White Fang gestured backward, signaling retreat.
The message spread swiftly among the Konoha shinobi.
One by one, the hidden Konoha forces began to withdraw.
The coming battle was not something they could participate in.
Only then did Kin and White Fang leap from their hiding spots, landing before the two adversaries.
A, arms crossed, eyed them coldly.
"Need a moment?"
He had long since detected the shinobi concealed in the surrounding forest.
But his targets weren't those weaklings.
It was White Fang before him.
"If you don't mind."
White Fang drew the short sword from his back.
He couldn't predict how far this battle would escalate.
"Might I ask why the two of you have appeared here?"
Didn't they know Kage appearing on the battlefield was forbidden?
Why were they all breaking the rules?
It made things difficult for people like him. If they had enough forces, they might've tried to detain them.
"The goal is simple—to keep you here."
A's voice was icy.
The other Kage had hoped to have Kumogakure charge the Konoha frontlines, drawing their attention.
Wishful thinking.
Restraining White Fang was the only thing he'd do.
Kumogakure's relations with the other villages weren't any better than with Konoha.
If not for Konoha's current overwhelming strength,
he wouldn't have chosen to ally with them.
White Fang frowned, not understanding the other's intent. His own purpose was to suppress Kumogakure's movements.
How had the tables turned?
Kin, however, seemed to grasp something.
"You've allied?"
It wasn't hard to guess. The greatest advantage of restraining White Fang was ensuring he wouldn't appear elsewhere.
After all, White Fang was currently the most dangerous shinobi in the world.
"An alliance?"
White Fang's eyes widened in realization, and his expression darkened.
If reinforcements were needed elsewhere, he could reach any battlefield in a day at full speed.
"Shave" and "Moonwalk" would ensure his swift arrival.
He trusted that Orochimaru and the others could hold out for a day.
But if someone were to pin him down here…
That would complicate things.
"Seems we'll need to end this quickly."
Yet as White Fang studied the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki and the Raikage before him,
he knew these were not opponents he could dispatch with ease.
"Enough boasting."
A crouched low, lightning crackling across his body.
"I've grown much stronger!"
For shinobi of their caliber, Basic Internal Energy offered no boost unless one reached the third layer.
But Kumogakure had pooled its resources to modify the technique slightly.
The next moment—
White clashed with blue.
BOOM!
A violent gale erupted outward.
Trees swayed violently, but the remaining two figures stood unfazed.
White Fang's blade met A's forearm, lightning attempting to course into the former.
White Fang retreated just in time.
A pursued relentlessly.
Blue light intertwined with white as the two raced into the distance.
Trees splintered, rocks shattered, and the roar of their collisions echoed endlessly.
Nothing stood in their path.
Now, only B and Uchiha Kin remained on the field.
"Can we skip the fight?"
Kin tilted his head, his hand already gripping the hilt inside his wide sleeve.
"Only if you join Kumogakure." B's voice was heavy, his tone somber.
"Actually, we could negotiate."
Kin's reply took B by surprise.
"What can you offer me?"
If one company wasn't to his liking, switching to another wasn't unreasonable.
The same logic applied to villages.
But B didn't answer. Instead, he posed a question of his own.
"Don't you love your village?"
To him, this was unthinkable.
His original plan had been to forcibly take Uchiha Kin, the inventor of Basic Internal Energy.
Weren't people supposed to cherish their villages?
Kin was left speechless.
Was this some kind of… village obsession?
"So, are you recruiting me or not?"
Kin pressed impatiently.
State the terms, let him compare them to Konoha's, and then decide.
Wouldn't that be better for everyone?
"Someone like you… I won't allow it in Kumogakure."
B drew the sword from his back, crimson chakra forming a translucent cloak around him.
His decision was made.
"So we're fighting after all. Should've just said so."
The moment Kin spoke, darkness surged outward, devouring everything.
B looked up to find the world swallowed by black.
Nothing but endless night.
Within the shadows, hidden Wood Release stirred.
"Dark Release: Silent Binding Technique!"
Solid darkness lunged at B.
His blade flashed, severing the encroaching tendrils.
He dodged, weaved, and slashed with crimson strikes, fending off the dark assaults.
All while searching for his foe.
But this darkness blinded all senses.
There was no trace of Uchiha Kin.
"This isn't enough!"
His chakra cloak deepened to a bloody hue.
Eight tails unfurled, crimson horns sprouted from his head, and bone-like plates armored his body.
B dropped to all fours, a bestial growl rumbling in his throat.
The attacks from the darkness never ceased, but his eight tails lashed out, shredding them apart.
His maw gaped, revealing a void of pale light.
Chakra condensed before him.
"Not happening!"
Black spears erupted from the ground, aiming to pierce B's jaw.
But he flipped back with unnatural agility, evading the strike.
Landing firmly, his preparations were complete.
"Tailed Beast Ball!!"
A black sphere erupted toward the heart of the darkness.
BOOM!!!
A colossal energy dome expanded, annihilating all within its reach.
The darkness tore apart.
Kin's form flipped midair before touching down.
A massive crater now separated him from B.
But this distance—
"Found you."
B closed the gap with speed rivaling the Raikage's.
"Lightning Plow Hot Blade!"
His charge smashed into Kin, shattering him instantly.
Yet the fragments dissolved into darkness, swallowing B once more.
Vision vanished again.
"Useless."
B began forming another Tailed Beast Ball. No amount of darkness could hold him.
"Terrifying, Jinchūriki."
Kin's voice echoed from all directions.
Such power to obliterate everything.
"But this ends now."
Eyes opened in the dark—countless, countless eyes.
Among them, the Sharingan gleamed.
B didn't react in time.
The reflection of the Sharingan already burned in his pupils.
"From the start, a Jinchūriki stood no chance against me."
...
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(End of Chapter)