Chapter 324   - Ch324. Struggle Against Raiga

Kakashi and Zabuza stared at Raiga who stood in front of him while his body language screamed irritation and annoyance to the whole world.

"Thank you for not participating in the assassination." Kakashi suddenly spoke.

He fought against Raiga and knew well that Tazuna would be long dead if Raiga decided to sneak attack him in his lightning mode. Kakashi obviously had a few counter-measures prepared but he was not hundred percent certain they would work.

Raiga grunted in acknowledgment, "It's the fault of Gato and those conceited Sound bitches." He disgruntledly said with a dark dissatisfied look, "If it was up to me, I would have tried assassinating Tazuna the first day he started working on the bridge again. You would have been much more vigilant but also much less prepared."

Kakashi had to admit, Raiga had a point. Deep inside, he wouldn't really mind such an outcome either. He didn't delude himself into thinking they could protect Tazuna if Raiga was dead set on sneakily assassinating him. Anko could probably fight him on equal footing, maybe even slightly overwhelm him, but she definitely was not fast enough to save Tazuna if Raiga got a lucky shot in.

If Tazuna died, Kakashi's team would have failed a mission but they would be alive and well. Kakashi felt a bit ashamed for desiring such an outcome but... it was only natural.

"But no!" Raiga continued with loud exasperation, "The midget suddenly decided that killing Tazuna is not enough. Now he wants all the ninja protecting Tazuna also dead. Worst of all, he wants to do it in an overbearing display of strength to, ahem... 'Show the bastards they should have never messed with the mighty Gato!', or something like that." He mockingly tried to imitate Gato. "I had to wait days for the Sound ninjas to arrive and then they started acting as if they were some hot shit on sale."

"The midget is probably acting out to overcompensate for his height." Zabuza snorted in sympathy. He was a missing ninja for a time. He knew exactly what Raiga was going through. S-rank or not, he had to play nice if he wanted to earn money in a way that didn't include the death of his client and robbing him blind. Alas, having honor was not a very good quality for a missing ninja.

Raiga waved his hand in a 'so-so' gesture before speaking, "I only stayed because I have unfinished business with the Copycat." He jerked his head in Kakashi's direction. "But since you are here, Zabuza, I'll gladly witness how much stronger you got, brat." His lips stretched into a condescending grin as he slowly unsheathed his blades.

"Huh? No threats of brutally murdering me and taking my sword?" Zabuza asked in confusion as he briefly wondered if the man in front of him was really a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Raiga just shook his head as if he just heard something absurd. Even if he killed Zabuza, he would not be taking Kubikiribocho for himself. He was too afraid of Mizukage deciding to personally hunt him down for that. He would not risk such a thing.

"Enough talking." Raiga's body was abruptly enveloped with a thin but concentrated coating of lightning chakra. "Your partner received enough time to finish his preparations." His eyes flickered towards Kakashi who slightly tensed.

Raiga stepped back and spun the Kiba blade in his right hand, making its tip aim at the ground before he swiftly intensified the lightning aura around the blade, plunging it to the ground as if it was just butter.

Kakashi grit his teeth as he felt the connection with his shadow clone, who was under Raiga, waiting for the best opportunity to strike, disappear.

'I was right.' Kakashi bitterly thought with a small frown under his mask, 'He can somehow sense his surroundings to an incredible degree! No matter...'

Raiga suddenly widened his eyes, not having enough time to move even with his lightning aura when a massive explosion engulfed him, sending sharp jagged pieces of bricks from underneath him straight at his lower body.

Kakashi smirked. His clone was destroyed but not before it planted the special and extremely potent explosive tag he prepared for this fight. He and Zabuza instantly sprang forward, intending to press this advantage of theirs, hoping Raiga would be injured enough to tip the clash in their favor.

When they were halfway the distance to their target, Raiga suddenly pulsed his chakra, creating a small shockwave that dispersed the dust in the air from the explosion, showing he was completely unscathed.

Unlike Raikage's Lightning Armor, Raiga's Lightning Release: Full Body Activation didn't possess extreme defensive capabilities but it was still made of a dense lightning aura coating his body, hence, an explosion and shrapnel were not enough to penetrate through it.

Unfortunately, neither Kakashi nor Zabuza could use large-scale destructive Jutsu because it would wreck the bridge. As much as they didn't like it, they had to try and engage Raiga in close-quarter combat.

The first to reach Raiga was Zabuza, swinging the Kubikiribocho in a downward arc while putting as much of his strength and weight behind it as he could manage.

Raiga furrowed his eyebrows, remembering that the wielders of Kubikiribocho were always exceptionally gifted strength-wise. He didn't go for a full block, and instead tilted the Kiba blade he raised into a blocking position slightly downward.

Kubikiribocho and Kiba blade clashed, sending a mix of blue and orange sparks into the air as chakra metal ground against chakra metal. Raiga's arm buckled under the weight of Zabuza's strike. His initial assumption was totally correct and Zabuza's strength was massive.

'He must have trained a lot in the last few years.' Raiga idly thought as he tilted the tip of the blocking Kiba blade a bit more towards the ground, slowly letting the Kubikiribocho slide alongside it to the side, mitigating most of the force from Zabuza's strike.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Raiga suddenly heard from behind Zabuza, making him show a surprised expression. He expected Kakashi to team up with Zabuza for the initial strike. That's why he blocked Zabuza's slash with only one of his blades. He needed the second prepared to deal with whatever attack the Copycat pulled out of his ass! He however didn't expect that...

Smoke engulfed both Zabuza and a split second later Raiga as Kakashi used his summoning just a few feet behind Zabuza, using his hulking frame as cover.

"There are eight new chakra signatures." Ranmaru quietly whispered to Raiga from his backpack. "They feel like dogs and are trying to encircle us!"

Raiga's expression shifted back to indifference but his tone contained a hint of irritation. "Tell me when they are about to attack." He mumbled under his nose in a low enough voice that Zabuza had no chance of hearing it.

Kakashi didn't want to waste the smoke from the Summoning Technique. The second his ninja dogs were in positions, all surrounding Raiga from every side, he pulsed his chakra in a special pattern that was established as an order to attack.

Zabuza, knowing what to expect since he and Kakashi discussed possible strategies a lot, put more chakra into his arms, trying to pin Raiga down, maybe even force him to use the second Kiba blade as support against his strength.

As Kakashi's dogs neared their target, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a bad premonition while he was in the middle of doing hand seals necessary to call forth Chidori. He was about finished with them too, when he senses a flicker of lightning chakra originating from Raiga's position, causing him to widen his eyes in alarm. He stopped kneading his chakra for Chidori and instead quickly pulsed his chakra for retreat order but he was far too late.

Out of nowhere, a lightning strike descended straight at Kiba blade blocking Zabuza's Kubikiribocho, causing Zabuza to feel as if a horse kicked him in the chest, all air forcefully left his lungs. Zabuza recognized this technique and knew it was not over yet. He instantly forfeited the clash of blades and jumped slightly back, in the hope to avoid most of the follow-up while putting the blade of Kubikiribocho in front of himself as a makeshift shield.

At this time, Kakashi's dogs were just a few feet from Raiga... but then a surge of concentrated lightning chakra in the shape of a dome spread outwardly from Raiga's position, frying everything in its path. One after another, the dogs burst in smoke, unsummoning themselves because of the extensive burns they suffered.

Zabuza was a bit luckier as he managed to mitigate most of the damage thanks to Kubikiribocho. When the initial surge of Raiga's technique smashed against his sword, it gave Zabuza enough momentum to propel him out of its range. He evaded the worst of it and only suffered small burns.

Kakashi watched the smoke disperse with the burst of the lightning dome, feeling his connection to his summons to disappear one after another in quick succession while Zabuza landed next to him, sliding a bit on the ground to stop his momentum, wincing as his hand was slightly burned.

"We underestimated him." Kakashi darkly muttered as the realization struck him. Raiga was not only a swordsman. Being the Kiba wielder meant also being the foremost expert on lightning techniques in Kirigakure.

"Yeah. We should never have assumed he would rely only on swordsmanship." Zabuza gruffly admitted, miffed at himself for forgetting this fact. In his defense, it was over a decade since Kirigakure actually possessed the Kiba blades. 'Maybe I will be really forced to use that..' He grimaced.