Fifty-Six

Sauntering towards the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, I activated my genjutsu. Killer B froze as I continued my approach. Just before my outstretched hand reached him, he leapt back in haste.

'Hmm? He broke out of my genjutsu so quickly?'

[It must be the doing of the Eight-Tails. By disturbing its Jinchuriki's chakra, it forced him back to reality.]

'Oh? A useful ability I must admit. I guess I'll exert myself a little.'

Killer B stood a few meters away from me and had equipped a multitude of swords.

"Acrobat. You're going down you fool."

'Kenjutsu huh? Might as well get some training in.'

I removed my billowing coat and stood in a black vest. I began to do some light stretches before exhaling.

'The air up here is really thin. Guess it's the Hidden Cloud Village for a reason.'

I took an open stance. It was my preferred form that had come to be after fighting multiple martial arts experts. To better defend against the blades, I held a kunai in each hand.

The air around me began to shimmer as I performed several enhancements on my body.

'Chakra Enhanced Strength! Gate of Opening-Open! Gate of Healing-Open! Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength!'

I began exuding steam as I smiled slightly at my opponent.

"We'll start at an easy level. Don't want to end this fight too quickly now right?"

"I'll give you a taste of my hook. Here I come!" B yelled.

He jumped up in the air, rotating at high speed.

I met his flurry of sword attacks with several of my own.

The difference in skill was soon apparent. My lack of knowledge in kenjutsu put me on the back foot, forcing me to focus on defending.

But I soon adapted. My taijutsu slowly but surely began to seep into my bukijutsu. My movements became as erratic as B's, all that could be seen from our exchange was sparks caused by the weapons.

My eye had no difficulty following the flow of his Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords.

In just a few moves my superior strength began to show its edge. I took advantage of the multiple gaps my eye found in his defence and dealt several wounds to the Jinchuriki.

As the fight continued he kicked several blades which I nimbly dodged. Before I could counterattack, he had just one sword and made a slash towards me.

I raised my kunai to block the attack, but just before our weapons met, he channelled lightning-natured chakra into his sword. The enhanced weapon sliced through my kunai with little resistance and dealt a deep wound to my shoulder.

'How masterful! He waited for the very last moment before using Chakra Flow.'

Disregarding the injury which had already begun to heal, I mimicked my opponent and channelled lightning-natured chakra into my own remaining kunai, completely negating his cutting power.

The exchange lasted for less than half a minute before he chose to retreat.

Killer B landed some distance away and threw up is hand in form horns before yelling, "Playtime's over! It's number Eight time! Whee!"

Bubbles of red chakra reminiscent of boiling liquid began appearing all over his body. The chakra continued to spread until it had become a shroud, completely encompassing the Jinchuriki.

The shroud resembled the tailed beast sealed within his body, with a tail forming at his rear and chakra-horns on his head.

I looked as his Version 1 form in anticipation, "Now this is more my style!"

Throwing my kunai at his head, a chakra arm caught it with ease.

Killer B looked up to see I had disappeared from my location.

"Hmm?"

I appeared directly behind him with a clenched fist.

'Landmine Fist!' I punched out with might.

He hastily tried to defend but the force of my jutsu blasted him into one of the tall mountains nearby.

I watched the smoke emanating from his crash site. A split second later, a silhouette dashed out, moving at great speed.

'Hmm?'

I quickly raised both my arms to block the incoming blow.

"Lariat!"

I felt pain in both my arms as I rocketed away, colliding loudly into one of the smaller mountains.

Wincing, I slowly stood up. My passive regeneration ability and my vigorous life force quickly healed my fractured arms.

'Tch. How about a warning next time? Entering the Version 2 form so suddenly...If that's the case, I'll take it up a notch as well! Gate of Life-Open! Gate of Pain-Open! And lastly...Sage Mode!'

My skin had turned a shade of red as several veins bulged all over my body. My hair stood on end as the pigmentation signalling my having entered sage mode formed on my face.

At my current stage, I could use the first four of the Eight Gates without any detriment to myself, any higher, and I was left weakened for a while afterwards, so I stuck to using four.

"Prepare yourself!"

I crouched down and blasted towards Killer B's location.

The ground beneath the Jinchuriki cracked as it roared before vaulting upwards to meet my charge.

The following exchange was no longer between two shinobi. What ensued was a slugfest between two miniature beasts.

Whilst the difference in strength was slim, the contrast in speed was clear. My adept use of the body flicker in conjunction with the Swift Release made me a phantom menace.

Our exchange caused a subtle increase in my heart rate. I relished that intoxicating feeling I had missed since arriving in this world.

'This. This is what I've been missing! The excitement of a real fight!'

Sure, I wasn't using my full power, but this was the style of fighting that I truly enjoyed. A good old-fashioned brawl.

The melee continued for sometime before Killer B realised he was making no progress. He continued to accumulate battle damage whilst his opponent was no worse for wear.

My fist hit nothing but air as B ended the tussle and fell back.

He crossed both his arms before yelling, "Host Transformation! Eight-Tails! Oh Yeah!"

I watched as the Jinchuriki became a full-scale replica of the beast sealed within.

My face morphed into one of disappointment.

'Just when I was starting to enjoy myself.' I sighed.

The Eight-Tails began gathering chakra in its mouth. I ceased my usage of the Eight Gates as the steam and chakra surrounding my body subsided.

'Well, I guess that's that. Wood Release: Wood Expulsion!'

A dome-like defensive structure that took the form of a dragon's face, began to surround my figure. Just before the dome closed, I witnessed the Tailed Beast Ball being fired as a wave toward my location.

The blast collided with my defence which held up without any issue. The dome split down the middle and opened on my command. Our surroundings had been heavily damaged by the devastatingly powerful attack.

No longer holding back, I performed a series of Wood Release jutsu to capture and extract the Eight-Tails from its host. Sometime later, I had sealed its chakra within my Jewel Lotus Seal.

I didn't bother resurrecting the body of Killer B because, at this point, it was nothing more than extra baggage.

My other lackeys were out doing my bidding and once they had fulfilled their use, I would lay them to rest.

I had tasked Roshi and Kajura with the capture of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki after the three of us had arrived in the Land of Lightning. Han and Utakata were dispatched to Takigakure to apprehend the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

I had witnessed their ability to taking down a Jinchuriki, so putting them in two-man cells was more efficient.

'Well, my work here is done. Better head out.'

I summoned my mount and made my way to our meeting point.

Sitting cross-legged atop the giant bird, I examined my left arm.

'Very good. It's reaching completion.'

A fragmented seal could be seen running around my upper left arm. The incomplete ring was a seal that I had been working on with RoBro's knowledge of fuinjutsu.

Unfortunately, I had been unable to recreate the Flying Thunder God jutsu after my trip to Uzushiogakure, so I decided to instead focus my efforts on creating an original seal that better suited my fighting style.

It had an appearance that was common for the formula used in seals, a random assortment of Kanji, Hindi script, and other symbols. These writings met at a point that remained empty until the seal was finished.

According to RoBro, these writings translated to several words that include, 'limit', 'tribulation', 'radiate', 'overwhelm', 'domain', 'ripple' and 'vivid'.

'When this jutsu is complete, my battle strength will surge once more.'

I smiled lightly as I began to envision it's use in future fights.

...

In a deserted hut, Kakashi was conversing with Asuma when the entrance opened and a third figure entered.

Turning to the newcomer, Kakashi asked, "So? What have you found out?"

Tenzo closed the door behind him and approached his allies.

"The situation in the mist is even greater than before. Apparently, there was a recent attempt at a revolution."

His audience perked up.

"Attempt?" Asuma asked.

Tenzo nodded, "The insurgents were gathering a large force made up of rogues and the displaced, to challenge the Mizukage's dominion over the village. The Fourth Mizukage didn't take too kindly to that idea and they were attacked."

"What was the result?" Kakashi inquired.

"The revolutionaries were completely decimated." Tenzo said.

Asuma exhaled a puff of smoke, "A Kage-level ninja with a Tailed-Beast is a force to be reckoned with."

Kakashi noticed a slight discomfort in Tenzo's expression.

"What is it?"

"This is just a rumour but...some are saying the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, is dead."

Asuma began to cough heavily, "W-what?!"

Kakashi's eye widened.

"Tenzo. Are you positive that's what is being said?"

The former Root-nin nodded.

"I've managed to trace the location of some of the survivors of the attempted revolution. I suggest we capture and interrogate one of their number."

Kakashi furrowed his brows in deep thought, 'The Fourth Mizukage is thought to have died? A Jinchuriki...dead? Could this be connected to our own target? Are the Jinchuriki being targeted?'

He juggled several theories in his head before speaking up, "Like you've suggested Tenzo, we'll trace and question the rebels for more information."

Not wasting any time, the trio headed out, in search of the truth.