You Started Outnumbering Me

"What do you mean, you gave me a chance? You were obviously trying to throw off my judgment with your words."

Sent flying by the blow, Kazan saw Yugito Nii give chase. The first things to reach him were Fire Rat Balls filling the sky. They surrounded him and attacked without mercy.

Kazan had no intention of getting burned black. He stepped on the air and rose higher.

Then inspiration struck. He turned and threw a punch that shook the air and swept through everything in its path.

Bang!

A violent shockwave erupted overhead, sending a huge gust roaring across the Training Ground.

His fist struck one of Yugito Nii's tails.

It wasn't a real tail. It was made entirely of Chakra, yet it was tougher than any material.

Before Kazan could make another move, Yugito Nii swept her other tail at him.

Kazan could only raise his arms to block.

Boom!

For the first time since the fight began, Kazan was sent flying. He slammed into a high wall like a cannonball.

This was the toughest fight Kazan had ever faced.

Among his peers, Kakashi and members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans had all been knocked flying by his fists.

But against this Jinchūriki, he had to go all out.

"You can't beat me, Kazan!"

Yugito Nii landed, her cool composure restored.

Only the whites of her eyes were visible. Cat Demon markings covered her face, her long hair floated without a breeze, and two tails swayed behind her.

As far as she was concerned, the fight was over.

Kazan hadn't lost to her. He had lost to Matatabi's power.

So Yugito Nii felt little excitement.

The Konoha genius had given her plenty of trouble.

"Those tails of yours have a lot more kick than the maids' tails at the Catgirl Cafe."

His Chakra surged. Kazan shattered the wall around him and leaped to the top of the Training Ground.

"Talk tough all you want. You can't beat me."

"We won't know who wins until we finish fighting."

Kazan yanked off his torn shirt and the Weighted Armor beneath it, then tossed them away.

"Weights? He was fighting Yugito Nii while wearing weights?"

A admired that kind of pride. What a shame the boy wasn't from his village.

"But even without the weights, he still—"

Boom!

Before the future Fourth Raikage could finish, the Training Ground shook as though an earthquake had struck.

The armor Kazan had casually thrown aside smashed a huge crater into the ground.

For an instant, people felt as if the entire Training Ground were swaying.

"What the hell... How much does that thing weigh?!"

Faces changed all around, including Ebizo's. He had been putting on the air of an expert until now.

That Konoha genius had been fighting Kumogakure's Jinchūriki with a weight like that on him the whole time.

Even those movements, as fast as the Body Flicker Technique, hadn't been his full speed.

"That boy..."

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire looked stunned too. "Hokage, those weights must weigh over a thousand pounds, right?"

"You have a good eye, Daimyo. I prepared Kazan's armor myself. It weighs six hundred kilograms in total."

"Six hundred?!"

People nearby gasped. Fighting with twelve hundred pounds weighing him down—was he even human?

And yet...

Kazan wasn't finished. He stripped the remaining weights from his arms and legs and tossed them down like trash.

Every weight hit the ground with an explosive bang.

Countless onlookers stared in disbelief.

"What a monster!"

One villager cried out.

The villager decided to protest to the Hokage as soon as the Chunin Ninja Exams ended. That little brat Kazan could not be allowed to pick fights in the village so easily anymore.

Who knew when the boy might flatten the villager's house?

"Much lighter."

Kazan loosened up, fixed his bright eyes on Yugito Nii, and formed the hand seal for Multiple Shadow Clone.

"You started outnumbering me. Don't blame me for doing the same."

Poof!

Poof!

Poof!

In an instant, more than a dozen Shadow Clones appeared at the highest point of the Training Ground.

It was the only Ninjutsu he knew that had nothing to do with Taijutsu.

"Try not to die, Jinchūriki!"

Kazan tore open a Scroll and hurled countless Smoke Bombs into the arena, where they burst.

In a heartbeat, all anyone could see was white smoke.

At almost the same moment, Kazan and all his Shadow Clones charged down into the smoke, straight for Yugito Nii.

"I can't see a thing!"

"That's too reckless. Jinchūriki are highly sensitive to hostile intent. Those Smoke Bombs will barely affect her."

Kushina grew anxious.

That little brat caused her no end of trouble whenever he got into a fight.

Once, he had even made her burn the comforting dinner she'd prepared for Minato to a crisp. But no matter what, he was still a child from her village.

"Hiashi?"

Minato Namikaze turned his head. Hyuga Hiashi knew what he meant.

"Byakugan!"

He invoked it under his breath and activated his Byakugan, peering through the smoke to survey the battlefield.

"He's fine. It looks like he can fight in those conditions without being affected."

Wonder colored Hyuga Hiashi's voice.

It didn't seem like ordinary Sensory Ninjutsu. Nothing about those harsh conditions hindered the boy's movements.

Inside the Training Ground, more than a dozen Kazans attacked at once, moving freely through the smoke.

"He's coming, Yugito!" Matatabi warned, controlling both tails to strike.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Her tails dispersed Shadow Clone after Shadow Clone. Yugito Nii used her Chakra to sense Kazan's position, turned all ten fingers into sharp claws, and tore through one clone after another.

"Above you, Yugito!"

Matatabi suddenly shouted. Yugito Nii flicked her fingers, sending a Fire Rat Ball skyward that burned Kazan to ash.

But then...

Poof!

It had only been another Shadow Clone.

This is bad.

Yugito Nii instinctively sensed danger.

Whoosh!

At almost the same instant, Kazan reached her. He clenched his steel-hard fist and drove it upward with everything he had.

"Take this! Konoha Rising Dragon Overlord!"

With a roar, Kazan threw all his strength into an uppercut that smashed into Yugito Nii's chin.

Boom!

Even Matatabi had no time to block. Kazan's blow launched Yugito Nii straight up.

Outside, most people couldn't make out what was happening in the arena. Only a few Cataracts of the Hyuga Clan could see clearly.

As the crowd waited anxiously, Yugito Nii flew out of the smoke.

She was easy to recognize. Her two tails stood out far more than any cat maid's.

Then—

More than a dozen Kazans shot into the sky and closed in on Yugito Nii from all sides.

"A technique that lets him move through the air? Did that brat invent it himself?!"

A had already noticed that the Konoha brat could move in midair.

An aerial fight put Yugito Nii at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Yugito Nii was more than a Perfect Jinchuriki. She was also a genius of Kumogakure's generation.

"Rat Tail Ball!"

She cried out and, with no need to conserve Chakra, spewed countless Fire Rat Balls in every direction. They surrounded her and burned all of Kazan's Shadow Clones to ash.

"Eight Gates Released Formation!"

"First Gate, Gate of Opening—open!"

While Yugito Nii dealt with Kazan's Shadow Clones, Kazan opened the Gate of Opening down in the smoke-filled arena.

He stopped there. After gathering strength in his legs, he shot straight up in pursuit.

"His Chakra just surged. He must have used some kind of Secret Technique."

"Yugito, be careful..."

Yugito Nii couldn't make out Matatabi's warning.

By the time Matatabi warned her, Kazan's hand had clamped around her face like an iron vise.

The next instant, Kazan roared beside her ear.

"Cherry Blossom Impact!"

"Undersea Drop!"