One against three, recovery from grievous wounds, and shock all around!

"You damned bastard, die!"

"Bakayarō! You fool..."

Accompanied by his extremely bizarre rapping, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, charged up to Gengetsu.

Meanwhile, he held sharp ninja blades in his hands and tucked into his elbows, knees, and neck. His whole body became a raging whirlwind of blades, attacking Gengetsu from exceptionally strange and tricky angles.

At the same time, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, attacked from the flank.

"Cat Claw Attack!"

Yugito Nii's fingernails instantly lengthened into ten sharp claws as she attacked Gengetsu as well.

Attacking from either side, the two coordinated flawlessly, instantly cutting off all Gengetsu's escape routes.

Yet faced with their ferocious attacks, Gengetsu showed not the slightest panic.

"Dōjutsu! Heavenly Standing Long!"

In an instant, the world before Gengetsu's eyes underwent a peculiar change.

Double images of Killer B's lightning-fast blades and Yugito Nii's unpredictable afterimages appeared in Gengetsu's vision.

These images were the paths their movements would take over the next few seconds!

Relying on Heavenly Standing Long's heaven-defying ability to foresee the future, Gengetsu easily saw through their attacks.

Gengetsu merely turned slightly sideways, easily evading Killer B's incoming lethal attack.

Then, without even turning his head, Gengetsu casually moved his ninja blade behind him to block.

Clang!

A crisp metallic ring sounded as Gengetsu easily blocked Yugito Nii's claw strike.

"What!? He blocked it!"

Seeing her attack blocked, Yugito Nii was astonished.

Her attack had come entirely from his blind spot. How exactly had Gengetsu detected it?

When their first strike failed, the two continued attacking Gengetsu.

Yet an astonishing sight unfolded.

No matter how fierce or bizarre Killer B's and Yugito Nii's attacks were.

Gengetsu seemed to know what would happen before it happened, perfectly evading every attack with the slightest movements and the most unbelievable angles.

Of course, while evading their attacks, Gengetsu also kept counterattacking.

Boom!

Just then, the enormous crater nearby suddenly exploded.

The Fourth Raikage A charged out, his entire body wreathed in raging lightning.

Seeing Killer B and Yugito Nii fighting Gengetsu, the Raikage charged in without the slightest hesitation.

"B, Yugito Nii!"

"I'm coming to help!"

Killer B, Yugito Nii, and the Fourth Raikage!

At that moment, Kumogakure's three strongest fighters formed a perfect, lethal encirclement!

Watching from afar, the Konoha ninjas were all deeply worried.

"Three against one! The Fifth Hokage is in danger!"

"Exactly! Those Kumogakure Ninja are absolutely shameless!"

"I wonder whether the Fifth Hokage can withstand all three of them!"

Unlike the worried Konoha ninjas, Gengetsu, who was surrounded by the three, instead curled his lips into a disdainful smile.

Under the power of his dōjutsu, Heavenly Standing Long, the paths of all three attackers were clearly visible.

First, Gengetsu abruptly twisted his body, easily evading the Raikage's heavy punch.

Then he swept his ninja blade horizontally, driving back Killer B's formation of blades.

Finally, Gengetsu raised his left leg and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, slamming it into Yugito Nii's abdomen.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Three consecutive exchanges, fluid and seamless, all completed in one breath!

Not only did the combined efforts of the Raikage, Killer B, and Yugito Nii fail to defeat Gengetsu, but he single-handedly forced them back again and again!

"How is that possible!"

"Even Lord Raikage and the other two together can't defeat him!?"

The surrounding Kumogakure Ninja were all astonished by the scene before them.

As for the Raikage, Killer B, and Yugito Nii, after several rounds of fierce attacks still failed to defeat Gengetsu, their expressions turned grave.

"Brother! This bastard is too strong! He seems to see through all our movements!"

"I'm going to use Eight-O's power!"

Killer B tightened his grip on his ninja blades and spoke while staring intently at Gengetsu.

"I'm going to use the Two-Tails' power too!"

Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Yugito Nii spoke while watching Gengetsu warily as well.

Both of them knew very well that Uchiha Gengetsu's strength had already completely surpassed that of ordinary Kage-level fighters.

With only their strength in human form, even the three of them together could not defeat Gengetsu.

To defeat this monster, they had to use the power of the tailed beasts!

"Good! Release the tailed beasts and eliminate this damned bastard!"

The Fourth Raikage clenched his fists, the lightning around him surging, and shouted the order without hesitation.

Then Killer B and Yugito Nii held nothing back. They closed their eyes and released the tailed-beast power sealed within their bodies.

Boom!

Boom!

Instantly, two terrifying surges of chakra, powerful enough to suffocate those around them, erupted from their bodies like volcanoes!

Two pillars of light, one red and one blue, shot into the sky. The raging chakra currents became a tangible storm that swept wildly in every direction.

The surrounding ground began trembling violently, and countless shattered rocks were blown into the air.

Amid that terrifying chakra, Killer B's and Yugito Nii's bodies rapidly expanded and transformed, soon becoming two terrifying creatures as massive as mountains.

One was an enormous bull-headed beast with eight octopus tentacles.

It was the Eight-Tails, Gyuki!

The other was an enormous two-tailed demon cat, her entire body burning with eerie blue flames.

It was the Two-Tails, Matatabi!

The two colossal creatures stood in the center of the battlefield, their savage tailed-beast pressure making everyone's legs go weak.

"So these are tailed beasts!?"

"They really are terrifying!"

Looking at the two terrifying creatures that blotted out the sky, and feeling the density of the chakra in the air that seemed almost capable of crushing a person, Gengetsu was astonished too.

Gengetsu had to admit that the chakra of the two creatures before him was truly terrifying. They were practically walking natural disasters.

"Attack!"

"Let's show him what we can do!"

The Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails let out deafening roars, their massive bodies charging wildly at Gengetsu with world-destroying force.

The Eight-Tails swung his enormous tentacles, bringing them crashing down like thick mountain ranges.

The Two-Tails opened her enormous maw and spat out a sea of blue flames that filled the sky.

Watching the two enormous beasts charge toward him, Gengetsu showed no fear in his eyes. Instead, an intensely fervent fighting spirit burned within them.

"Just what I wanted!"

"Susanoo!"

Gengetsu shouted and charged fearlessly forward. Blood-red chakra took solid form, instantly gathering around him.

Bones, meridians, flesh, armor!

In the blink of an eye, a red, upper-bodied giant dozens of meters tall rose from the ground, wielding an enormous sword and radiating a terrifying pressure equal to the tailed beasts'.

Rumble!

Soon, Gengetsu was controlling his Susanoo in a fierce clash with the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails.

Enormous fists collided with tentacles, and heavy weapons clashed against sharp claws.

Every collision unleashed an earth-shaking roar. Shock waves uprooted the surrounding forest, and bottomless fissures split the ground.

While the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails attacked furiously, the Fourth Raikage did not stand idle.

He became a streak of blue lightning, darting back and forth through the gaps between the three enormous creatures as he attacked Gengetsu as well.

"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"

Choosing the instant when Susanoo was locked in a contest of strength with the Eight-Tails, the Raikage concentrated all his Lightning Release chakra into a knife-hand strike and slammed it into Susanoo's side.

Against such ferocious attacks from two fully manifested tailed beasts and a Raikage whose speed and strength had reached their peak, even someone as powerful as Gengetsu struggled to hold his own.

Crack!

A crisp cracking sound rang across the battlefield.

A crack appeared in Gengetsu's indestructible red Susanoo.

"This is bad!"

Seeing Susanoo's defenses broken, Gengetsu looked startled as well.

"That's it! Keep attacking!"

The three gave Gengetsu no opportunity to recover, launching another series of attacks against his Susanoo.

Under those ferocious attacks, more and more cracks spread across Susanoo's surface.

Finally, Susanoo reached its limit and shattered with a crash, exposing Gengetsu within.

"Die!"

"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"

At the sight, an intensely excited light erupted in the Fourth Raikage's eyes. He immediately charged forward like a bolt of lightning and slammed a fist into Gengetsu's unguarded chest.

Bam!

A deep, thunderous impact sounded.

Gengetsu reeled as though struck by lightning. His chest abruptly caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, the Eight-Tails' enormous tentacles and the Two-Tails' sharp claws attacked as well, slamming brutally into Gengetsu.

Boom!

Gengetsu was sent flying like a falling meteor, smashing an enormous crater into the ground and sending dust billowing.

"Fifth Hokage!"

Seeing this, the Konoha ninjas inside the fortress let out anguished cries. Their faces turned ashen, and tears of despair spilled from their eyes.

"Cough, cough, cough... The power of the tailed beasts really is terrifying!"

Inside the crater, Gengetsu coughed violently as he struggled to his feet.

Gengetsu was in a truly wretched state.

The Raikage's punch had forcibly torn a large hole in his chest. Blood kept pouring from his mouth, staining his damaged Hokage robes red.

At the same time, one of his arms had been completely broken in the tailed beasts' attacks and hung limply at his side.

Gengetsu's injuries were extremely severe. An ordinary person would have died ten times over.

Seeing Gengetsu's miserable condition, all the Kumogakure Ninja on the perimeter cheered excitedly.

"We won! We won!"

"The Hokage's been taken down! Long live Lord Raikage!"

"What Uchiha genius? In front of the tailed beasts and Lord Raikage, he's just trash that can't withstand a single blow!"

To all the Kumogakure Ninja, having suffered such severe, fatal injuries, Gengetsu, the Hokage, had been utterly defeated and had absolutely no chance of survival.

The Konoha ninjas, however, wore terrible expressions. Many had already fallen to their knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

Yet strangely, as Gengetsu stood in the crater, his deathly pale face showed not the slightest worry. There was even a mocking sneer on his lips.

Standing at the edge of the crater, the Fourth Raikage looked down at the gravely wounded, dying Gengetsu and shouted at him.

"Gengetsu, today is the day you die here!"

The Fourth Raikage spoke with great excitement, his rugged face filled with wild delight.

As the Raikage, he was extremely pleased to be able to kill Konoha's Hokage with his own hands.

With Konoha's Hokage defeated, the next step was to march straight in and occupy Konoha completely.

He was about to accomplish what none of the previous Raikage had managed.

"That's right, you bastard!"

"The Hokage's about to die! Konoha's about to fall! Yeah!"

Having transformed into the Eight-Tails, Killer B waved his enormous tentacles and shouted excitedly as well, his voice echoing over the battlefield like thunder.

"Hahaha, you want to kill me!"

"Unfortunately, you don't have what it takes!"

Hearing the Raikage's and Killer B's arrogant taunts, the battered Gengetsu felt no fear. Instead, he laughed unrestrainedly.

His laughter was filled with the arrogance ingrained in the Uchiha Clan's bones and utter contempt for the Raikage and the others.

Then Gengetsu's scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan snapped wide open as he activated another heaven-defying dōjutsu.

"Heavenly Standing Sovereign!"

Suddenly, strange spatial ripples appeared around Gengetsu's entire body.

Like ripples on water, they swiftly swept over his whole body.

The next second, an astonishing sight appeared!

The grievously wounded Gengetsu vanished, and an unharmed Gengetsu appeared in his place.

It looked as though Gengetsu had instantly become a different person.

This was the power of Gengetsu's dōjutsu, Heavenly Standing Sovereign.

The fact that Gengetsu had been gravely wounded was turned into something that had never happened, while the favorable outcome of his body recovering was turned into reality.

At the sight of the fully recovered Gengetsu, the expressions on the faces of the Fourth Raikage, Killer B, and Yugito Nii, who had still been excited, instantly froze.

The three stared fixedly at Gengetsu at the bottom of the crater as though they had seen a ghost.

"What is going on! What happened!"

"How could such severe, fatal wounds heal instantly!?"

"What kind of ability is this!? Is this Genjutsu!?"

"..."

Not only them—even the excited Kumogakure Ninja all around had frozen expressions now.

In fact, many of them even wondered whether they had fallen under Genjutsu.

Gengetsu casually moved his recovered body a little, then fixed his scarlet eyes on the Raikage and the others and said with a smile.

"All right, we can continue!"

"Round two starts now!"