Fighting the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki

Mountain winds howled, whipping up the scent of blood and scorched earth.

Blue B leaped from the hilltop; there was no flashy Body Flicker, just a simple jump, yet his speed was so great it left afterimages on the retina.

He landed in the clearing twenty meters away from Uchiha Ryūha.

The ground beneath his feet cracked, yet not a speck of dust rose—all the impact force had been precisely controlled beneath his soles.

He slowly straightened up.

His wheat-colored skin shimmered with a metallic luster under the sunset's afterglow.

His short white hair stood on end, and sunglasses obscured his gaze.

Yet, that chilling aura was so tangible it made Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki struggle to breathe.

The ninja sword on his back was longer and wider than the standard issue; its scabbard was a dull, deep blue, with faint lightning patterns flowing across it.

"People of Konoha," Blue B's voice was young, yet carried a coldness inconsistent with his age, "are you all this indifferent?"

His gaze swept over the charred land scorched by Haien, then looked toward the direction of the pine forest in the distance—

There, the smell of blood was drifting in on the wind.

"Just finished cleaning up the battlefield, and now you're here to watch a show." Blue B slowly drew the ninja sword from his back.

The blade emitted a clear hum as it left the scabbard, reflecting the final sliver of daylight.

"Do you Konoha ninja all like playing these kinds of games?"

Uchiha Ryūha's hand remained pressed against the hilt of Kyōka Suigetsu.

He did not answer, merely observing his opponent in silence.

Fifteen? Or sixteen? Not much older than Kakashi, but the amount of Chakra on his body...

No, that wasn't just simple Chakra.

Beneath that icy Lightning Release, there surged a more violent, more primitive, and hateful power.

The Eight-Tails' Chakra.

And it was controlled remarkably well, with almost no leakage.

This wasn't the rap-loving Killer B from the original story; this was an earlier era.

This was the one named "Blue B," the previous Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

"A prototype... of a perfect Jinchūriki." Ryūha whispered to himself.

"Hm?" Blue B's brows furrowed beneath his sunglasses.

He had heard the words clearly, but didn't fully understand them.

But that didn't matter; what mattered was—

His intuition was screaming a warning.

Danger.

Extreme danger.

This Uchiha youth, who looked a year or two younger than him, clearly had Chakra fluctuations as flat as a common Genin.

Yet, standing there, he felt like a bottomless, dark spring.

Beneath the calm surface lay a darkness capable of swallowing everything.

"You are dangerous." Blue B tightened his grip on the sword, and Lightning Release Chakra began to surge from his body.

Fine electric arcs danced across his skin. "State your name. My blade does not cut the nameless."

"Uchiha Ryūha."

"Blue B."

The moment the words fell, Blue B moved.

Without even forming hand seals, he simply kicked off the ground and lunged forward, but his speed reached the absolute limit!

He transformed into a streak of blue lightning, and amidst the ear-piercing roar of thunder, he appeared before Ryūha.

The ninja sword descended with a shriek that tore through the air, aiming straight for his head!

Lightning Release: Lariat!

No, this wasn't the complete Lariat yet, merely a prototype.

But it was already terrifying enough—his entire body was wrapped in Lightning Release Chakra, granting explosive boosts to speed, strength, and defense.

Combined with the destructive power of a taijutsu charge, this strike was enough to kill an ordinary Jonin!

"Lord Ryūha!" Matsumoto Ryūichi cried out in shock.

Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki couldn't even see what had happened.

They only saw a flash of lightning, and the blade was already above Uchiha Ryūha's head.

Then, they witnessed an even more bizarre scene.

Liuyu did not retreat.

He merely tilted his body slightly, his right hand still resting on the Kyōka Suigetsu.

Without drawing the blade, he lifted it gently, scabbard and all.

"CLANG--!!!!"

The explosive roar of metal colliding made their eardrums ache.

Blue B's unstoppable strike was blocked by that unsheathed blade, held with only one hand.

Lightning crackled against the scabbard, yet it could not penetrate even an inch.

The ground beneath Liuyu's feet shattered inch by inch, but he did not sway in the slightest, his right hand holding the blade as steady as a rock.

Reiatsu comparable to a Kage-level ninja poured forth, and the atmosphere on the field fell into a deathly silence.

"What?!" Blue B's pupils contracted behind his sunglasses.

"Too impatient." Liuyu's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Too many openings."

He flipped his wrist, the scabbard spun lightly, and a subtle force traveled along the ninja blade.

Blue B felt a strange, twisting force emanate from the blade, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the hilt, and he hurriedly retreated.

But Liuyu's movements were faster.

No, not faster—they were "perfectly timed."

Every step he took landed on the rhythm of Blue B's retreat, and every swing of his blade targeted the exact moment of weakness during Blue B's transition of force.

The movements did not look swift; there was even an elegance to them, like a leisurely stroll.

Yet, Blue B felt as if he had fallen into an invisible web.

Every block and dodge was exceptionally strenuous, as if his opponent could predict his every move.

This swordsmanship... Blue B grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed.

It was not a style from the Uchiha, nor was it any sword technique common in Konoha.

It was a form of swordsmanship he had never seen before, one that was almost like a "dance."

Every move was simplified to the extreme, devoid of any unnecessary flair, yet it precisely sealed off all his possible lines of attack.

What was even more bizarre was that several times, he had clearly spotted an opening and thrust his blade forward, only to miss by a "hair's breadth"—

Either Liuyu happened to sidestep, or his blade was gently deflected by the scabbard at the very last moment.

Once could be a coincidence, twice an accident, but seven times in a row...

"Genjutsu?!" Blue B suddenly realized.

But when? How was it activated?

He had clearly maintained a high level of Chakra activation the entire time.

With Lightning Release Chakra circulating through his body at high speed, ordinary Genjutsu should have been impossible to penetrate!

"You finally noticed." Liuyu's voice suddenly rang out right beside his ear.

Blue B turned his head in horror, only to find that Liuyu had closed the distance to his side at some point; the two were almost face-to-face.

Deep within those calm, black eyes, a faint blue light was slowly rotating.

Then, he heard the whisper:

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."