The Purple Giant, Blue-Green Lightning

Even though he was surrounded by ten ninjas, Shisui Uchiha showed no sign of panic.

"Looks like you knew I was coming."

He drew a kunai and prepared for battle as he asked.

"Haha, how does it feel to be betrayed by your own people? Body Flicker Shisui of the Uchiha, leave your eyes here today."

The leading ninja waved a hand, and the other nine immediately closed in around Shisui.

They were all elite Cloud Ninjas, but even they had no choice but to resort to the most underhanded tactic of ganging up on Body Flicker Shisui.

"Since you know who I am, do you really think this is enough to keep me here?"

As Shisui spoke, his eyes had already become Four-Tomoe Sharingan.

"Don't look into his eyes! Use the tactic we prepared!"

The leading ninja shouted, and a wall of earth rose up around them, trapping Shisui in the middle.

Next, over a dozen Earth Puppets formed on the wall and slowly began to walk toward Shisui.

They were nowhere near fast enough to threaten him.

He easily took out the two puppets closest to him.

But he quickly realized something was wrong.

The puppets weren't particularly powerful, but they did have one extremely annoying ability: the instant they made contact, they could absorb their enemy's chakra.

What's more, even the ground had taken on the same property.

In other words, the Cloud Ninjas had no intention of fighting Shisui at close range. They planned to wear him down to death.

Shisui's abilities were practically on a cheat-level, but he had a weakness too: his chakra.

The enemy had noticed this and tailored their attack to exploit it. Shisui couldn't believe they'd learned that about him without one of his own people supplying the information.

At that moment, he remembered what Ryosuke had said.

Konoha planned to trade their Sharingan for peace with the Cloud Ninjas.

Even if Shisui managed to escape and make it back, he would probably be branded an "invader" and handed over to the Cloud Ninjas.

The thought left Shisui deeply disappointed.

He had never minded dying to protect Konoha, but this kind of sacrifice left him utterly disillusioned.

Several Earth Puppets closed in around him, but Shisui didn't move.

He let the puppets envelop him, absorbing his chakra nonstop.

"Why isn't he moving? Could he be a clone?"

"Idiot, a clone would've disappeared after having that much chakra absorbed. He must know there's no hope of escaping."

"So this is what the Uchiha are like? They're nothing special."

"Anyway, our mission went smoothly. It was much easier than we expected. I wonder how things are going on the other side."

The Anbu from the Cloud removed the earthen wall and walked toward Shisui, who was surrounded by Earth Puppets, discussing the battle as they went.

With a thunderous crash,

the Earth Puppets surrounding Shisui exploded, turning into countless chunks of earth.

Then a Purple Armored Giant, dozens of meters tall, rose from the ground.

Shisui stood atop its head. His Sharingan was no longer in its Four-Tomoe form, but had instead become shaped like a shuriken.

"What is that?"

The Cloud Anbu were dumbstruck by the sight before them.

They had never heard that Shisui had a technique like this.

Some began to retreat. They had no idea how to fight this giant.

Others still tried to resist, throwing countless shuriken.

But their weapons couldn't even pierce the armor of the Armored Samurai.

Shisui looked down at the "ants" beneath him. He didn't even bother using any other techniques; a few stomps were enough to crush every last one of the Cloud Anbu who had been so arrogant moments earlier.

At the same time, a hundred miles away, Ryosuke and his two companions were fighting the Cloud Anbu.

They had already taken down three of them, but had also used up a tremendous amount of chakra.

The enemy still had seven ninjas left, and the situation looked grim.

Just then, the ground suddenly began to shake.

A chilling presence swept over them.

Both sides were shocked.

"What's going on? Could there be a wild Tailed Beast nearby?" one of the Cloud Anbu blurted out.

"Idiot, all the Tailed Beasts have already been sealed inside Jinchūriki. Don't waste time. The mission comes first. Remember, we need them alive," the Anbu Captain shouted.

That was right. This was why they hadn't succeeded despite having the numbers on their side.

The Raikage had ordered them to capture their targets alive.

Until they found someone compatible with the Sharingan, they had to make sure it remained viable.

Ryosuke and the others exchanged a glance, then looked into the distance with their Sharingan.

However, the range of their Sharingan was limited.

Only Ryosuke could barely make out a purple silhouette, with the help of the combined boost from Pesquisa and his Sharingan.

"What is that?"

Ryosuke was startled.

That was where Shisui had gone. Had he run into the Raikage himself?

But even so, Shisui should have been able to disengage if he wanted to.

"Ryosuke, what do we do now?"

Miyuki's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Cover me. I'll take care of them."

Ryosuke had originally planned to keep some of his strength hidden.

But in this situation, he couldn't afford to anymore.

If that terrifying figure in the distance joined the battle, none of them would have any chance of surviving.

Sanhe and Miyuki exchanged a glance and nodded.

They each swallowed a Military Ration Pill, then immediately used their jutsu.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"

Their jutsu, unleashed with no regard for how much chakra they consumed, did cause the Cloud Anbu considerable trouble.

But that was all.

They only retreated a few steps to avoid the attacks.

They could tell that the three Uchiha brats were already at the end of their rope.

Then they heard the youngest Uchiha brat shout, "Eight Inner Gates: Open!"

Ryosuke finally used the most powerful technique he had mastered so far: the Eight Inner Gates.

For now, he could only open the fifth gate.

But that was only the beginning.

"Lightning Release: Rampage!"

Under the blue-green mist, electric arcs crawled over Ryosuke's body.

Sanhe and Miyuki stared in stunned silence.

They had heard of the Eight Inner Gates. It was Konoha's most powerful Taijutsu.

But they had never heard of anyone besides Guy mastering it, let alone Uchiha Ryosuke, who was only eight years old.

And as if that weren't enough, he was using ninjutsu at the same time?

A flash of crackling lightning streaked past.

The first Cloud Anbu suddenly dropped to his knees.

Behind him, there was only a blue-green afterimage.

"Quick—"

The Anbu Captain hadn't finished giving his order when his head went flying.

The other Cloud Anbu were stunned.

What was happening?

Was this Uchiha brat a demon or something?