The Brawl Begins

"The elite jōnin of Kumogakure, the brother cherished by the Third Raikage, this generation's B—and the current Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, too... Heh, what an extraordinary fellow."

Sakuya's greatbow clashed against the man's short sword. "This isn't the Land of Lightning, Blue B. What are you doing here?"

"This isn't the Land of Fire either, Red Flash."

The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue B, had a dark expression. But his face was so dark to begin with that it was hard to tell.

"Is your target the Iwagakure supply line, just like mine? Or am I your target?"

Sakuya planted a foot on the tentacle tail that had yet to retract behind Blue B and launched himself into the air. His bow curved like the moon as flames coalesced into a massive crimson-gold arrow, aimed straight at Blue B's brow.

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Raging Dance!

A fire dragon roared forth, rushing at Blue B with the force of an inferno that could incinerate all things. A wave of heat swept over him, and scorching ripples suddenly rose through the air.

Blue B's pupils contracted. Lightning flared around him as Kumogakure's secret Lightning Release Chakra Mode coursed through his body in an instant. Blue light formed into armor over his frame. The lightning stimulated his nerves, and he let out a deep roar before pushing off hard. The ground cracked like a thunderclap as he shot backward.

The next instant, the fire dragon slammed into the ground.

Boom!

The earth trembled and rocks flew as flames surged skyward, tearing open a charred fissure more than ten zhang long. The remaining fire flickered in the air, waves of heat roiling so fiercely that even the light twisted and blurred.

What terrifying power.

What absurd speed!

Blue B had naturally come prepared before daring to show up here.

He had investigated the famous powerhouses in this war and believed he knew their abilities inside and out.

But facing Uchiha Sakuya, he finally understood why Iwagakure called him the Red Flash.

It was only because he was an elite jōnin of Kumogakure, with a Lightning Release Chakra Mode that could stimulate his nerves and accelerate his body, that he had managed to dodge the dragon-flame arrow just now, fast as lightning. If it had been anyone else, the fire dragon would have pierced their face before they could even look up.

As Blue B raised Sakuya's threat level another few notches, he silently formed Hand Seals.

Lightning Release Chakra surged into his left arm like a raging current. White sparks crackled beneath his skin, making the whole limb shine.

He held his breath, his gaze locked firmly on Sakuya.

Now it's my turn!

He pushed off hard.

Lightning burst as his figure left a blur behind. The next instant, he was right in front of Sakuya's chest.

His left arm became a blade, wrapped in lightning and accompanied by a shrill whistle as it tore through the air, thrusting straight at Sakuya's chest!

Secret Technique: Lariat!

His arm pierced straight through Sakuya's chest as if stabbing through paper. Blood sprayed, and in the instant that followed... there was no blood?

What?!

Blue B's eyes widened in shock. The next moment, the Sakuya before him turned into flames and vanished.

A Shadow Clone infused with Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation? No, it should be called a Fire Clone. When had he made it?

Blue B's expression turned grave. The temperature above his head suddenly rose, and he instinctively looked up.

On a nearby tree, Sakuya stood on the tip of a branch. He had nearly finished forming his Hand Seals, his fingers shaping the final Tiger sign.

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!

Four fire dragons shot out simultaneously from above, below, left, and right, sealing off every direction Blue B could dodge. If they hit, he would have no chance of survival.

With nowhere to evade, Blue B had no choice but to slap a hand against his abdomen.

Eight-Tails, lend me your power!

The next instant, a monster covered in crimson Chakra appeared where he had stood.

Eight tails swayed behind it, and a pair of bull horns sprouted from its head. It looked utterly terrifying.

"Roar!!!"

The monster thrust out all eight tails and coiled them together. Spinning at high speed, they collided with the four fire dragons Sakuya had launched, bursting apart with a thunderous crash. At the same time, it opened its mouth and roared furiously at Sakuya in the tree.

"Partial Tailed Beast Transformation? Is that your limit?"

As Blue B used the formidable body of his Partial Tailed Beast Transformation to forcefully withstand the four fire dragons, Sakuya nocked an arrow without expression.

"And you still dare to breathe at me? It seems you really do look down on me."

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Raging Dance!

The next moment, a blazing fire dragon came roaring toward him.

The Eight-Tails monster's pupils contracted. It hurriedly leaped into the air to dodge the arrow, but as soon as it rose, it saw the fire dragon rushing straight at it.

Fire Style: Dragon Flame Raging Dance—Double Shot!

The Eight-Tails' eyes widened. It was now suspended in midair, with nothing to push off from. It could only watch helplessly as the fire dragon swallowed it.

"This guy... he actually..."

As the flames surged, the crimson Eight-Tails monster vanished into the blaze.

The smoke gradually cleared, and Sakuya landed lightly.

He looked at the remaining flames on the ground and the tentacle tail drifting down through the air, then shook his head.

"Did he escape? What a shame."

The Eight-Tails could escape by severing its tail. When faced with mortal danger, it could expend some Chakra to create a tail as a decoy or use it as a shield against an enemy's attack.

Killer B, the Second Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, had used this trick several times to escape from others.

He hadn't expected Blue B, this generation's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, to know it too.

Sakuya shook his head.

He had thought that was a technique only a Perfect Jinchuriki could use. If he'd known, he would have gone straight to Amaterasu.

He took out a scroll and sealed the tail inside. Then he checked the battlefield again, packed up the supplies the group of Rock Ninja had been transporting, and stored them in a large scroll.

"Let's head back. We need to report Blue B's appearance here as soon as possible."

Sakuya frowned.

The Second Shinobi World War was already a chaotic free-for-all. Now Kumogakure had gotten involved too. Who knew what might happen?

He had a bad feeling about this.

Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Konoha, Sunagakure... and Kirigakure, whose position was still uncertain. What had started as a major conflict on the Western Continent looked poised to turn into a free-for-all among the Five Great Nations.

He could only hope Kirigakure stayed out of it. Things were chaotic enough already.

With that thought, he didn't dare linger. He slung the scroll over his back and hurried toward the Konoha base.

Three hours later, at four in the afternoon.

Sakuya returned to the base Konoha had established in the center of the Land of River.

The moment he entered, he sensed an unusual atmosphere.

The Konoha Ninja hurrying back and forth looked somewhat exhausted, and quite a few of them were injured.

What was going on? Had they lost a battle?

No, that didn't make sense. He'd only been gone for two days. If they'd suffered a defeat, he couldn't possibly have heard nothing about it.

As he pondered, Jiraiya emerged from a camp farther away. He looked exhausted, and his right arm was wrapped in bandages. He was clearly badly injured.

He leaned against the entrance to the tent, gazing inside with a despondent expression.