Naruto: The Senju Patriarch

Before the Raikage could respond, Katsuro blitzed forward, empowered by Susanoo no Mikoto - and it almost caught the Raikage off guard. Thanks to his longer experience and Shinobi instinct, the Raikage was able to dodge, but not so cleanly that he avoided the Susanoo no Mikoto entirely. But his trust in his Jutsu meant he didn't even care. But to his surprise even though his body wasn't injured, he felt the effect on his Lightning Style Chakra Mode cloak as it took damage in an unusual way especially as the attack hadn't been particularly strong.

How was my Chakra Mode attacked? The boy didn't even make physical contact or attack with a Jutsu - then how did I feel my chakra be attacked?

Wait. The green winds around his body and those lightning sparks could it be that he's got his own Chakra Mode, just like mine? But Konoha doesn't have one… There's no way that he has made his own version of a Jutsu that took generations to finally perfect with me… Right?

The Raikage's thoughts were interrupted as Katsuro launched yet another attack at him, but the Raikage managed to just about dodge again.

That has to be it - that's the only explanation for his speed - he's even faster than me! And this is a bad match up too - he's using Wind Style, which naturally counters Lightning. Damn! This fight won't be easy!

That being said, A refused to back down, full of pride and wishing to protect his people. He launched his first attack in the duel, with a 2 finger Hell Stab. I can't afford to try and preserve chakra here - the Wind Emperor isn't like the yellow haired kid. He's faster, sturdier and if the rumours are true, much, much stronger. Not to mention that he killed the Kazekage using that damned teleportation technique that the yellow haired kid used. He's faster, stronger and can use that Jutsu. If I'm going to win, I need to go all out here and now, and end this as quickly as possible!

The Raikage let out a roar as he attacked, pouring way more chakra and physical effort into the 2 finger Hell Stab than normal, increasing his speed and power greatly - but it was still futile. Just as the Raikage had acknowledged, Katsuro used Flying Raijin: Level 1 to teleport to a Kunai in the ground nearby. He must've thrown it during those attacks earlier - I need to be careful of where they are, the Raikage thought, looking around quickly. Just as expected, he found several Kunai embedded into the ground. Just as A was making a mental note of their locations, Katsuro struck again - and this time, despite the Raikage's improved Chakra Mode, Katsuro's attack landed.

The twin swords were brought down on the Raikage's right shoulder with all of Katsuro's physical might, but the A's Chakra Mode saved him. It was like an extremely tough armour, and it resisted Katsuro's double strike - but it wasn't perfect. The Kiba blades managed to get through the Chakra Mode, and leave a small but considerable slash on his right shoulder, forcing the Raikage to leap backwards, but barely wincing at the pain. After a second of rest, allowed by Katsuro purely for the thrill of the battle, the two bound towards each other again. Katsuro began to settle into the pace of the battle, but that was where he slipped up. Now realising the difference in their speeds, the Raikage recharged the chakra through his body, now much more precisely and efficiently, greatly increasing his speed. As the two leapt towards each other, A once again launched his 2 finger Hell Stab towards Katsuro as they made contact, who swiftly ducked past it, thinking he would be able to avoid the attack once again, and make a counter.

However, right as the Raikage's hand flew past Katsuro's shoulder, he channelled even more chakra into his hand, causing the aura of his chakra to grow even larger. In doing so, his attack was able to scratch the Stormbreaker's shoulder, creating a small gash. Luckily, his enhanced reaction time allowed him to escape relatively unscathed from A's trick. Katsuro, now, stepped away.

His chakra control and capacity is very impressive. I keep forgetting he's renowned for it. I can't keep taking this fight this light.

Katsuro smiled, now more serious about his opponent. The Raikage, similarly, was also prepared, nowhere near ready to give in. Little did he know, Katsuro saw this battle more as a way to refine his skills using the Raikage as a grinding stone.

The Raikage was the first one to break their temporary pause, rushing towards Katsuro, who drew a specialised kunai, concealing the Flying Raijin seal on it. A, noticing the weapon, thought Katsuro was getting ready to finish their fight, making him wary of his opponent's next move, as they sped towards each other. However, to his surprise, Katsuro threw the kunai towards him. Instinctively, the Raikage quickly stepped past the weapon while keeping attention on where it would land, not realising he had fallen into the Senju Patriarch's attack already. Katsuro smiled to himself, and immediately used Flying Raijin: Level 2, to teleport to the position of the kunai in mid-air. Seeing Katsuro disappear in front of his eyes, the Raikage turned briefly, no longer seeing the kunai behind him, but instead a focused Katsuro, holding a huge swirling ball of chakra in his palm. Widening his eyes, A realised his mistake, but was too late to react. He had already seen this from Minato, but failed to recognise that Katsuro could use it too, and so freely at that.

"Big Ball Rasengan!" Katsuro rammed the Jutsu into the back of the Raikage, who didn't have time to raise his defences. This time, Katsuro felt little resistance from A's chakra mode, and could feel the Raikage's body being destroyed inside out, before he was sent flying away, crashing into the ground repeatedly. He didn't get up for a few seconds, and raised himself on his knees, severely wounded, coughing blood, and roaring in pain. A's clothes, where the huge jutsu had hit, essentially his entire left torso, were torn apart, and the skin had been ripped off, revealing the purple, bloodied tissue underneath. It was a horrifying sight, but Katsuro looked on. A direct Rasengan could nearly kill a regular Shinobi, and a huge one like the one he had just used, could kill any regardless of their rank or ability, Kage or not. But, the Third Raikage's physical strength and endurance was far greater than most in the Shinobi world, allowing him to survive the attack, and even stand up. Everyone watching was left speechless at the two. Katsuro raised an eyebrow, seeing that A was still standing, let alone breathing.

With a deep grunt of resilience from the Raikage, who attempted to stand tall, still visibly fighting against the pain and deterioration of his body, the Stormbreaker gained great respect for A in that moment, witnessing the Raikage's physical and mental strength, but more importantly, his honour.

The Raikage stood before Katsuro, breathing heavily with blood dripping down his body. He was bruised all over and in such a poor state that looking at him would've brought down morale for the Kumo Shinobi. But fortunately, or perhaps not, they were too busy fighting for their very lives. Caught between the 2 forces of Konoha who surged upon them, Kumo was losing men rapidly. With the reinforcement the numbers gap had closed significantly, 7000 fought on Kumo's side against about 6500 from Konoha, with about 3500 of those being led by Katsuro. It had been incredibly impressive that Konoha had largely kept the death tolls between both sides even till now despite the numbers, a testament to the strength of those like Orochimaru carrying that burden and exploiting the fact that other than the Raikage, Kumo didn't have a true power house.

But now? The destruction caused by Might Duy in the 5th Gate, the Hyuga Clan and their leaders, the Senju and Uzumaki led by Kaito and Katsuro's elite squad of disciples now among nearly equal numbers left them feeling hopeless. The originally defending forces became overbearing with the position they were in. Orochimaru summoned Manda, who freely ate the Kumo Shinobi as if they were mere rats, as the Inuzuka synchronised their Taijutsus and Man Beast Transformation to become columns of bullets speeding through their ranks. The civilian Shinobi fought with equal fervour having seen the light after the night being led by a man they truly respected.

Minato who had taken a moment to recover rejoined the fight, now freely using his Flying Raijin to reap lives as efficiently as possible.

Looking around, the Raikage only saw one way for Kumo to come out of this battle at all. He needed to kill Senju Katsuro here, make quick work of Minato and become the spear that would tear a way out while taking as many Konoha lives as possible.

He who loved fighting finally felt the weight of being oppressed for the first time - and fighting was no longer as fun as he remembered.

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