There was no earth-shattering change, no dazzling special effect.
Only a ripple like water shimmered across the scabbard before it returned to normal.
But Blue B knew something had changed.
The ritual was complete.
"Teacher Matsumoto, help!" Haruno Kazuya shouted urgently when Liuyu seemed to have "suppressed" his opponent.
Matsumoto Ryūichi gritted his teeth. He knew he might not be able to help, but as a subordinate, he couldn't just stand by and watch.
He formed hand seals. "Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"
Several high-pressure wind bullets shot toward Blue B.
Blue B was already growing frustrated by Liuyu's "foresight."
Sensing an attack from the side, he didn't even think. Lightning flared across his body!
A thin, translucent, dark-red Chakra Cloak abruptly appeared!
The Tailed Beast Cloak!
Though it was only a thin layer, the berserk power within it far surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin.
The Vacuum Spheres struck the Chakra Cloak but scattered without even stirring a ripple.
The backlash from the escaping shockwave instead sent Matsumoto Ryūichi flying.
"You're in the way."
Liuyu frowned.
He could have easily avoided Blue B's next counterattack.
But Matsumoto Ryūichi was flying straight into the area covered by Blue B's blade.
"Troublesome."
He muttered the words, then flashed into the path of Matsumoto's flight and kicked Matsumoto Ryūichi in the side.
"Thud!"
The kick changed Matsumoto Ryūichi's direction, sending him flying at an angle.
He broke two saplings before rolling into the bushes. Though battered, he had just managed to avoid the horizontal slash that followed right after.
"You..." Blue B looked at Liuyu, then suddenly smiled, a savage grin spreading across his face. "You've left yourself open!"
The red Chakra Cloak around him abruptly thickened, and the shadow of a tail made of Chakra swayed behind him.
A terrifying pressure spread through the area, making even the air feel viscous.
"A precursor to Tailed Beast Transformation?" Liuyu remained calm, even sheathing his sword.
"But why do you think I let you see that 'opening'?"
Blue B froze.
The next moment, Liuyu brought his hands together in front of him, extending his index and middle fingers while interlocking the rest, and began to chant:
"Ruler! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, soaring on wings, crowned with the name of man!
Truth and temperance, walls of sinful dreams unknown, stand upon them alone!"
The strange language, its syllables unlike any in the Shinobi World, carried a rhythm that struck directly at the soul.
Blue B couldn't understand it, but instinctively sensed danger.
He tried to rush forward and interrupt him, but his body felt bound by invisible chains, slowing his movements by half a beat.
Rather than saying he had slowed down,
it was more accurate to say that his "perception" had been interfered with.
He thought he was charging forward at full speed, but to everyone else, he had only shifted slightly.
Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis was finally revealing its true power.
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"
Liuyu finished chanting and pointed his right hand at Blue B.
Six enormous beams of light appeared out of thin air, forming a hexagon around Blue B.
Then they snapped together, binding him firmly in place!
"What... what kind of technique is this?!" Blue B cried out in fury and shock.
He struggled desperately, his Tailed Beast Chakra surging against the beams of light, but they didn't budge. They only trembled faintly.
"It's not over yet."
Liuyu began chanting again, this time faster and more urgently:
"Ruler! Mask of flesh, all creation, take flight, crowned with the name of man!
Inscribe twin lotuses upon the wall of blue fire, and await the great inferno's depths between the distant skies!"
He crossed his hands before his chest, palms facing upward, then thrust them forward.
"Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"
A torrent of azure flames, like a roaring, enraged dragon, surged toward the bound Blue B!
"Blue B—!!!"
At the critical moment, a furious roar burst from the horizon.
A streak of lightning, far brighter and more violent than Blue B's, tore through the dusk.
It plunged down at an incredible speed and shielded Blue B!
The newcomer was a youth, taller and more powerfully built than Blue B. He had dark skin and short white hair standing up like needles, and his body was wrapped in Lightning Release Chakra so dense it seemed almost liquid.
He carried no ninja tools. He simply raised his right arm, clenched his fist, and punched!
"Lightning Release: Heavy Flow Violence!"
His fist collided with the Sōkatsui.
"Boom—!!!!!"
Blue-white flames and golden lightning exploded into a blinding sphere of light.
The shockwave spread in a ring, gouging deep trenches through the ground, tearing trees out by their roots, and reducing rocks to dust.
Matsumoto Ryūichi had just managed to get back up when the blast of air sent him flying again.
Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki clung desperately to a boulder to keep from being swept away.
The light faded.
Uchiha Ryūha stood where he was, his clothes fluttering, his expression still calm.
The youth shielding Blue B had a charred, tattered sleeve on his right arm and burn marks on his skin, but his injuries weren't severe.
He glared at Ryūha, lightning flickering in his eyes.
"Uchiha brat... you're dead!"
"A." Blue B broke free of the now-dim Rikujokoro, his voice low. "Careful. His genjutsu is bizarre."
"Genjutsu?" The future Fourth Raikage, Yotsuki A, grinned savagely.
"Then I'll use overwhelming speed and give him no time to use it!"
Before the words had left his mouth, he vanished in a flash of lightning.
The true Lightning Release Chakra Mode!
He was moving so fast that even Ryūha's eyes couldn't keep up!
But Ryūha didn't need to "see."
His Reiatsu sense had no blind spots, covering all three hundred and sixty degrees.
The instant A moved, Ryūha moved too.
He didn't try to block the attack. Instead, he stepped to the left, just avoiding A's straight-line charge.
"Hm?" A's attack missed. He twisted in midair, swinging his right leg around like a battle-axe.
Ryūha bent backward, barely dodging it.
The gust of wind stung his face.
"Not bad!" A laughed. His assault came like a raging storm—fists, feet, elbows, and knees, each blow powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, with every strike faster than the last.
Ryūha weaved through the lightning, his movements still graceful, though his brows had drawn together slightly.
A's speed truly exceeded what he could handle under ordinary conditions.
If he relied only on Flash Step and basic swordsmanship, he'd eventually get hit.
And a single blow from that monstrous strength could kill or cripple him.
Should he use Senbonzakura?
No. Bankai was a trump card; he couldn't reveal it this early.
Besides, even with Senbonzakura, he might not be able to defeat the AB Duo quickly.
If the fight dragged on, Kumogakure reinforcements might arrive.
Retreat was the best option.
He wasn't the Third Raikage. He didn't have to fight tens of thousands of ninja to the death.
"Boring," Ryūha suddenly said.
A froze.
The next moment, Ryūha formed hand seals—a simple one, but the chant he spoke was in another language:
"Bakudō #21: Red Smoke Escape!"
"Puff!"
Thick red smoke burst from beneath his feet, instantly shrouding an area dozens of meters wide.
The smoke not only blocked their vision but also interfered with Chakra sensing.
"Trying to run?!" A roared, his lightning flaring as he tried to blow the smoke away with Lightning Release.
But the smoke was more stubborn than he expected, and its range kept expanding.
"Blue B!"
"Got it!"
Blue B closed his eyes and spread out his Tailed Beast Chakra, attempting to use Malice Perception to pinpoint Ryūha's position.
But within the red smoke, he sensed seven or eight Chakra signatures that felt like "Ryūha," all moving at high speed!
Kyōka Suigetsu, combined with Red Smoke Escape, had created the perfect diversion.
"This way!" A charged toward one of the directions by instinct and threw a punch, but it only scattered a cloud of smoke.
Three seconds later, the red smoke began to dissipate.
The clearing was empty.
From somewhere in the distant woods came Ryūha's calm voice, faintly carried on the wind:
"Next time we meet, I hope you'll give me a better fight."
A stood in the clearing, his face livid.
He clenched his right fist until his knuckles turned white, lightning crackling around it.
Blue B walked over and took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of sharp eyes.
He looked toward the direction Ryūha had disappeared, remained silent for a long while, then finally said in a low voice:
"A, that Uchiha Ryūha... may become Kumogakure's greatest problem in the future."
Before you continue