As soon as Shinichi finished speaking, his fingers tightened around A's wrist.
Before A could pull free, Shinichi lowered his stance, twisted his waist, and swung the Raikage's body over his shoulder.
Bang!
A crashed into the ground like a hammer. The ground cracked beneath him, but Shinichi did not let go. He pulled A out of the broken ground and slammed him down from the other side.
Bang!
The second impact tore open another pit. Before the surrounding Cloud ninja could move, Shinichi swung him a third time and smashed him into the valley floor.
Then he released his grip, sending A flying across the battlefield and into a nearby rock wall. The cliff face cracked on impact, and loose stones rolled down around him.
"Lord Raikage!"
C's voice rang out, but someone else moved faster.
Yugito's chakra erupted like a flame.
In an instant, the red cloak around her body expanded, bones and flesh forming over it until the full body of the Two-Tails appeared in the valley. Blue and black flames burned across Matatabi's body, and the two long tails swayed behind her like ghost fire.
Yugito opened her mouth, and a huge fireball gathered between her jaws. "Don't look down on our Kage!"
The fireball shot toward Shinichi, its heat twisting the air before it even reached him.
Shinichi looked up at the incoming fireball and calmly formed hand seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Thick logs rose around him and locked together, forming a wooden dome just as the fireball struck.
Boom!
Blue flames swallowed the dome, burning fiercely across its surface as heat spread through the valley.
C's sensory ability remained fixed on Shinichi's position. "It hit."
For a moment, some of the Cloud ninja looked relieved. Yugito's flames came from the Two-Tails, and even water could not easily put them out. Against Wood Release, they should have been even more effective.
But Killer B did not relax.
"It's not that simple," he said.
C turned toward him.
"If Wood Release could be beaten that easily by fire," B said, watching the burning dome, "Hashirama Senju wouldn't have ended the Warring States Period with it."
Before C could answer, the blue flames began to shrink. They twisted inward as if something inside the wood was swallowing them, and in just a few seconds, the fire vanished completely.
The Wood Locking Wall stood there smooth and untouched.
Yugito's eyes narrowed. Her attack had done nothing.
The Wood Locking Wall opened from the center, and Shinichi stepped out without a mark on his clothes.
Yugito's face changed slightly.
She had not expected one attack to defeat him, but she had at least expected it to damage his defense. Instead, the fire had disappeared without leaving even a scorch mark.
"So this is Wood Release..."
Her voice carried a trace of Matatabi's disbelief.
Shinichi quickly formed another seal.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique."
The ground under the Two-Tails cracked open. A Wood Dragon shot out and quickly wrapped itself around Matatabi's huge body.
Yugito tried to pull back, but the dragon tightened faster than she could move. Its head rose over her shoulder and bit into the back of her neck.
In the next instant, her body stiffened.
Chakra began pouring out of her and into the Wood Dragon.
Inside Killer B, Gyuki's voice turned sharp.
"B, stop that thing! That's the same kind of technique Hashirama used against us. If it keeps absorbing chakra, Yugito won't be able to maintain her Tailed Beast form for long."
B's expression changed at once.
"Everyone below jonin level, fall back!" he shouted. "Medical team, get ready!"
His gaze snapped toward Darui.
"Darui, cut that dragon off her!"
Darui was already moving.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
Bright beams of light shot across the valley and struck the Wood Dragon's head. The attack tore through the wood, blasting open a large hole near the place where it had bitten into the Two-Tails.
For a moment, the dragon's grip loosened.
Yugito seized the chance and tried to break free, blue flames surging across her body. But before she could pull away, the torn wood twisted and grew back together, forming a new dragon head in the blink of an eye.
The Wood Dragon bit down again, even deeper than before.
Darui's eyes narrowed.
"It regenerated?"
Dodai's voice followed immediately from the side. "Ordinary attacks won't work. Hit it together!"
In the next moment, Lightning Release, Water Release, wind blades, and rubber restraints struck the Wood Dragon from several directions at once.
Under the combined attacks, the Wood Dragon was finally forced loose.
Yugito broke free and pulled back, the blue flames around Matatabi still burning fiercely. Before the Wood Dragon could coil around her again, several Cloud jonin rushed forward from different directions.
"Attack!"
"For Kumogakure!"
They had already hesitated once. Now that Yugito had been rescued, they forced down the fear in their hearts and charged straight toward Shinichi.
Shinichi only raised his hand and flicked his finger downward.
Behind him, the Scale Wood Dragon moved.
Its wings beat once, and its huge body dropped between Shinichi and the charging jonin like a wall. The first few Cloud ninja struck it head-on, fists and blades landing against the hard scales with a heavy clang.
The dragon did not even slow down.
Their expressions changed at once, but there was no time to retreat. The Scale Wood Dragon pushed forward like a war chariot, sweeping the front attackers away and sending them crashing into the rocks.
At the edge of the battlefield, A had already pulled himself out of the broken rock, his eyes fixed on Shinichi's back.
Killer B caught his gaze. The two brothers did not need words. Dark red chakra surged around B as he rushed forward, while A turned into blue-white lightning and charged from the other side.
"Double Lariat!"
They closed in from left and right.
Shinichi waited until they were almost on him, then raised both hands.
Bang! Bang!
The ground cracked under their feet. A and Killer B's attacks had been caught at the same time, one in each hand.
"Your taijutsu is strong," Shinichi said. "Your speed and technique are above mine."
His fingers tightened around their arms.
"But my strength is far above yours."
Shinichi pulled his arms apart.
A and Killer B were thrown away at the same time, one crashing into the rock wall and the other smashing across the ground.
For a moment, the battlefield went quiet.
Shinichi lowered his hands. "I thought you would gather your troops like Iwagakure and try to fight a proper battle."
His gaze moved from the Cloud ninja to Killer B and Yugito.
"But it doesn't matter. My real target was always you two."
Shinichi's chakra surged outward.
The air across the valley grew heavy, forcing several Cloud ninja back before they could steady themselves. Behind his sunglasses, Killer B's expression changed.
'Hachi, what is this?' he asked inwardly. 'His chakra feels even heavier than yours.'
Gyuki was silent for a moment before his voice sounded in B's mind.
'B... I can smell them in his chakra. One-Tail, Four-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails... and the Nine-Tails.'
Killer B's mind shook.
'You mean... he absorbed the chakra of other Tailed Beasts?'
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