The illusion jōnin sensed danger, but it was already too late.
Darkness flowed out from Kageyama Kokugetsu like water, swallowing dozens of meters around him into a lightless space, as if black silk had wrapped the world.
"Release."
Panic flickered through the Kumo illusionist as he formed signs to disrupt his chakra.
It did nothing. If the A-rank genjutsu created by Senju Tobirama were so easy to break, Orochimaru wouldn't have been trapped for so long.
"In that case…"
Cold sweat beaded on his brow as he swallowed.
"Right—just run out of the dark. The range can't be large."
He tried to move and found he couldn't get clear at all.
"Damn it. My five senses are scrambled. Try the opposite direction."
He twitched—and a streak of steel bloomed wide in his sight.
A stab of pain tore through his throat. The darkness peeled away for a heartbeat of pale sky, then plunged him back into endless night.
Kageyama Kokugetsu drew his blade free and slipped back. Blood sprayed from the man's neck, a red plum blooming on the snow.
Clang, clang, clang—
His form blurred. A ring of silver light spun around him, batting shuriken and kunai aside.
"Courting death."
Before the words had faded, he flashed at three Kumo genin who'd tried a sneak attack, cut them down in an instant, then flowed like a dragon, his blade a tiger's maw, reaping Kumo lives.
"Kokugetsu has a touch of the old battlefield White Fang about him," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said with a grin.
"Mm. He cuts them down like vegetables—most enemies can't even finish a jutsu," Nara Shikaku nodded, smiling.
On the northern slope, Dodai's face was dark as water; Killer B's was no better.
"No helping it. Guess I go," said Killer B—back in his normal getup—as he nudged his round sunglasses.
"Don't lose your head. Our lines are all mixed together," Dodai said, far more at ease now. With B moving, they'd crush that hateful Kageyama Kokugetsu.
"Relax. I've got it."
B vaulted off the slope. Two white straps streamed behind him like waves, whipping up clouds of snow.
"Kumo's shameless—secretly sending the Eight Tails' jinchūriki when our backup isn't here yet."
"Good thing they don't want to escalate and let the others profit, or yesterday could've been bad."
"I'll go. You fire the signal—and watch the field," Shikaku said.
"I will," Shinnosuke replied solemnly.
Nara Shikaku sprinted downslope.
The moment a signal rose over the southern ridge, Akimichi Chōza—half-gigantified—alerted Yamanaka Inoichi beside him, and the two rushed to link up with Shikaku.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio formed and drove forward like a wedge, smashing through to join Kageyama Kokugetsu.
"Kokugetsu, Killer B is coming straight for you. We handle him together," Shikaku said, voice low.
"Got it. He's here."
From the north, Killer B had already carved through half the field, eight needle-thin blades like bee stingers hanging from him, each dripping red.
Seeing the trio, B grimaced.
Unless he went full tailed-beast, even with the Eight Tails helping resist Mind Body Switch, the three still posed a serious threat.
He would try anyway. Kageyama Kokugetsu's stealth kills were battering Kumo's front too hard.
Shinobi nearby sensed the five converging and drifted away to open space.
A heartbeat later, red tailed-beast chakra wrapped B, boosting all his attributes. He charged with eight blades. However odd the posture, his speed wasn't lacking.
Chōza's arms ballooned and slammed down, denting earth and flinging snow in bursts.
B moved like a bee, weaving past the blows and arrowing for the three behind the big man.
Inoichi widened his spacing without breaking support range, hands poised to cast, tracking for an opening.
Shikaku formed signs, his shadow splitting into snakes that lashed toward B.
Kageyama Kokugetsu met him head-on, ninjatō sheathed in wind chakra.
Sizzle.
Two of B's blades crackled with lightning—more than a simple coating, tuned to his ultrasonic vibration style.
With tailed-beast cloak and the vibrating lightning blades, his strength, speed, and edge all spiked hard.
Using the extra speed, B shook off the hunting shadows and spun into a whirling hedgehog of steel.
Acrobat—his A-rank taijutsu—an unpredictable, high-velocity sword dance that had given even Mangekyō Sharingan Sasuke fits.
The move didn't work so well against Kageyama Kokugetsu.
His wind-forged blade rang against B's eight unpredictable knives without yielding.
He moved like wind and thunder—wind for lightness and grace, thunder for direct, savage speed—slipping the net without a leaf touching him, all poise in motion and stillness.
There was no "reading trajectories." Kageyama Kokugetsu ran purely on nerves and reflex.
Forget Acrobat—he'd back his reactions against Flying Thunder God itself. Even if not at full power yet, dodging Acrobat wasn't that hard.
Minato had fought the AB Brothers. B learned from that—and traded hits when he had to.
"What is with this guy?
"Without that weird repulsion he used to stop my ambush, he can still trade even with me?
"Freak. Another Minato-class prodigy?"
Outwardly calm, B grew more unsettled the longer it went.
Acrobat rarely met any true match.
He wasn't yet perfectly fluid—but this was Acrobat under a double boost.
The trio were just as shaken.
They'd known Kageyama Kokugetsu ruled Konoha in stealth and assassination. His taijutsu and ninjutsu were solid—but this strong?
A-rank genjutsu like Bringer-of-Darkness was already over the top. His bodywork was worse. They could barely track his line.
Alone, any one of them would likely already be dead.
Ordinary jōnin taijutsu meant nothing to these two.
"Inoichi. Chōza," Shikaku said, tone dropping.
Years of sync saw them snap together at once.
This wasn't a fight for spread formations. They had to close ranks, or risk injury—or death.
Among jōnin, none of the three were truly speed specialists.
After a few more exchanges, B saw he wasn't breaking Kageyama Kokugetsu and leapt back, opening distance, then decisively shifted into half-tailed-beast form.
Dark red chakra cloaked him. Eight dark red tails waved. Horns jutted like spears. Limbs swelled thick and corded. A brutal, attacking aura rolled off him.
Ino–Shika–Chō set their faces like stone.
"Kokugetsu, be careful. One slip and you die," Shikaku said, eyes locked on the monster, not daring to blink.
"I will," Kageyama Kokugetsu answered, outwardly grave, inwardly unruffled.
Roar—
The Eight Tails drew a huge breath and bellowed. A tangible shockwave blasted from its maw, the ground fracturing in layers as wind and snow screamed toward the four.
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