Chapter 332   - Ch332. Summoning Scroll

A massive amount of smoke burst into existence above the scroll and everyone tensely waited with bated breath what exactly was Zabuza trying to summon that he was utterly confident it could help him deal with Raiga. Even Raiga waited, wondering when did Zabuza gain a summon, and found the situation extremely amusing. Only Anko was carefreely grinning like a loon, already knowing what would happen and that she could just chill.

The smoke slowly started to dissipate and the tense atmosphere intensified... only to utterly collapse when nothing appeared after the smoke was completely gone.

Raiga tilted his head, making a silent question to Ranmaru on his back since he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Ranmaru, however, also just shook his head, signaling that he also didn't sense anything but the brief fluctuation of chakra from the summoning technique. Raiga's eyebrow twitched as he gave the sheepish Zabuza a deadpan look.

"You know..." Raiga started in a drawl, "I expected something more... how do I put it? I knew there was a reason why you went for the most muscle-brained of the Seven Swords Zabuza but even I didn't expect a jonin could mess up such an easy Jutsu." He slowly spoke with a hint of disbelief and mockery in his voice, "I must say, you surpassed my wildest expectations."

Zabuza, who was blankly staring at the scroll and wondering where he went wrong, heard Raiga mocking him and flushed red from embarrassment. But Zabuza wouldn't be Zabuza if he didn't instantly glare at Raiga and attempt to play his embarrassment off as anger.

"Shut up! I did everything as instructed! I don't know why this piece of junk doesn't work!" He growled, willing to burn both the scroll and Ragia with his heated gaze.

Next to Zabuza, Kakashi tiredly rubbed his face, 'I am too tired for this shit. Does this mean we have to fight more or not? Can't somebody finally decide and tell me?' His eyes were involuntarily closing and it was only his will that kept him awake.

Kakashi then noticed that Anko's grin was still present on her face despite the apparent failure of the summoning and his shoulders slumped as his body relaxed. 'Whatever. Anko is already here. She can deal with the rest.'

"Whatever." Raiga scoffed at Zabuza, now sure the Jutsu really failed and this was not some elaborate ambush. He had the utmost trust in Ranmaru's abilities and when even after three minutes of scanning the surroundings the kid could not find anything amiss, then that meant there was nothing amiss to be found. Raising his swords to a ready position, Raiga grinned at Anko, "Let's see what you are made of, girly!"

With that, the lightning crackled around Raiga's body before he disappeared in a burst of speed, dashing straight at Anko who he perceived as the sole remaining threat. He was excited too because the woman's chakra was potent and Raiga was itching for a challenge that would push his limits further.

As for Anko... she continued condescendingly grinning at the quickly approaching Raiga without a care in the world, her hands in her pockets. She looked like a casual observer who had immense fun watching the show rather than someone about to fight. Her body was completely relaxed and unprepared for a fight while her chakra was calm and unbothered.

Raiga was confused and with a mild disappointment thought he had her...

Kakashi's Sharingan eye widened in horror as he powerlessly watched Raiga's sword nearing Anko's face, heading straight towards her eyes while she didn't even start preparing to evade. He wanted to jump and tackle her out of the way but his body was too exhausted and he knew he would not make it. He could only watch with growing despair as his comrade, even though one he didn't particularly like, was about to get killed.

Raiga's blade was getting closer and closer to Anko whose eyes sparkled in amusement. 'Crazy bitch!' Raiga thought, worried that this was some kind of trap but he couldn't really stop his attack at the last moment and both Ranmaru and his own senses were telling him there was no trap awaiting him. He simply couldn't comprehend the situation...

As he was about to strike her, his instincts suddenly flared, screaming at him 'DANGER'. Raiga knew that his instincts were one thing that would never betray him and listened, instantly halted his attack, and froze in his position, unable to move, causing the slightly trembling tip of his blade to stop an inch from the grinning Anko's eye.

Anko looked straight into Raiga's frightened quivering eyes and her grin widened even more as she slowly raised her hand and with her pointing finger smugly pushed the tip of Raiga's blade to the side with silent amusement still written in her eyes.

The rigid Raiga looked down and confirmed that yes, the thing he felt cutting into his neck was indeed a blade and the wetness he feels is his blood.

'If I didn't stop thanks to my instincts, I would have split my neck on the sword due to my speed!' He shuddered and leaned a bit back to separate his neck from the blade before gulping. The cut was shallow but in his current position, there was nothing he could do about this sudden attacker!

His right arm was outstretched forward in a strike towards Anko while his left was prepared for both the follow-up attack and defense position, holding his left Kiba blade in front of his chest.

The problem was, this sudden attacker appeared out of nowhere behind him and managed to sneak a blade around Raiga's waistline, under his left armpit, and position it across the left part of his chest, going all the way very closely towards his neck.

Raiga couldn't jump back because that's where his attacker stood. He couldn't use his Blades for defense because he simply wouldn't make it. He had a sword on his neck while his blades were nowhere near his body. He would be dead sooner than he could even start the pulling motion to return his blades closer to his body. The blade was going under his left armpit which was the biggest obstacle. It would take some serious maneuvers to get his left arm out of this entanglement without having it cut off.

This would not have been enough to mentally shake Raiga. The thing that hit him the hardest was the instant dispersion of his Lightning Cloak the second the blade touched him. As his body instinctually trembled from being so close to death, Raiga idly wondered if the blade was some special anti-lightning tool created to counter the Raikage or something.

He was beaten and he knew it. He would not give up though. If sacrificing his left arm was to be the cost for preserving his life, then so be it.

Before he attempted his last-ditch effort, Raiga leaned his head to the side, trying to get a good look at the motherfucker who almost killed him...

He couldn't see much with the corner of his eye but he did notice blood-like crimson locks belonging to a woman of small stature, causing a chill to go down his spine. This was his worst nightmare.

'The Mizukage!?' Raiga mentally freaked out and his breath hitched. Any plan to resist was instantly abolished in his mind. He knew there was no point. He would not make it. Even if he tried to sacrifice his left arm, he doubted Ringo would be unable to take his arm and then kill him before he blinked.

Quite a lot of Raiga's discouragement came from his instinctual fear of Ringo caused by his fight against her when she attacked the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist during the Third Ninja War. He had no idea about her true power but for Raiga, this was the one enemy he was too afraid to oppose.

He could laugh in the face of S-rank ninjas, he fended off the infamous bounty hunter Kakuzu who thought he was hot shit, only to get a lightning slash going through the middle of his chest before running off like a bitch. To this day, Raiga had no idea what made Kakuzu so scared nor how the dude survived having his heart and chest cleaved in half but that didn't matter. Kakuzu never showed up again in front of him.

Raiga showed middle finger to Itachi Uchiha when the boy came to recruit him for Akatsuki and managed to send him running with his tail tucked between his legs when Raiga's ability to fight with his eyes closed and his lightning cloak completely nullified the brat's illusions and Sharingan.

He was not even afraid to face off against the Raikage, confident that his swordsmanship technique and admittedly slightly inferior speed when using his Lightning Release: Full Body Activation could get him through the battle and give him a decent shot at winning against the brainless brute.

But facing Ringo Ameyuri was different. Raiga subconsciously forfeited before he could even try to resist. That was the extent of his fear... of the trauma Ringo inflicted upon him during their last clash.

"How?" He croaked out in dread as his heart wildly hammered in his chest.

"You should be more careful where you are standing, Raiga." Ringo's soft tone entered Raiga's ears, causing his fearful eyes to widen.

Looking down, an abrupt realization hit Raiga, making him dizzy. 'The summoning scroll! I am standing right above the ending part of the unrolled scroll! That's why the Konoha bitch was so calm! She knew!'