"Playing god and putting on airs! Even if you've changed, I'll grind you to dust today!"
The shock lasted only a fleeting moment before towering hatred and arrogance seized the upper hand once more.
The nine giant tails swept forward with even greater momentum, swearing to thoroughly pierce and tear this bizarre human to pieces!
At this moment, the one dominating the battle was the fused consciousness of Kumoi and Gaia—"Kumoi/Gaia".
Facing the fox-tail attack that blotted out the sky, far from retreating, they burned with raging battle intent in their eyes.
"Big fox, looks like we need to teach you what manners are first!"
"Kumoi/Gaia"'s voice carried a strange double echo, bold and full of power: "And let your Grandpa Gaia loosen up his joints!"
Before the words faded, "Kumoi/Gaia"'s figure flashed—
"Shadow Dance!"
In an instant, eight identical figures—equally solid and exuding an aura of heavy gravity—along with his true body, a total of nine figures appeared in place simultaneously!
This was not a ordinary Clone Technique relying on chakra, but a high-level technique in Gaia's combat repertoire that temporarily split and projected his own "sense of presence" and "will to fight". Each one possessed independent combat capability and durability close to that of the true body!
The Nine-Tails' nine tails corresponded precisely to the nine targets!
"Just in time! Saves the old man chasing you one by one!"
The Nine-Tails grinned savagely, manipulating its tails to attack the nine figures respectively.
"Earth Shattering—Heaven Breaking!"
All nine figures, including the true body, let out a low growl in unison, their movements neat and uniform!
No hand signs, no complex moves.
Nine fists simultaneously pulled back, as though drawing in and condensing all the "force" and "momentum" of the surrounding space into a single point.
It was not the