It was only a few days since he had recieved the news that he would be named as the 10th Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato. At first he was shocked beyond belief. Why would they pick him to succeed Reika Misora? Him specifically though. There should be multiple shinobi that were much more certified than him to take the seat as Raikage. After all Sanosuke had been gone for years on hand for training, and even before he could even rest in his home in Kumo for a week the sennin left Kumogakure to assist Kirigakure no Sato in the Seven Bells war. Why the hell would they elect someone like him to be the leader of a village that must have constantly been changing ever since he had left. All of his friends that he used to go on multiple missions with had either gone MIA or they had simply retired. He was there when his sensei, Midnight, had retired from the shinobi world and instead decided to spend more time with his family. His adoptive father had retired as well and is now living with a woman in the Village Hidden in the Grass. Sanosuke wished them well as he visited them when he was on the way back to Kumogakure after coming back from Mizu no Kuni victorious. They looked happy together, Sanosuke wished Takeshi and his wife Kaede well. His father was the one shinobi that he had looked up to and was the one that had taught the sennin the very beginnings of his swordsmanship training. Skye Nekito, his best friend, had retired as well. He seems to have settled down with a girl, and things seems to be getting serious between the two. The last time Sanosuke had visited Skye, Navi teased the purple marking man about hearing wedding bells. It caused for his best friend to have a rather strong shade of red to flush through his face. That earned a punch to the back of the wasps head. His teammate Hiromasa had retired as well. He had opened up a bar near the center of the village which was going pretty well. There would be times where Sanosuke would check in on his friend to see how his shop was doing. Sanosuke would laugh at the times where people will get a bit too drunk and cause trouble; before he could step in, his ex teammate would use his skills in genjutsu to subdue them and cast them in a net of embarrassing illusions.

This village was filled with a new brand of shinobi that the young wasp sage knew nothing about. There was also the other senjutsu master that he had met during the Kirigakure war against Seven Bells. He was the Lion Sage if he could remember correctly. When they had sparred against each other and Sanosuke hadn't even used sage mode, he noticed the animalistic features of a lion getting drawn on his face. He couldn't but help feel connected to the other Kumogakure sage. Then there was reports of another Kumogakure shinobi assisting in the war, he sounded pretty strong. Why wasn't he elected as the Raikage? That shinobi sounded like he'd make a better shinobi. He sounded like someone that had a better understanding of the Kumogakure that he had left for his training expedition he went on. But still, the village chose him. Would someone like him, still used to the old ways of Kumogakure 5 years ago, be able to fill in the shoes of Reika. Looking down, Sanosuke felt a weight on his chest as he remembered the funeral that was held for the past Raikage. It was already days after the funeral and Sanosuke was being flagged by multiple shinobi and other villagers to see if it was true that Sanosuke would be named as the new Raikage. It got to the point where he had to wear multiple disguises to hide whom he was. Publicity was so hard these days.

Sanosuke looked outside his apartment window to see that there were still some civilians lingering around his apartment building hoping to get a glimpse of the rumored new Raikage of their village. It was becoming a hassle, and half the time Sanosuke wished that he would strangle the irresponsible shinobi that had leaked the information that he would be named Raikage to public. Grumbling to himself, Sanosuke wished that he could just leave his apartment without having to disguise himself well. Yawning, Sanosuke decided to reach in his closet and try and find his old disguise that he would normally put on. "Navi! Do you know where my fake beard is?" Sanosuke shouted out to ask his partner whom was in the kitchen most likely getting something for herself to drink. He had on him last night, but this time around he couldn't find it. It was usually in his closet hidden with his other clothing, but now Sanosuke couldn't find or tail of it anywhere.

"Looking for this?" A voice said.

Sanosuke looked up right on top of his closet to find the last person he'd expect to be here in his apartment. Sitting cross legged on the top portion of his closet, Sanosuke looked in awe to see his teacher Guru Pathik waving at his student with the fake beard already on his face. Sanosuke looked puzzeled and confused. Why would he be there? And what exactly did this man want with him? Sanosuke couldn't help but wonder what his teacher was doing in his apartment. This was after all his apartment and he was the only person with keys to his own home. Being the owner of the house and also the fact that he had never left today Sanosuke wondered how his master even got in. A breeze from his window got caught in his hair as he somehow pieced together how his teacher got inside of his home. Figures, only he would get in like that. "You've gotta tell me how you did that." Sanosuke grumbled as he approached his teacher whom was giggling like a mad man while scratching his fake beard that was being entangled in his genuine beard.

As he hopped down from the closet itself without any noise coming from it. For someone so frail, the old man sure did have the moves and reflexes of a cat. Chuckling to himself, Pathik patted his student on the head as though he was a child. The weird thing was that Sanosuke was almost an entire foot taller than his teacher, so it was weird indeed. "You'll learn sometime when you have your own student. Until then, I need to take you somewhere. This ruckus about you being the Raikage may be true and all, but we need to see if you really have what it takes." Pathik said while patting his head. The only way for him to do such a thing was if the man was standing on his very tippy toes to do such an act without falling on his face completely. Sanosuke looked puzzled at the request. To see if he really has what it takes? What was that supposed to mean? After all the years of being his student, Sanosuke knew better than to question his master. Whatever he did, it was for his own good and he would benefit from it one way or another. But there was one question that he just had to ask....

"Master don't tell me you're going to be wearing my fake beard the entire time..."

"Why of course. It smells like lavender and ginger, I wonder how you made it smell so good!" Letting out a sigh, Sanosuke got his usual attire ready. "By the way. You should suit up for combat, you'll need it." That was all he said as smiled and sat at the corner of the room waiting for Sanosuke to get ready. Now he was gearing up for combat. Sanosuke wondered what was going on through the skull of his teacher. The fact that he gave him instructions for combat meant that it would be some rigorous training. In the past, they would be by surprise so that he would learn how to think on his feet. Getting a prior warning in advance was something completely different. Hopefully, he'd be ready for it.

---

"How far is it now?" Sanosuke moaned as he continued dragging his feet on the dirty debris of the rocks and other things that could be expected from a dirt tunnel. So far the sennin had been on his feet for a total of 5 hours just walking none stop. It wasn't as though his feet were beginning to ache him, on the contrary he didn't feel anything of the sorts while walking. All his training on his feet, there was one time that Sanosuke and Pathik had walked all the way from Hi no Kuni to Tsuchi no Kuni without a single break. Also Pathik gave the orders for his student to walk there on just his bare hands. It was grueling work, but that was what made him the stronger shinobi that he is today. So being tired and having aching feet was nothing at all that was concerning him. What was bothering him was the fact that he didn't even know where they were going for hours upon hours. It was getting to the young man that he was going upon hours for not knowing, but whenever Sanosuke had asked his master would immediately shoot his question down by simply changing the subject on something completely random; prime examples of that would be the color of the sky, what he ate, and the last village he went to.

The entire time they were walking, Sanosuke saw as they entered a mountain that was farther up north from the administration building. They were soon approaching the northern tip of Kumogakure no Sato when they entered a rather large and ancient looking mine shaft. Sanosuke had to stop for a second to see if that was where they were indeed to be walking. That's when his mentor signaled him no to worry and presume walking or else he would be forced to hop to their destination by only using one arm as a spring board in a push-up like motion. Letting out a sigh, Sanosuke followed his teacher in the abandoned mine shaft. Navi's light was acting much like the role of a flashlight as Sanosuke, Navi and Pathik walked farther into the mineshaft. Dust cluttered around them as the pathway was rather ancient. He could hear the cluttering of the mine's metallic pathway being straining under their weight as they walked. At first it was a bit too dark for anyone of them to see but then Sanosuke noticed how his teacher was suddenly using his own chakra as they passed an extinguished torch to light it with a rather unique white flame. Those torches shouldn't have been able to light, it looked as though just simply touching them would make it disintegrate into dust. But yet Pathik's white flames were not only lightning the torches but also were giving the torches some life as well. He only could tell that based off of the life energy he was sensing from torches. Pathik nodded in approval.

"You've mastered the art of senjutsu I see. Good for you! We are not that far off so hang in there, do you understand?" That was all that he would say as they walked in the now lighten path of the mines. It was also the first time that his master had actually acknowledged his skill of senjutsu. He didn't even need to go into sage mode to sense the chakra of life that it was seeping into the once extinguished torches breathing in new flames. Sanosuke smiled as he continued the trudge on; Navi on the other hand was still mystified at the fact that they were under the earth in a cave. It dawned on the young sage that the wasp had never been in a cave. So the fact of literally being under the earth must be definitly a new experience for her. Sanosuke couldn't help but laugh as she was gapping for air when then passed the forges. This was a new area for him to look at as well. There looked to be some weapons on racks near open flames. The weapons looked rather old and dull, like they haven't been used in years. It must have been the Kumogakure forges in case that there would be a war between the other villages. It might've been used to heat up the forges, but now it was just standing there without anyone being used. They passed them and seemed to be going even deeper and deeper into the mountains.

It wasn't until they were deep in the mountain's heart and walking for an additional 2 hours that Sanosuke noticed that Pathik had stopped walking entirely. Sanosuke stopped right behind his teacher, with Navi stopping by his side. From where they were looking at, Sanosuke looked around to see that they were in a rather circular room that looked to be as though they were in a large coliseum. Normally coliseum floors would have multiple entrances for the gladiators to enter. But there was only one entrance on this floor, apart from the entrance that they came in from. All the other entrances that should have been there for it be called a coliseum battle ground were replaced with something that looked a lot like grounded torches. Looking around, Sanosuke wondered where exactly they were. Now was enough, Sanosuke had to know exactly what he was getting himself into. Before he had a chance to question his teacher, Pathik beat him to it. Pathik patted Sanosuke on the head once more with one hand and used the other to stroke his fake beard. that was originally Sanosukes, and his other one at the same time. "Now I bet you are wondering why I even brought you here, to this spot."

A tick mark appeared on Sanosuke's forehead as his temper was getting the better of him YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU BROUGHT ME TO THIS GOD FORSAKEN PLACE YOU OLD MAN!" Sanosuke roared. His yelling caused an echoed throughout the cave they were in. He was getting closer to his teacher to the point that the frail old man was ducking to not get too close to his student while laughing nervously and scratching the two beards. After his rant, Sanosuke just stood there growling in anger at his mentor. He better have a good explanation for bringing him all the way here or else he might have to throw the old man through a window in anger. Finally his teacher spoke up and backed away walking towards the center of the room. The old man flashed through several hand signs at rapid speeds that was nearly impossible for just any other shinobi to see. Finally he ended it by slamming his hands down on the ground hard. Seals crept through the ground until it had finally reached each of the torches lighting them with such a strong light that the entire room was illuminated with a bright light. "Well for me to tell you what you're doing here isn't any of my business. I think she'll tell you now."

Before Sanosuke could even ask what his teacher was talking about, he heard footsteps coming from the other entrance of the battlefield. Sanosuke turned his head towards the other entrance to see whom was coming to meet them. Looking into the dark tunnel, Sanosuke saw someone that he didn't think that he would see again. His face felt pale, as his heart began to beat harder. This wasn't possible. What was she doing here? These questions raced through his mind as his eyes locked in with the woman that was before him; the Kyuudaime Raikage Reika Misora.

---

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to figure out how Reika was still alive. It couldn't be? He had been to the scene of the crime where she was murdered, and there were splashes of blood everywhere on the field where she was killed. Upon seeing this, Sanosuke was swept with multiple emotions. Anger, sadness, furiousity, sorrow, and  finally grief. Why? Why would she decide to stay in a dark pace like this by herself? Didn't she know better? Nothing at all made sense. Sanosuke gritted his teeth as he tried to look away from Reika. His face was losing his color rather quickly, similar to him coming down with quite the serious case of the cold. Against all odds, Sanosuke didn't want this to be true. He gritted his teeth so hard that he felt blood coming down his chin. As the past Raikage came closer to Sanosuke, the present and newly appoint Raikage took a weak step backwards. For each 5 steps Reika took closer to the sennin, Sanosuke waited a 5 minutes before taking another step. It didn't take long until Reika to be before Sanosuke's presence. He didn't have too look to see that Reika was already before him, not even a foot away from him. They were so close that Sanosuke could feel her so dangerously close that her chakra signature, when he tried to sense her, that he could feel the heat of the chakra. That's when Sanosuke noticed something was off. Her chakra was beating like a physical heart, when her heart wasn't beating at all.

Swiftly moving, Sanosuke grabbed hold of the woman's cheeks and began to pull tightly. He had to make sure that she was real. Yanking, Sanosuke pulled the woman's cheeks up and down. Navi was flickering around trying to figure out what Sanosuke was doing. The weird thing was even though Sanosuke thought that what he was looking at was a ghost, but you can't just touch a ghost as easy as you can. With all the pulling against her face, Reika was squealing and fidgeting in pain trying to get free. "Sano! What are you doing! Let go of me right now!" Reika whined in protest of having her cheeks pulled so violently. Even against her protest, Sanosuke had to resolve himself not to let go. If he did, then he would know that the next thing he would most likely do is start to cower in fear of a ghost being this close to him. But she wasn't a ghost from all that he could tell from just the touch, she was really a human after all; or something along those lines. But there was only one thing that was left to make sure she really wasn't a ghost that was trying to haunt his dreams. It was delivered with a sharp kick in the nuts that was dealt by Reika herself. The pain was so sharp, that he buckled under his own weight and dropped holding his own jewels as though they were precious cargo.

Letting go of Reika, Sanosuke moaned softly to himself and looked at Reika chuckling to himself weakly. For a second, Sanosuke thought he would cough up blood any second now. "Okay, I give what are you exactly? You're not a ghost, but I know you're definitely dead. So what gives?" Sanosuke said weakly as he got himself up from the ground from having gotten a sinister kick to the nuts. Navi was flying away and laughing in the sounds of a chime like sounding cackle. Grabbing the fair with unrealistic like quickness, Sanosuke pulled Navi in quickly. "And just exactly are you laughing at?" Navi was looking at Sanosuke laughing weakly as her partner was beginning to strangle her. That's when he remembered that Guru Pathik, his master, had told him about something about someone beginning to explain what was really happening here and why they were down here in the first place. It seemed as though Reika would be the one that would explain all this to Sanosuke. Getting himself up from the ground, the sennin let go of Navi so that he could look at Reika, or whatever she was.

"Well you're right and kind of wrong. I'm definitely dead, but this is a chakra astral projection of myself that can be seen as a real peson." Reika explained to Sanosuke as she laid a hand on his face. Sanosuke was definitely taller than him, and so it looked quite silly. "I did this when I was first annointed as the Raika-"

"Reika! Who did this to you? Who was the one that murdered you?"

The only thing that Sanosuke was able to get out of the deceased kage was a solemn head shake of rejection. It made Sanosuke looked down in shame. So they were right back where they had originally started with absolute nothing. If this was a chakra projection of the spirit of Reika, then Sanosuke thought that maybe he could communicate with her spirit to find out who had killed her. "I don't remember at all. I'm sorry Sanosuke. The memory is hazy, I can't recall anything." Reika looked down on the ground sadly. Sanosuke mirrored her in disappointment. So there was literally nothing they could do to remedy this dire situation? Slipping her hand in Sanosuke's, she gripped it tightly to make sure that she had snatched his attention from her. "But we need to focus on what you're doing here. So you being here means you're going to soon be named as the next Raikage. I'm happy for you." She smiled so brightly at the last part that Sanosuke couldn't help but smile back at her. So this was a chakra projection of her. He was somewhat familiar with the process of how they are made. The user would store the last part of their chakra in a seal that would create the essence of the user, for a short time giving them substance. It was reassuring that Sanosuke would be able to see her smile once more, from beyond the grave.

"Before you can even be recognized as a Raikage, you have to pass the Trial by Thunder. It's a test to recognize you have the strength, the ability, and the will to hold the title as the next Raikage. Each past Raikage has been ask to do such a task, and the torches you see before you represent the container of the chakra essence." Reika continued to explain this ritual room. Sanosuke looked around the room to see that the number of torches represented the number of past Raikage. There was a total of 9 of them, each of them were lit as though they were powered by electricity. It filled the room with a glow that was lit by lightning in a bluish and white light. Reika looked at Guru Pathik this time. "Most of us were guided to this location by the shinobi chancellors. But it seemed as though you had some outside help. I'm curious stranger, how did you know about Kumo's most sacred ritual?" Reika asked critically, she pursed her lips trying to put two and two together.

"You flatter me Reika-chan. All I did was listen and I could easily hear your voices. Anyone could do it." Pathik said while stroking his fake beard and his real one at the same time using only one hand to do such a task. This earned Reika to shoot a scowl. Sanosuke remembered that she didn't like it when people called her 'chan.' Sanosuke smirked as this probably wasn't going to end well. But he was let down as Raikage turned her attention back towards Sanosuke.

Now it was Sanosuke's turn to ask questions. "So what do you want me to do? For this trial by thunder business." the sennin asked his predecessor. She smiled as she turned her head towards the torches and made the snake hand seal. From that simple hand seal, seals crept up from the groundwork bellow him and connected to each of the torches. There were silence as the torches slowly cast humanoid shadows. The shadows slowly materialized into actual people that were standing in front of the torches that they materialized from. They were all wearing the traditional Raikage robes. They were all the past Raikage, from the Shodai to the Kyuudaime Raikage that was in front of him. It was then that he realized that Reika was also wearing her robes as well. They each was wearing the matching cap as well. "For the trial by thunder, you have to fight one of the past Raikage in head to head combat." Reika explained to Sanosuke. Words were stripped from Sanosuke's tongue. He had to fight one of the past Raikage in combat? Looking on the ground along the seals that Reika created with that simple hand seal she made, Sanosuke saw a different kanji for the numbers 1-9 before each torch. To think that he would have to chose between which Raikage he would fight was unreal. But who should he chose to fight? Sanosuke thought long and hard, until finally an idea came to his head.

Smirking to himself, Sanosuke cast his eyes towards the ground so that no one would be able to see his eyes. "Shodai Raikage, Nidaime Raikage, Sandaime Raikage, Yondaime Raikage, Godaime Raikage, Rokudaime Raikage, Shichidaime Raikage, Hachidaime Raikage, and finally Kyuudaime Raikage." Sanosuke said slowly to make sure they all heard. From the corners of his eyes, Sanosuke could see how they all looked at Sanosuke as their names were being called. Navi, Pathik and all the other Raikage looked at Sanosuke in curiosity at what he was going through his mind. "I challenge all 9 of you for my Trial by Thunder!" Sanosuke announced loudly so that all of the people in the room could hear exactly what he said clearly. His voiced boomed through the cavern, in case one of the Raikage didn't catch what he said the first time the echo made sure that they heard it clearly. He was challenging all 9 of them to a fight, one on one.

---

---

Silence hung in the air thick after the echo had finally died down in the cavern they were in. Nobody made a move against Sanosuke's abrupt declaration at all the past Raikage before him. What he had declared was something that was against everything that was laid as tradition for any Raikage candidate. The Trial By Thunder, as he just learned, was for a Raikage candidate to only fight one past Raikage in a one on one fight. This was the past Raikage after all, they each were the strongest in their village for their generation. Growing up in the ranks of combat and just climbing the ranks just like he had done. Some would say that just being able to beat one of the Raikage would be commendable. But for him to fight all 9 of them back to back like that, it would sound like something only a few countries put together can accomplish. This declaration was seen as a insult to the Raikage, telling them all that he is much stronger than all of them put together, and also it was a wake up call to himself. He was Kumogakure's strongest shinobi as of now, being held the title of Raikage is testimony of that huge responsibility. It was the only way he could prove to himself that he was the strongest shinobi of Kumogakure. The killer of Reika, the supposedly strongest shinobi of their village, was able to kill her with ease. If he was to be named Raikage, then Sanosuke had to be sure that he was definitely the strongest of the village hidden in the clouds

Reika looked at Sanosuke in disbelief. Even she couldn't comprehend what Sanosuke had just done. The woman was trying her hardest to comprehend what Sanosuke was doing. Her amber eyes searched Sanosuke up and down to see if there was some sort of joke, or tell that her once friend was showing that he didn't mean it at all. But she found none. Everything about Sanosuke; from his body posture, the trace of noe stuttering in his voice, how steady his eyes were and how his chakra was completely steady and rigid as his attitude. He had meant every word he had said. Sanosuke was dead set against beating each of the Raikage in a one on one fight. Navi looked at Sanosuke and just shook her head while chuckling to herself. It wasn't surprising that she was the first person to understand that Sanosuke's dedication to this suicidal challenge he had issued to all 9 Raikage. Some of them shuffled in their standing position uncomfortably. The rest of them were trying their hardest not to laugh too hard at Sanosuke's ludicrous challenge. It wasn't until those few Raikage couldn't hold it in any longer and they started to laugh so hard that the cavern that there were contained nothing but laughter at what Sanosuke had said. It echoed everywhere and pierced through Sanosuke's ears.

"What a complete loser, he thinks he can beat all of us? What a joke!" the Raikage said that was in front of the seal engraved with the kanji for the number 1. That led to even more laughter from all the other Raikage that were laughing. Even some of them that were silent before were laughing with the first Raikage.

"Baka!"

"Baka!"

The sounds of jeering came from the cloaked figurines that were near the two torches that had the kanji inscribed of the kanji of the numbers 6 and 7 right next to each other. They had on the same Raikage cloaks as the other Raiakge that were close to them, instead they were the size of small children; no older than the age of 8 years old. All around him, Sanosuke had heard the past Raikage just laughing on and on about Sanosuke's challenge. It made him angry. They were laughing at his resolve to fight them all, as though he was just a joke. His fist shook in his hands as Sanosuke wanted nothing more than to get this challenge started. Taking a deep breath in, Sanosuke breathed out deeply. He had to calm dowm. Him having a meltdown wouldn't just be throwing fuel into the open fire of his embarrassment. Sneering, Sanosuke pointed at the Raikage whom was in front of the symbol that was insribed with the kanji of the number 1. "What's wrong First Raikage? Scared to be the first Raikage to be knocked on his ass by the Jyuudaime Raikage?" Sanosuke jeered. That caused all the Raikage that had been laughing to cease the laughter. Even if what Sanosuke had suggested before may have been seen as a joke among the Raikage, what Sanosuke had just said to the very first Raikage was nothing short of an insult. There was silence as all heads looked at the Shidai Raikage to see what he would do and how he would react.

The very Raikage looked at Sanosuke as though he was taken back. Lightning surged throughout his body as he looked at Sanosuke with nothing but hatred and aggravation. The first's crossed his arms as more lightning were surging around his body and licking the air. Just from where he was, he could smell it burning. Air and oxygen attempted to try its best to escape the lightning fury that was radiating off the of First Raikage's body. There was something ancient about the lightning that was coming off the first. It was something that Sanosuke knew nothing about. The ground shook as his anger was literally shaking the very core of the cavern they were in. Raising his arm to his sides, Sanosuke saw as the Raikage looked directly at Sanosuke's eyes. "Fine then brat, I'll take you on. Just know this, you asked for this." The Shidai barked outwards at Sanosuke.

"That's more like it, you old bastard."

Reika had just about enough of the silence as she held onto Sanosuke's arm tightly. She even squeazed his arm extra tight to grab his attention. Looking right at her, Sanosuke rose an eyebrow. Before he can even speak, Reika cut him off quickly with just the look she gave Sanosuke. It was rare that she would give him such a look of contempt that the wasp sennin just kept quiet to hear what she had to say. "Sano what you're asking is stupid. Don't be an idiot, he's had much more experience than you have. These fights are fights to the death. He may be a chakra projection, but thanks to those seals he's treated as though he has flesh and bone. He can kill you. Please challenge someone else bef-"

"Stay out of this!"
"Stay out of this!" Both Raikage shouted at Reika to silence her. Sanosuke shook her hand off of his arm as both of them approached each other. Reika looked at Sanosuke in sadness as her friend approached the first Raikage to battle him head to head. The first swiped his arm swiftly in a dismissing fashion. With that simple movement, all of the chakra projections were dismissed from the arena besides him. So the only people that were in the ring were Sanosuke and the first Raikage. A gust of wind exploded between the two as neither was fazed at all. The entire time, none of them broke eye contact; not for a single millisecond. The blast of wind was strong enough to send Navi and Guru Pathik spiraling to the very edge of the arena like leaves in the wind. After the wind died down, Navi desperately tried to fly towards the center of the circle to reach Sanosuke but she was intercepted by some invisible force field that stopped her like she was flying right into a brick wall. She yelped in pain as she tried again and again. "What the hell?! Why can't I enter!"

"The field is only for the challenge and the Raikage he challenged, no one else may enter." Navi looked to see Reika along side body Pathik and her. "I'm here only as an observer therefore I can see the match. I just hope that Sanosuke can make it out of this ali-" She was cut off by the Guru shoving a bag of popcorn in her face. Reika looked at Pathik in annoyance as he smiled nervously.

"Popcorn? It is not everyday you see a fight like this." Pathik offered. She said nothing as he shook the bag of popped kernals in front of her face teasingly. "You have a physical form, you can eat this can you not?"

The two shinobi glared each other down as Sanosuke was sizing up his opponent. This was the very first Raikage, the person who founded this village. He would admit though, the shinobi had an incredibly strong aura that made him feel angst and uneasiness. For some reason, each time one of those pops of static electricity popped around him he had to resist the urge to flinch out of instinct. If the Shidai saw him easily flinchable then that would just be one thing that he could cross off his analysis of Sanosuke Flynt: prone to lightning. Right now, they were both sizing each other up with just a staring contest. Blasting his own wind chakra to keep the static away from him, Sanosuke allowed his chakra to take shape as if it was just pure gravity crushing down on those that were too close. Wind clashed against lightning as the two powerful shinobi engaged in a miniature arm wrestling match that utilized their chakra pressure. It went on for minutes as neither of them were giving an inch to the other. They didn't want the other to have the satisfaction that they had to yield. At the same time, both of them cut off their chakra levels so that the room was somewhat neutral; minus the few couple of sparks that would go off here and there.

"That's enough foreplay for now." The Shidai said as he reached towards his cloak and removed it. Throwing it away, the cloak vanished in a stream of chakra that evaporated in the air. He did the same thing with his cape. Before Sanosuke was a dark skinned male in his late 40s. He had wild long hair that defied gravity and also defied all taming of a proper comb. On his body was a black cloak that had a piece of chest plated armor underneath. He had on silver white pants with the black cloak and a silver scar that matched it tied neatly around his neck. On his feet however were just standardized combat boots that had a silver streak on it. So this was what the first Raikage looked like. While in the academy, Sanosuke couldn't get a real good look at him, but seeing him ready for combat was something to look forward to indeed.  The Shidai crossed his arms and sneered at Sanosuke. "Before I kill you, allow me to give the name of your reaper. Got that kid? The name's Kazuyto Shintama, the first Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato."

Smirking himself, Sanosuke got out his broadsword that was on his back and took it out of his sheath. Kazuyto looked at it in interest, he must be wondering what Sanosuke would be doing with such a dull sword. The question was answered as Sanosuke took the two by the handle and tossed it as far up as his muscles would allow him. A few seconds passed as a think cold be heard; it was the sound of the sword landing right on the ceiling of the cavern. The Shidai looked at Sanosuke with a bit more curiousity and if he was mistaken, there was a glint of respect in his obsidan colored eyes at the showmanship of strength Sanosuke showed. Getting himself in a stance, Sanosuke clapped his hands together. His black gloves transformed into bronze plated gauntlets as lightning popped from the gauntlets to summon his twin swords. This made Kazuyto's eyebrow raise even further. Doubt he had seen that before. With his swords out, Sanosuke settled in an offensive stance utilizing his twin swords. Wasp sword jutsu stance number 76: Dawn's Crowning Moment, if Sanosuke could recall correctly. "I guess I'll do the same thing. Sanosuke Flynt, soon to be appointed as the Jyuudaime Raikage." Sanosuke sneered at his opponent as the time for chatting was over it was now time for battle.

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The battle between the two Raikage started after minutes of staying frozen in place just glaring at each other. A clash of lighting was all that gave for the two to engage. The Shidai dashed at Sanosuke with speeds that resembled lightning. Sanosuke rose an eyebrow at how fast he was going. When they met in the middle, Sanosuke rose his sword to swupe at the man's upper torso. The man focused chakra in his feet to repel the sword strike. The past Raikage charged up another kick to knock off his head clean off his body. The amount of chakra that Kazyuto was charging in his legs was unreal. Static was building in his legs as he was moving at high speeds. If it wasn't for his sharp eyes, Sanosuke wouldn't have been able to keep up with the Shidai at all. Moving quick enough, the sennin rose his swords to block the kick that would have most likely decapitated. Jumping back to get some distance from him and the Shidai, Sanosuke focused wind chakra around his body so that his hair was blowing in the wind with a bluish like aura. He had to move quickly or else the Shidai would be on him once more. It was pretty clever of the old man actually. He was gathering so much chakra in his feet that it was generating its own lightning field.

Dashing at Kazuyto's once more, Sanosuke went for yet another attack for the kage to get some blood drawn on his side instead of the other way around. He wouldn't let that bastard attack him like that again. That was already too close for comfort, Sanosuke had to cut him before that man would kill him with a simple pivot of his left or right foot. A left handed sword from his hand was raised to take a single swipe at Kazuyto's neck. It was unlikely that he would end the fight so swiftly and decidedly, but he couldn't help but at the very least try. Following through with his strike, Sanosuke prepared for the Shidai to dodge or deflect his attack. From there, he would definitely need to prepare for a counter attack. Once again his attack proved to be fruitless as Kazuyto ducked under the swing of his sword by just swooping his neck under the sword. Metal swiped just under the nick of his neck to avoid any blood being drawn from the blade. He went with the motion of the swing and went with a spinning like movement so that he was spinning like a top. While rotating to the side, Sanosuke saw from the corner of his eyes the first Raikage's lightning charged left foot coming right at Sanosuke's neck. This time it was his turn to duck under the potential lethal strike that was aiming at Sanosuke's vital organ that. The lightning went right above his head as he let the kick slashed at the base of his neck. Moving with the role of his punches, Sanosuke tucked his arms at his sides before thrusting his right sword to stab right into the abdomen of the first raikage.

That strike of his sword met with swinging momentum of his right foot this time that Kazuyto had started with the rotation. The wasp forged iron blade was diverted off target and flung Sanosuke's arm off to his side forcefully in a bucking fashion. Gritting his teeth  in pain, Sanosuke endured the pain as Sanosuke got his sword that was knocked away from him in position. The first Raikage had then began spinning on his hands like a reverse spinning top that was going with the initial movement he made when he countered the kick that Sanosuke had sent his way. At the moment, Kazuyto had began spinning like a top on his hands and closely coming at Sanosuke with an electric charged and wind up kick with his left foot. Raising the appropriate sword, Sanosuke blocked the kick so that it wouldn't be coming right in his path anymore. Ignoring the pain that he got from that kick, Sanosuke didn't have time to compain and bitch about how hard that kick was to see that that was only part of the plan of the Raikage's assault. Dipping in closer like an anaconda, Kazuyto stopped his spinning movement in an instant to send a charged kick upwards like an uppercut done with his feet. Sanosuke barely had time to react. The lightning popped right next to his ears as Sanosuke had nothing to do but let go of the foot he had secured with his parry to use both swords to bat the lightning kick away from his body. It caused for Kazuyto to stand upright once more with his feet to the ground with the simple back flip that was done by using Sanosuke's very own swords as a spring board.

The lightning that he was gathering was so strong that Sanosuke was baffled. How could someone like him gather this much chakra at once? Was his legs not about to give out from the chakra that it was holding? No other shinobi's legs could contain that much strain. Smirking to himself as he got himself ready to clash once again. Raising his left blade, Sanosuke pivoted his wrist so that he as going for an unorthodox strike to Kazuyto's neck. His opponent smirked and took a step within Sanosuke's guard while slipping that same foot to hook around Sanosuke's ankle. All he did was let out a sneer and pulse another strong pulse of lightning in his legs while it was ensnared with Sanosuke's leg. The sennin yelped loudly in pain as his leg was literally close to being fried off into pieces. Trying to pull his leg away, the Shidai was holding his leg with a vice grip. It was as though his leg was tied together and being restraint by an anaconda. Sanosuke cursed out in annoyance as the first Raikage had refused to let him go. Blasting his own wind chakra to dangerous levels, Sanosuke let out a roar of pain. The amount of chakra he was gathering was so strong and concentrated that the blade of winds were severing all of those that would come close to Sanosuke. Blades of chakra ran rampant through the air cutting anyone of those that would even think of getting too close. It floated in the air just as easy as the lightning strong static pops in the air. In actually the blades of wind chakra were slicing through the static pops with ease.

Cuts began to appear around Sanosuke, but he ignored them. Biting his tongue so he would no longer scream in pain, Sanosuke felt ruby colored blood slip down his chin. He wouldn't let the Shidai get the satisfaction of him struggling to get free from this pain. He wouldn't let this bastard get the last laugh. He wouldn't let this old man be the one to kill him. Roaring loudly like a loud beast running rampant, more chakra blasted from his entire body. The wind aura clashed with the lightning aura that had been incircled by the first Raikage. IT was a battle of the wills. A battle of the elements. And also the battle of Raiakge. Neither one of them were giving an inch as their aura of chakra was hurting each other. Lightning pops from Kazuyto's own chakra aura was going off so close to Sanosuke's face that it was similar to a bomb going off that close to his body. His own wind chakra was cutting into his body. Sanosuke growled in response to Kazuyto's very own look of discomfort. He was in just as much pain as Sanosuke since there was now wind chakra blasting and cutting right at the Shidai's foot that had entangled Sanosuke's foot. He was just now getting the same treat that he had given Sanosuke.

After being in deadlock for so long, the both of them decided at the same time to retreat backwards to a respectable distance from each other. Looking back at the Shidai, Sanosuke noticed just how cut up the first Raikage was. His entire body was riddled with cuts, his clothing had suffered even more slashes. The silver scarf that was neatly tired around his neck was looking like rags that were at the wrong end of a blade. On Sanosuke's end however, his clothing was covered in both ash from the lightning popping off in an explosion similar to an explosion going off with gunpowder. His own clothing was suffering cuts of the severe variety. It also riddle his body as the cuts made it hard for him to move as well, but that didn't stop Sanosuke from standing tall and proud with his twin blades held tight in his arms. Glaring at Kazuyto with nothing but determination in his eyes, Sanosuke got himself ready in a defensive stance this time. An attack was what happened the last time and that led to him being able to analyze the defensive parameters of the Shidai Raikage. Needless to say that it proved that the first had an unreal, close to godly reaction time. It was though he was reacting just as fast as lightning; there was even a part of him that suspected of Kazuyto even moving faster than lightning itself. So now it was time to see what the first Raikage could do offensively, and to see if his defenses can even keep up.

The first Raikage looked at Sanosuke's now bleeding and slightly burnt foot and couldn't help but laugh loudly. It caused Sanosuke to look a bit confused. "I'm surprised that your foot wasn't completely burnt to ashes. Nobody has lasted that long being that close to my lightning field. I'll give you that kid. But how long will you manage?" Kazuyto commented smugly as he threw away his scarf. It hit the ground with a soft thud. But soon the lightning pops that had engulfed the arena destroyed the scarf by having it reduced into such a fine grade of ash that it blew into the wind without much fight. Sanosuke took a look at Kazuyto once more, and came upon a terrible realization: Kazuyto Shinkama hadn't never changed his stance of having his arms being crossed. Thinking hard about the entire fight, never once had the Raikage had let his arms out of the crossed position. To have such a power and constraint on his body was insane, hell it was monstrous. Kicking has a lot to do with the momentum of the arms for strength in power, the fact that Kazuyto was able to generate such power without the assistance of his arms was unreal. He certainly deserved the title of Raikage and also as the first. From just the look of his body, Sanosuke saw how the Shidai had slightly clenched and tightened his muscles as more lightning was circulating from his legs at a higher frequency.

Snorting to himself, Sanosuke got himself ready for yet another attack that he was going to launch. Even he had to admit that the chakra that he had surged around his own body in response to the Shidai's was powerful indeed. The smart thing to do would be to power down and not waste so much chakra on just making a statement, but something told him that he shouldn't. If he powered down now, it would be like submitting to his elder's will. That wasn't something he would aim to do. Not on his life. Sanosuke would rather be killed than be humiliated by powering his chakra and yielding it to Kazuyto. Letting more chakra out, wind danced around him more furiously. This time instead of letting it run rampant, Sanosuke was controlling it. Nearly half of his chakra was running rampant around him. It wasn't wasting it because he was connecting his chakra field to his body so that it wouldn't run away and run rampant in the air. Trying his best to push his wind chakra to meet the intensity and concentration of the first Raikage's lightning chakra, Sanosuke got himself in a stance to get ready for the Raikage's attack to surely come at him.

Kazuyto didn't fail to disappoint as he dashed quickly at Sanosuke in speed that was almost like something straight from a legend. In a blink of his eye, Sanosuke saw how the Raikage ran at him with just his arms still crossed moving faster than any bolt of lightning could. The sound of the lightning popping close to him barely went off before the Raikage was already in his full epicenter. For someone to move this fast was something out of a legend, Sanosuke didn't think anyone had the capcity to do such a thing. The wind traveled with his sword as he let his wind chakra that he had generated around his body guide his arms making them move master. Although wind was nowhere as quick as lightning, it would do the job at accelerating his movements. When he was close enough, Kazuyto aimed a side kick right at Sanosuke's chest. He blocked the kick by crossing his blades to intercept the lightning charged kick that was skyrocketing towards his direction. Skidding backwards, Sanosuke looked to see that the Shidai wasn't close to being done with his onslaught. Appearing at Sanosuke's side, he launched a kick to Sanosuke's left calf. Air blasted on the ground at Sanosuke's left side as he manipulated his futon chakra to push him away to dodge the strike as though he was a jet. A risky move yes, but it was needed to avoid a blow that would have left him crippled and likely without an arm.

Sliding on his feet to a stop, Sanosuke saw how that didn't stop Kazuyto in the slightest from his attack on the sennin. It didn't even take a second for the first Raikage to get back where he was. This was even a worst situation because how he dodged the attack was being pushed to the side of his previous position in a lunging position. But being caught in this position meaning he was vulnerable from all sides.  This was a very bad situation for Sanosuke where it would be very unlikely for him to get out of this situation unscathed. Taking complete advantage of the fact that his opponent wasn't in the best places to properly block his attacks, Kazuyto moved in to deliver a powerful kick right into Sanosuke's stomach in an attempt to rupture his stomach. At the moment, Sanosuke was parralel to the ground while holding his swords upright. Moving quickly and with assistance to the wind chakra that was wrapped around his body, Sanosuke spun around tightly in a caccoon doing multiple revolutions in a row so he looked like a cyclone. While spinning, he swiped down at Kazuyto's leg with his swords. None of the blades sunk into his skin as Sanosuke cursed to himself as his attack was for nothing.

The first Raikage winded up his leg and launched a kick right at Sanosuke's chest that was blocked by Sanosuke's crossed swords. Even though the initial attack was blocked so that there wouldn't be any substantial damage to his body, it still felt like he was hit with a concussion bang. Sanosuke could feel himself being launched upwards at the ceiling of the cavern. The air popped in his ears loudly because of how fast he was traveling upwards. Before he could even be launched 10 meters in the air, Sanosuke could feel the back of his neck hair stand on end as he noticed that there was someone right behind him. Looking from the very corner of his eye, Sanosuke saw that it was Kazuyto right behind him. Cursing under his breath, Sanosuke braced himself as he couldn't do nothing but prepare himself for the strike to his back that was entirely exposed. All he could do was focus wind chakra on his body to act like a suit of armor that would protect him from a killing blow. It would still hurt as Sanosuke was launched plummeting to the arena floor. An explosion went off as his body slammed right into the ground. His entire body stung in pain as he crawled out of the crater he was in. It was about 3 meters wide when he had finally climbed out of it.

His entire body stung as everything told him to just stay on the ground and not do anything. There was no way in hell that he would do such a thing. Mentally beating the living shit out of the instinct in his mind that said to stay put, Sanosuke climbed out of the crater to see that Kazuyto was standing there once more with his arms crossed. There was a look of surprise on his look to see that Sanosuke was still alive. Blood dripped down from the side of his forehead as Sanosuke struggled to get back on his feet. When he did so, Sanosuke was gasping for air as he gritted his teeth angrily. "Don't think I'm out of it just yet you old man. I'm not out of it just yet." Sanosuke growled low as he got back in a stance with his swords held tighter in his hands. Spitting out blood, Sanosuke focused more chakra around him. His tatoos on his forearms pulsed in his arms as more and more chakra was gathering through it. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!" Sanosuke roared as chakra blasted into his swords making them sharper. The blades extended longer by about a meter extended from his swords making them sharper with a bluish aura. Blue aura exploded from his body as wind blades were slashing outwards from his body at a more rapid pace.

Crunching his feet tightly to the ground to the point where there were craters in the ground on the amount of pressure that he was exerting n the ground, Sanosuke glanced his vision right at Kazuyto. The tattoos on his arms grew and even began to glow blue with chakra. This made the first Raikage looked interested. So the markings of the wasp senjutsu clan were something that the man actually recognized. That was something to say the least. Without any incident, Sanosuke dashed outwards at Kazuyto but instead of a bullet line, Sanosuke smirked as he made a feint to the right while spinning on his heel to try and catch the man off guard. These movements he were being done at such high speeds that it looked as though Sanosuke was gliding through the air and using the currents as a ride would wield the reins of a noble steed with skillful and trained mastery. Dashing left and right while weaving through, Sanosuke saw how Kazuyto's eyes tried to keep up with his movements. Afterimages were being created based on how fast he was moving. Sanosuke flipped through the air when he pivioted once more when he was positive that the first Raikage wasn't too positive of where he would strike next.

This movement he was suddenly getting was faster than he could've mustered. It was not time to strike, it was now or never. Moving in for his blades to search for blood, Sanosuke landed on the ground with his body surprisingly low to the point that his chin was only inches from the ground. Rocks scratched at his skin attempting to draw blood but the wind around him turned the rocks coming at him to smithereens. The Raikage attempted to kick Sanosuke's chin straight up with a strike upwards like an uppercut with his foot. His brain was no longer telling his body what to do. He was operating and piloting on pure willpower. There was no external thought process with his movement patterns, his body just moved to his will which was to just draw blood. Dashing to his left tightly in a hard pivotal pattern, Sanosuke used the wind chakra to dash to his left to dodge the kick. It left an opening that was shining right in his eyes. Sanosuke didn't at all have to hesitate in his steps, he needed to draw blood here and now. Swishing around using the ground like an ice rink, Sanosuke moved with his twin swords and dragged his twin swords along the chest of  Kazuyto. The Raikage couldn't react in time as the balde sunk deep in his chest.

After his sword had traveled diagonally against the Shidai's chest, Sanosuke went with the rotational movement of the slash and let out a roar before he released a powerful and explosive kick to the man's chest that sent Kazuyto tumbling backwards. Chakra had blasted outwards from his foot the second it made contact with the chest of the first Raikage. Sanosuke landed on the ground and leveled his blades once more. The newly appointed Raikage couldn't help but smile at what he had done. He just knocked the first right on his ass, just as he said he would do. Kazuyto got up from the debris of getting knocked down on the ground. When he did get up however, Sanosuke couldn't help but look at the state he was in. Even with the damage he had taken, Kazuyto was still standing with his arms crossed. His chest had one large slash that was bleeding out and was riddled with cuts. "Gotta admit kid, that wasn't too bad. But let's end things." Kazuyto remarked as he got himself in a stance that was substantially different. His arms were no longer crossed and he cupped his hands gathering as much lightning in a ball as possible. It was getting bigger and bigger until the ball turned into a gigantic beach ball of electricity.

"Yeah...let's end this old man!" Sanosuke said while dashing right at the first Raikage moving at speeds that rivaled Mach 5.

His ear drums popped as he ran but that didn't matter, all that concerned was ending this fight between him and Kazuyto. The Shidai dropped the ball of lightning on the ground, but before it made contact with the ground he kicked it to send it at Sanosuke in a whirlwind of lightning bolts that were heading directly at the wasp sennin. That didn't stop his path as Sanosuke crossed his swords while loading as much wind chakra as possible in the swords to make sure that it would take the lightning. Each bolt struck his cross swords attempting to get free and sink its fangs inside of the person opposing its might. That didn't stop Sanosuke as he continued to push through the lightning bolt. Each lightning strike hit his body sending him through waves of waves of pain. That didn't stop him as he rode through the lightning storm as though he was riding a gigantic wave on the beach. When he got to the epicenter of the lighting, he let out a loud roar and slashed outwards to send an 'X' shaped two crescent wind slashes that went through the lightning storm and rammed right into Kazuyto blowing him right at a wall with a deeper cut on his torso.

Before Kazuyto could even struggle to free himself, Sanosuke rammed his twin swords into arms of the Shidai to stop any movement from the first Raikage. Against all struggling, Kazuyto stopped moving and coughed up blood while laughing miserably. "I'll be damned you got me..." Kazuyto said as he disappeared in a bolt of lightning that went up to the sky. Panting heavily, Sanosuke took out his blades from the cavern wall shook the blood that was on it. He had done it, one Raikage down...8 more to go...

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Every single shred of his muscles were in agonizing pain as Sanosuke adjusted himself so that he was standing properly on both feet. Kazuyto had disappeared with out even leaving a trace of himself anywhere to be seen. So this was what it was like to have fought a chakra projection. It was just like how it was when he had thrown away his Raikage robes before the fight had even started. The robes evaporated in a flash of lightning similar to how the first Raikage had vanished after Sanosuke had delivered the finishing blow. Now Sanosuke was left only with his swords imbedded in the stone wall that had once pinned the Raikage's once again dead body in place. Taking it out of the wall, he turned his attention back towards the center of the arena where all of the Raikage were once returned to their respectable, lightning lit torches. Neither of them said a word as Sanosuke made his way to the center where the fight between him and the Shidai had originated in the first place. This was where all of the fights will start and it will expand accordingly to how the fight progresses.

As he walked towards the center of the torches of lightning, his skin felt like it was bubbling and heated. It made the sennin itch his skin irritable at what was driving his skin so crazy. The hot bubbling sensation only increased as he walked closer and closer into the epicenter of the Raikage. It was getting uncomfortable. Almost like he was in a room where the heater was up way too high for comfort. It got to the point where Sanosuke began to curse under his breath to project his discomfort. Finally he had reached the center and looked at his skin. The cuts on his skin had stopped bleeding, so furiously so that he was no longer just bleeding out with each step he took. The blood that was on his body however dried off and only left flakes. Looking for the previous Raiakges to give him a straight forward answer of what was going on, he noticed that none of them were speaking. They were all looking at him. It didn't take a genius to know that his fight with the Shidai had gotten their attention. They were no longer seeing him as just some arrogant brat that had overestimated his skills. Now they were seeing him as someone they should probably keep their guards up.

Sanosuke returned the look back at them. Of course he was happy that he had won his fight with Kazuyto, but he wanted more. This was only a stepping stone to his goal. Looking back up, he had only climbed the first step and there were 8 more to climb. But soon, he would reach the top of this mountain of a challenge. Silver eyes pierced through the shadowed eyes of each of the Raikage that were looking at him. His eyes only had the look of power, determination and an amount of drive so ridiculously insane that it was almost frightening to those who were looking their vision with his. Being in a 9 way stare down was something different. All around him, he could feel 9 different people assessing what they had just witnessed in 9 different perspectives. This challenger had taken on the first Raikage of the village hidden in the clouds and was hungry for even more combat from the rest of the past Raikages. From the look in his eyes, he wasn't even close to be done with his fight yet. A fire lit in his silver orbs as he glanced at all of them, almost daring one of them to challenge him next. That's when the stare off was ceased by the sound of clapping.

The Raiakge that was before the torch that had the kanji for 2 inscribbed of seals was the person whom was the cause of the clapping. It rung through the cavern as all the other Raikage, even Sanosuke, looked to see what he had to say. The clapping was something of an applause of what Sanosuke puled off but also to get the attention of all of those whom were in the torched circle. What he had to say that demanded to interrupt the starring between the Raikage's and their challenger was what was on everyone's mind as they turned to the the Raikage that was in front of the 2nd positioned torch. The shadows danced around him while he stood in front of the lightning lit torch that had held the remaining energy of his life source energy. His shadow flickered with each time his hands came together for an attention grabbing clap. No one said anything as they just listened to the Raikage clapping. Sanosuke's breath was ragged as he suddenly found himself breathing along with the clapping. It wasn't as though he consciously was doing this on purpose, shaking his head Sanosuke had to focus as he the clapping Raikage had finally decided to speak. His battle with the Shidai Raikage had knocked a few of his screw loose, so concentration was an even more or a duty.

"Well maggot you surprised me. Never thought you had it in you to be able to beat Kazuyto. To think there would be someone that would be able to beat the almighty Static Style Taijutsu." The Raikage before the kanji of the number of 2 had said. His cap was moving up and down while he was nodding his head curtly in approval of what he had just witnessed. So the other Raikage was able to watch the full fight, from the beginning to the climatic end. So that's what it was called. The lightning that the first Raikage was generating from his legs had ensnared the entire arena floor in an electric field that seemed to have been working for his own purposes. It made sense for it to be considered a Taijutsu, after all a ninjutsu doing all of that without the assistance of hand seals would be impossible. Sanosuke took a step towards the Raikage away from the epicenter of the circle of torches. His back was turned from all the other Raikage while his hungry look for combat was focus entirely on the Nidaime Raikage this time. Absolutely nothing mattered anymore. He kind of liked this idea of challenging. Starting from the very first Raikage and working his way to the latest Raikage before himself. That meant that in the end, he would have to fight Reika in the very end. Sanosuke looked forward to it, he'd at least be able to spar against her one last time while they were together.

Now that he had finally gotten his compliment to the Raikage challenger, it was the Nidaime's turn to look in intrigue at the strange gesture of approaching that Sanosuke had done. It was rather discreet and subtle way of challenging opposed to the grand challenge that he addressed to all of the Raikage earlier. Sanosuke smirked as the second Raikage reacted to the gesture by walking up closer to Sanosuke. He had abandoned his torch to step into the arena circlle. When he got close enough, the Raikage pushed up the brim of his Raikage hat so that it would allow him to get a better look of the shinobi that was challenging him. "You don't look like much. But you gave Kazuyto a run for his money, it should be fun. I'll be the one to fight you brat." With that said, he used the same hand that was holding up his traditional robes of the Raikage and grasped hold of them. With a mighty pull, the the second Raikage threw them up in the air and let it fall to the ground. When it had hit the ground, the robes disappeared in a quick flash of lightning. The very second his clothes had hit the ground, all the other Raikage that were still at their torches had disappeared in their own flashes of lightning. Now the only people on the arena floor was him and the Nidaime Raikage.

Before him stood a large muscular man that was slightly stout and stubby. But what he lacked in height, the Raikage had made up in muscle. Compared to the first Raikage whom had all height but not too much muscle mass, this Raikage was a bit shorter than usually but he was quite muscular in his own right. He was dark skinned that was a only slightly darker than the first Raikage. Much like the first Raikage, this guy's hair seemed to not like the fact that gravity was given the right to call the shots, and in retaliation the hair of the second Raikage stood up proudly. The Raikage must have taken it on himself to gel up his hair and comb it as well so that it gracefully defied gravity in a beautiful manner. He had sideburns that came into long beard that touched his chest, also being neatly groomed like his hair. The muscular Raikage was wearing a dark green colored long sleeved shirt that had an abnormally tall popped collar that easily covered his ears. The pants he was wearing were of the same color of his shirt and only passed his kneecaps by a few inches. His legs were wrapped in bandages from his knee to his ankle that had on the traditional footwear of all the other shinobi wore. Over his shirt, he had on the Kumogakure vest that was given out to all Kumo shinobi when they were finally the rank of chuunin. On his vest was what looked like multiple medals of past battles that shined so brightly it looked as though he had just polished them. What could be seen peeking out of his chest, under his dark colored shirt, was a fishnet under shirt that most likely held an additional under armor to protect him from blows. His right arm was covered in a darkly shaded bronze armor that connected perfectly well to the Kumogakure shinobi vest. Shining brightly on his head was the headband of Kumogakure. It shined even brighter than the medals on his vest.

The Nidaime Raikage began cracking his neck slowly. Popping noises filled the arena as he proceeded to moving his rash and rough style of massaging the kinks of his body from his neck to his arms. He took turns pulling his arms to pop them and then would crack his back when he needed to transition to the other arm. When he was done, the Raikage focused back at Sanosuke whom snapped his fingers. In a flash of lightning, above both of their heads something was coming down to the ground. By pure instinct, Sanosuke jumped back while getting in a defensive stance with his twin swords being held tightly in his hands. The wasp sennin gritted in pain as he slid on the ground with his feet. It seems that the foot where Kazuyto, the Shidai Raikage, had nearly burnt up was still causing him discomfort; even though it looked as though nothing was wrong with his foot. Shaking his head to get himself off that topic, Sanosuke had to focus because he had bigger things to concern himself with instead of what was wrong with his foot. The Nidaime Raikage was now holding a rather large broad sword that looked to be measured in the meters. It was really wide and thick as well. The sword was shaped like a broadsword was previously stretched in the past so it had the look of a crescent almost. The odd thing about the sword was it had no hand guard, instead the ends of the blade came down like a claw on the hilt of the blade. It would cut the wielder easily if they made one slight mistake.

"All right maggot, you may have been able to tango with Kazuyto but let me assure you of one thing; I'm not someone that plays with my food like the idiot you fought. I go in for the kill, you're just going to deal with that. The Nidaime barked at Sanosuke while the sword rested across his shoulders. He was holding the blade that way by just using his left arm, while the other one stood at his side. Using his other free arm, the Nidaime picked it up and jabbed himself with it on the chest. Armor clinking when flesh collided with steal met as the Raikage didn't even flinched. "The medals on this vest represents all of the battles I have led to victory. Blood on both Kumo's ground, but also against the enemy. Each of them had made me the Raikage that I am. I am the mighty commander, Nam Ikibaiya, Kumogakure's Battleship!" The brief history lesson ended with instead of a stare off like he had engaged the first Raikage, it ended with this Raikage quickly taking the offensive and dashing right Sanosuke with his broadsword still being held on his shoulders. True the speed that he was going at was nothing compared to what he had to go through when fighting against the Shidai Raikage, but it was still fast; even considering that Nam was holding a gigantic sword that must have weight a ton.

Getting himself ready, Sanosuke put himself in a defensive stance to take the blade head on by crossing his swords. When he was ready, Sanosuke let out a battle cry and dashed right at Nam to meet his sword with his own. Metal slash at metal as the two weapons screamed when they were now grinding at each other. Both of them, as per their masters' orders, wanted to dominate the other. Sanosuke could feel his legs begin to buckle as he noticed that he was slowly being pushed back by the second Raikage's collosal sword. It wasn't as though Sanosuke was loosing entire, it was more like the Nidaime was gaining the upper hand and he was gaining it more and more decisevly in this showmanship of muscle. Sanosuke could feel his arms aching and begging to retreat, but his legs were locked. It must have been the effects of the lightning that he went through in his fight against Kazuyto. His leg hadn't healed yet, so it was weak and didn't react as quickly as it was used to. Gritting his teeth, Sanosuke made a push that he knew would be like attempting to push a sturdy brick wall over. That didn't mean he couldn't just go along with it. Sanosuke allowed for his blade to scratch along the Raikage's gigantic broadsword before jumping away once more to get some distance. Nam's blade bashed into the floor with no target to continue its onslaught. Rocks and large pieces of debris exploded upon impact as Sanosuke had to cover his eyes with his sleeve so that none of the dust would get in his eye.

Taking his eyes off from the Raikage for a single instant. Sanosuke put his sleeve down so he can get a better visual from his opponent. Nam was before him holding his gigantic broadsword this time with just one hand. He winded up a swing to take Sanosuke's legs clean off. Reacting to the situation, Sanosuke had to use the sweeping blade as a spring board to gain an aerial advantage over his opponent. He had jumped about a meter in the air spiraling in the air. Even when Sanosuke had just narrowly dodged the swipe, Sanosuke could feel the air pressure of the slash on his ankle. A tiny prick of pain came from his ankle as the corner of his eyes, a small stream of blood spilled on the spot where he stood while maneuvering through the air with his somersault. The pain from that slash already rivaled the slashes that he had obtained thanks to his intensified wind chakra coat. He would have to be careful, even his wind currents from his sword have the ability to slash through him. One small move and Sanosuke can very well just be cut to pieces without having the sword even be the one to deliver the finishing blow.  That just meant he had to focus on going in for the kill and ending this fight quickly.

Twisting his body around while switching his weight from his head to his feet by turning himself upside down and right side up, Sanosuke closed in on the second Raikage with his dual swords held tightly in his hands without any intent of holding back his slash. Light shined on his blades from the lightning torches that use blue lightning instead of flames to illuminate the cavern floor. A roar cry escaped his lips as Sanosuke brought his swords high above his head and swiped it downwards at Nam in hopes of giving the man quite the deep cut on his  chest. With the speed he was coming in on, Sanosuke would have suspected that his attack would cut clean into the body of the kage without any resistance. But something surprised him, it was the fact that Nam was strong enough to not only recover for his strike but also be strong enough to swipe his sword to great Sanosuke's twin blades. His eyes popped open in shock. His preemptive strike was thrown out the window in a single instant. Who would have thought that the big ass sword the previous kage was using could still have been able to be swung with that much speed. It says a lot about his total strength.

Before his blade could even make contact with the strike of the Second Raikage's, Sanosuke yielded his blade from the incoming clash of swords. Even though Sanosuke hated it, there was really no way that Sanosuke could win in a head to head blade contact when Nam was leading the charge. So each time the man would swing at him, Sanosuke would just have to resort to dodging. Pushing his weight into the bottom portion of his body, it allowed for his body to slink right back underneath the swing of the gigantic arc that was a result if Nam's strength. Landing on the ground, Sanosuke jumped back to once more to gain some distance. But this time upon leaving the Nidaime's swinging radius, he had aimed a well power strike of the sword with his left handed sword right at the bottom part of the blade to gain an advantage. If it wasn't for the armor that the second Raikage had wore on the right side of his body that trailed to his right arm, the same arm that was being used to swing that huge broadsword, Sanosuke's slash would have definitely made it harder for him to swing it. But the jerking motion of his sword arm pushed his arm back to create a temporary opening for him to go in for the kill.

His left arm pulsed in pain uncomfortably after swinging at that bottom part of the hilt. It was odd. How was his arm hurting after the attempted slash that Sanosuke had led in the exchange? There wasn't time for him to think now. Sanosuke had to focus on landing a lethal blow. His sword rung as he positioned his blade to drag it right into the stomach of Nam. Before his blade even entered the second Raikage's body, just by a few seconds, something was off. Blood dripped from the tip of his ears as something caught his attention. There was the sound of high pitched swishing and circling like a typhoon. It was too dangerous for Sanosuke to stay this close in the center of the Raikage. Jumping backwards, Sanosuke saw that the sword Nam was wielding was now being used like a gigantic spinning top. Looking carefully, Nam was spinning the blade on its hilt at such rapid speeds that it looked as though a cyclone had enveloped his entire right arm. Nam slashed outwards at Sanosuke this time without any restraint with his arm still looking like a tornado has became his arm. Just getting close to his arm, Sanosuke could feel his body become slashed up. He had to focus chakra around his body just so that it would minimize the cuts he was receiving.

Sanosuke flipped backwards to avoid the cyclone of blades that was looking to come down right on his head. More debris came out of the ground from his escape of being slashed into guts and galore by the strike. From the flip Sanosuke jumped backwards, but he had been getting pelted by the rocks that were coming from the ground. It wasn't like before when the debris wouldn't strike him from the dodging he had done. But this time it was as though the debris were seeking him out as though they were homing missiles. Each rock bashed into his ribs as though they were made out of brass bullets. Even with the chakra that was wrapped around his body like a suit of chakra armor, Sanosuke still felt pain from each of the rocks striking at his body. A majority of those rocks were hitting his torso and chest. That drew his attention even more. It was a once in a million chance, but somehow they were all focused on his upper body and nothing else. Sanosuke slid on the floor with his backwards movement to have Nam come at him once more. That rotating blade of his was now beginning to get on his nerves, but Sanosuke had thought of a way to might assist him in finally landing a blow on the Raikage.

Dashing out at the Raikage, Sanosuke went into the center of the Raiakge's attack while he was preparing to strike at the wasp sennin with the super tornado of blades. Sanosuke would focus his chakra around his body and use it as a net to capture the large blade in mid rotation. His chakra would then spread to Nam's sword arm to hold him still for just one strike that would end it all. It was all he needed. Just one strike. Putting his chakra into his sword while inside of Nam's guard, Sanosuke prepared to put his plan to action by having their swords clash once more. When it happened, Sanosuke let his chakra grab a hold of the Raikage's arm. At first he saw that his plan of attack was working, but then something went wrong. He felt his chakra get grabbed by something else. Could it be? Was it his chakra? Nam's chakra had held on tighter to Sanosuke's with a vice grip in retaliation to not only disperse of Sanosuke's hold; but also to  hold Sanosuke's still. There was nothing he could do as Nam made an upward slash with his cyclone of an attack to come right at Sanosuke's right shoulder that had no armor, unlike the Nidaime Raikage. Blood splattered onto the floor. The slash was strong enough to have him rocket away from Nam forcefully.

His body rolled on the ground in pain as Sanosuke slammed his sword on the ground to stop the rolling motion. Unfortunately, he was using his wounded arm to do so, it caused for the sennin to choke down a scream that wanted to come out badly from his throat. Slowly getting back up, Sanosuke saw how his chakra grab from before had stunned his body for a little bit so that he couldn't pursue for a few seconds. "This whole time, you've been using senjutsu." Sanosuke grunted under his breath as he slowly picked himself up. The entire time, Sanosuke hadn't dropped his swords. His right shoulder was bleeding furiously, but his right hand refused to let go of his sword. The accusation he declared at Nam caught the Raikage's attention. "Oh come on, don't be stupid. You think the second my chakra touched yours I wouldn't have sensed something was off?" Nam chuckled to himself as he stopped spinning his blade and pointed it directly at Sanosuke's direction.

"Guess you caught me maggot. I'm sage just like you. But I knew this even before our fight" Nam informed Sanosuke. This time Sanosuke was shocked. So he really was a sage. But how did he know before they were fighting? He hadn't gone sage mode in the fight against Kazuyto, so how could he have known. "You're fight with Kazuyto was what gave it away. I fought in the war against the Wasp senjutsu Village alongside of Kazuyto. I'd known a wasp fighting style from a mile away. They way they fight is more of an art than a tool of destruction." Who'd have thought that there was a kage that was a sage. Sanosuke had remembered hearing about the wasp village's fight against Kumogakure from the past Queen of Wasps, Melike vomBridge. Kumogakure needed land and so they resorted to imperialism to take it from the wasps and drive them back into the lower portions of Kaminari no Kuni.

"Where that brat Kazuyto was too much of a coward to take advantage of their power, I gladly ceased it with my own two hands. I'm glad you also saw that was an intelligent choice as well. Chakra gathered around the Nidaime Raikage at frightening levels as the ground shook strongly from the madnitude of his chakra. He let out a roar as more and more chakra was rushing into his body. His body was getting bigger and bigger for some reason as his muscles were swelling up as though it was a gigantic sponge. The chakra was so strong that Sanosuke could see it. It was red and looked like a dark shade of burgundy; almost like dry blood. He noticed how there were now weapons of all shapes and sizes that were floating behind him as though he was an arsenal. Well that would explain why they called him Kumogakure's Battleship. All those weapons he was levitating, he probably held the equivalence of an entire platoon of soldiers. "So how about we see which is stronger? The porcupine, or the wasp?"

A challenge of sages huh? Who'd have thought that the Nidaime Raikage was a sage, of the porcupine style as well too. But at least he knew how he was having such an advantage in the fight. The Raikage was using his chakra like a sensor to track his movements, then at the last second he would make his chakra act like an inhibitor to accelerate his movements in time for a dodge, or even a counter. When he caused debris as well, Nam would even use his senjutsu chakra to control the rocks that he made whenever his blade hit the ground as though they were his own weapons. This as a tricky foe. It looked as though he would have no choice but to fight fire with fire. "Fine by me, just don't say I didn't warn you." Sanosuke called out as he focused on gathering chakra in the cavern as well. Unlike the Nidaime, Sanosuke's chakra made the air grow tighter as he was taking the natural chakra from the oxygen. His body began to become incase in a small ball of light as a small ball of light was wrapped around his body. His body felt lighter as he resolved that he would end this fight as soon as possible. Nam's sage mode also had makeup on him as well, seeing that the kage had orange, stripe-like markings on his cheeks going downwards diagonally and one along the bridge of his nose.

It was Sanosuke's turn to make the first move as he dashed at Nam with an extraordinary burst of speed that wasn't there before. He moved so quickly he was gone in just a flicker of a second. When he came back into visual for Nam, Sanosuke was right in front of the Raikage. He ignored the pain from his right shoulder as he whipped his sword at the Raikage to get a slash on him. The second Raikage used his chakra once more to move accordingly enough to block Sanosuke's strike with his large broad sword that he used before. When their blades made contact, Sanosuke felt pain from the strike as his whole entire body rung in pain from the sword contact that he engaged. It was as though multiple blades struck into his body from that one strike he made. It was as though each attack that he engaged, in was causing damage to himself. Moving his arms once more. Sanosuke went to strike this time at Nam's exposed left arm. He didn't have a weapon in it to block it this time. Just before his sword could even be used to slash into the arm of the second, a flash of red light prevented him of doing so.

A flash of red light appeared in his hands as the Nidaime used it to block the incoming attack. The light died down to be revealed to be a an ax that he had been keep levitating right behind him the entire time. Sanosuke cursed as the painful sensation of being attacked by his own chakra beginning to have effects on his body. Disappearing once more, Sanosuke appeared from the left shoulder of the Raikage to catch him with his guard slipped and not as strong as his front is. He spun around to gain more momentum in his swing so that by chance his sword would sink deeper into the Raikage. Another flash of red appaeared but this time, Nam's broadsword he was wielding with one hand and his ax had been traded in for a heavy diamond dipped spear that was exploding with chakra. Making sure his blade didn't make contact with the spear, Sanosuke used chakra from behind his body to push himself away from the Raikage. He flew across of his shoulder and  appeared on the other for hopes of striking his other shoulder. Another flash of light told him different as the spear turned into a trident that had blades on both sides.

This time Sanosuke was ready and focused chakra around his body to prepare for the incoming slash, and the chakra attack that would come in shortly after. With his swords crossed, Sanosuke blocked the trident's slash. Sanosuke blasted as much chakra into him so that it wouldn't harm his body too much. Nam's red chakra wrapped around Sanosuke trying to engulf him in a series of cuts as he touched down on the ground; but the blue aura around him was proving rather difficult to absorb. With the intention of moving, Sanosuke tried to move away from Nam once more but suddenly he found himself unable to. The red chakra was holding him stuck to the ground, as though it was a net that a gladiator had tossed on him; ensnaring him in place. Nam smirked as he rammed his trident right into Sanosuke stomach by method of javeline throw. The wasp blades proved to be no match to the trident as they were knocked clean out of Sanosuke's hands and struck true in Sanosukke's stomach. The wasp sennin was sent rocketing to the cave wall at speeds that were almost as fast as he was. He hit the wall hard as Sanosuke suddenly found himself stuck to the wall by a trident; just barely conscious.

Blood dripped from his wound as Sanosuke tried to not die of blood loss. He was losing way too much blood as is. This was bad, he could very well die right here like an animal. Before he could even reach to cut the trident off of him, 4 red flashes appeared out of the corners of Sanosuke's eyes. They were 4 bamboo spears that each launched and embedded themselves in Sanosuke's limbs to hold him down like a star. This time there was no resistance. A blood curling scream filled the cavern as Sanosuke was pinned by the limbs. His vision was getting blurry as soon he would die. Sanosuke was still in sage mode, so he could sense Nam approaching him slowly with a sword in his hand. Was that his sword? That bastard is planning to kill him with his own sword. This was humiliating. How could he stop it now? He was pinned and if tried to get himself out of it, then Sanosuke would bleed out even quicker. He guessed that after pulling himself from the wall, he'd have about 7 seconds to end this fight before dying of blood loss himself.

It was a gamble he was willing to take. Closing his eyes, Sanosuke rapidly took in as much chakra as he could take in his body. The chakra from the environment would be used to sustain his life while he would go in for the kill he would just have to wait until Nam would come closer. He had to make these 7 seconds count or it would all be for nothing. All this fighting would have been for nothing. He trained this hard to protect his village, not for him to die in this stupid cave. When he had gathered enough, Sanosuke opened his eyes and used all his chakra to yank his arms from the spears that were binding his arms into place. Muscles ripped and shed the wall with blood as he moved onto his legs.

5 seconds....

Sanosuke yanked out the bamboo from his legs by crushing them into pieces of sharpnel that clattered on the ground. Nam's eyes looked in shock at how desperate Sanosuke was getting as he reached for the trident that was still in his stomach.

3 seconds...

Yanking the trident out of his body quickly, Sanosuke roared in pain as blood began gushing from his wound. It would be okay, if he won this fight then he would be able to move on to the next battle with all of his worst wounds healed. He just had to end it hear before blacking out.

2 seconds...

He put as much strength as he could muster to send the trident back at Nam with enough strength that caused a sonicboom because of the wind chakra he laced in the trident to make it go faster. Focusing chakra in his own dying body, Sanosuke flashed himself to be along side of the trident's trajectory. This was it, all or nothing. His vision was already begin to darken into complete nothing. This had to end, now.

1 second.

Nam let the trident disappear in a flash of red light, but what he didn't expect was Sanosuke right behind the red light. Sanosuke grabbed Nam's arm that was holding his wasp forged sword in it and used ever last bit of strength to break his arm to the point that it turned around completed with the sword going right into the Second Nidaime's heart. Blood choked from the Raikage's mouth as he saw Sanosuke was the one to have killed him. The Raikage collapsed to the ground with Sanosuke holding his sword while it was deep in the heart of the Raikage. "At ease...Jyuudaime. Well done soldier." The Nidaime Raikage said before disappearing in a flash of lightning that went directing into Sansuke's body electrocuting him with pseudo healign. It would heal him just so he can continue fighting. It was okay, he had at least one his fight. But just barely. And there was 7 more to go as well...

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The now deceased body of the 2nd Raikage transformed from a body of living tissue and blood, to a bolt of electricity and energy that blasted right into the gapping stomach that Nam had left him before Sanosuke had finished him off. It was unlike any other pain he had experienced before. Every spark and lightning explosion that surged in his body was even more intensified inside his very own body. With each torn muscle and ripped open internals in Sanosuke's body was seared roughly together to forcefully attach them. The process was something that wasn't over in second, it took several minutes. Several minutes of agonizing pain of being electricute point blank. It was as though somebody had stabbed each of his organs one by one. Sanosuke screamed in pain as though electricty was getting worst and worst by the minute. In each of his battles he had faced in his Trial by Thunder, he had come across pain that he never experienced in the past before, but this was something completely different on the scale of how much pain he was in. He didn't know how much longer he could continue if this lightning was going to keep shocking him

When it had finally stopped, Sanosuke dropped down to the ground on his knees heaving. His breath was heavy as he looked down to see that water was coming down right on the spot where his head's shadow hung. Sweat caked his face in a sheet of bodily fluid as Sanosuke tried to get a hold of his breathing. For some reason, just breathing was an effort that Sanosuke had to really try and accomplish. At the moment, his stomach felt as though it was pumoed full of hot lead that was bubbling along side his natural stomach acid. His wound was now closed as Sanosuke held his stomach tightly in his arms to cradle it. In every fight that he had fought in whenever he would win, the lightning would come in and treat his most serious wounds. This time, it only stopped the bleeding of his stomach and his arms. It did nothing about the pain he was experiencing. His arms still felt as though they were still being held up to a wall by some bamboo sticks. While he was using his arms to wrap around his own stomach to cope with his stomach pains, Sanosuke was biting his bottom lip to stop himself from screaming once more from the pain in his arms; specifically his right arm. One of those bamboo spears had sunk in deeper in his right arm than his left.

Even despite all the pain he was currently coping with, Sanosuke still fought against all odds to stand back up on his two feet. When he was standing, he was still very much drained from his fight against Nam. His swords had disappeared in a flash of lightning the second he was struck by the bolt of lightning coming from Nam's lightning bolt. He looked to find himself surrounded by the same lightning lit torches. He fixed himself up from his crouched, hunched position and slowly released his stomach to not look so pitiful before all of the other past Raikage that were inspecting him. They were shocked to say the very least. Many of them, even the ones he had just previously fought, might have guessed he was strong enough to beat one of them but beating two of them in a row was definitely something that made them silent. Not a single Raikage said anything as they were trying to figure out just how strong he really is. Sanosuke scoped the room out to see if he can get a reading on some of their reactions. But those damn Raikage caps made so that he couldn't see any of their faces at all. If any of them had any doubts about his abilities, it was wiped clean after seeing him literally throw his life away just to defeat the Nidaime Raikage. They weren't dealing with the average Raikage candidate anymore.

"It seems as though by this order, I should go up next" Sanosuke looked at who said that to see it had come from the Raiakge that was in front of the kanji for three. So he was going to fight the Sandaime Raikage next. He already knew the guy's name, he was Omega and rumored to be one of the strongest Raikage that they have had. Hundreds of years ago, when the tailed beasts ran rampant, the 3rd Raikage had fought the 8 tailed beast on numerous occasions and came out victorious. Hell if he remembered correctly from the history seminars back in his academy years, Omega had single handedly fought the 8 tailed beast to a standstill by himself. The fight went on for 3 days and 3 nights before they both collapsed out of fatigue. If he was going to be his opponent, then Sanosuke was in for a tough battle indeed. If not for the Sandaime's Raikage's abilities, then his wounds will surely make it so that their fight will be extremely difficult for Sanosuke. Using his free hand, Sanosuke wiped the sheet of sweat on his brow by using the back of his hand.

Omega was looking at Sanosuke and began to approach his challenger by stepping away from his lantern. This signaled for all the other Raikage to retreat from the arena floor so that it was once more just Sanosuke and the Raikage he was challenging. Sanosuke looked to see just how big this Raikage was. He was a freaking giant that looked to stand at about 7 feet. His muscles was even shown even with the Raikage cloaks covering them up. This Raikage was definitely strong and looked like he could take on an entire army by himself. Come to think about it, this man had actually done such a thing before. That just made Sanosuke feel even great about his chances of winning. Omega took his hat off and threw it on the ground, along with his robes. His articles of clothing were evaporated in a flash of lightning the very instant it made contact with the ground. "I don't mean to offend, but you really should quit while you're ahead. You've already proven that you will make a remarkable Raikage. No one here has fought two of us back to back. Don't do this." The Raikage said while he crossed his arms. "It'd be a shame if we had to lose such a promising shinobi."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was it possible? Did the Sandaime of the village hidden in the clouds pity him? That caused Sanosuke to just shake in anger. This man had no right do such a thing to him. Omga The Third Raikage was a tall, dark-skinned man with a largely muscular and well-defined build. He had a full head of white hair which flowed into his back along with a long beard. He had unusual eyes, which had green irides, dark sclerae and no pupils. His face has pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead with a mole above his right eyebrow. His top lip also had a darker pigmentation than the bottom one. On his body was the Kumogakure's distinctive, single-strap flak jacket with no other clothing underneath, a black forehead protector that he wore like a bandanna and a thick rope tied around his waist; with this he also wore dark blue sweat pants. Sanosuke could also see that there were bandages on his forearms. On the chest of the Raikage was  a large lightning bolt scar.

That was one thing he hated the most, when people looked down on him. Even though Sanosuke was doing everything he could to just stand up Sanosuke made a fist and brought his hands together in a clapping motion. His gauntlets made a high pitch ringing noise as lightning danced around his fingertips to materialize his twin swords that Sanosuke grabbed tightly in his grip. Sanosuke cursed under his breath as he was forced to swallow down the pain in his arms from grabbing the sword so tightly. "How about you worry more about yourself than the guy who's about to kick your ass!" Sanosuke barked back at his predecessor. Even though this Raiakge, compared to the others he had fought so far, actually showed a bit more compassion and consideration for Sanosuke he was still in battle mode. He wanted to just fight and move on. Also that comment he made about him quitting still pissed him off to no other. He'd come too far for him to quit just now. His stomach bubbled in pain as his eye twitched to restrain himself once more, he'd beat all of them even if his body is turned into ashes.

Omega looked at Sanosuke and let out a sigh as he began stretching his large muscular arms of any cracks it may have. His left shoulder let out a sickening pop, while the right shoulder let out an even louder pop. "Last chance. I'm called Kumogakure's Great Shield for a reason, I'm supposed to protect my people not kill them." Omega added. His voice was firm, but it was as though he was pleading. But still Sanosuke wouldn't yield. He stood in his position without any inching away for an escape. This made Omega take a deep breath in as though he was disappointed in Sanosuke's choice. There was no going back this time, he was in this match until the bitter end. Sanosuke held his swords in his hand while his silver orbs locked into the green orbs of the Sandaime Raikage. Before he could even blink, the Sandaime Raikage was right in front of him with a fist cocked backwards. He was so fast that it wasn't even normal.

Bringing his swords in as quickly as possible, Sanosuke could only guard as the Raikage let out a barrage of punches with his swords. It was as though he was getting drilled into by a piston. No wait, a piston was too slow. The way Omega was striking at him, it was as though he was drilling each punch at supersonic speeds; the volley of punches were similar to him being fired at by a machine gun, death machine. Sanosuke grunted with each strike that was coming at him. There were multiple of times where Sanosuke tried to lift his sword upwards to push him off. But pushing up the punches was easier said than done. He couldn't barely even hold his swords up to block this barrage of punches. Each strike that came from the colossal strength of the Sandaime Raikage caused his swords to vibrate violently. There wasn't much pure stress that his swords could take before it would break away from the hilt up. Sanosuke tried to his best withstand each strike that was coming his way but his arms were beginning to feel like wet spagetthi. He held his own as Omega winded up another strike that was aimed right at Sanosuke's stomach.

He dodged his strike with a simple sway to the right that was laced with wind chakra to make his movements much more lighter and aerodynamic than it would have if he used his own footwork. Jumping backwards, Sanosuke allowed his chakra to envelop his own essence. More and more chakra was gathering from his body, some of it was from the surrounding environment of the cave. It soon transferred to the tips of his twin swords as the newly appointed Raikage got his swords in position for a swiping motion. The larger man expected for the swipe to come in the form of a crescent chakra slash made of futon chakra. But what he got was something else and was surprised when the chakra he was gathering quickly went out like a light. Sanosuke dashed outwards at the kage with the intention of going on the attack and instead of the defensive. The older shinobi rose an eyebrow in shock at the development and got in a defensive stance. He'd be able to block a sword with nothing more than his two bare hands and his skin. Or course chakra would have to be used in order to deflect the slashes that was incoming, but he felt nothing of the sorts. What was this old man planning?

That didn't stop his assault as the dark skinned swordsman brought his swords down at high speeds to have it plummet fort he skull of Omega. The swords made a high pitched whistle sound as it soared through the air to meet its mark. It was even cutting through the winds to test out its sharpness before it would attempt to draw blood from the 3rd Raikage of the village hidden in the clouds. The strike was perfect, there wouldn't be any time for the Raiakge to dodge or to do anything but take the hit. He would be the one to deliver a crushing strike to the Raikage first. Omega simply rose his right forearm in the way to intercept the slash. Sparks flew from the contact that came from his skin and Sanosuke's swords colliding. What the hell was this guy made of? How was his skin so tough? There was no way that something like this should have happened. His swords should have went clean into the Raikage's arm, hell with enough force that right arm should have been cut clean. Cursing to himself, Sanosuke saw from the corner of his left eye that a punch coming at speed and power that mocked a bullet train's course.

Moving with the momentum of his swing, Sanosuke used the forearm of the Raikage against his sword as a springboard to flip over the towering giant that was the Sandaime Raikage. Wind pushed off of Sanosuke's back causing him to be sent spiraling a bit farther than he had projected. The blast was enough to give him a run for his money of not sending him off course. Sanosuke cursed under his breath as he focused wind chakra around his body to right his wrong position so that he was back to where he was with his front facing the exposed back of Omega. His body turned tightly as the wasp sage began to look more like a high speed top coming right at the exposed back of the 3rd Raikage. His sword was coming diagonally for a viscious and deep cut at the exposed area that wasn't his vest. He needed this slash to actually count, not for it to be a baby cut. Steel met hardened flesh as Sanosuke's sword was met once more with the forearm of the 3rd Raikage, whom's front was now right at Sanosuke's. Silver clashed with emerald as Omega sent an open palm that was coated with so much chakra that the sennin could see it. Lightning popped from his open hand violently as he thrust the strike towards Sanosuke's immediate area to land right at his stomach.

A few of the newly appointed dreadlocks of the Raikage stood on end as the strike was approaching him. Sanosuke feinted tightly to the right to avoid the lethal strike. It was a good thing that he had avoided the strike to because a blast of lightning fired like a cannon out of his open palm that was meant for Sanosuke. Pain singed on Sanosuke's side as he knew that although he narrowly avoided the strike, there was no way that he was going to escape without a wound. Ducking under the extened arm this time, Sanosuke aimed for both his swords to streak across of Omega's stomach to hopefully get a deep slash from it. The Sandaime rose his other forearm to block that attempt as well. Fortunately, Sanosuke was moving along with the slash and knew better than to stay there where there was a powerhouse right before him. So with that slash, Sanosuke dashed away to try and go at him again this time from a greater distance to build back his speed. Before the could even move a meter away in between him and his opponent, Sanosuke could hear thunder crackling above him. Omega had charged up yet another one of his palm strikes to bring down upon his head like  the crushing hammer of Thor.

Moving swiftly, Sanosuke dashed away in time to escape the explosion from taking his life. As soon as the lightning came from above, the ground exploded in a massive showmanship of power and true strength exhibited from the Raikage of the 3rd generation. Rocks, shardnel, and large pieces of debris originating from the cavern floor exploded outwards from Omega's desired target area. To think that he was this powerful and could have done this much damage in a short amount of time. If one of those punches makes direct contact with Sanosuke, then that part of the body that the punch made contact with would have his bones broken in an instant. Using the rocks that were now everywhere and surrounding the muscular kage, Sanosuke dashed in between them weaving himself through each of the boulders that come from the ground. Omega seemed to be having a tough time trying to pinpoint exactly where he was to hiding in the rocks that were surrounding him. Each time Omega's gaze would come closer to locating Sanosuke, the young swordsman would move to a different rock of hiding entirely. With the Sandaime's attention diverted it was time to move in. Appearing now right in front of Omega's face, Sanosuke was upside down in mid air with his swords charged with chakra. Their eyes locked once more as Sanosuke let loose two futon powered crescents that were way more powerful than the ones he had fired before. The crescents this time caught the large man in the chest without him having enough time to even block the blow.

The force was strong enough to send him flying backwards to the other side of the cavern. It was as though a very strong gust of wind lifted him in the air and tossed him as though he was a rag doll. Sanosuke landed on the ground shortly after the blow rung true on the body of the Raikage. Sweat was dripping from his body as the wounds from his other fights were catching up with him. Although many of his most severe wounds had been treated by painful surges of lightning, the pain of them still was with him. Using that much chakra for that crescent was something he didn't count on. How did such a thing even occur? Maybe with each fight that he won against the other Raikages, he was growing steadily stronger. than he was before. That would explain why he hadn't dropped dead of exhaustion and wounds yet. Getting himself up, Sanosuke positioned himself with his swords out and held tightly in his hands. There was no way that Omega would have been defeated by an attack so sudden and sneakily. That slash he gave him was something else, but somewhere in the back of his head Sanosuke knew that the attack was nowhere close to what was needed to make him stay down for the count.

A shadow was over him as Sanosuke looked to see that Omega was towering above the swordsman. Ragged breathing beat in his ears as the rather large and muscular Raikage was looking down at Sanosuke in all seriousness. Blood was dripping from his chest in the slashed wound that Sanosuke had dealt. The cuts were deep but there weren't as much blood coming from the cuts. Before the silvered haired Raikage could even react and get out of there, Sanosuke felt something red, hot and painful. Looking down, Sanosuke saw that one of Omega's punches made direct contact with his stomach. Chakra went with the punch as it connected to the swordsman's body. With a roar, Omega sent more chakra into the fist that surrounded Sanosuke and sent the swordsman flying accross the cavern. His body hit the cavern floor as though it was a stone skipping across a lake. Sanosuke's body felt limp as it was knocked to a wall creating a crater that was about 10 meters deep. The one thing that could be heard as Sanosuke's back made contact with the wall was a painful and agonizing scream of pain that came from Sanosuke's very own voice box. Every part of body screamed and withe with agony as the shinobi tried to pick his body up. It was broken. He didn't need to be skilled in medical ninjutsu to know what a broken body felt like. The only thing he could do was breath in and out, and even that caused him pain. In a futile attempt, Sanosuke tried to move his arm but nothing happened. His body felt an unimaginable amount of pain from just trying to move his left arm.

"SANO! NO!!!" Even with his body so broken, Sanosuke could still hear Navi's screams as she tried to charge the barrier that was seperating him and her. Each time that she had struck the barrier, she was shocked painfully in order to get her to yield. He hadn't really noticed it before now, but it seemed as though Navi's flying was somewhat weaker. She was radiating smoke as though she had been at it for hours; the exact amount of time that Sanosuke had been fighting this entire time. This whole time, she was trying to break through the barrier in order to get to her partner and her body was paying dearly with each attempt. "Don't do this Sano! Please! I can't lose you, just quit. I'm begging of you! Let's just go back home and forget this thing ever hap-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Even despite all the pain his body was still in from staying completely still in the crater that Omega had knocked him in, Sanosuke could still feel anger bubbling in his voice. His swords has disappeared in a flash of lightning as soon as the punch connected with his stomach. If he was still holding his swords while he was sent flying, the metallic blades would have done more harm than good while he was holding it. Chakra rolled off of his body and wrapped around him tightly like a cocoon. It wasn't like before, this time chakra was all over his body like a blanket. Blue chakra was all around him flicking erratically as though it was misty and blowing in the wind. The chakra sunk its teeth in the kage's skin as another painful scream came from Sanosuke's mouth. That didn't stop him as he made more and more of that chakra come into his body. Before long, his body was literally radiating chakra as though he was a furnace. The pain was unreal, as Sanosuke finally felt his body allow him to move. Each movement sliced into his body with a painful hot flash, but that didn't let him quit at all. Despite all the pain, Sanosuke found himself up on his two feet glaring at Omega. His fist was clenched tightly as he pointed it at Navi. "If you even think about interrupting my fight, then I'll point my blade on you next.

Clapping his hands once more, Sanosuke materialized his twin swords that were knocked clean out of his hands after getting punched by Omega. The Raikage was looking at Sanosuke as though he was a marvel to the modern world. How was he still alive? What the hell was he? The same questions that were plaguing Sanosuke's head when he was repeatedly attacking at the Sandaime Raikage's defenses to draw blood. "You're using your own chakra to force yourself to move, even though my punch caused every single bone in your body to break." Omega said while nodding his head in approval while getting in another stance. Appearing before Sanosuke one more time, Omega wounded up another chakra powered strike behind his fist and cocked it backwards to fling it right back at Sanosuke. The swordsman wasn't surprised and rose only one sword to block the strike that was coming right at him. Chakra shot through his blade and in cased it in a hard shell of chakra that was unlike the one he had used before. It was much stronger and thus was able to withstand the strike that would have normally took both blades to block successfully. Omega looked at Sanosuke with shock and intrigue, the sennin smirked as he used his exposed sword to jab right into the wound of the 3rd Raikage. His sword sliced into the open wound of the colossal Raikage. A lot more blood splurted from the wound when his sword made contact as chakra was beginning to build towards the tip of the sword.

"Taihō!"

The sound of a canon going off filled the cavern. The very same chakra that Sanosuke was containing in the tip of his sword exploded outwards inside the chest of the wounded Raikage sending him flying backwards away from him. The chakra that was going through his body was suddenly pulsing and vibrating as though it was tuning fork that was struck by metal. Each vibration rung painfully against his body as he bit down on his bottom lip to stop him from screaming in pain. Pain was a funny thing, it told you what you needed to work on. It also showed you that you were vulnerable to the environment around you. Pain also reminded you that you were weak and could die at any second. A reminder that if the experience was just a bit more painful then it would have enough power to kill him. Showing your opponent your pain was just like telling them that you're seconds away from dying yourself. He wouldn't dare let Omega here his screams of pain. Every single one of his broken bones wanted to shatter into a fine powder because of the strain it was under, but the Jyuudaime fought his scream. Instead he directed his anger at the task ahead. "Get up! I know that was enough to kill you!" Sanosuke barked and got himself in position eyeing the spot where he sent the Sandaime flying.

Omega got up from the ground with a gaping hole in his chest that looked to be about 9 inches wide. Blood was dripping from the wound in the form of gallons as Omega just stood there glaring at him with more of a serious look on him. The look of pity was gone from his eyes. Instead he looked at Sanosuke as though he was an actual challenger. Even though the 3rd Raikage was suffering from such a deep and severe wound, he was still standing without even looking at the wound. This man had fought the 8 tailed beast to a draw, so of course he would be able to take that wound without even blinking. From the look in his eyes, this man wanted to end this fight as soon as possible. Sanosuke was getting tired of this fight as well, he had more Raikages to defeat anyways. Silver clashed with green once more before both of them powered up respectively. Omega clenched his fists tightly and got into a defensive stance. Lightning blasted around his body as though his body turned into a living bolt of lightning. His hair was standing on ends and was much more frizzy than before. Blue lightning aura wrapped around his body was though it was a suit of armor. In response, Sanosuke quickly activated his sage mode. His body was glowing with a soft blue light, the buzzing sound grew loudly to the point that even Sanosuke's ears were screaming painfully. In a flash both of them turning into a streak of light. Streaks of blue clashed with streaks of silver in a large clash that resulted in a large thunder clap boomed through the air once more. A flash of light filled the air blinding all of those that would have looked at the clash. When the light died, it would reveal whom had one the clash...

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