Chapter 223: Chapter 223

The fourth flare of chakra pulsed from Raiga’s back.

Without question, it was Ranmaru.

Blessed with a bloodline dojutsu, Ranmaru served as Raiga’s second pair of eyes—his own Byakugan giving the rogue swordsman an overwhelming advantage.

The pairing reminded Kitazawa of Zabuza Momochi and Haku. Both partnerships shared a similar dynamic—and both Haku and Ranmaru were so strikingly delicate in appearance they were often mistaken for girls.

A subtle smile tugged at Kitazawa’s lips as he stroked his chin.

Through his own Byakugan, he saw Biwa Jūzō locked in combat with Raiga.

Two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—clashing instead of standing side by side. Why?

And watching from the shadows was Akatsuki’s founder herself, Konan.

Everyone knew her reputation: Akatsuki’s caretaker and silent recruiter. In the original tale, it was Konan who approached Sasori of the Red Sand and drew him into the organization.

The cause of this fight became clear. Konan must have first found Jūzō and brought him into Akatsuki’s fold. Then, together, they sought out Raiga. But Raiga, defiant as ever, had refused—and steel answered steel.

Kitazawa fell into thought.

In the canon timeline, Raiga never joined Akatsuki. The man had been traumatized by Maito Dai’s Eight Gates rampage, stripped of ambition, content to terrorize the Grass Mountains in the Land of Rivers.

So how did he survive an encounter with both Konan and Jūzō? Could it have been Ranmaru who saved him?

Either way, Raiga was Kitazawa’s target as well. He needed to see this with his own eyes.

As he closed the distance, the clash of blades reached his ears—sharp steel against steel, thunder roaring overhead. Lightning split the night sky, illuminating the battlefield.

The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had a fearsome reputation, often assumed to be seven elite shinobi equally versed in kenjutsu and taijutsu. But the truth was less tidy.

Take Raiga, for example—he was no swordsman in the traditional sense. He was a Lightning Release specialist, and his twin blades, the Kiba blades, were little more than conduits for calling the storm.

Jūzō, on the other hand, was the opposite—an executioner who wielded the massive Kubikiribōchō with deadly skill. He pressed forward through the lightning, swinging his broken cleaver in arcs meant to cut down Raiga.

But every strike missed.

Ranmaru’s Byakugan saw through all of his movements, guiding Raiga like an invisible hand.

Raiga’s laughter rang out over the battlefield.

“Hahaha! Jūzō, you’re no longer my equal!”

Jūzō’s jaw tightened. He hated to admit it, but the truth was undeniable—Raiga’s strength had surged since bonding with the boy on his back.

Ranmaru’s eyes gave him omniscience, like a full battlefield map no enemy could hide from.

Konan finally broke her silence.

“Are you still unwilling to join Akatsuki, Raiga?”

Raiga sneered, his tone venomous.

“Akatsuki? I’ve never even heard of it. I left Kirigakure to free myself from chains—I won’t bow to anyone again!”

“Is that so?” Konan murmured. Her hands rose gracefully, and the air filled with the rustle of countless paper slips. They blossomed around her like a storm of petals.

A second later, wings of paper unfurled from her back, and with a beat, she ascended into the night sky.

Raiga’s eyes narrowed. Flying shinobi were rare, and every one of them dangerous.

From the ground, ninjutsu had limits. But from the air, one could strike unchallenged. Deidara had proven that when he snatched the Kazekage from the very heart of Sunagakure.

Raiga crossed his twin blades, summoning a bolt of lightning that tore toward the airborne Konan.

She surged higher with a flap of her wings, effortlessly evading the attack.

He grit his teeth, weaving more lightning between his blades and hurling a massive orb skyward. But it sputtered out midway, falling short.

“Tch… Ranmaru, guide me—we’re leaving.”

Raiga turned without hesitation, retreating into the terrain.

“Running, are you?” Jūzō growled. Muscles bulging, he hurled Kubikiribōchō through the air like a spinning guillotine.

“Left,” Ranmaru’s soft voice whispered.

Raiga sidestepped the massive blade without so much as a glance, proving again the power of his partner’s eyes.

The clash continued—paper shuriken raining from above, lightning burning them from the air, the terrain itself swallowed in smoke.

But when the fog finally cleared, only Jūzō remained.

“Damn it… he slipped away!” Jūzō snarled, frustrated. He had just joined Akatsuki and already failed his first test.

Konan’s expression remained calm. “What a pity. Raiga would have been useful. And that boy on his back… a two-for-one. Still, one less rogue swordsman hardly matters.”

With that, she and Jūzō withdrew into the night.

Meanwhile, far from their sight, Raiga was laughing again.

“Ranmaru, well done! Taking you in was the best decision I ever made!”

Ranmaru lowered his gaze humbly. “It’s what I should do.”

Like Haku before him, he saw himself as nothing more than a tool for the one who had shown him kindness.

Then his expression stiffened.

“Wait… someone is following us.”

Raiga stopped cold, swords at the ready. “Who? Did Jūzō catch up?”

Ranmaru shook his head. “Not his chakra.”

Raiga sneered into the darkness. “Then show yourself! I’m not afraid of anyone!”

A familiar voice answered.

“Your doujutsu truly is sharp—you sensed me from this far away.”

Kitazawa stepped from the shadows, no longer bothering to hide. He had ignored Konan and Jūzō for now. Raiga was the target. The mission came first.

“A Konoha ninja?”

Raiga’s gaze fell on the forehead protector tied to Kitazawa’s brow. He squinted, unimpressed, after a second glance.

He knew the names of Konoha’s powerful shinobi, yet this one left no mark in his memory.

“It seems,” Raiga sneered, lips curling into a cruel grin, “that you’ll be the first friend I bury since leaving Kirigakure.”

Raiga’s “funerals” were infamous—he would wail with grief over the corpses of his victims, weeping at ceremonies he himself had caused.

Kitazawa smirked. “Indeed, your mental state seems… questionable. Shall I recommend a psychological medical-nin?”

“Psychological… what?” Raiga’s brow furrowed.

“It means you’re insane,” Kitazawa said flatly, blinking with mock sympathy. “Looks like Uncle Dai really kicked your head in.”

The moment the name left his lips, Raiga’s face twisted with rage.

“You know Maito Dai?!” His killing intent exploded outward, a suffocating wave of chakra howling through the night air.

That shameful day—beaten half to death by a “mere genin” in front of his comrades—was the one wound Raiga could never forgive.

“His son is my friend,” Kitazawa replied calmly.

Raiga barked a harsh laugh, eyes bloodshot. “Good. Good! You’re worthy of a funeral!”

His hands moved in a blur, drawing the twin swords Fang. He spun them and drove the blades into the earth.

“Lightning Release: Lightning Funeral—Banquet of Lightning!”

Crackling bolts split from the ground, racing toward Kitazawa.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

The ground surged upward, forming a thick earthen barricade. Lightning slammed against it in a deafening crash, shattering the wall into rubble—yet Kitazawa’s figure was gone.

“Ranmaru!” Raiga barked.

“In the sky!” the boy called.

Raiga jerked his head upward just as Kitazawa blurred into view, having leapt with a Body Flicker.

A shuriken whistled down.

“A single shuriken? Pathetic.” Raiga’s lips curled with disdain.

“Raiga, watch out!” Ranmaru’s warning cut sharp.

The shuriken shimmered—then multiplied, splitting into a storm of steel.

“What—?!” Raiga’s pupils shrank as the rain of blades engulfed him.

“Lightning Armor!”

He fused his blades, lightning erupting over his skin. The armor held, but each strike still sent jolts of pain lancing through his body.

“Raiga, he’s closing in!”

Kitazawa burst through the storm of shuriken, blade in hand, striking down with crushing force.

Clang!

The impact drove Raiga’s arms numb, his face flushing from the sheer pressure.

“Be careful!” Ranmaru cried again.

Kitazawa’s left fist blurred.

Super Strength!

The punch landed like a hammer. Even with lightning armor, Raiga was hurled back, blood spraying from his lips.

Kitazawa’s brow furrowed. His aim had been true—straight for the heart. Yet the blow had veered at the last instant.

Ranmaru’s interference? His Byakugan twisting the chakra flow?

No matter.

Kitazawa flickered forward again. But a thunderbolt ripped down from the heavens, forcing him to retreat.

Raiga staggered upright, wiping blood from his mouth. “Who… who are you?! A shinobi with your power—how could I not have heard of you?”

Kitazawa’s smile was faint. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”

His growth had been too swift for his reputation to keep pace. Outside Konoha, his name meant nothing.

Unless Lady Tsunade publicly claimed him as her disciple, he would remain a shadow.

“Die!”

Raiga’s fury twisted his face. To be cornered—him, one of the Seven Swordsmen—by an unknown brat and a friend of Maito Dai’s son? Unforgivable.

Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Tornado!

The earth shook as a whirling dragon of lightning tore into the sky, scorching everything in its path.

Kitazawa’s hands blurred through seals.

“Compound Ninjutsu—Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!”

A roaring dragon of electrified water surged forth. The two titans collided, the battlefield trembling with chakra turbulence.

For a heartbeat, they clashed as equals. Then Kitazawa’s water dragon shattered Raiga’s storm.

Raiga’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Impossible—!”

“Raiga!” Ranmaru’s desperate cry rang out.

“I see it!” Raiga snarled, crossing his blades to summon another bolt that split the water dragon apart.

“Not that!” Ranmaru shouted again.

But it was too late.

Kitazawa was already there, exploding forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. His fist shot out, crackling with power.

Raiga raised his blades in desperation, while Ranmaru’s red eyes strained to warp the chakra flow once more.

Bang!

Raiga was hurled back, battered but alive.

Still laughing, he forced himself to his feet. Blood smeared his lips, but his eyes burned with madness.

“Hahaha! With Ranmaru by my side, you can’t win! No matter how strong you are, I’ll turn the tide!”

“Is that so?”

Kitazawa chuckled, his hands flashing through seals.

Bringer of Darkness

In an instant, every shred of light was stolen away.

“Ranmaru! Where is he?!”

Raiga whipped his head around, but the world was swallowed in pitch black.

“I—I can’t see!” Ranmaru’s voice cracked with fear.

Since awakening the Red Eye, this had never happened before.

“Wh–what?!”

Raiga’s muscles locked, panic stabbing through him. He hadn’t been Kitazawa’s equal to begin with—without Ranmaru, death was certain.

Grinding his teeth, Raiga turned and bolted. He had no intention of fighting to the end.

Back then, when faced with Maito Dai, he had been the first to flee.

Life mattered. Pride did not.

“He’s coming!”

Ranmaru gasped as a blurred shadow flitted past his vision.

“Where?!” Raiga demanded.

“I—I don’t know!” Ranmaru’s eyes strained wide, but the figure vanished before he could focus.

“Damn it!”

In desperation, Raiga slammed his twin blades into the ground. Lightning surged outward, forcing back the shadows and restoring his sight—just in time to glimpse the cold gleam of steel.

“You—”

Raiga looked down. Kitazawa’s blade was buried deep in his chest.

Without Ranmaru’s Red Eye to twist the strike, the fatal blow had landed true.

Kitazawa didn’t hesitate. He drew the blade free and, in one motion, severed Raiga’s head.

He remembered Raiga’s suicidal Lightning Release technique—too dangerous to risk. Mercy had no place here.

“No!”

Ranmaru’s scream tore through the night, his eyes bloodshot with grief. “Raiga!”

A sharp chop to the neck silenced him. Kitazawa caught the boy before he hit the ground.

Ranmaru’s Red Eye held a terrifying ability: resurrection. But its cost was absolute—draining all his power and leaving him an ordinary child forever.

To waste such a gift here would be foolish.

Kitazawa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ranmaru’s loyalty to Raiga was absolute, even unto death. Yet letting him throw his life away would squander the potential of the Red Eye.

No. He would take Ranmaru back, erase his memories of Raiga, and place him in Konoha’s orphanage—under Yakumo’s guidance.

Kitazawa’s thoughts sharpened as he sensed presences ahead.

Konan descended gracefully, wings unfurling like an angel’s. Beside her, Biwa Jūzō stood pale, clutching the broken Kubikiribōchō. He didn’t dare move forward.

If not for Konan, he would already have fled.

“We mean no harm.”

Konan’s voice was calm as she landed. “We are a shinobi organization that takes work for money.”

In truth, the Akatsuki lacked members and resources. Disguised as a mercenary group, they had built an impeccable reputation in the black market—never failing a mission.

“You use Super Strength?” Konan asked, her sharp eyes catching the detail.

“You’ve got good eyes,” Kitazawa replied with a raised brow. He could feel the goodwill in her tone, and he understood why.

Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko had once been Jiraiya’s students. They had also crossed paths with Tsunade during the Second Shinobi World War.

Kitazawa’s display of super strength pointed directly to her.

At this stage, Akatsuki had no reason to oppose the Five Great Nations, and Konan herself had not yet hardened completely. She still had compassion.

“The Sannin’s reputation reaches every corner of the shinobi world,” Konan continued. “Our original intent was to recruit Kurosuki Raiga. Since he is dead, the matter ends here.”

“My name is Kitazawa,” he replied evenly. “I’m considered a student of Lady Tsunade.”

“I see…” Konan’s eyes softened, the bond of senior and junior disciples brushing faintly between them.

Biwa Jūzō frowned in confusion. Tsunade’s student, and not a medic? Regardless, after tonight, Kitazawa’s name would spread across the nations.

“I am Konan of Akatsuki,” she introduced. “If you have requests beyond the scope of the villages, you may find us at the Exchange Office.”

That underground market was the underworld’s mission hall, catering to rogue shinobi and bounty hunters alike. Even Sarutobi Asuma had a price on his head there—thirty-five million ryō.

Much of Akatsuki’s early funding flowed from it, and Kakuzu, their money-obsessed veteran, was a frequent face there.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kitazawa said with a wry smile.

“Until next time.”

Konan offered nothing further. She turned and rose skyward, Jūzō releasing a quiet breath of relief as he hurried after her.

Kitazawa watched them go before summoning a storage scroll and sealing Raiga’s corpse away.

The Kiba blades glimmered in his hands. He studied them a moment before tucking them aside. Their lightning-attracting properties made them invaluable to a Lightning Release shinobi.

He wasn’t one by nature, but he could wield Lightning Release—and more importantly, he saw their synergy with Kirin. With Kiba, he wouldn’t need to waste time creating a storm with Fire Release as Sasuke once had.

Still, there was risk. The Mist held a scroll that could summon back the Seven Swords, guarded by the Hōzuki clan. Yet with Suigetsu likely in Orochimaru’s clutches, that danger seemed remote.

Kitazawa already had a plan: reforge Kiba and seal it with an Uzumaki Contract Seal, severing its summoning link entirely.

It was the same seal Minato once used to cut Obito’s control over the Nine-Tails.

[Mission Complete: Eliminate Kurosuki Raiga, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.]

[Reward: Compound Ninjutsu – Hurricane Water Vortex Technique.]

Kitazawa exhaled softly. So the reward didn’t require his whole squad to act—fortunate.

His reasons for striking Raiga here were clear. If Raiga fled, no telling when he’d resurface. And more importantly, Kurenai and Kabuto weren’t ready for him. Better they grow stronger before facing monsters like this.

Opportunities for training would come again.

Kitazawa absorbed the new jutsu into memory, the system adding Water Release: Ripping Tide alongside his Wind Release: Rasengan.

Two techniques gained in one.

The night sky stretched overhead. Barely three hours had passed.

He decided to head toward the Land of Rivers’ capital. Before that, a Shadow Clone would return Ranmaru to safety—Katsuyu’s Reverse Summoning could only call him alone, after all.

Their squad’s B-rank target waited there. This time, though, he wouldn’t act alone.

If he shouldered everything, Kurenai and the others would never grow.

Just as he finished confirming the target’s location, a mysterious summons tugged at him.

He didn’t resist. In the next instant, he stood in the squad’s temporary tent.

“How was it?”

Kurenai immediately seized his hand, scanning his chakra. Only when she confirmed he was unhurt did her breath ease.

“I’ve confirmed our target’s location. We’ll strike tomorrow.” Kitazawa paused, then added casually, “On the way, I also encountered Kurosuki Raiga. I killed him.”

“…What?” Kurenai blinked, stunned.

“Did you say Kurosuki Raiga—one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?” Kabuto’s eyes widened.

“He’s dead?” Izumi whispered, as if trapped in an illusion.

“Yes.” Kitazawa’s smile was faint. “It was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Kurenai opened her mouth, then closed it again. He said it far too lightly… but she knew Kitazawa wasn’t one to joke about such things.

“Kitazawa-sensei is truly incredible,” Kabuto breathed. The Seven Swordsmen were legends, each an elite jōnin-level monster.

And Kitazawa had cut one down alone.

His strength was nothing short of terrifying.

——————

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