"Damn it! You want me to hand over the scroll I worked so hard to obtain? Impossible!" The Raikage's face turned a deep, furious red, his veins pulsing with a dark, shadowy energy. "Kid, I will capture you and bring you back to the village myself, even if it costs me my life!"

Just as the Raikage was about to move, a figure appeared behind Shiro and Danzō. It was Karai. He had been feeling useless, following his leader but unable to help. Seeing the Raikage in such a difficult battle, he had decided to launch a sneak attack, to do anything he could to shift the tide of the fight.

"You little brat! Take this!"

"Lightning Release: Thunder Rat Swarm!"

The distance between them was almost zero. Karai was certain that no matter how fast Shiro was, he could not evade an attack at such a close range.

Shiro spun around to counter, but his Sharingan suddenly detected something wrong with Karai's body. "Hmm? What's this…?"

A chakra-infused insect was crawling into Karai's chest. It was a large, grotesque creature, one that would have been impossible to detect without the Sharingan.

"An Exploding Bug!" Shiro recognized the forbidden technique of the Kugutsu clan. Once the insect entered a host's body, it would feed on their chakra, growing at an exponential rate until it detonated with devastating force.

As Karai was finishing the hand signs for his jutsu, his body began to swell grotesquely. "Danzō! Get out of here!" Shiro ordered, and his mount immediately complied, leaping away from the impending explosion.

"This…!" Karai panicked, a terrible premonition filling his mind.

"What's wrong with you, Karai?" the Raikage demanded, noticing the sudden change.

"Lord Raikage, don't… don't come near me! I…!" Before he could finish his warning, a massive explosion ripped through the clearing, and Karai's body was instantly vaporized, turned to nothing but ash.

"Karai!" Seeing his subordinate die before his very eyes, the Raikage was consumed by a blind rage. "You dare kill my men, you little brat!"

"Hey, hey, this has nothing to do with me," Shiro said with an amused smile, spreading his hands innocently. Just as he was about to say more, five figures, each with a strange, dog-like tail, appeared in a flash.

The man standing in the center of the group spoke in a cold, menacing voice. "Hmph! Raikage, do you truly believe a mere child could have done this? Hand over the secret ninjutsu scroll, or you will suffer the same fate as your subordinate!" He then turned his gaze to Shiro. "And you, little brat from Madara-gakure, you dare to steal business from the Kugutsu clan? I think you have grown tired of living. After I have the scroll, I will deal with you."

"The Kugutsu clan?" The Raikage frowned. He had heard the name before. They were a notorious organization of ninja hunters.

"How dare a mere mercenary organization speak so shamelessly to the Raikage!" Nikai roared. He concentrated his chakra into his right arm, about to unleash a powerful lightning strike, when a sharp pain shot through his chest. The chakra he had gathered vanished, and a large, pulsating swelling appeared on his chest, a parasitic insect embedded in his flesh.

"Ghh!"

"What's wrong with you, Nikai?" The Raikage understood at once. This was the work of the Kugutsu. He charged at the five figures, his fist a blur of motion, but their bodies dissolved into black smoke, their true forms impossible to hit.

"Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this?!" The Raikage was growing more and more frustrated, his rage making him reckless. He wanted to press the attack, but Nikai's pained groans brought him back to his senses. I can't fight any longer, he thought. Saving my men is the most important thing!

With that, the Raikage became a living bolt of lightning, grabbing Nikai in the blink of an eye and disappearing into the dense jungle.

"Just you wait! I'll be back!"

Seeing their target flee, the leader of the Kugutsu shouted, "He's trying to escape! After him! My tracking bugs have already locked onto his chakra. Even if he runs to the ends of the earth, he cannot escape my grasp!"

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