Blue lightning flashed toward him in an instant. A famous sword, sharp as the Kusanagi Sword, aimed straight for his throat. Just as it was about to strike, a force and edge no less formidable blocked the Fourth Raikage's thrusting hand.
"Your speed and strength are just as impressive as ever. Since you've offered me your hand, I'll borrow it without hesitation. Summoning Technique!"
The Fourth Raikage's eyes were bloodshot as he watched the fingers that should have been held together gradually form the hand seal for the Summoning Technique.
"Idiot! Bastard! I won't let you escape this time. Yiduan Shufan Liunu!"
From Gyuki's mouth, now fully transformed into the Eight-Tails, clumps of ink took human form and surrounded the two from all sides.
"Sealing Jutsu? Nanto Sennin, Hokuto Sennin, seal them!"
The barrier appeared again, its eerie violet glow sealing away the ink. The Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird opened their mouths, wind and fire merging.
"Scorch Style: Storm Dance."
A glittering golden wave of sand was swept away by a storm of wind and fire. The appearance of the Nine Masked Beasts made Rasa, who had stopped to watch, furrow his brow.
"Summoned puppets? No, summoned beasts—extremely troublesome ones. Who is that Uchiha? Heat hot enough to melt even Gold Dust?"
"The Uchiha Clan truly is one of the Shinobi World's great clans. They've been hiding a trump card like this? Uchiha Fugaku, you've kept it well hidden."
Fugaku remained expressionless, neither confirming nor denying it. But in his heart, he couldn't help wondering whose child the one fighting the Fourth Raikage was.
"Damn Uchiha brat! You used my hand to form the seal? Just how much do you look down on me?"
"Then let's use a technique that requires no hand seals to end this boring fight. Goodbye. Here's a parting gift: Great Spiraling Ring."
In an instant, the Konoha Ninja scattered across Mount Kikyo flickered away. Namikaze Minato had just returned from the coast, but one glance was enough for him to understand what Uchiha Hanazuki was about to do.
"I see. So that's it. Let's go, Mr. Choza, Mr. Shikaku..."
A flash of yellow light, and every Konoha Ninja on Mount Kikyo was transported dozens of miles away. On the plain black Kunai, a star seemed to fall from the sky, blazing with dazzling light.
"That Uchiha brat—is he using that move again?!"
"No, this technique's chakra... B! Switch places with me, now!"
An unprecedented sense of crisis flooded everyone's senses. Gyuki pulled its entire body inside its tentacles and spun wildly.
"Tailed Beast Eight Twists!"
Time and space froze. After a brief silence, pure white light swallowed all of Mount Kikyo.
Great sound was silent. The pure white that devoured everything quietly faded, and sunlight fell once more.
Mount Kikyo, which should have stood there, had vanished. Only the scorching magma and the gold flowing through it remained as proof of where the vast chasm had once been.
As the shockwave faded, boiling magma streamed over the octopus tentacles. The Eight-Tails climbed out from deep underground, panting, and looked at the transformed landscape with a helpless expression.
"Did that jutsu completely alter the surrounding terrain? It's on par with a Tailed Beast Bomb unleashed at full strength. Was that also the Uchiha brat's jutsu?"
"Damn... damn Uchiha brat! How dare you do that to Toroi... Damn it..."
In the scorching magma, Toroi, a Magnet Style Ninja of Kumogakure with a Kekkei Genkai, lay submerged, long since dead.
"He was too far away. I couldn't do anything to protect him. That guy's jutsu had the nature transformation of Fire Style, combined with the Body Flicker Technique and chakra on par with a Tailed Beast's."
"He might well be the strongest opponent your Cloud Village will ever face. It's strange: he's an Uchiha with the Sharingan, yet he's best known for his Body Flicker and that bizarre Summoning Technique. Even I don't know what to make of him."
Clearly, the Fourth Raikage had no interest in listening to Gyuki's assessment. Not far away, the temporary alliance's Sand Shinobi—Rasa and Pakura—had already chosen to retreat without hesitation.
The Sand Shinobi they had brought were all wiped out, and Kumogakure had lost a Kekkei Genkai Ninja. The Battle of Kikyo Pass had ended in total defeat.
To protect the defenseless Sunagakure, the two of them couldn't afford to die here. Otherwise, Sunagakure might well be destroyed.
"Uchiha Hanazuki. I've got that name memorized. Let's go, B. We'll return to Kumogakure before that bastard Ōnoki finds out what happened at Mount Kikyo."
"OK, big bro."
Killer B and the Fourth Raikage flickered away in a hurried retreat. The unending flames of war also subsided for the moment with Mount Kikyo's disappearance.
At the border of the Land of Fire, a group of survivors dropped into a secluded forest. They looked at one another, speechless.
"Are we safe now, Minato?"
Seeing the worried faces of his companions, Namikaze Minato smiled gently and nodded.
"I don't know who that child is, but he should be all right. It seems the Kunai I left on Mount Kikyo were all destroyed, too. What a powerful jutsu."
"Kurenai—where is she? Lord Fugaku, that child must be from the Uchiha Clan. He had the Uchiha Gunbai crest on his back. Where did he go?"
With all those eyes fixed on him, Fugaku didn't know how to explain. He really didn't know that child. If he'd known there was a genius in the clan who could use the Flying Thunder God, he would've recruited him into the Konoha Military Police Force and given him the best training.
Meanwhile, near Mount Kikyo, two figures emerged from a Kunai. The Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask concealing one face was slowly removed.
Kurenai, already numb from the succession of shocking events, looked over. Her astonishment turned to surprise and then an outcry.
"Uchiha... Hanazuki? It was you?"
"I didn't expect you to be on a battlefield this intense. I knew the graduates from the two classes ahead of us had already gone to war, but I never thought you'd get caught up in it too, Kurenai."
For a moment, even Yuhi Kurenai couldn't believe she'd been saved by a Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, two years below her.
She knew Uchiha Hanazuki because Anko often dragged him to try dumplings at various shops around Konoha. With his lazy air and handsome looks, he'd made an impression on her.
"I had no choice. The border of the Land of Fire was invaded, so the village had to send out Ninja at short notice. But, more importantly... could you... put me down first?"
Her face flushed with embarrassment. Dust-covered as she was, it still couldn't conceal her crimson cheeks. Her watery, ruby-like eyes met his clear black-and-white gaze, but she didn't get the answer she wanted.
"Sorry, but you can't just tough out an injury like yours. That was a Tailed Beast Bomb. It'll be dangerous if you don't get checked out at the hospital."
"Are we back already? Then let's leave too."
Before you continue