Izuna charged toward Matatabi, her ability reminding him of Marco the Phoenix, the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates from *One Piece*. He, too, used blue flames and was said to be able to recover from any injury. It was quite similar to Matatabi's flames.
The fact that Hidan and Kakuzu, two members who many readers of the original story considered the weakest in the Akatsuki, managed to capture the Two-Tails was something Izuna found puzzling. He figured that besides the possibility that a Tailed Beast couldn't use its full power while inside a Jinchuriki, the abilities of that immortal duo were just too perfect a counter for Matatabi.
Suddenly, Matatabi's two tails shot up vertically, then whipped forward, launching countless blue-flame orbs that rained down on Izuna like a meteor shower.
"Mouse Flame Orb!"
With his spinning Sharingan, Izuna could see the trajectory of every falling flame orb with perfect clarity. His body moved as if dancing, weaving through the targeted area.
The Chakra within Matatabi abruptly shifted. The flame orbs Izuna had dodged suddenly changed direction in mid-air and continued to pursue him.
*A homing attack?* Izuna's eyes narrowed. *In that case...*
His hands flew through seals. "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
If he couldn't dodge, he would just have to cancel them out with a jutsu of equal power!
*WHOOSH!*
Matatabi's massive body moved across the grassland, creating a tremendous gale. She burst through the smoke from the explosion and lunged at Izuna. Looking up at the mountain-sized beast, any normal person would have fainted from fear alone.
After a mid-air somersault, Matatabi's two tails descended like iron whips.
"Then I'll try this. I've been wanting to use it for a long time." A strange smile touched Izuna's lips. He crossed the index and middle fingers of both hands. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A Shadow Clone quickly jumped away while the real Izuna raised his right hand. A Rasengan rapidly expanded in his palm, growing from the size of a tennis ball to a soccer ball, then a basketball.
"Great Ball Rasengan!"
His Rasengan collided with Matatabi's descending paw. Matatabi's body shuddered slightly, but in the next second, she increased her output. The blue flames on her arm flared, instantly overpowering the Rasengan.
*BANG!*
Izuna was sent flying. Just before he crashed into the mountain rock behind him, he pulled a three-pronged kunai from his ninja pouch and threw it at the ground below.
*WHOOSH!*
In an instant, the airborne Izuna teleported from mid-air to the ground. Using the Flying Thunder God Technique at the last moment had minimized the damage.
To his surprise, however, Matatabi did not press her advantage. After sending him flying, she stood still and spoke. "Leave, human. You are no match for me."
Izuna was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing. "Such big words for a little kitten. But today, I'm definitely taking you with me."
Anger flashed in Matatabi's eyes. Her twin tails whipped about, and the rising blue-flame orbs once again rained down like a meteor shower, even more dense and ferocious than before.
The Shadow Clone that had been hiding in the distance suddenly opened its eyes and released itself with a hand seal.
In the next instant, tadpole-like markings appeared at the corners of Izuna's eyes.
Sage Chakra!
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
"Wind Release: Verdant Gale!"
"Lightning Release: Emotion Wave!"
In a flash, he created two Shadow Clones to his left and right. The three Izunas simultaneously unleashed three different elemental jutsu. Their combined power was comparable to an S-rank technique.
*RUMBLE!*
The clash of their ultimate moves shook the very earth of the plains. Thick smoke billowed between man and beast, obscuring their vision.
*SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!*
Suddenly, countless three-pronged Flying Thunder God kunai shot out from the smoke, flying toward Matatabi.
Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique!
This was one of Namikaze Minato's signature moves during his "Yellow Flash" era. Although the technique was in his skill tree, Izuna hadn't spent points on it. Having already mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he had recreated the technique with little effort.
Faced with the overwhelming storm of kunai, Matatabi merely raised an eyebrow, then stomped her right foot hard on the ground.
*FWOOSH!*
A wall of blue-black flames blocked all the kunai. Most of the Flying Thunder God kunai vanished in a puff of white smoke upon contact, just like regular shadow clones. Only the few solid kunai were caught in the flames, gradually melting in the intense heat.
"Up here!"
Hearing a voice from above, Matatabi's heart skipped a beat. She looked up to see Izuna standing on the back of a ninja hawk, a massive Rasengan with a ten-meter diameter already formed in his hand.
Leaping from the hawk, Izuna threw his hand down. "Sage Art: Super Great Ball Rasengan!"
Undoubtedly an S-rank jutsu, perhaps even surpassing most S-rank techniques, the Super Great Ball Rasengan landed squarely on Matatabi's back. Even she couldn't withstand a direct hit of that magnitude. Her massive body lost its balance and crashed heavily to the ground.
The Super Great Ball Rasengan ground against her back, its rotation clashing with her blue flames. Matatabi cried out in pain.
Izuna landed from the sky. Across from him, Matatabi lay on the ground, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. If she were the size of a normal animal, some woman would surely have scooped her up in a tender embrace to comfort her.
But as Izuna landed, his steps were also unsteady. The reason was simple: the Super Great Ball Rasengan consumed an absurd amount of Chakra. Even after Uzumaki Naruto perfected Sage Mode, he could only use his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken twice. Izuna's Sage Mode was still undeveloped, and the Uchiha's Chakra reserves were naturally inferior to those of the Senju and Uzumaki.
He looked up again. In less than ten seconds, the felled Matatabi was already getting back on her feet. The wound on her back was being mended by the blue flames, healing at a visible rate.
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