Considering Aerosmith's insane rate of fire and Logan's proximity to the Eight Tails, it was safe to say—
The bullets would hit the moment they were fired.
Two five-star stand abilities—Aerosmith and Killer Queen—were deployed. Logan pushed his mental power to the absolute limit, allowing both to exist simultaneously for four seconds.
Killer Queen could plant a bomb in half a second.
In four seconds, eight bullets, each imbued with the first bomb, were launched.
Three of them intercepted the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb, detonating mid-air and canceling it out. The other five struck the enormous body of the Eight Tails.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of muffled yet soul-rattling explosions followed.
It was as if the blasts didn't just rupture flesh—but struck at the very Chakra core of the Eight Tails.
Though gravely wounded, the Eight Tails wasn't dead.
Killer Queen's ability was strange and deadly. It turned any object she touched into a bomb—then delivered that explosive force remotely. But it had limitations.
"Range."
The explosion covered roughly a three-meter-radius sphere. Anything beyond that was unaffected.
If that restriction didn't exist, Killer Queen's inverted form could've easily blown the entire battlefield—perhaps even the planet—into oblivion.
Standing at over fifty meters tall, the Eight Tails Gyūki was a behemoth. Five explosions, each only three meters deep, weren't enough to kill him instantly. But it did throw his Chakra into complete disarray.
"Bii! It's that weird explosion attack again!" the Eight Tails growled, warning Killer Bee.
"Some of those bullets explode on impact. We can't let them hit us again!"
Killer Bee was drenched in cold sweat.
But how could he possibly avoid them?
As a massive Tailed Beast, dodging was nearly impossible, especially against a plane-sized stand like Aerosmith that could fire 1,200 rounds per minute.
"Don't panic!" came Ai's voice from the other side of the battlefield.
"He can't use both abilities for long! Look—the plane's gone! We have to drag this into a war of attrition!"
Killer Bee turned and saw that it was true.
Aerosmith had disappeared, leaving only Killer Queen standing near Logan.
He quickly calculated the time the plane and the humanoid cat-shaped stand had existed together. Barely four seconds?
Ai had guessed correctly.
After using time-stop and managing two five-star stands simultaneously, Logan required a brief cooldown—just a few seconds.
But for someone like Raikage Ai, who had mastered the Lightning Flash Technique, a few seconds were all he needed.
Despite taking heavy damage earlier from Star Platinum, Ai's will to fight hadn't faded. If anything, it had intensified. Sparks danced off his body, his hair stood on end, and his eyes were burning with ferocity.
"Now's my chance. This is Logan's weakest moment!"
In the blink of an eye, Ai leapt high into the air.
「Lateral Bolt of Pain: Chop!」
The original text described this move as "a blade forged by the pain of breaking one's own body, honed to be as fast and lethal as lightning."
It wasn't complex.
He simply focused high-intensity Lightning Chakra into his arm and dove, transforming his arm into a blade. A direct, savage strike.
After several rounds of battle with Logan, Ai had learned that elaborate jutsu and complex strategies wouldn't work.
Any attempt to charge or prep an attack gave Logan enough time to intercept, counter, or outright destroy the technique.
In this regard, their fighting styles were strangely similar—
Both used lightning, one glowing blue, the other a golden crackle.
Both possessed monstrous physiques and unmatched close-range prowess.
Both had summoned partners of overwhelming strength—Star Platinum for Logan, Killer Bee for Ai.
But Ai...
He was a low-resolution version of Logan.
Of course, Ai himself would never admit that.
"Die!!" he roared.
His lightning-charged knife hand cut through the air with a thunderous shriek. The sheer pressure caused the ground to quake. For a moment, it felt as if the heavens would split open.
Logan didn't flinch.
He calmly held the Destruction Blade in one hand—then paused, considering.
With both hands, he raised the blade. At the same time, Killer Queen stepped forward and touched it.
Click.
First bomb planted.
The blade surged with power. It hummed with deadly resonance.
From below, it slashed upward to meet Ai's descending hand.
The two collided.
BOOM!
The bomb detonated at the point of contact.
The Lightning Armor surrounding Ai shattered into jagged shards of blue light.
Logan's blade did not stop.
SWISH!
Ai's arm was severed.
Blood sprayed into the air, instantly vaporized by the heat and energy of the Lightning Style and the lingering ripples from Killer Queen's explosion.
"BROTHER!!" Killer Bee cried out, horrified.
Logan was about to swing again when Killer Bee slammed a massive palm toward him.
Logan evaded, slicing into the Eight Tails' enormous hand, then flipped back midair with cat-like precision.
His cooldown had ended.
Aerosmith reappeared.
Killer Bee, Ai, the Eight Tails, and every single Cloud Shinobi on the battlefield felt their stomachs drop.
"Again?! Already?!"
The terror bombing had barely ended—and now the small aircraft had returned.
How long had he rested?
Two seconds? Three?
No one could believe it.
The Eight Tails immediately extended his massive octopus-like tails to shield himself.
Ai was right.
This was now a battle of attrition.
As long as Killer Bee and the Eight Tails had enough Chakra, they could keep blocking explosive bullets and attempt coordinated strikes using Tailed Beast Bombs to create openings.
It was a grueling strategy. But it was their only option.
However, Logan didn't immediately attack this time.
Killer Queen merged into his body.
Then, Logan calmly reached into Aerosmith's ammunition bay.
"What... what's he doing?"
Even the most seasoned warriors were baffled.
Ai was the first to realize.
"He's hiding it!"
"That way, no one can predict when the explosive bullets will fire!"
Aerosmith and Killer Queen could only exist for four seconds, yes—but now no one knew which four seconds.
The uncertainty was worse than the attack itself.
The Eight Tails was forced to stay fully guarded, constantly defending against an unseen threat.
If he tried to assist Ai or go on the offensive, the moment he lowered his guard—
Boom.
A bullet could land on his head instead of his tails.
While his Chakra-based form could withstand tremendous damage, blowing off a tail was not the same as blowing off the head.
"Damn bastard!" a Cloud Shinobi snarled through clenched teeth.
"Despicable tactics!"
But Ai's narrowed eyes told a different story.
"No," he muttered. "This isn't cowardice."
"This is battlefield genius."
Ai's heart pounded. He had never faced an enemy like Logan.
Not just strong—but strategic.
He turned limitations into weapons. He adapted. He learned. He played the battlefield like a grandmaster at chess.
And yet...
Logan now held the plane in one hand and the sword in the other.
Fair fight.
Logan: one hand on the blade, one on the aircraft.
Ai: one hand missing, the other barely able to lift.
They clashed.
Thunder roared.
The ring of steel on steel echoed across the ruined battlefield.
And yet, anyone watching could see it—
Logan was never in trouble.
His sword never wavered.
His breathing never quickened.
His gaze never faltered.
He fought like he was in a training exercise.
Raikage Ai, meanwhile...
His face, normally dark and full of fire, had turned pale.
The strain of ultra-high-speed combat, the draining Chakra, and the internal bleeding were all catching up to him.
Blood leaked from his mouth and nostrils.
Logan pressed his blade against Ai's arm guard and pushed.
The Raikage's knees buckled.
He dropped to one knee.
"Will you admit defeat now?" Logan asked.
Ai, barely conscious, growled through clenched teeth.
"The men of Cloud Shinobi Village… can die…"
"But we will NEVER lose!!"
Logan's expression didn't change.
He nodded.
"I see."
He raised his blade again.
But at that moment, multiple octopus tails whipped toward him.
Killer Bee had snapped.
Seeing his brother on the verge of death, he could hold back no longer.
He lunged into the fray..
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