"How is that possible?!"
Ai turned back abruptly.
He watched as the destructive sword swept past, sending a large group of ninjas flying through the air. In just a few seconds, the formation of the Ninjutsu Unit had collapsed.
To Logan, whether they were Genin, Chūnin, or even Jōnin—if they relied solely on ninjutsu—it made little difference. Ninjutsu alone couldn't stand up to him.
It was like cutting a cake—did you worry about whether you were slicing the cream, the bread, or the fruit? It all came apart the same way.
But Logan didn't immediately press the advantage. Instead, he stood still, quietly locking eyes with the Fourth Raikage, Ai.
Watching his elite subordinates tossed aside like trash, Ai's eyes turned bloodshot.
But as the Raikage, he remained composed. Gritting his teeth, he shouted:
"Everyone, fall back!"
He couldn't comprehend how Logan had moved so quickly—instantaneous, almost like the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God technique.
With such an ability, it was almost a waste for Logan to rely on mere human wave tactics.
But as the leader of Cloud Shinobi Village, Ai had long prepared himself for this. A head-on confrontation with Logan was inevitable.
It was now…
King versus King.
Lightning surged over Ai's body as he activated Lightning Style Chakra Mode, his signature jutsu. This technique cloaked his entire body in chakra and electricity, dramatically boosting his physical abilities.
Attack, defense, reaction speed—every attribute was enhanced.
And with Ai's chakra levels nearing those of a tailed beast, the effect was staggering. His hair bristled, his skin crackled with energy, and his body blurred with speed.
Back in the Third Ninja World War, Ai's sheer acceleration had rivaled Minato Namikaze's teleportation over short distances.
He stepped forward.
The air roared like thunder.
The very concept of distance vanished as Ai launched himself at Logan like a bolt of blue lightning.
"Your plan to use the White Snake Sage's head to scare us was clever," Ai roared, "but you made one fatal mistake—the men of the Cloud know no fear!"
Logan frowned slightly, puzzled by Ai's words.
Deterrence? What deterrence?
While Logan pondered, Ai closed in—his massive right fist raised high to strike.
Logan had to admit: in terms of pure speed, Ai was faster.
But…
"Time has stopped flowing."
Logan pulled out an iron ball.
That ball had already been marked by Killer Queen before the fight even began.
He used the still-unmastered Golden Spin, twisted his body, and hurled the ball toward Ai.
It flew forward—through a world where time had frozen—and stopped just five centimeters from Ai's face.
There were four seconds left before time resumed.
In those four seconds, Logan and Star Platinum struck hundreds of times at the Raikage's body.
Time began to flow again.
BOOM!
Ai, once charging at full power, suddenly staggered as his Lightning Style armor shattered.
Hundreds of bones cracked audibly, even under the protection of his chakra-enhanced body.
And just in front of him… the iron ball spun ominously in midair.
Its speed wasn't high, but the rotation was unnatural—lethal.
Ai's eyes widened. His finely-honed instincts screamed: Touch this, and you die!
He tried to move—just a tilt of the head would be enough—but…
He couldn't.
He didn't understand what had happened in that "moment." His Lightning Armor had taken the brunt of the damage, but the aftermath alone left his muscles and bones wrecked.
"If I can just avoid this attack… and give myself a second to recover… I can rechannel chakra and restart my Lightning Mode..."
But it was like expecting human willpower to protect against sulfuric acid.
His injuries were far beyond the limits of endurance.
Behind Logan, Killer Queen raised a thumb.
If that spinning iron ball touched Ai—it would detonate instantly.
Suddenly, several octopus-like tails lashed out.
One wrapped around Ai, pulling him back.
The others stacked themselves in front of the iron ball like a makeshift shield.
Click.
Killer Queen's thumb lowered.
The iron ball detonated on contact.
The octopus tail exploded like a balloon popping under a pin, vanishing in a chain of silent blasts.
"Cut it off! Cut it off now!"
Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails, having achieved perfect synchronization as Jinchūriki and Tailed Beast, reacted instinctively.
They severed the connection with the tails just before the explosion could reach their main body.
Killer Bee broke into a cold sweat.
That was too close.
If he'd been even a second slower, he would've been vaporized along with his tails.
"Bee! Don't touch anything he throws!"
The voice of Gyūki, the Eight-Tails, echoed in Killer Bee's mind.
"The tail made of chakra was erased—completely!"
Touching that spinning ball meant death.
What kind of power is this?!
Cloud Shinobi Village already had a thick dossier on Logan. Every time they thought they had cataloged all his powers, he revealed something new.
Sizzle... sizzle...
Lightning chakra began to surge once more over Ai's battered body, forcing it to rise.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and muttered, "He's got some skills, I'll give him that…"
Killer Bee licked his dry lips and was tempted to say, "Brother, maybe we should stop pretending," but one look exchanged between them was enough.
He understood.
The enemy was strong.
It was time to go all out.
Killer Bee sheathed his sword.
He unleashed the full power of the Eight-Tails. In a heartbeat, his body transformed into a massive, tailed beast—a colossal bull with octopus tentacles.
The eight tails lashed the ground, creating massive gusts as they cleared the remaining Cloud ninjas from the battlefield.
Now, only Ai and Killer Bee remained—standing between Logan and total dominance.
The Eight-Tails glared down at Logan, radiating primal power. Even the wild animals following Logan buckled under the pressure. Their legs trembled, unable to bear the chakra's intensity.
Logan caught the iron ball as it spun back into his palm.
He paused.
Then put it away.
Using a half-learned iron ball technique—barely at Lesson-1 level—against these opponents would not only be reckless…
…it would be impolite.
He whispered:
"Aerosmith."
A tiny propeller plane appeared, floating beside his shoulder.
Ai tensed for another unpredictable attack, but upon seeing Aerosmith, he exhaled faintly.
Cloud Village's intelligence file included information on this stand.
A reconnaissance-type ability.
It had moderate firepower, but not enough to threaten a tailed beast or a Lightning-armored Raikage.
Ai sneered, "What's wrong? Scared of the Eight-Tails? Don't know what to do next?"
He turned to Killer Bee. "Use a Tailed Beast Bomb Barrage. I'll attack while he's dodging."
Ai didn't know how his Lightning Style armor had shattered, or how Logan had crossed hundreds of meters in an instant—but it clearly wasn't an ability he could use repeatedly.
Ai planned to push Logan into using that move again. Then, once it was on cooldown—finish him off.
"Ohhh! I got you, bro!"
Killer Bee opened his mouth and began charging a Tailed Beast Bomb. In less than a second, he launched a barrage—dozens of mini-bombs fired in rapid succession, blanketing the battlefield.
Every path of escape was sealed.
Watching the tiny plane, Killer Bee still felt uneasy.
Will Logan panic? Lose control?
Then he saw the magazine under Aerosmith open.
Killer Queen reached out, touching the bullet chain.
Da-da-da-da-da—!
A torrent of bullets rained down.
Aerosmith's twin machine guns opened fire.
With a firing rate of 1200–1500 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 610 meters per second, the bullets screamed through the air.
The distance between Logan and the Eight-Tails was less than 100 meters.
And while Killer Queen could only plant one bomb at a time—and even then, it required half a second of contact—Logan had two five-star substitutes, and could maintain them for 3–4 seconds at once.
It was enough.
The bullets tore through the Tailed Beast Bombs midair.
The next stream of bullets carried explosive charges directly into the Eight-Tails' massive frame.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of silent explosions followed.
Echoing not in the ears…
…but in the soul.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn (Gk31)