Ch315. Kakashi vs Raiga 2

Raiga lunged towards Kakashi who stood on a tree branch, swinging his sword in an arc, causing Kakashi to jump back in order to evade the blow that instantly cut through the thick branch, separating it from the rest of the tree.

Kakashi landed on the ground in a crouch, using the momentum to bounce into another jump, leaping backward and barely evading the falling Raiga's blades while whipping shurikens from his pouch and throwing them at Raiga.

There wasn't much distance between Raiga and Kakashi. The shurikens were a certain hit and Kakashi thought there wasn't much Raiga could do against them but to his surprise, Raiga's chakra surged around him, crackling with lightning and the shurikens were deflected, not even making Raiga slow down.

As Raiga landed, he slightly bent his knees, also using the momentum of his fall and redirecting it to propel himself forward towards Kakashi.

Seeing the scowling swordsman leaping at him, Kakashi redirected his jump mid-flight by kicking a nearby tree, making his body fly to the right, and putting a tree behind Raiga and himself.

Raiga understood that the Copy ninja would not willingly enter close combat so he didn't give chase. Instead, he started feeding his chakra into the Kiba blade in his right hand, making electricity crack around it before he swung it, sending forward a horizontal arc of concentrated lightning where his 'backpack' whispered to him Kakashi's waist was currently located. The lightning went through the tree trunks like a knife through butter, cutting down several trees in the forest and making them fall down.

Kakashi only barely managed to evade the lightning arc. Raiga simply conjured it far too fast and he had to admit, going behind a tree was a bad move. It obscured his Sharingan, hence, his only warning was the chirping noise and that didn't give him enough time. The shallow cut on his abdomen clearly proved that fact, and Kakashi was just glad he had the presence of mind to use Kawarimi before he was bisected like the tree trunks.

Kakashi wasn't given a moment of reprieve though. Raiga was again upon him, making him wonder how the ex-Kiri nin knew his position so fast. He didn't have a long time to ponder about that though and was forced to block the initial strike with his kunai.

Chakra metal met steel and Kakashi could feel his disadvantage as Raiga's lightning chakra entered his hand through the kunai, venturing further into his forearm, upper arm... until it permeated his whole body. Only his own lightning chakra he instantly started molding saved him from full-body paralysis. Kakashi's movements were still slowed down. Kiba blades amplified the lightning chakra of their user so despite lightning being Kakashi's primary and most practiced element, he found himself disadvantaged.

"Got you!" Raiga didn't tarry. The second he saw Kakashi's body stiffen due to his chakra, he grinned and swung his second Kiba blade at his neck. Kakashi's head separated from his body but Raiga's grin turned into a frown the second he saw droplets of water as his blade went through Kakashi's neck. He was from Kiri and knew what that meant. "Ranmaru!" Raiga shouted, demanding his partner to tell him where the real Kakashi was as the one in front of him burst into a splash of water, forcing him to jump back.

Kakashi wasn't about to waste this chance. Raiga was about to land when his body emerged from the ground right under him, Chidori already crackling around his right hand.

"Under you!" Came from Raiga's backpack, making him jerk his attention to the place where he was about to land.

Raiga's eyes widened, his mind telling him it would be impossible to fully evade that blow because he was in the air and falling straight at Kakashi. He jerkily twisted his body mid-air and met Kakashi's Chidori with his left Kiba blade. Electricity clashed against electricity, creating a bright blue flash of light while lightning bolts were thrown around because of the intense clash, devastating the surroundings.

Raiga didn't come out unscathed from this. His hand was numb and sported new burns. It didn't bother him much. He was used to lightning-induced burns but he still felt annoyed because this injury would somewhat hinder him. His entire sleeve was in a worse state than his forearm. It was littered with new holes where the lightning burned through the cloth.

"Heh, I guess we can call this a draw." Raiga smirked as he looked at the state of Copy-nin's right forearm and his shaking hand littered in burns.

"Pretty much." Kakashi eye-smiled through the pain. This gamble didn't pay off. Kakashi was made aware of why Kiba blades were so legendary. He burned more chakra than he was comfortable with for that Chidori and yet, the Kiba blades returned even more damage than he dished out while consuming a lot less chakra from Raiga.

'Lightning is out. As long as he has these swords, he can pretty much nullify any lightning attack that is under A-rank, and the ones that can deal damage to him would be mostly resisted and are too chakra-consuming.' Kakashi inwardly grimaced. Lightning was his best element and finding himself at such a disadvantage hurt his pride. 'Water is out too... As a Kiri ninja, he sparred against Water Users most. I don't think I can surprise-attack him with a Water Jutsu. He spotted my Water Clone before he was even done dispatching it.' Kakashi continued his analysis.

That left Kakashi only with Earth and Fire Jutsu since he was useless with Wind Release.

"Is that all you've got?" Raiga suddenly asked, steadily walking to the left, circling Kakashi and looking at him as if he measured his worth. "This is the extent of Sharingan no Kakashi's power? How... pathetic." He chuckled.

Kakashi didn't mind the small talk. Right now, he needed time to recover and formulate his next plan so he let Raiga talk his heart out.

"You know..." Raiga gave Kakashi a sympathetic look, "I was once in your position. Standing in front of Ringo Ameyuri, thinking I was a hot shit only to be brutally made aware of the cruel reality. Maybe this was how she felt after defeating me? This... disappointment?" He shook his head, "She let me survive and I trained. I trained and trained, hoping to one day defeat her. Then... the reality gave me a hard blow again when I saw her facing the three-tails and I understood. She let me live because there was no chance in hell I could ever match her." Raiga ruefully grinned for a moment before his expression went blank as he looked straight at Kakashi. "Unfortunately for you, I am quite aware you could one day match me if I let you live."

Kakashi's eyes suddenly widened as he felt the surge of lightning chakra coming from Raiga. Lightning cracked around him in a similar fashion to the Raikage's Lightning Armor, causing Kakashi to feel dread.

"Lightning Release: Full Body Activation!" Raiga exclaimed, his body coated in crackling arcs of electricity. The name made Kakashi somewhat relieved but his wariness didn't subside. The amount of Lightning Chakra wrapped around Raiga was monstrous.

The air between Raiga and Kakashi became still as they stared at each other before...

Raiga soundlessly disappeared.

The tomoes of Kakashi's Sharingan furiously spun, trying to get every bit of information they possibly could. It was only thanks to this Sharingan that Kakashi perceived Raiga approaching him, his Kiba blades about to skewer him through the chest. There was no way to dodge it. Raiga was too fast for Kakashi's body to react in time. He could see it but he couldn't dodge it.

The tomoes in Kakashi's Sharingan suddenly came to an abrupt stop as Kakashi's eye met Raiga's gaze, 'Genjutsu: Sharingan!'

Raiga's stab suddenly redirected to the left, going through Kakashi's hip rather than the middle of his chest. The wound was instantly burned shut due to the lightning coursing through the blades and Kakashi barely stifled his scream.

Raiga blinked and furrowed his eyebrows, noticing the situation. He twisted the Kiba blade, widening Kakashi's wound while cauterizing it before he brutally ripped the sword out of Kakashi's hip and jumped back. Both him and Kakashi were aware Raiga could have ended it then and there. He could have used his second Kiba blade to kill Kakashi quite easily since there was no way the Copy ninja could get away from that position.

Kakashi fell to his knees, his left hand holding his right hip as he gasped for air through the immense pain both from the burned hole in his hip and from the unhealthy amount of lightning chakra coursing through his system, trying to paralyze him as it delivered insane amounts of pain.

"Genjutsu... I have to admit, I never expected it would be able to affect me in this state." Raiga did break out of the genjutsu in one second and anything bigger than the slight perception alteration Kakashi used would be instantly noticed and broken even sooner, but between the casting of the genjutsu and the stab, there was no time to dispel it. Kakashi simply used Raiga's speed against him. "I have to commend you for that. Now... will you survive the second bl-"

Raiga suddenly stopped as Ranmaru in his lightning-proof backpack whispered something to him, causing his eyes to widen and his gaze to snap to the right, in the direction where Kakashi's team was supposed to be located.

"I see... my associates were defeated." Raiga muttered, "Are you sure, Ranmaru?"

Kakashi tried to focus his hearing but could only hear a muted, "Yes."

"Someone with chakra more potent than me, huh?" Raiga clicked his tongue. His reserves were still half-full but he thought Kakashi would be the strongest of the lot. "Fine..." He sighed and turned towards Kakashi. "Looks like it is your lucky day, Copy-nin." He said almost sullenly before again soundlessly disappearing and Kakashi thanked the Sage when his Sharingan perceived Raiga speeding away right before he fainted.