"Damn it!"
Lock's arms throbbed with pain as another crushing blow sent him flying. He quickly wrapped his limbs with chakra, hardening his defenses just in time. Thanks to Jiraiya's training, he had learned to control chakra with precision, reinforcing his body under pressure.
Even so, the impact left his bones aching, as though they might snap at any moment.
"Still standing?"
Ai—the son of the Third Raikage, known already by the name that only Raikage bore—stared at Lock with surprise. He hadn't expected this boy, barely twelve or thirteen, to withstand two of his full-force attacks. Even seasoned jōnin would have been broken by now.
Ai's lips curved into a grim sneer. "Let's see how many more you can take."
"Wait, young master," one of the Cloud-nin warned. "Don't kill him—he could be an important figure in Konoha."
But Lock didn't have time to think about their words. He shifted, chakra flickering around him, and then vanished.
"Shhh!"
Ai lunged, his body wreathed in lightning, moving with terrifying speed—but Lock reappeared in the distance, behind another Cloud ninja. His kunai flashed.
"Gah!"
The ninja's cry was cut short, his heart pierced in a single strike.
"Damn you!"
The surrounding Cloud-nin roared in rage. They had been watching Ai clash with Lock, and in the blink of an eye, another companion had fallen. None of them had even seen the moment of death.
"He's not just fast—he has a technique like teleportation! Everyone, close ranks. Don't scatter!"
Though furious, Ai's instincts were sharp. He barked orders, and the Cloud-nin immediately grouped, standing back-to-back to cover every angle.
Lock dragged the body of the man he had killed, using it as temporary cover. His eyes never left Ai. That speed… it was terrifying, even more than he had imagined.
"Tch… if only I had allies nearby, I could slip away," Lock thought. He knew his strength lay in sudden strikes and deception, not in trading blows with monsters like the future Raikage.
The Cloud-nin tensed. Even without their sensor specialist, they weren't letting their guard down again.
Then—
"At eight o'clock! Twenty-six meters!"
A sharp warning rang out, and Ai blurred into motion, appearing behind Lock like a thunderclap.
"Damn, another sensor?!" Lock cursed, realizing too late that the enemy still had someone tracking him.
The massive figure loomed over him, fist raised. Lock threw down a smoke bomb and vanished again—only to reappear behind Ai, kunai aimed at his back.
Clang!
The blade snapped in half on impact, sparks flying. Ai's lightning armor had stopped the strike cold.
"Boom!"
An elbow came crashing back, forcing Lock to twist and lash out with a kick, striking Ai's back just to propel himself away before the blow could land.
"You won't escape!"
Ai's roar thundered across the battlefield. His chakra flared, the lightning around his body crackling violently. Smoke meant nothing to him. His body, wrapped in speed and power, tore through every obstruction.
Lock gritted his teeth. One wrong move now—and this fight would be over in an instant.
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