You Started Outnumbering Me

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

Kazan was sent flying into the sky by the blow, and Yugito Nii gave chase. But the Fire Rat Balls arrived before she did, filling the air around Kazan before closing in on him.

Kazan had no intention of getting burned black. He kicked off the air and rose higher.

Then a flash of insight struck. He turned and threw a punch that shook the air before him.

Bang!

A violent shockwave burst through the sky, sending a gale roaring across the Training Ground.

His fist had struck one of Yugito Nii's tails.

It was no real tail, but Chakra given form, and 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 knocked away. He slammed into the high wall like a cannonball.

This was the hardest fight Kazan had ever faced.

Among his peers, Kakashi, the Uchiha, and the Hyuga had all gone flying under his fists.

But against this Jinchūriki, he had to give it everything he had.

"You can't beat me, Kazan!"

Yugito Nii landed and regained her cool composure.

Her eyes had turned white, Cat Demon markings covered her face, and her long hair floated without a breeze. Two tails swayed behind her.

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

Kazan had not lost to her. He had lost to Matatabi's power.

That was why Yugito Nii felt little excitement.

This Konoha prodigy had given her plenty of trouble.

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

Chakra surged through Kazan. He shattered the wall around him and leaped to the highest point of the Training Ground.

"Keep talking tough. You still can't beat me."

"We won't know until we finish the fight."

Kazan grabbed his torn shirt and pulled it off, throwing it away along with his Weighted Armor.

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

He was a proud one. Ai admired that, though it was a shame the boy was not from his village.

"But even without the weights, he still—"

Rumble!

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

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

For a moment, the entire Training Ground seemed to sway.

"That impact... how damn heavy is it?!"

Faces changed all around, including Ebizo's, though he had been putting on the air of an expert the whole time.

That Konoha prodigy had been fighting Kumogakure's Jinchūriki while wearing such a burden.

Even those bursts of speed rivaling the Body Flicker Technique had not been his limit.

"That boy..."

The Land of Fire's daimyo looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Hokage, those weights must be a thousand jin, right?"

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

"Six hundred?!"

The people around them gasped. Fighting with twelve hundred jin of weight—was he even human?

But Kazan was not done.

He stripped the remaining weights from his arms and legs and tossed them down like trash.

Each one hit the ground with a thunderous crack.

Countless spectators stared in disbelief.

"He's a monster!"

A villager cried out.

He decided he would protest to the Hokage as soon as the Chunin Ninja Exams ended. That little brat Kazan could not be allowed to fight in the village so casually anymore.

Who knew when the boy might flatten his house?

"Much better."

Kazan stretched, fixed his bright eyes on Yugito Nii, and formed the hand signs for Multiple Shadow Clone.

"You started outnumbering me. Don't blame me for returning the favor."

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.

In the blink of an eye, all the spectators could see was a blanket of white smoke.

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

"I can't see a thing!"

"That's too reckless. Jinchūriki are highly sensitive to hostility from humans. 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 was preparing for Minato to a crisp. But whatever he had done, he was still a child from her village.

"Hiashi?"

Minato Namikaze turned to him. Hyuga Hiashi understood what he meant.

"Byakugan!"

With a low shout, he activated his Byakugan and peered through the smoke at the battlefield.

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

Hyuga Hiashi sounded impressed.

It was unlike ordinary Sensory Ninjutsu. The boy's movements were completely unhindered in that poor visibility.

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

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

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Shadow Clones burst apart one after another beneath her tails. Yugito Nii also sensed Kazan's position through Chakra. Her ten fingers became sharp claws, and she tore through clone after clone.

"Above you, Yugito Nii!"

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

Then—

Poof!

It had been another Shadow Clone.

Oh no.

Yugito Nii sensed the danger at once.

Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, Kazan appeared in front of her. His fist clenched like iron, he drove it upward with all his strength.

"Take this! Konoha Rising Dragon Overlord!"

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

Boom!

Even Matatabi had no time to defend her. Kazan's blow sent Yugito Nii shooting straight up.

Outside the arena, most people still could not make out the fight. Only a handful of Hyuga Clan members with their pale eyes could see it clearly.

While the crowd waited anxiously, Yugito Nii burst out of the smoke.

She was easy to recognize. Those two tails stood out, far beyond anything a cat maid could boast.

Then—

More than a dozen Kazans shot into the air and closed in on Yugito Nii from every side.

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

Ai had noticed long ago that the Konoha brat could maneuver in midair.

An aerial fight put Yugito Nii at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Yugito Nii was more than a Perfect Jinchūriki. She was also one of Kumogakure's prodigies.

"Rat Tail Ball!"

She cried out, spraying countless Fire Rat Balls without worrying about her Chakra. They filled the air on every side of 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 first gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation below, where smoke still blanketed the battlefield.

He went no further. He gathered strength in his legs, then launched himself straight up in pursuit.

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

"Yugito Nii, be careful—"

Yugito Nii could not 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's shout rang in her ears.

"Cherry Blossom Impact!"

"Undersea Drop!"