The mountain wind howled, carrying the stench of blood and scorched earth.
Blue B leaped down from the hilltop. He used no flashy Body Flicker Technique, just a simple jump, yet he moved so fast that his afterimage lingered on the retina.
He landed in the open ground twenty meters from Uchiha Ryūha.
The earth cracked beneath his feet, but not a speck of dust rose—all the impact had been precisely controlled at the soles of his feet.
He slowly straightened.
His wheat-colored skin gleamed like metal in the afterglow of the Blood-Red Sunset.
His short white hair stood on end, and sunglasses hid his eyes.
But his chilling aura was almost tangible, pressing down on Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki until they could barely breathe.
The Ninja Blade on his back was longer and wider than ordinary standard-issue blades. Its sheath was a somber deep blue, with faint patterns of lightning flowing across it.
"People from Konoha," Blue B said. His voice was young, yet cold beyond his years. "Are you all this heartless?"
His gaze swept across the scorched earth left by Haien, then turned toward the distant coniferous forest—
The stench of blood was drifting from there on the wind.
"You just finished cleaning up the battlefield, and now you're here to watch the show." Blue B slowly drew the Ninja Blade from his back.
The blade rang with a clear hum as it left its sheath, reflecting the last sliver of daylight.
"Do all you Konoha shinobi like playing these kinds of tricks?"
Uchiha Ryūha's hand remained on the hilt of Kyōka Suigetsu.
He didn't answer. He simply studied the opponent before him in silence.
Fifteen? Or sixteen? He wasn't much older than Kakashi, but the amount of Chakra he had...
No, that wasn't ordinary Chakra.
Beneath that cold Lightning Release, something even more violent and primal surged, brimming with hatred.
The Eight-Tails' Chakra.
And it was controlled remarkably well, with almost none leaking out.
This wasn't Killer B, the rapping boy from the original story. This was an earlier era.
This was the previous generation's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, the one named "Blue B."
"The beginnings of a Perfect Jinchuriki..." Ryūha murmured.
"Hm?" Blue B's brow furrowed behind his sunglasses.
He heard the words, but didn't fully understand them.
That didn't matter, though. What mattered was—
His instincts were screaming a warning.
Danger.
Extremely dangerous.
This Uchiha boy looked a year or two younger than him, and his Chakra felt as placid as an ordinary Genin's.
Yet standing there, he was like a bottomless spring in a dark abyss.
Beneath the calm surface lay darkness capable of devouring everything.
"You're dangerous." Blue B tightened his grip on the blade as Lightning Release Chakra began to surge from within him.
Fine arcs of electricity danced across his skin. "State your name.
My blade doesn't strike down the nameless."
"Uchiha Ryūha."
"Blue B."
The instant the words fell, Blue B moved.
Without even forming Hand Seals, he simply pushed off the ground and charged forward—but his speed was astounding!
He became a streak of blue lightning. Amid the piercing thunderclap, he appeared before Ryūha.
His Ninja Blade tore through the air with a shrill whistle and slashed down at Ryūha's head!
Lightning Release: Lariat!
No, it wasn't a complete Lariat yet, only a prototype.
But it was already terrifying—with his entire body shrouded in Lightning Release Chakra, his speed, strength, and defense had all increased explosively.
Combined with the destructive force of his Taijutsu charge, this strike was enough to kill an ordinary Jonin!
"Lord Ryūha!" Matsumoto Ryūichi cried out in alarm.
Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki hadn't even seen what happened.
They saw only a flash of lightning, and then the blade was already above Uchiha Ryūha's head.
Then they witnessed an even stranger sight.
Ryūha didn't retreat.
He merely turned slightly to the side, his right hand still resting on Kyōka Suigetsu.
The blade remained sheathed. He simply raised it, sheath and all.
Clang—!!!!
The metallic crash made their eardrums ache.
Blue B's unstoppable slash was blocked with one hand by the sheathed blade.
Lightning burst across the sheath, but couldn't penetrate it in the slightest.
The ground beneath Ryūha's feet cracked apart, yet he himself didn't so much as sway. His right hand, holding the blade, was as steady as a rock.
Reiatsu rivaling Kage Level poured out, and the atmosphere fell into dead silence.
"What?!" Blue B's pupils contracted behind his sunglasses.
"You're too impatient." Ryūha's voice was terrifyingly calm. "You're leaving too many openings."
He turned his wrist, and the sheath spun lightly, sending a deft force along the Ninja Blade.
Blue B felt a strange twisting force travel up the blade. He nearly lost his grip and hurriedly retreated.
But Ryūha moved faster.
No—not faster. It was "just right."
Every step landed on the precise beat of Blue B's retreat, and every swing of his blade targeted the fleeting weakness when Blue B shifted the force of his attacks.
His movements didn't look particularly swift. They were even elegant, like a leisurely stroll through a garden.
But Blue B felt as if he'd fallen into an invisible net.
Every block and dodge took immense effort, as though his opponent could foresee his every move.
"This swordsmanship..." Blue B grew more alarmed with every exchange.
It wasn't a style of the Uchiha, nor was it any swordsmanship commonly seen in Konoha.
It was a form of Swordsmanship he'd never seen before, almost like a "dance."
Every move was pared down to its bare essentials, without a single unnecessary flourish, yet each one precisely sealed off every possible line of attack.
Even stranger, several times he clearly spotted an opening and thrust his blade toward it, only to miss by a hair—
Either Ryūha just happened to turn aside, or his blade was lightly deflected by the sheath at the last moment.
Once was coincidence, twice was chance, but seven times in a row...
"Genjutsu?!" Blue B suddenly realized.
But when had it happened? How had it been activated?
He'd maintained an intensely active state of Chakra the entire time.
Lightning Release Chakra was coursing rapidly through his body. Ordinary Genjutsu shouldn't have been able to penetrate!
"Finally noticed?" Ryūha's voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
Blue B turned in shock and saw that, at some point, Ryūha had moved right up beside him. They were almost face-to-face.
Deep within those calm black eyes, a faint blue light slowly revolved.
Then he heard the whispered words:
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
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