eliminate the spies. Ranmaru should've been among those corpses too.
But this kid's Red Eye seemed to truly possess the power to see through everything, even perceiving Kurosuki Raiga's empty heart.
Subsequently, Kurosuki Raiga became Ranmaru's legs, while Ranmaru became Kurosuki Raiga's eyes. The two functioned as one entity.
Ranmaru was currently lying behind Kurosuki Raiga, his hood unable to obstruct his vision at all.
But Kurosuki Raiga didn't receive Ranmaru's response.
Somewhat puzzled, he pulled off the hood to check on Ranmaru's condition, only to discover this little guy showing such a fearful expression for the first time.
You have to understand, even when he was about to be killed years ago, Ranmaru had never looked like this.
"Omi—nous—"
Kurosuki Raiga could only vaguely hear this word from Ranmaru's trembling lips, then a roar erupted from ahead.
ROAR!
All the smoke and dust dispersed, black-red flames swirling around the giant black dog like auspicious clouds.
From the wounds on Sasuke's body, the previous high-frequency Lightning Release attacks hadn't been useless.
But soon, Kurosuki Raiga's expression became grave.
He saw the black-red flames around Sasuke begin actively attaching to those wounds, after which the injuries rapidly healed.
Meanwhile, Sasuke seemed completely indifferent to the pain.
Hmm... this transformation ability also greatly enhanced his physical strength.
He'd deliberately not dodged, wanting to see what level he'd reached.
At this moment, Sasuke had vaguely sensed his transformation's abilities, and the name "Misfortune Wolf" was carved into his consciousness like biological instinct.
Though he himself didn't know what a "Misfortune Wolf" was.
But he'd gained a preliminary understanding of those black-red flames, or rather "Calamity Fire."
Calamity Fire was the main manifestation of the Misfortune Wolf's abilities. It seemed to combine with his Sharingan abilities, granting Sasuke the power to observe the "misfortunes" others had experienced.
Whether others' misfortunes or misfortunes inflicted upon Sasuke would generate Calamity Fire.
This Calamity Fire could not only repair his body and eyes but was equally formidable in attack.
Like this:
"ROAR!"
The beast's roar erupted, accompanied by overwhelming flames surrounding the entire clearing.
Though not emitting much heat, all creatures within instinctively felt the threat to life.
Kurosuki Raiga naturally wouldn't stand still. He jumped toward the rocks behind him, trying to escape this gradually shrinking ring of fire.
But the moment he left the ground, those flames shot out like predatory serpents, transforming into fire ropes that bound both Kurosuki Raiga and Ranmaru.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Both cried out in pain.
That burning sensation didn't come from their bodies but from something deeper. Whether the ethereal soul or the spirit.
In any case, their bodies showed little injury—at most some burn-like marks. But the mental impact was severe.
Kurosuki Raiga fell directly from midair, clutching his head while glaring at Sasuke. Ranmaru's pained groans made him even angrier.
"Damn it! What'd you do to us!"
Since he couldn't escape, Kurosuki Raiga simply thrust both swords into the ground.
"Lightning Feast!"
Lightning rapidly spread along the ground toward Sasuke.
But this repeated tactic could no longer threaten him.
Sasuke, possessing Observation Haki, had completely predicted the next attack from the moment Kurosuki Raiga began moving. Though the Misfortune Wolf's physical speed wasn't as fast as Garuda's, it wasn't slow either.
Flaming footprints rapidly approached from another direction, then a sharp claw struck toward the opponent's back.
Even though Ranmaru looked like an ordinary child, since they'd become enemies, Sasuke wouldn't hold back.
At the critical moment, Kurosuki Raiga ducked and rolled forward to avoid the claw strike, then turned and slashed with another lightning blast.
His Lightning Release didn't even need hand seals. Attacks had no startup time, faster even than Chidori.
Of course, the power was debatable.
Sasuke frowned as his claw missed and he took a hit, letting the Calamity Fire heal his front paw's wound.
He still wasn't quite adapted to beast form combat.
Beast-human form... beast-human form...
Sasuke chanted in his mind as his body began transforming toward "werewolf" form.
But as if something was always missing, Sasuke's mastery of the Misfortune Wolf was still lacking. The transformation got stuck halfway.
Though Kurosuki Raiga didn't understand what Sasuke was doing, his ninja combat instincts told him he absolutely couldn't let his opponent succeed.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
As one of the original Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he naturally knew Kirigakure's signature jutsu.
Dense fog that could obscure everything quickly filled the area.
Ranmaru had just struggled free from the soul pain, barely opening one eye to guide Kurosuki Raiga.
Kurosuki Raiga became a shadow in the fog, silently approaching Sasuke from behind.
Though Sasuke's Observation Haki had detected the enemy through the fog, with his transformation halfway, he wanted to control his body to dodge and counterattack, but the conflict between beast and human behaviors left him frozen in place.
"Right here!"
Ranmaru's eyes could see through bodies to find weak points—quite similar to the Hyuga clan's Byakugan in this regard.
Kurosuki Raiga trusted Ranmaru's words completely, thrusting both swords in without hesitation.
Sasuke tried to activate Armament Haki for defense, but this time it failed him.
Blades pierced flesh, followed immediately by powerful electric shock.
Kurosuki Raiga poured almost all his remaining chakra into this attack, determined to kill with one strike.
Lightning flashed in the fog. Even Naruto and the others down the mountain could see clearly.
"Is he alright? Naruto?"
Jiraiya looked toward Naruto with some concern. Naruto responded with a reassuring expression.
"It's fine. Sasuke's succeeded."
The fog dispersed. Kurosuki Raiga leaned on his swords, breathing heavily. The blood on the blade surfaces had been evaporated clean by the lightning.
"Hah... now you should—"
His words caught in his throat.
A large hand with sharp claws burst through the fog to grip his neck.
"That really hurt..."
Calamity Fire formed ribbons swirling around Sasuke's body. The misfortune represented by that pain had once again strengthened Sasuke's power.
What he'd been missing was finally filled in by Kurosuki Raiga's recent attack.