Sora glanced at the critically injured, near-death Captain Fox, then at the motionless Night Owl lying on the ground, and the distant Grey Wolf whose condition was unknown.
The miserable state of his teammates, the enemy's taunts, the pressure of a desperate situation, all crashed into his heart like an icy tide.
He could not hesitate any longer!
Hidden strength? Trump cards? In the face of survival, none of that mattered!
If he lost his life, what use was keeping a trump card?
Being suspected by the village? Being feared and studied by the higher-ups? Those were things to consider only after he survived!
'There's no other way... it's reached the point where I have to use it.'
Sora took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision, his eyes turning sharp.
He slowly straightened his body, ignoring the stabbing pain still coming from his back. After removing the bandages wrapped around him, he let his hands hang naturally.
"Oh? Coming to your senses?"
Seeing Sora's movement, Raiga showed a smug smile on his face.
However, the next moment, his smile froze on his face.
He saw the surging green steam energy around Sora rapidly recede like a tide.
He had voluntarily deactivated the Eight Gates Released Formation state.
"That's right, a wise man knows when..."
Raiga, thinking Sora had given up resistance, was about to step forward, but the words of flattery in his mouth were cut off abruptly.
Because he felt it. An entirely different, more ancient, more domineering, more heart-palpitating aura was slowly awakening from within the youth before him.
That feeling... it was as if a slumbering primordial beast was slowly opening its eyes!
Sora slowly raised his head. Deep within his pupils, a flash of azure-golden light seemed to flicker and vanish.
A certain restriction within his body was being quietly released.
In the distance, Toroi, who had just dealt with Fox, instantly lost his relaxed and casual expression, replaced by a look of suspicion and gravity.
His perception was stronger than Raiga and Ganko's. He could feel more clearly the terrifying power, different and wildly escalating, within Sora's body!
"Something's wrong! Be careful! There's something strange about this kid!"
Toroi shouted a warning.
Raiga and Ganko finally sensed something was amiss.
The Sora before them had clearly deactivated that green steam state, but the sense of oppression he gave off didn't decrease. Instead, it increased!
An authority as suffocating as it was palpable began to permeate the air.
"Trying to mystify us!"
Raiga forcefully suppressed the unease in his heart, roared angrily, and the lightning-short blade in his hand once again erupted with a blinding light. He charged at Sora first. "Let's see me turn you into charcoal!"
Ganko also roared, taking a heavy step forward. His giant rocky fist formed once again, ready to coordinate with Raiga's attack.
But at the very moment they moved.
Sora suddenly raised his head and let out a low roar unlike any human sound!
"Roar...!"
A visible wave of azure-golden air erupted from him as the center! A substantial pressure instantly enveloped the entire battlefield!
Raiga, at the very front, bore the brunt. He felt a "buzzing" in his brain, as if struck hard by a heavy hammer!
Boundless fear instantly gripped his heart. It was the instinctive fear of a lower life form facing an apex predator!
His movements instantly stiffened. It felt as if all the blood in his body was about to freeze!
Ganko behind him wasn't faring any better. The terrifying pressure made him feel as if he was carrying a mountain on his back. His heavy earth-release armor now felt as fragile as paper. Even breathing became extremely difficult!
Even the distant Toroi felt his heart palpitate!
"This... what is this?!"
Toroi exclaimed in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Under the horrified gazes of the three, Sora's body began to undergo astonishing changes...
Dense azure scales rapidly sprouted from beneath his skin like bamboo shoots after rain, covering his arms, neck, cheeks, and all exposed skin, glinting with a cold metallic luster!
The fingers of his hands grew sharp, his nails extended and thickened, transforming into gleaming, cold dragon claws!
Just looking at them, one could sense their unmatched sharpness!
Crack! Crack!
At the same time, a thick, powerful, similarly scale-covered dragon tail burst from his coccyx, tearing through his clothes. Like a steel whip, it casually lashed the sandy ground, splitting open a deep trench!
Whoosh!
A faint but unmistakable flow of wind began to spontaneously circle around Sora, ruffling the lock of hair on his forehead that had turned silver-azure.
In the span of one or two breaths, Sora had transformed from a harmless-looking youth into a half-human, half-dragon monster!
An aura of a suffocating primordial beast radiated from his entire being!
"M-monster!!!"
Raiga was the closest and saw most clearly. The cold vertical pupils, the ferocious claws, the terrifying pressure completely shattered his mental defenses. He let out a scream of utter terror. All his previous arrogance and mockery vanished without a trace!
Ganko was also dumbfounded, his mouth agape, his mind completely blank, utterly unable to comprehend what was happening before his eyes.
This exceeded his understanding of "secret techniques" or "Kekkei Genkai"!
"What... what is that thing?!"
Toroi's shock was no less than his two subordinates'. He even subconsciously took half a step back, his face written with incredulity.
"Full-body animal transformation? No! There's a tail too?! What kind of Kekkei Genkai is this?! Or is it some contract power from a summoning beast?!"
As an elite Jonin of Kumogakure, he had witnessed all sorts of peculiar ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai. He had also seen the rampaging Two-Tails Matatabi in his village, but that was a terrifying existence formed by massive chakra and negative emotions.
The change in Sora, however, was on a completely different level of life. It was more primitive, more domineering. The pressure acted directly on the depths of the soul!
'Is this... the power of the full half beast state?'
Sora felt the torrential, terrifying power surging within his body, far surpassing anything before. He was equally shaken.
Although he had long been able to enter this stage, he had never shown it on a proper battlefield, being within Konoha. At most, he had secretly tested it a few times while out on missions.
The feeling of power at this moment, as if he could tear the sky and shake the earth with a wave of his hand, was incomparable to any previous state.
The wound on his back had long since stopped bleeding under the covering of scales and was healing rapidly. The paralysis caused by the lightning had completely vanished, replaced by incredibly abundant energy and an exceptionally clear perception of his surroundings.
He could even clearly "see" the wind flowing in the air, "hear" the subtle movements beneath the sand, "smell" the faint scent of lightning on the distant Toroi.
This feeling of being in control of everything was intoxicating.
But he quickly suppressed this intoxication. His cold vertical pupils instantly locked onto Raiga, who was closest to him and almost paralyzed by the dragon's might!
The fastest one must be eliminated first!
Sora moved!
No hand seals, no signs of chakra eruption!
Boom!
The air exploded! His figure instantly vanished from his original spot! His speed was more than a notch faster than when he had opened the Fifth Gate!
"What?!"
All Raiga saw was a blur before his eyes. That terrifying blue-black figure had already appeared right in front of him like a ghost!
He didn't even have time to react! All he could do was watch as that claw covered in azure scales, with a screech that tore through the air, came slashing fiercely towards his neck!
Fast! Too fast! Faster than the limits of his neural reflexes!