After the pair clashed, Darui managed to push them both away using his strength. The couple was sent flying through the air before spinning and landing gracefully.

"Of course, the brat under that monster is a taijutsu specialist," Kushimaru complained

And that was true. Because he was the only male under the 3rd Raikage, he was made to do extra physical labor. Because the lightning chakra mode he used was a hidden Jutsu of the clan, the 3rd Raikage could not teach it to Darui. But even without teaching the technique, he still enforced the physical training aspect of it to Darui, in case A Jr. ever relented and agreed to teach it to him or Darui developed a similar technique. Because of that, Darui had a monstrous body that would surpass even Rock Lee when he was 13.

Darui did not agree or disagree. Instead, he was planning out his next moves. At the moment, he had a serious disadvantage compared to the two. Although they lost their advantage for an initial surprise attack, they still outnumbered him and could spring on him at any moment. Both of their swords were also dangerous weapons that added another advantage to their arsenal. Lastly, they were also legendary shinobi that were confident enough to kill A Jr. They wouldn't go down without major consequences to Darui's body if he could kill them at all.

'But no point in worrying bout that stuff now,' Darui thought to himself as he realized he was getting in his head. 'Only thing that matters now is that I kill them both or they will end up killing me.'

Darui slammed his staff into the ground before weaving several hand signs in quick succession. A glowing circle the size of his body appeared in front of him. Darui stuck both his hands in the center of the circle before they started glowing.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Several beams of light shot out of Darui's hands, quickly soaring through the air and approaching the pair. The duo jumped to each side dodging the initial volley but they were caught off guard when they saw the beams turn to chase each of them. The duo swiped their swords at the beams but only managed to hit half of them while the others were able to move around the blades and strike their owners. Each of the beams that struck sent the pair flying but barely penetrated the skin.

Laser Circus was a powerful technique but it had one weakness. While the power of the beams was strong and could bend as much as Darui needed them to, the more he bent them and twisted them, the less heat and force each of them had. So since he had to make them move twice in quick succession, there was not enough time for the technique to hit with its full power.

Kushimaru and Jinpachi stood up while glaring at Darui, ready to take off his head.

"Fuck off, you scarecrow bastard. I'm going to blow him apart and if you don't want to get caught in it, stay back here," Jinpachi warned

"Try me. I'm going to sew every orifice of his shut before performing a few surgeries on him," Kushimaru didn't bother with Jinpachi's warning

The pair looked like they were as ready to kill each other as they were to kill Darui. To which Darui did not mind. Darui charged at Kushimaru while they were both looking at one another, able to take the man off guard. The tall man was barely able to bring up his sword to block the strike from Darui's staff. Darui began to swing his staff around in all directions, trying to force an opening. With his high level of strength and unpredictable strikes, Darui was able to keep Kushimaru on the defensive.

Just as Darui made an opening, Jinpachi appeared behind him and swung his blade. Darui hurried to block, able to barely react in time. But the other man's attack did not end. Several explosive tags were released from the scroll, detonating in close proximity to all 3.

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A giant explosion filled the area with smoke, leaving anyone who may have been watching.

-----

"We got the rest of the 3rd Raikage's team as well as the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tailed Beast. Not sure about the last one but if he is with the others, must be important to those Kumo bastards," the captain of the hunter-nin stated while looking down on the group. "Get ready to kill them all."

C and the others were surrounded from all sides by the hunter-nin. Hunter-nin were members of a special branch of Kirigakure's Anbu, whose main task was hunting down rogue ninjas from their village. They were masters in killing and anatomy, even more so than other Anbu teams. So while they lacked the protective prowess of other groups, their killing prowess was second to none.

"Darui didn't lie to me. Looks like I get to have a good fight today, Yugito looked at all the ninjas around them, ready to let loose

Just as she was about to jump forward, a kunai was quickly approaching her from behind. Luckily, Samui and Mabui were able to stop Togoi from stabbing her. C then struck him from behind, knocking the man unconscious.

"I hate it when that white-haired bastard is right," C complained. "Same plan as before. I'll bring him back. You guys handle the pursuers."

C began to make several hand signs before holding his hands in front of his body.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar!"

A blinding light was released from C's body, interfering with the sight of all of the hunter-nin. He then grabbed Togoi's body and charged out of the circle, killing two of the hunter-nin on his way out. Samui and Mabui also broke out of the formation, killing a couple of members on their way out. The only person that stayed in the middle of the circle was Yugito.

When the rest of the ninjas regained their sight, they saw that the others had managed to run away. All of them turned their attention to Yugito.

"Compared to Togoi, the Jinchuriki is worth much more. Lord Jinpachi also can kill him whenever he wants so that isn't our concern anymore. Kill her!"

The hunter-nin began jumping toward Yugito, ready to take her life. But before anyone of them neared her, a wave of blue and black flames scared them off. There, they saw the blue and black flames surrounding Yugito and taking shape in the form of cat ears, limbs, and a pair of tails. Her nails also extended to a length that was comparable to kunai with a sharpness that could cut even steel.

Yugito looked up and around at all of the members of the Hunter-nin.

"I'm gonna slaughter all of you," she teased before rushing out to the closest opponent

-----

As the smoke cleared, Darui's flak jacket was destroyed, leaving several burns visible on his body.

'He really didn't hesitate to detonate those things with his ally right there! Crazy bastard,' Darui complained in his mind

"You bastard!" Kushimaru exclaimed. He was even more heavily damaged than Darui. Even though he was much taller than Darui, his thighs were caught in the blast. The damage done to them reduced the speed he could move by a large margin.

Jinpachi looked uncaring as he swung his sword again, sending several paper bombs flying in Darui's direction. The young man was able to back out of the blast zone before the tags detonated, saving him from further damage. While Darui was dodging that blow, he saw a shadow appear behind him. DArui hurried to raise his staff but Nuibari's thing blade was able to easily pass by it and stab Darui in his left thigh.

Darui knew he was in danger so he hurried to swing his staff to scare Kushimaru off. The swordsman dodged the blow by jumping back, pulling his sword out of Darui's leg. Darui looked down and saw that there was no thread left in his leg since the sword was pulled out before it reached the right depth.

'Any slower and that guy would have had control of my leg. I forget that these guys are monsters compared to ordinary shinobi. The ones that beat them were probably two of the strongest jonin around.'

Darui charged toward Jinpachi, ready to engage him once again while Kushimaru was right on his tail. The battle between the 3 fighters picked up once again with the group locked in close combat. Jinpachi kept trying to detonate his explosive tags but thanks to Darui and Kushimaru's combined effort, any time he would have had the chance to fire them, he would have been caught in the blast as well. The close proximity also prevented Kushimaru from using the thread of his blade. Thanks to this, the battle became less about the tools that the three were using and more about a battle of skill and physique. And Darui was losing out to both when it came to the former but managed to make up for it with the latter.

Injuries began building on all 3 of their bodies. Countless cuts began to cover Darui's body, each one draining more and more blood from his body.

'I need to finish this right now,' Darui thought before releasing his staff and making several hand signs. 'Black Lightning: Current!' Black lightning with a green outline began to surround Darui before it rapidly spread out, knocking the pair back.

As Kushimaru and Jinpachi were recovering from the attack, two shadows appeared behind them. Mabui and Samui slashed at them trying to cut the pair down. Although they had an incredible sense of hearing, the duo could not hear the surprise attack due to the noise from the black lightning. Samui managed to slice off Jinpachi's left arm which was holding the blade before the man backed away while Mabui was able to launch 5 kunai into Kushimaru's back.

The duo retreated in random directions to escape from the sudden assault. They looked at the two newcomers wearily.

"I was right?" Darui asked while picking up his staff in one hand and the Shibuki in his other.

"Yep. C-san complained about it as usual before carrying away the target," Mabui explained while pulling out 4 more kunai

"He always does. Since we already have these two injured, may as well bring them back to Kumo as well. I'm sure the old man will appreciate that."