Kazuma charged in at the front, forming hand seals rapidly.
"Earth Release: Great Swamp River!!!"
With a fierce double palm strike to the ground, the earth in front of him instantly liquefied into a mire. Keizumi's feet were sucked down in an instant, the muck gripping him like glue, making it nearly impossible to lift a single foot.
The flashing lightning reflected in Kazuma's scarred, grinning face as he let out a wild, gleeful laugh.
"Uchiha Keizumi! Welcome to your grave—prepared just for you! What do you think? Satisfied? Hahaha!"
The remaining five all launched their attacks as well.
A barrage of dazzling ninjutsu—earth, fire, wind—rushed forward all at once, aimed directly at the lone man and cat.
"Chiriku!"
At Asuma's sharp call, Chiriku stepped forward with a solemn expression, assuming a sacred Buddhist stance. Golden chakra radiated from his body like a divine light, solemn and awe-inspiring. With a thunderous shout, he declared: "Thousand-Armed Binding Chains!!!"
The golden chakra transformed into a majestic statue of Kannon. Countless arms shot forward, extending over a hundred meters, reaching to seize Uchiha Keizumi from all directions.
"Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique!!!"
Of course, Asuma wasn't standing idle. He knew his Fire Release wouldn't do much against Keizumi's Lava Release, but he believed his Wind Release might still prove effective.
A violent surge of wind-driven dust blasted forward like a sandstorm. Wherever it passed, even the ground was carved out into deep trenches.
And then—
All of the techniques struck at once.
A deafening explosion erupted across the battlefield. The violent shockwave of raw chakra ripped outward in every direction. The surge of wind and energy was so fierce that even Kitane and the other two—perched high on the treetops—were nearly blown away by the incoming blast.
As everyone quickly turned their eyes toward the epicenter of the blast…
They saw a massive mushroom cloud rising slowly into the sky.
"…That kind of force… it could probably flatten three entire Great Clan compounds in a single instant," Asuma muttered as he let out a slow breath. The powerful wind howling past made it difficult to even keep his eyes open.
He squinted hard, never letting down his guard. Both of his chakra trench knives were already drawn and gripped tightly in his hands.
This was the man who had killed Shimura Danzō and annihilated the entire Shimura clan—
Could someone like that really be taken down by a single ambush?
"…Huh?!"
Just as the smoke began to thin out, Asuma's pupils contracted sharply. A flicker of disbelief crossed his eyes as he stared into the fading dust.
A massive silhouette loomed within the smoke.
"Is that… the ninja cat?!"
"Why is it so huge?!"
...
Konoha, inside the Hokage Office.
While in the middle of a conversation with Koharu, Hiruzen suddenly caught, from the corner of his eye, a burst of intense light cutting through the window—bright enough to be clearly seen even in daylight. A moment later, he felt the floor beneath his feet tremble ever so slightly, followed by a thunderous boom.
Both Hiruzen and Koharu's expressions changed at once.
Koharu hurried to the window and looked out toward the distant edge of the village, where a massive mushroom cloud was slowly rising into the sky. Shocked, she muttered, "...What in the world? There shouldn't be any flammable or explosive facilities outside Konoha!"
Hiruzen stepped up beside her, his face darkening.
"That direction... it's the main road leading into the village. Other than trees and a dirt path, there's almost nothing out there."
"Nothing out there?" Koharu said with concern. "Then how could something explode? And this scale…" She took a deep breath. "It might even surpass the power of the hundreds of Explosive Tags used during the Shimura clan's assassination attempt on Uchiha Keizumi."
The moment she mentioned "Uchiha Keizumi," both she and Hiruzen froze for a beat.
"It's Keizumi!"
Hiruzen's heart lurched.
"He left the village not long ago for a mission. Judging by his speed... that would put him right around that location!"
Koharu's brow furrowed tightly. "So it's... spies from another village?"
"Whether Keizumi was involved or not, and whether it's foreign spies or not—" Hiruzen said grimly, "an explosion of that scale just outside Konoha can't be ignored. We have to see what's going on."
A faint sense of dread crept into his heart.
Koharu wanted to say, Why not wait until they've fought each other to exhaustion, then go check it out?
After all...
If Uchiha Keizumi were to be assassinated by enemy spies,
That might not be such a bad thing.
At the very least, this whole business of [Absolute Justice] would finally be silenced. Even if Uchiha Izumi remained, she wouldn't be able to stir up much on her own. In fact… Izumi's weaker, more malleable version of [Absolute Justice] could potentially be used by Konoha—turning the new [Absolute Justice] into a blade they could wield.
Of course, these were thoughts Koharu would never voice aloud.
...
"That's..."
Kakashi, who had been racking his brain trying to figure out how to shake off Might Guy, suddenly caught sight of the distant mushroom cloud.
His usual deadpan expression turned serious.
"That wasn't from Explosive Tags. That looked more like a collision of powerful jutsu. At the very least... it had to be several elite jōnin unleashing techniques at the same time."
A flicker of confusion passed through his Sharingan eye.
Why would Konoha's jōnin cause such a massive disturbance without warning?
Unless...
They weren't from Konoha.
"Guy… something's wrong."
Kakashi slowly moved his forehead protector up, revealing a fully activated three-tomoe Sharingan. Staring at the distant spectacle, he said in a low voice: "Let's go check it out."
...
"Ugh…"
Still fast asleep, Naruto was stirred awake by the distant noise. Groggy and rubbing his head, he sat up—only for a memory to suddenly jolt him fully awake.
Eyes darting frantically in all directions, he heard a familiar voice beside him.
"He's already gone."
Naruto turned his head and saw Sasuke standing beside him.
Sasuke, still looking into the distance, explained, "You were caught in his Sharingan genjutsu and passed out. While you were unconscious, Keizumi-sensei came by. He said… if I stayed by your side for a while, you'd eventually wake up."
Naruto scratched his head.
"Still can't beat him, huh? That brother of yours—Uchiha Itachi, right?—he's seriously strong."
Sasuke's voice grew heavier.
"He's not my brother anymore."
Naruto froze, realizing he might've brought up something he shouldn't have. Awkwardly, he followed Sasuke's gaze off into the distance—
And instantly went wide-eyed.
Naruto shouted, "What the heck is that?!"
"A massive explosion," Sasuke replied.
Naruto gawked, speechless.
"That's one huge mushroom!"
...
"What… a huge ninja cat…" Asuma muttered, a flicker of shock in his eyes as he looked up at the enormous silhouette before him.
A strong gust swept through the area, scattering most of the lingering smoke and dust.
Then—
The towering form of a massive orange ninja cat appeared clearly before them, its sheer size like a small mountain, slamming into their senses with overwhelming visual force.
Up close, one could see its fur covered in all manner of wounds: some torn open by Water Release, others scorched black by Lightning Release, and still others gashed apart by Wind Release.
"Hah!"
The huge orange face twisted into a fierce, menacing snarl.
"That really hurt, meow! You bastards!!!"
Just one heated exhale from the giant cat sent a wave of acrid, fishy-smelling wind washing over Asuma.
"This thing… I think it's Uchiha Keizumi's ninja cat!"
Asuma suddenly remembered intel on Tachibana Jirō—once famous for charging through the Third Great Ninja War at Keizumi's side, fighting in and out of enemy lines.
"It's using the Akimichi clan's Expansion Jutsu!"
"Expansion alone wouldn't be enough to block all eleven of our combined attacks," Chiriku said grimly from beside him. "And judging by its condition, it's only lightly injured—not seriously wounded."
He continued, "It must've used a fur-hardening technique to enhance its coat's durability. That's how it managed to withstand our full-scale assault."
"Tch," Kazuma clicked his tongue in frustration. With a shadowed expression, he snapped at Asuma in the distance, "Hey, Asuma! You never mentioned that bastard had such a troublesome ninja cat with him!"
"We failed to kill Uchiha Keizumi in the first strike…" Kitane said solemnly. "That means we're in for a brutal fight. For the fallen Nauma—there will be no retreat in this battle!"
Just as Asuma was about to respond, a foul stench—thick with the reek of sulfur—suddenly hit his nose.
He immediately sensed something else too: the temperature around them seemed to be rising.
His heart tightened with alarm as he shouted a warning, voice sharp with urgency: "Everyone stay alert! The 'Lava Release Beast'—Uchiha Keizumi—is about to strike!!!"
The instant those words left his mouth, Asuma's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Reflected in his eyes was a flash of crimson—glowing molten lava.
A wave of searing heat surged straight toward him, triggering every instinctual alarm in his body. The sheer speed of the attack screamed death.
Beside him, Chiriku roared as his chakra took the form of the Kannon avatar. Thousands of chakra arms formed into clenched fists, smashing downward toward the oncoming torrent of lava diving at Asuma!
Countless fists slammed down on the molten mass, shattering the ground in front of Asuma and sending debris flying in every direction.
"Wait—this isn't him! It's a lava clone!"
Chiriku's expression shifted in alarm. Something wasn't right—and then he felt it.
Another wave of heat hit him from the side.
He spun around in haste—and what he saw made every hair on his body stand on end. Cold sweat broke across his skin in an instant… only to be instantly vaporized by the blast of scorching heat now bearing down on him.
Uchiha Keizumi—had already closed the distance.
His right arm, transformed into a molten hellhound, was crashing straight toward him!
Chiriku clapped his hands together at the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life.
[—BOOM!!!]
The magma beast tore through the massive golden bell formed from chakra. In the instant Chiriku's eyes widened in disbelief—
The lava hound's savage fangs had already pierced straight through his chest.
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