I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

”Next time, give me the map; I’ll lead the way,” Jūzō Biwa said with an annoyed look on his face.

Thanks to Musashi, a mission they should have completed in a week turned into a month-long journey.

Jūzō Biwa was genuinely baffled by how Musashi managed to accomplish such a feat. Despite looking at the map as they traveled, Musashi somehow led them to a place that did not exist on the map, wasting a lot of time.

”Fine, you can lead from now on, but the path is just too confusing challenging. You can’t blame me for getting lost,” Musashi tried to defend himself.

”Getting lost in an unfamiliar place is normal, but getting lost while looking at the map is really something,” Jūzō Biwa retorted.

”Let’s just find Raiga Kurosuki. It’s been a while, so I don’t know if he’s still around,” Jūzō Biwa suggested with a furrowed brow.

This was his first mission as an Akatsuki member, and he didn’t want it to end in failure.

Shortly after, they saw a person with green long hair and a somewhat fierce appearance walking towards them.

Musashi unsheathed the twin swords at his waist and smiled, ”I’m ready. See? Isn’t this a fortunate encounter?”

”It’s just luck. Next time, I won’t let you lead the way,” Jūzō Biwa said emotionlessly while flexing his wrist.

”Jūzō, why are you here? And isn’t he a wanted criminal that Kirigakure after? Why are you with him?” Raiga Kurosuki squinted, looking at Musashi and Jūzō Biwa with caution. He subtly stepped back and unsheathed the sword on his back.

Comrades were a thing of the past. Now, both of them were Missing-nin, and there was no camaraderie among Missing-nin.

Jūzō Biwa stated calmly, ”Is there a difference? We are both wanted criminals now anyway.”

”Jūzō, let me handle this. I have more experience with these situations,” Musashi stepped forward.

Jūzō Biwa stuck his Kubikiribocho on the ground, and observed how Musashi would handle the situation.

”Raiga Kurosuki, we’re here to invite you to join our organization, Akatsuki,” Musashi straightforwardly stated.

”Akatsuki? What organization is that?” Raiga asked.

”It’s an organization that desires peace. The leader doesn’t ask much from us. Aside from completing the missions assigned to us, we’re basically free to do whatever we want,” Musashi explained.

Raiga Kurosuki looked at Jūzō Biwa and said amusedly. ”Are you so bored after becoming a missing-nin that you end up joining this ridiculous organization?”

Jūzō Biwa sneered, ”Ridiculous organization? You’ll know soon enough.”

”Can I take that as a refusal?” Musashi didn’t seem angry whatsoever. For him, Akatsuki was just a tool to become stronger and gather information.

”You’re free to interpret it that way,” Raiga said casually and turned around.

However, right when he turned around, a blade shining with silver light blocked his path.

”I think you may not fully grasp how amazing Akatsuki truly is. How about a fight to help you understand better?”

Raiga Kurosuki’s face turned cold, ”I hate it when people point their blades at me.” Raiga gripped Kiba tightly.

Kiba was a pair of Taiji swords. Both have long, slim, and straight, double-edged blades. The blades also have an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of one side of the blade and another one near the base of the blade’s other side.

”Fangs of Lightning!” Raiga roared and crossed the swords, causing a surge of chakra to explode. A significant amount of Chakra transformed into lightning, flowing into the blades.

bzz, bzz, bzz!

The lightning-infused blades extended continuously, shrouded in a dense layer of lightning.

Swish!

Two lightning swords took shape and were swiftly thrown, tearing through at a breakneck speed.

Musashi watched the twin blades of lightning with a hint of excitement in his eyes. He tightened his grip on his twin swords and activated Color of Arms Haki. The jet-black Color of Arms Haki covered the blades as he charged forward instead of retreating.

Seeing Mushashi approaching, Raiga’s expression changed slightly, thinking that Mushashi was blindly running to his death.

However, to Raiga’s surprise, Mushashi seemed to anticipate what he was thinking. In such a close distance, Mushashi predicted the trajectory of his lightning sword and successfully dodged before closing the distance between them almost instantly.

”Lightning Strike Armor!” Raiga immediately changed his tactics. He gave up the attack and surrounded himself with all Lightning Chakra from Kiba, as if donning an armor made of lightning.

”Ha!” Mushashi shouted loudly, channeling all his power into his twin swords as he struck the Lightning Strike Armor that surrounded Raiga Kurosuki.

Swish!

The moment Musashi struck, the Lightning Strike Armor instantly dispersed. Raiga could tell that he had underestimated his opponent, and he would pay for that.

Raiga Kurosuki anticipated an excruciating pain, but to his surprise, he only felt a slight pain.

Raiga lowered his head and it turned out Musashi had already sheathed his sword, deliberately only grazing Raiga’s stomach!

Upon touching the blood on his abdomen, Raiga remarked, ”Your swordsmanship is impressive.”

Being able to exert enough power to cut through his Lightning Strike Armor and suddenly cut his sword’s moment at the critical moment so that his blade only grazed Raiga’s skin wasn’t something that an average swordsman could do.

Although Raiga Kurosuki was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, his Kiba was more like a Lightning-enhancing tool than it was a sword, and he himself was more of a Lightning Release Shinobi than a swordsman.

Musashi smiled, ”I’m also interested in your Lightning Release-swordsmanship. After you join the organization, let’s have a proper fight.”

Raiga nodded. This time, he underestimated his opponent, and although he knew Musashi was strong, he couldn’t accept the defeat.

”You should have started with that. Let’s head back now,” Jūzō Biwa was in a good mood after completing the mission.

”Speaking of which, aren’t you exactly like Raiga when I recruit you? Losing to me after looking down on Akatsuki.”

”Are you trying to pick a fight? My Kubikiribocho hasn’t tasted blood in a while,” Jūzō Biwa was irritated when Musashi brought back that humiliating memory.

’What kind of organization is Akatsuki?’ Raiga was quite curious.

’Then again, it can’t be worse than my current situation,’ he thought, feeling somewhat relieved. With Jūzō Biwa as a familiar face in the organization, he could relax a bit.

If it didn’t meet his expectations, he could always leave. He didn’t think a mere organization could surpass the power of Kirigakure.”