Hiruko had thought he had finally found the perfect Kekkei Genkai to counter Natsuro.
However, as time passed, he started to realize something was wrong.
Earlier, when Natsuro had let his guard down, Hiruko had already used a powerful jutsu:
Storm Release: Storm Demon Dragon!
This technique created countless thunderclouds in the sky, generating relentless lightning strikes to attack the enemy.
For quite some time now, Hiruko had been using it to target Natsuro, after all, lightning is among the fastest forces in nature.
Dodging one lightning strike might be luck.
But dodging every single one of them?
That wasn't luck anymore.
That meant Natsuro was truly capable of reacting to and evading lightning-speed attacks.
So then… how could his Storm Release be "countering" someone like that?
Did he suddenly gain the ability to make his jutsu faster than lightning?
At that moment, a terrifying realization dawned on Hiruko, one that he did not want to accept.
He had been toying with him the entire time.
Even if he didn't want to believe it, that was the only logical explanation for what was happening.
Just then, a frustrated voice rang out.
"Natsuro! What the hell are you doing?!"
It was Naruto, shouting in annoyance.
Only now did Hiruko finally glance over, his three subordinates had already been defeated by Kakashi and Naruto working together.
Naruto stood watching, arms crossed, clearly irritated.
He had seen Natsuro fight before.
He knew that his strength was far beyond this.
So why was he holding back for so long?
After waiting for a while, Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore and just yelled.
Natsuro glanced at Naruto, then at Kakashi, who had an understanding but helpless look on his face.
Kakashi probably realized Natsuro had a reason for fighting like this.
But since Naruto had already called him out, it was too late to stop him.
"Looks like they're getting impatient over there," Natsuro muttered lazily.
At this point, he had already figured out enough about Swift Release.
Now, all he needed was some quiet time to research and master it on his own.
"You...!"
Hiruko gritted his teeth and looked around.
That's when he noticed—the sun, which had been blocked by the eclipse, had come back into view.
That meant…
His plan had completely failed.
Hiruko had originally intended to use the special energy of the annular solar eclipse to merge all five Kekkei Genkai together.
But now, the eclipse was over.
His only option left was to escape.
Just as Natsuro had said, he didn't have to use Kakashi's Sharingan as his fifth Kekkei Genkai.
He could wait.
Wait until the next eclipse.
By then, once he had merged five Kekkei Genkai and gained invincible power, he would return to take his revenge.
Natsuro's arrogant attitude had long since pushed Hiruko's frustration past its breaking point.
But for now, his survival mattered more.
"Sixth Hokage, I admit... I underestimated you. But I will return stronger than ever!"
Glaring at Natsuro, Hiruko formed hand seals and activated Swift Release once again.
"Hmm?" Natsuro raised an eyebrow. "You seriously think you can escape?"
Hiruko had already completed his hand seals and, upon hearing those words, glared at Natsuro in anger.
"Sixth Hokage, one day you'll regret underestimating me!"
The next instant, he disappeared.
Using Swift Release's extreme speed, he attempted to flee.
Even though he now knew that Natsuro hadn't been using his full power, he was still confident that his escape speed surpassed even Natsuro's best efforts.
…But then.
BAM!
A devastating blow landed on his gut, again.
Hiruko was forcibly knocked out of his high-speed movement and sent tumbling across the ground.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
This punch wasn't as painful as the one before.
But it still crushed his last hope of escape.
"Impossible…"
His eyes widened in disbelief.
He hadn't even seen Natsuro move.
"Flying Thunder God…?"
Suddenly, Hiruko realized what had happened.
By now, Natsuro's reputation had spread far and wide.
His mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique was one of his most well-known abilities.
And everyone knew the technique required special markings in order to teleport.
But…
When had Natsuro placed a Flying Thunder God seal on him?!
Hiruko suddenly froze.
Slowly, he reached down and ripped open the bandages on his stomach, and there it was.
A sealing mark.
At some point, Natsuro had already tagged him with a Flying Thunder God seal.
"You marked me from the very beginning?!"
Hiruko's pupils shrank in shock.
He finally understood, from the very first exchange, Natsuro had already doomed him.
All this time, he had been in complete control of the fight.
He had only been playing with him.
Hiruko felt a wave of despair crash over him.
What the hell does he want from me?!
"You're pretty sharp," Natsuro said, nodding approvingly.
By now, his Flying Thunder God technique had evolved beyond its original form.
In the past, placing a seal required preparation.
Even when he had secretly tagged Hidan's scythe, he had needed to hold it for a brief moment.
But now?
His sealing techniques had advanced significantly.
Not only could he shrink the size of the Flying Thunder God mark…
He could now place it on an enemy's body simply by making physical contact, with any part of his own body.
That meant, the first time he had hit Hiruko, he had already sealed his fate.
"I remember you had a Kekkei Genkai that lets you absorb ninjutsu, right?" Natsuro suddenly asked.
Hiruko didn't respond.
He just stared at Natsuro in silence.
His mind was completely blank.
He couldn't run.
He couldn't fight back.
For the first time, Hiruko felt true despair.
Natsuro looked up at the storm clouds still lingering above them and smiled.
Ironically, Hiruko's own jutsu had provided the perfect setup.
"Hiruko," Natsuro said casually.
"Try absorbing this, if you can, I'll let you live."
As he spoke, he formed hand seals.
In an instant, electricity crackled around his body, pure violent lightning.
And then, the lightning in the storm clouds above began responding to his chakra.
Hiruko's breath caught.
This… is Lightning Release?
And more importantly, for the first time… he felt hope.
Before long, Natsuro completed his hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Kirin!"
As Natsuro's voice fell, the storm clouds above crackled violently with electricity.
Bolts of lightning converged, forming the shape of a majestic qilin, its roaring thunder akin to a beast's mighty roar.
Natsuro watched Hiruko with a calm gaze.
This time, he didn't even bother using Sage Mode, he felt that against someone like Hiruko, it simply wasn't necessary.
The next moment, the thunderous beast charged forward, galloping toward Hiruko at blinding speed.
In the blink of an eye, Kirin had already reached Hiruko.
Yet Hiruko still stood firm, arms outstretched, activating his Dark Release seal, attempting to absorb the Lightning Release Kirin's power.
Unfortunately for him—
Dark Release only worked by breaking down jutsu into chakra before absorbing and reusing them.
However, Kirin's power was fundamentally different.
Most of its energy did not come from chakra—it was drawn directly from the natural world.
Even though Hiruko had created the storm clouds using chakra, the actual lightning followed the laws of nature, not the rules of chakra-based techniques.
As a result, Dark Release had no way to absorb it completely.
Even if Kirin had been entirely chakra-based, would Dark Release have been enough to absorb all of it?
Highly unlikely.
In truth, Natsuro could have used his own chakra to replicate Kirin without relying on natural forces.
But why would he?
That would just be a waste of effort.
Before long, Hiruko realized the terrifying truth, he could barely absorb any of Kirin's power.
"Impossible!"
His composure shattered.
He had summoned the storm clouds to counter Natsuro, yet now they had become his downfall, giving Natsuro the perfect setup for such a devastating technique.
At last, his Dark Release seal reached its limit.
After absorbing only a tiny fraction of Kirin's energy, the seal ruptured and broke apart.
Hiruko's vision was filled with the overwhelming radiance of the incoming lightning beast.
He knew it now, the amount he absorbed was nothing compared to Kirin's full power.
Finally, he gave up.
Lowering his hands, he stood still, allowing the thunderous qilin to pierce through his body.
As the lightning engulfed him, Hiruko did not feel fear.
Instead, he felt…
Relief.
It was over.
His battle against Natsuro had been utterly hopeless.
From start to finish, he had been toyed with, like a cat playing with a mouse, not even bothering to kill it right away.
Even with his strongest resolve, he could not endure such humiliation.
Natsuro observed quietly.
After confirming that Hiruko could no longer withstand Kirin's power, he approached the charred remains of his enemy.
There was no final speech.
No last words.
Just death.
Natsuro pulled out a scroll, activated a sealing jutsu, and stored the corpse inside.
After all, Hiruko's modified body contained four different Kekkei Genkai.
It had scientific value.
Might as well hand it over to the Konoha research division for study.
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Currently on Chapter 343 - Natsuro vs. the Second Mizukage, The First Glimpse of the Dimensional Blade