Eight Tails' roar shook the entire valley. Its eyes bled scarlet, rage boiling off its body like steam off molten iron.
"Damn human… you'll pay for this!"
Yeah, Raizen had heard that line before—usually about three seconds before something large tried to crush him.
But before the beast could strike, another sound tore through the valley.
A sonic boom. A human-shaped thunderbolt.
"AMAMIYA RAIZEN—HOW DARE YOU SET YOUR SIGHTS ON EIGHT TAILS! COURTING DEATH!"
Raizen turned, pupils narrowing.
Lightning cracked across the sky as a figure in armor wreathed with electricity sprinted toward him, crossing the distance in less than a heartbeat.
The man landed between Raizen and the beast, lightning snarling around him like a living cloak.
"You dare invade Cloud Shinobi territory?!"
His voice boomed like a storm.
"Are you trying to die?!"
Raizen exhaled slowly, unimpressed.
"Unknown loud man," he said dryly.
"State your name."
The valley fell silent.
The man froze.
Then thunder erupted.
"UN–KNOWN?! YOU LITTLE—!"
His voice shook the entire cliff face.
"Listen well! I am Ai—the leader of Cloud Shinobi Village!"
Raizen blinked.
Ai…? Wait—this guy's the original Raikage?
Before he could finish the thought, more chakra signatures poured into the valley. Elite Jōnin. Twenty of them. And—
Two men strode in behind Ai: one with golden hair, the other silver.
The Gold and Silver Brothers.
Both stared at Raizen with the kind of arrogance only people who'd eaten Nine Tails chakra could muster.
Raizen felt their gazes like insects crawling across his skin.
A slow, cold irritation crept into his voice.
"I hate those eyes."
He tilted his head, expression flat.
"Everyone who's looked at me like that… I sent them to hell."
Before they could react, Raizen's Rinnegan flared.
Crimson chakra surged outward, forming a massive skeletal arm of Susanoo that snapped toward the brothers like a titan grabbing a pair of flies—
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Ai flashed forward in pure lightning mode. An afterimage of blue-white arcs.
His fist slammed into Susanoo's arm—
BOOOOOM!
The shockwave rippled across the valley, ripping water from the lake like rising ghosts.
But when the dust settled—
Ai had been forced back several steps.
Raizen hadn't moved an inch.
Ai's face flushed red with humiliation.
"Lightning Style—Lateral Bolt of Pain: CHOP!"
Lightning condensed across both arms, shaping his palms into blades.
In a blink, Ai flickered above Raizen, hand-chops falling like guillotines.
Raizen's Susanoo arm rose to intercept—
CRACK!
Ai's lightning ripped clean through the chakra limb, splitting it apart before the construct could fully reform.
"REMEMBER THIS!"
Ai roared.
"I'm not some nameless man—I am the leader of Cloud Shinobi Village!"
He swung down with a final chop—
Raizen's body split cleanly in two.
Blood hit the stone.
Ai straightened, chest heaving.
A cold smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"Hmph. Strongest shinobi since Sage of Six Paths? Pathetic hype."
"Leader! Behind you!"
Ai turned—
A sharp pain shot through his ribs, sending him flying across the valley floor.
He rolled to a stop, coughing, and looked up—
Raizen was standing exactly where he'd been before.
Untouched.
Whole.
And his Susanoo arm was fully restored.
Ai's blood ran cold.
"W–what… what just happened?"
One of the Cloud shinobi answered shakily:
"Lord Ai, when you struck him… you suddenly turned and attacked empty air. Then Lord Raizen countered."
Ai froze.
He slowly looked at Raizen's glowing purple eyes.
"Illusion…? Just eye contact trapped me?"
A bead of sweat slid down his temple.
Raizen watched him with quiet amusement.
"You broke free faster than I expected. Not bad for someone still years away from calling himself Raikage."
The surrounding Cloud elite flinched, but their killing intent only sharpened.
They spread out, forming a tight encirclement.
Raizen's tone cooled into steel.
"Cloud Shinobi Village… you're strong."
He let his gaze sweep across them.
"Too strong. Strong enough to become a problem for Konoha later."
His hand tightened around the Ten-Fist Sword.
"So since I'm already here… I'll erase this little army of yours."
Eight Tails Tries to Escape
While Raizen and Cloud's elites faced off, Eight Tails judged the moment.
The beast spun around without hesitation and fled—massive tentacles thrashing as it launched itself toward the valley exit.
Both sides noticed.
Neither moved to stop it.
In the minds of both Raizen and Cloud:
Win the battle first.
Eight Tails can't get far.
Then claim the prize.
The tension in the valley thickened—
And then—
A ridiculous voice cut through everything.
"HAHAHAHA! Brother, did you SEE that? That punk actually tried to attack us!"
The Gold and Silver Brothers stepped forward, grinning like wolves.
Their bloodlust rolled across the valley like another storm.
Raizen lifted the Ten-Fist Sword slightly.
The corner of his mouth twitched up into a tired little smile—the kind a salaryman wears when his boss gives him five more hours of overtime.
"…Great. Thunder psychos and tailed beasts. Peak reincarnator experience."
...
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