BOOM!
A deafening shockwave rippled outward, flattening the ground around them.
At its center, Uchiha Yuan and Killer B clashed once more—elbow to elbow, force against force. Yuan's forearm met B's Lariat: Hot Blade, sparks bursting at the impact. The ground beneath them cracked like shattered glass, fissures racing outward in every direction.
Killer B gritted his teeth, muscles straining. "Yo… just like Big Bro said—you actually blocked my Hot Blade! No wonder he wants you dead so bad!"
With a flicker of movement, his other arm whipped around, blade flashing through the darkness. Yuan bent backward, leaping into the air as the blade cut past his face.
Midair, his hands moved behind his waist, fingers spreading—five kunai glinting between them.
B's instincts screamed danger. His eyes darted up just in time to see a flurry of black streaks descending.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks filled the night as B slashed wildly, deflecting the kunai in a storm of steel. The sound rang like a rain of iron.
When the last blade shattered, B blinked—Yuan was gone.
"B, below you!"
The Eight-Tails' warning thundered through his mind.
Without hesitation, B vaulted upward—just as the earth beneath him erupted. A burst of flame and debris exploded from the spot he had been standing.
"Escaped underground, huh… crafty kid." Yuan's voice echoed through the smoke. He stepped from the blast zone, eyes gleaming crimson.
A pulse of chakra surged through his body.
Fire Release: Blazing Dragon Transformation!
The air grew molten-hot. The ground scorched black as a roaring inferno erupted outward. From within the storm of flame, a colossal dragon of fire coiled and surged upward, its roar splitting the night.
"What the—?!"
Before B could react, the dragon swallowed him whole.
ROOOOAR!
The fire dragon bulged violently from within, its scales fracturing under the pressure of immense chakra. Then, with a thunderous detonation, it exploded.
A towering shadow burst free—the complete form of the Eight-Tails.
Its bull-like head bellowed, its single remaining horn gleaming under the moonlight. Eight massive tentacles lashed the ground, uprooting trees in waves.
"So this is the Eight-Tails, huh," Yuan muttered. "Ugly doesn't even begin to cover it."
Inside the beast's body, Killer B grimaced. His skin was burned black in places, though the burns peeled away and healed almost instantly beneath a cloak of chakra.
"Yo, that fire jutsu of his… damn, that was hot! Big Bro was right—one of our units was wiped out by something like that."
"B," said the Eight-Tails gravely, "don't underestimate him. His chakra feels… close to ours. That Uchiha isn't normal."
A sharp gleam flashed in B's eyes. "Got it."
He raised a massive arm, chakra condensing around his fist.
The Eight-Tails roared and swung, its enormous punch tearing through the air like thunder.
BOOOOOM!
The ground quaked violently as the impact cratered the terrain. Dust and debris flew in all directions.
When the haze cleared, the Eight-Tails froze.
Its enormous arm had been blown apart—reduced to fragments of vaporized chakra.
And standing beneath it, unharmed, was Uchiha Yuan.
He stood with one arm raised, his fist smoking faintly from the collision.
He had punched through the Eight-Tails' attack.
Even Killer B was momentarily speechless.
Then, gritting his teeth, he commanded, "Octo-Bro! Do it!"
The beast's maw opened. Multicolored chakra—red, blue, black, and violet—began to swirl and condense.
Yuan's eyes widened. "A Tailed Beast Bomb…!"
He leapt into the air as a blinding flash erupted beneath him.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion turned the world white. A pillar of energy rose skyward, annihilating everything in its path.
Dozens of kilometers away, Konoha's search squads froze as the shockwave rippled through the forest.
They turned, eyes widening as another column of light pierced the clouds.
"There! Another explosion!"
Yamanaka Mokuno's expression darkened. "Lord Yuan must've escaped the first strike—but now he's facing that monster again."
Akimichi Kai clenched his fists. "Damn it, we're too far! I just hope Lord Yuan can hold out until we arrive!"
As they ran, another explosion thundered across the night—then another.
The second light column fell… then a third followed.
Mokuno's face went pale. "As I feared—it's Killer B. The Eight-Tails can fire Tailed Beast Bombs consecutively."
Kai stared toward the horizon, where a fourth beam erupted. "At least Lord Yuan's still dodging. If he were hit head-on, nothing would remain."
The battlefield had become a storm of destruction.
Each Tailed Beast Bomb tore massive craters into the land, shockwaves splitting mountains and scattering the clouds.
Amid the chaos, Yuan's body was hurled through the air, buffeted by roaring winds. He shielded his face, chakra flaring around him to keep his body from being torn apart.
Through the whirlwind, his Sharingan caught sight of a boulder—large as a house—spinning toward him.
Yuan twisted midair, landing atop it with a thud.
"I can't keep dodging forever," he muttered. "If I don't stop those bombs, it's only a matter of time."
Far ahead, the Eight-Tails' massive form glowed again as another sphere of energy condensed in its mouth.
B's mocking laughter echoed through the thunder. "Found you!"
BOOOOM!
The blast disintegrated the boulder beneath Yuan's feet. The shockwave hurled him upward, his clothes in tatters, his skin scorched.
"Damn it… his reaction speed's insane."
He gritted his teeth, glaring at the towering beast in the distance.
Dodging bullets isn't about being faster than them, he thought grimly. It's about moving before the trigger's pulled. But this monster… I can't read his rhythm at all.
As Killer B prepared another Tailed Beast Bomb, Yuan suddenly clapped his hands.
In a burst of smoke, four shadow clones appeared beside him.
The five Uchiha split apart, zigzagging across the field in a blur of movement.
"Five targets?" B growled. "Which one's real?!"
The Eight-Tails' eyes glowed as it scanned them.
"B… none of them are the original."
B froze.
None of them…? Then where—
A whisper of killing intent flickered behind him.
Some people die… but they're never truly gone.
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