A sinister and oppressive power suddenly erupted from the Third Raikage. Under the shocked gazes of everyone, his body hunched over as though enduring intense pain.
Dense black chakra spiraled and surged from him, soaring into the sky. Like a Wind Release net stirring a storm, the chakra roared outward, sweeping across the battlefield.
The Iwa shinobi caught in the shockwave instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces, feeling the fierce wind cutting past them.
That cold, dark chakra sent shivers through their exposed skin, causing them to step back uneasily, their hands trembling as they touched their chilled flesh.
The Third Raikage's skin turned a deep, unnatural black, and his disheveled hair began to grow rapidly, spreading out behind him like a wild tangle of thorns.
A black tail extended from his back, pulling his hunched form even lower.
The most shocking sight, however, was his severed arm—the one obliterated by Dust Release.
Flesh and blood churned and writhed as the limb regenerated, reforming completely in moments. In the blink of an eye, the Third Raikage had transformed entirely.
Not only was his body whole again, but his size had doubled, radiating an overwhelming presence.
Ōnoki's eyes widened as he felt the crushing aura and immense chakras emanating from the Raikage.
Tailed Beast transformation?
The pressure felt similar to that of a Tailed Beast, but his form was entirely different from the Tailed Beast cloak or partial transformations.
Crackle! Official source is novel⚑fire.net
Black lightning flickered and danced around the Third Raikage, who had now mutated into a monstrous form.
His legs bent backward like a goat's, and his feet morphed into clawed talons that dug into the ground. His physique was lean but muscular, with bulging muscles beneath his blackened skin.
Two horn-like protrusions jutted out from either side of his forehead, and he forcibly condensed lightning into a spear, gripping it firmly in one hand.
Beneath a pale bone-like mask, his golden eyes burned with savagery and hunger, locked onto the two Jinchūriki charging toward him.
The Third Raikage's appearance and sheer presence cast a heavy shadow over everyone on the battlefield. A suffocating fear gripped their souls, an uncontrollable terror that made them tremble.
Han's pupils suddenly contracted.
The mutated Third Raikage in front of him vanished in an instant, as if through teleportation. In the next moment, an alarm rang loudly in Han's mind—a deadly sense of danger surged within him.
Reacting instinctively, he released a massive amount of steam, boosting his speed and moving unpredictably to evade.
But it was all useless. Just as the sense of danger in his heart eased for a brief moment, a dazzling spear of lightning struck him out of nowhere.
The lightning spear, carrying immense penetrating power enhanced by its incredible speed, pierced straight through Han.
The Tailed Beast Cloak surrounding his body offered no protection against the sudden attack. A massive hole was blasted through his chest in an instant.
What made it worse was the paralysis carried by the lightning. The electric currents forcibly disrupted his nervous system, leaving him frozen in place.
The lightning spear continued its trajectory after piercing through Han. It streaked through the dark night, creating a brilliant arc of light in the air, before slamming into the ground near the Iwagakure shinobi outside the encirclement.
The ground trembled violently. Upon impact, the spear unleashed all its stored energy in an instant, generating unparalleled destructive force.
Within a hundred-meter radius, every Iwagakure shinobi was obliterated in the intense explosion and scorching heat. The shockwave roared outward like a tidal wave, sweeping in all directions.
Older Jinchūriki Roshi arrived just in time, stepping in front of Han. His body, covered in molten lava thanks to the power of his Tailed Beast, clashed head-on with the monstrous Third Raikage.
The intense heat of the molten lava scorched the Third Raikage's skin. Finally slowing his opponent down, Roshi unleashed several red lava spheres at point-blank range. The molten projectiles splattered onto the monster's face.
The searing hot lava sizzled as it hit the Third Raikage's face, producing the sharp sound of burning flesh.
But in the next instant, to Roshi's shock, the temperature of the lava rapidly dissipated. The molten material cooled and hardened, and even his own lava-coated Tailed Beast Cloak seemed to be forcibly stripped away by an unknown power.
Sensing danger, Roshi immediately detonated the molten lava-like Tailed Beast Cloak covering his body, releasing its power in a sudden explosion.
The shockwave from the blast separated the two combatants. Roshi was sent crashing into Han, pulling him along as they tumbled awkwardly across the ground, rolling a considerable distance away.
"How are you holding up?" Roshi asked in a low voice, keeping his eyes locked on the now-standing Third Raikage in the distance. The Raikage looked more like a monster than even the Jinchūriki themselves.
"I'll live," Han muttered gruffly from under his red armor. The surging Tailed Beast Chakra around him was rapidly working to close the gaping, deadly wound on his abdomen.
However, it was clear that even with the Tailed Beast's Chakra aiding his recovery, Han regaining his peak fighting form was out of the question.
"Suna hid some critical information from us!" Roshi growled.
Onoki's Dust Release attack hasn't delivered the expected results.
Dust Release, a devastating Kekkei Tōta, was almost unparalleled in its destructive capability. It was especially effective against large, slow-moving, or cumbersome enemies.
But against an opponent like the Third Raikage—fast, agile, and highly reactive—the hit rate of Dust Release left much to be desired without proper constraints.
Now, as Onoki matched the mutated Raikage's behavior with scattered intel about Suna and Kumo's previous battles, he realized Suna had definitely doctored and withheld important details. They had deliberately downplayed critical information.
Yet, there was no time to dwell on Suna's deception. Onoki's immediate concern was figuring out how to restrain and deal with the mutated Third Raikage.
The Raikage had already gravely injured the Five-Tails Jinchūriki with a single attack, and his speed had only grown faster. At this point, the Third Raikage was a bigger threat than even a rampaging Tailed Beast.
Lava Release: Flowing Lava River!
Roshi tossed Han toward the Iwagakure shinobi rushing to provide backup. Then, his hands blurred through a series of seals before spewing scalding hot lava onto the ground.
The molten river surged forward, streaming toward the Third Raikage with immense heat and destructive force.
Roshi's sharp instincts told him that something was deeply wrong with the Third Raikage. His condition seemed eerily similar to a Jinchūriki losing control and entering a mindless, Tailed Beast-driven frenzy.
When those golden eyes locked onto Roshi, he could feel the weight of emotions behind them—madness, destruction, and greed. The sheer intensity of the darkness in that gaze sent chills down his spine.
Earth Style: Seismic Core!
Onoki, floating in the sky, could no longer stand idly by. He coordinated with Roshi to unleash a jutsu that could restrain the Third Raikage.
The ground began to shift and rise, creating uneven terrain. The Seismic Core jutsu allowed the user to manipulate chakra flow to shape the battlefield into an advantageous formation. Iwagakure shinobi, known for their mastery of Earth Style, held a clear edge in terrain manipulation and defensive warfare compared to other styles.
Three massive rock walls rose from the ground, restricting the Third Raikage's movement. A river of molten lava surged through a deliberately left opening, flowing straight toward the trapped Raikage.
Under Onoki's frightened and tense gaze, what seemed like an inescapable trap was disrupted. The flesh on the Raikage's back twisted and shifted, and from either side of his spine, two pitch-black wings emerged.
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