Puchi, puchi—
The sound of steel piercing flesh echoed sharply.
The five Cloud ninja who had surrounded Uchiha Yuan suddenly froze—their blades had run through their own comrades.
Blood sprayed into the air. With looks of disbelief still frozen on their faces, the five Cloud ninja fell limply from midair, crashing heavily to the ground.
Uchiha Yuan landed lightly beside one of them. The man had been impaled through the abdomen by his own sword.
Seeing En, the wounded ninja let out a hoarse roar, yanked the blade from his stomach, and slashed at him in desperation.
En calmly raised two fingers and caught the descending sword between them. Then, under the Cloud ninja's wide-eyed shock, En drove a heavy fist into his chest.
Blood spurted from the man's mouth and nose; the light vanished from his eyes. A deep, fist-shaped dent caved in his breastplate as the huge body collapsed backward, lifeless.
Almost simultaneously, the other four Cloud ninja, ignoring their injuries, charged at Uchiha Yuan with furious shouts.
A faint, disdainful smile curved En's lips. Reaching behind his waist pouch, he pulled out four shuriken and flicked his wrist.
The weapons whistled through the air, slicing toward the charging enemies at lightning speed, each one aimed precisely at a vital point.
At that instant, every Cloud ninja's scalp tingled—the instinctive reaction of sensing mortal danger.
They wanted to dodge, but their bodies refused to respond; it was as if their movements were a step behind their own deaths.
Then—
A shadow dropped from above, landing heavily between them and the flying shuriken.
Sword flashes sparked like lightning. Clang, clang, clang!—each of the four shuriken was knocked aside.
"Yo! Hey there, lil' bro from Konoha! Gotta say, that was quite the show—your moves got me feelin' the flow, yo!"
Uchiha Yuan narrowed his eyes, voice low and wary.
"Seven swords on your back… You must be the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki of the Hidden Cloud—the so-called Killer Bee."
Killer Bee twisted his hips, swaying to an invisible beat.
"Yeah, boy! Baka yarō, kono yarō! You got it right, I'm the one and only Bee, yo!"
En's gaze flicked toward the distant ridge where Yamanaka Mokuno and his group were fighting. He could sense their chakra flaring violently—clearly locked in battle.
Then his focus snapped back to Killer Bee, and a surge of battle lust blazed through his aura.
With a wild grin, En said, "Then today, I'll test the might of the Hidden Cloud's strongest fighter myself!"
Bee wagged a finger, still half dancing.
"Yo, lil' Uchiha bro, gotta set you straight—the strongest in the Cloud is my bro, the Raikage! You say stuff like that, big bro's gonna blow his top, fo' sho!"
En laughed aloud, arrogance flashing across his face.
"The Fourth Raikage? I've met him. He's nothing special. I just hope you, Killer Bee, won't disappoint me!"
Bee's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Baka yarō, kono yarō! Big bro gonna be mad mad MAD, yo!"
With a sharp hiss of displaced air, En vanished, using the Body Flicker Technique.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared above Bee, both hands flinging over a dozen shuriken downward.
The weapons shrieked through the air, locking onto every one of Bee's vital points.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Silver flashes scattered like lightning—Bee drew one sword and, with impossibly precise movements, split every single shuriken cleanly in half.
Just then, a fierce gust of wind rushed toward him.
Uchiha Yuan was already upon him, dual kunai in hand, slashing fiercely from both sides.
Clang!
Bee brought up his sword horizontally, blocking the first strike, and slid back just in time to avoid the second kunai that swept across his chest.
His eyes sharpened; with a twist of his body, he drew a second blade.
Twin swords in hand, he launched a blistering counterattack.
Sword-light exploded like a storm, forming a shimmering web that enveloped Uchiha Yuan.
In an instant, Bee thrust a hundred times—each strike aimed at a vital point, each one brimming with deadly intent.
A single strand of En's hair fluttered loose, instantly shredded by the passing sword aura.
He hadn't expected Bee's strikes to be that fast.
He tilted his head slightly to evade the first thrust—the blade whispered past his ear.
But the second came immediately after.
En crossed his kunai to parry, only to feel an overwhelming force surge through Bee's sword.
A sharp crack!—his steel kunai was pierced clean through.
"So fast… and such terrifying power."
En's mind raced as he blocked strike after strike, his right hand brandishing a kunai in tight defense while his left snatched another from his pouch.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A storm of ringing metal filled the air. Their duel had become a blur—too fast for ordinary eyes to follow.
In En's hands, the kunai turned into twin streaks of black light, their trajectories twisting unpredictably.
Bee's twin swords became a storm of silver wind, every motion sharp and ruthless.
Silver gusts and black shadows intertwined and collided violently, forming a maelstrom of steel and sparks.
Both Konoha and Cloud shinobi who tried to approach were struck by stray flashes of chakra-infused wind or slashing light, each suffering deep, bloody cuts.
After several failed attempts, no one dared come closer—the ground around the two combatants became a wide, empty ring of death.
Moments later, Uchiha Yuan leapt backward, flipping into midair.
He glanced down at his weapons: both kunai were pitted and jagged, one broken nearly in half.
They were standard village-issue tools, while Bee's swords were masterpieces forged by expert smiths.
After that high-intensity exchange, En's kunai were no longer usable.
Bee shot upward in pursuit. En immediately hurled both ruined kunai straight at him.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
He formed three quick seals with one hand and exhaled a massive sphere of roaring flame.
Bee swung one sword in a broad arc, striking the incoming kunai.
Sparks flew—the weapon shattered.
But Bee's eyes widened in surprise; from that broken kunai, a powerful burst of force rippled out, knocking his blade slightly off course.
He twisted his body instinctively—just as the second kunai grazed his arm, slicing a shallow wound.
Then came the fireball—an inferno of searing heat surging straight at him.
Bee crossed his two blades. Twin arcs of sword-light slashed through the flames, cleaving the great fireball clean in half.
The explosion split the air, halting his advance for the briefest instant.
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