Tarai was shocked all over. Sasuke was very fast, this he knew. After all, there was no slow close-combat ninja who used Lightning Style. Just now, his companion had been instantly approached by Sasuke at an extremely fast speed and killed with a single slash.
He hadn't expected that Sasuke's speed now was even twice as fast as earlier.
If earlier Sasuke was as fast as a gust of wind, now he was as fast as lightning.
In just an instant, Sasuke had already arrived in front of him, the lightning blade slashing toward his chest.
Tarai wanted to dodge. As a fellow close-combat ninja and a veteran Jonin from the Kumogakure, he had full confidence in his reflexes.
But he suddenly discovered that his reactions seemed to not quite keep up.
Seeing that he couldn't dodge this move, he could only inject the same lightning attribute chakra into his long blade and place it horizontally in front of his chest.
This was all he could manage to do.
In the next moment, Sasuke's lightning blade struck his long blade.
Crack!
A sound.
The long blade imbued with his chakra was still cut in half by Sasuke's lightning blade in one stroke, and the momentum hadn't stopped, continuing to slash toward Tarai's chest.
Fortunately, that block still slightly slowed down Sasuke's offensive, giving Tarai a fleeting chance to dodge.
Tarai used all his strength, his entire body retreating fiercely backward, the lightning blade barely grazing past his chest.
Although he had avoided the most vital part, he still felt a scorching pain in his chest. Unconsciously lowering his head to look, he saw a long blade wound across his entire chest.
Tarai was greatly shocked, cold sweat breaking out all over his body.
As a veteran close-combat Jonin of the Kumogakure, he had full confidence in his speed and reaction.
And having often sparred with Cloud ninjas who used Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he was very familiar with close-combat lightning style and knew various countermeasures.
But even so, in a single clash with Sasuke, he still suffered such a loss? He was almost finished off in one move like that companion.
He immediately understood that the enemy from the Akatsuki in front of him was a master, at least at the level of a well-known elite Jonin.
Wasn't Akatsuki just a little-known organization that used to be under Hanzo the Salamander? How could any random person they encountered be of this level?
One must know, the Third Raikage had come to the Land of Rain this time, and although his core purpose was to eliminate the Akatsuki, the one he was truly guarding against was Hanzo the Salamander.
Other than Hanzo the Salamander, the demigod who stood at the top of the ninja world, they Cloud ninjas didn't put the rest in their eyes.
Unexpectedly, their first attack on Akatsuki already encountered such big trouble.
Thinking of this, Tarai spoke seriously to several companions, "The opponent has the strength of a renowned ninja. Everyone attack together!"
In fact, even without Tarai saying it, several Cloud ninjas had already started taking action.
Just now, when Sasuke's blade failed to deal a fatal injury to Tarai and he tried to move forward to finish him off, the Cloud ninja next to Tarai had already begun forming hand seals.
A Wind Style: Great Breakthrough technique formed a roaring tornado rushing toward Sasuke.
Sasuke had no choice but to retreat backward to dodge it.
The remaining Cloud ninjas were all close-combat types. Taking advantage of the good attack opportunity created by their companion, they also drew the swords on their backs and charged toward Sasuke.
Sasuke, seeing this, only coldly sneered and mocked faintly, "You are too weak. Whatever you do is futile."
After speaking, he stood motionless, the lightning blade in his hand condensing again, and with an upward lift, the blade slashed right onto the first Cloud ninja leaping at him.
That Cloud ninja was cleaved in two by this slash.
Then, Sasuke still remained motionless, raising the lightning blade and slashing downward again, hitting the second Cloud ninja who had already reached him.
That Cloud ninja was also split into two.
The remaining two Cloud ninjas who had also rushed forward saw that things were going badly and quickly stopped their attacks and retreated.
But the corners of Sasuke's mouth just curled into a light smile.
Retreating now was already too late.
He moved forward in a flash and slashed toward the third Cloud ninja who didn't retreat in time.
If this slash landed solidly, the third Cloud ninja would also be cut in two.
But at this moment, the recovered Tarai re-entered the battle.
He didn't go to rescue the companion being attacked by Sasuke, but instead his whole body sparked with lightning, and he slashed with one hand toward Sasuke's abdomen.
Sasuke saw this and had to abandon the attack on the third Cloud ninja, turning back with a calm expression to look at Tarai slashing toward him.
Familiar technique, familiar move, somewhat like the Fourth Raikage A slashing his Susanoo with that Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.
Was it because Tarai's long blade had been cut just now, so he directly used his hand as a replacement?
Didn't expect this Tarai actually knew part of the Fourth Raikage A's technique. But the question was, how did he compare to the Fourth Raikage?
At this moment, Tarai also got close to Sasuke. While in Lightning Style Chakra Mode, his speed was also extremely fast. In an instant, his hand chop was right next to Sasuke's abdomen.
However, unlike the panic and disorder he showed when attacked by Sasuke earlier, Sasuke was still standing in place, and his body appeared to have made no movement.
Was it because he couldn't react in time? How was that possible?
Sasuke's speed just now made it impossible that he wouldn't react at all.
So, was he planning to take the move head-on?
Tarai's mouth revealed a trace of ridicule. Did the enemy think they were their own Third Raikage, with such a strong physique?
The enemy actually dared to act so arrogantly, wasn't this his opportunity?
"Kid, looking for death!"
Tarai's hand slash struck heavily at Sasuke's abdomen.
However, at the very last second before impact, he suddenly heard Sasuke say, "Chidori Stream!"
A surge of flowing lightning flickered across Sasuke's body, gathering at the abdomen, the exact spot where Tarai's hand slash landed.
Tarai's hand slash didn't break through the lightning force covering Sasuke's abdomen, and instead, he and Sasuke were locked in a deadlock like this.
His eyes widened in disbelief, looking at Sasuke.
"This is... Lightning Style Chakra Armor, you stole our Kumogakure's technique!"
Suddenly, he saw Sasuke close his eyes, then open them again.
A pair of three-tomoe Sharingan entered his vision.
Sasuke said calmly, "This move, do I really need to steal it?"
"Looks like your Lightning Style isn't bad. You could actually touch the area where I concentrated my Chidori Stream without getting paralyzed or burned."
"But unfortunately, compared to the Fourth Raikage, you're still far behind. If he had used this move, I wouldn't dare take it head-on."
'Fourth Raikage?', Tarai was momentarily confused, 'Isn't our Raikage the Third?'
He only had time to shout, "The enemy is Uchiha, this whole thing is a Konoha conspiracy! Everyone be careful!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y