BAM.
The sound was a crunching explosion that ripped through the streets of Konoha.
Killer Bee's massive form was sent flying like a ragdoll, smashing through a wall and skidding hard across the rubble-strewn ground, leaving a trench in his wake.
Facing him, Might Guy stood wreathed in a vortex of blazing, blue-green chakra, the Seventh Gate's power making the air around him shimmer with heat. His muscles bulged, veins standing out like cords, but a fine, uncontrollable tremor ran through his frame.
"Bee! You alright?" C's voice, sharp with concern, cut through the settling dust from where he stood a dozen yards away.
"Not dead yet, yo!" Killer Bee grunted, spitting out a mouthful of dirt mixed with blood and gritting his teeth as he forced himself back to his feet. He shook his head, clearing the stars from his vision. "Gotta take back what I said before, yo! This green beast… he's the real deal, yo!"
Tap.
A soft landing preceded Kakashi's arrival beside Guy, his single eye narrowed in assessment. "Guy, can you hold on?"
"No problem!" Guy flashed a wobbly thumbs-up, his signature grin strained. "My youth is still burning bright!" But the claim was betrayed by the sweat pouring down his face and the clear shake in his limbs. He was running on fumes, pushing far past his limits.
"Captain Kakashi! Bad news!"
A Konoha chunin came sprinting around the corner, his face pale with panic. "It was a diversion! While we were focused here, a team infiltrated the secured residence! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki… he's been taken!"
"What?!"
The blood drained from Kakashi and Guy's faces. They'd been completely played.
"Hmph. Took you long enough to figure it out," C said, a smirk of grim satisfaction spreading across his face. "A little too late, don't you think?"
"I'm on it!" Kakashi didn't waste a second, his body blurring as he turned to sprint toward Naruto's last known location.
"Like hell you are!"
C's ninja sword sang as it cut through the air, aiming to intercept, but a green blur intercepted him. Might Guy planted himself firmly in C's path.
"You're not going anywhere!" Guy growled, his voice raspy with exertion. "As long as my heart's still beating!"
"Bee! Now!" C barked, his patience gone. They couldn't afford to hold back anymore.
A low hum filled the air, thickening into palpable pressure. Crimson, bubbling chakra erupted from Killer Bee, encasing him in a terrifying cloak. One tail, then two, then more lashed out, the raw, Chakra of the Eight-Tails washing over the battlefield.
"Konoha Senpuu!" (Leaf Hurricane Whirlwind!)
Ignoring the suffocating Tailed Beast chakra completely, Guy launched himself forward in a devastating kick.
BOOM.
The collision of forces was monumental, shattering the ground beneath them into a web of fissures. The shockwave blew out the windows of nearby buildings.
Guy was thrown back several steps, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth. But Killer Bee, even in his Tailed Beast state, was sent flying backward, cratering the street another dozen meters away.
On pure power, Guy had a slight edge. But a look of cold certainty settled on C's face. It was obvious—Might Guy was losing. This was a battle of attrition the Leaf ninja couldn't win.
But then…
The air itself tore open with a sound like ripping silk. A dark, void-like portal split the space beside them. (A Garganta)
A man with silver-grey hair stepped calmly onto the battlefield. His skin was pale, and a strange, white, bone-like substance cresting his forehead.
Might Guy stared, astonished. "Who are you?"
But it was C who answered, his voice a stunned whisper that cracked with disbelief. "You… you're?! Impossible! You're supposed to be dead! Hōzuki Mangetsu!"
Hōzuki Mangetsu. The prodigy of Kirigakure's Hōzuki clan. A ghost from the past.
C had been there, in the Third Great Ninja War, when over a dozen Kumo jonin had cornered and killed him. He'd seen the body. So how was this man standing here, whole and unharmed? His eyes darted to the bony protrusion on Mangetsu's forehead. 'An experiment? From the Super Shinobi Project? But using the dead…?'
His racing thoughts were cut short as Mangetsu vanished.
He reappeared directly in front of the Tailed Beast-transformed Killer Bee. He didn't attack. He simply reached out a hand and pressed it down onto the chakra cloak.
CRUNCH-SMASH.
It was as if an invisible mountain had dropped onto Killer Bee. The crimson chakra flickered and distorted violently under the pressure, and the giant form was driven into the earth. The Eight-Tails' chakra itself seemed to be violently siphoned away, swirling into a vortex that was sucked directly into the palm of Mangetsu's right hand.
The terrifying cloak dissolved into nothingness.
Thud.
Stripped of the Eight-Tails power, Killer Bee collapsed, unconscious, back to his normal form.
Without a word, without even glancing at the stunned C, Hōzuki Mangetsu tapped the air. The dark void reopened.
"Wait, you bastard!" C finally snapped out of his stupor, rage overriding his shock. He lunged, his ninja sword slashing in a wide, deadly arc aimed at Mangetsu's neck.
Clang.
The sound was ridiculously small. Mangetsu had raised a single finger, blocking the razor-sharp blade without so much as a scratch.
A mocking, almost bored smile played on Mangetsu's lips. "You Shinobi are so weak."
And with that, he stepped back into the void, which sealed shut behind him, leaving behind only silence and devastation.
—
*VIP Section, Main Hall.*
The opulent room was dead silent, save for the ragged, wet breathing of Uzuki Yūgao.
She lay on the expensive carpet, her ANBU armor doing little to stem the blood spreading from the wound in her chest. Her lavender hair was splayed around her like a halo, her unseeing eyes wide with shock and betrayal.
Everyone in the room was frozen, trapped in a moment of surreal horror. Shizune could only stare, her mind refusing to process the scene. Her eyes were fixed, not on Yugao, but on the young man standing calmly a few feet away.
Hayashi Yuto flicked his wrist, the motion casual and efficient, splattering a line of dark blood onto the floor before he smoothly slid his sword back into its sheath.
"Not going to say anything, Shizune-senpai?" His voice was calm, as if he'd just commented on the weather.
It broke the spell. Shizune gasped, the sound shuddering through her. "What… what are you doing?" she managed to choke out. "Yuto… what did you just do? Are you really Yuto? Answer me!"
"Are you experiencing a cognitive break, perhaps?" Yuto asked, a faint, smile touching his lips. It was the same tone he used to explain a complex medical procedure.
"The Yuto, I knew isn't someone like this!" Shizune's voice was ice, her fists clenched so tight her nails dug into her palms. "Attacking the Daimyo's... drawing your sword on your comrade… on Yugao! Who are you?!"
"Not someone like me, huh?" The overhead light glinted off his glasses, obscuring his eyes behind two blank, white squares. "Then let me ask you this, Shizune-senpai… have you ever truly understood me?"
The question hung in the air. Shizune flinched. She wanted to scream yes, but the word died in her throat. Did she understand him? He was brilliant, dedicated, always polite. But the depths of him… what motivated him, what he truly believed… she realized that she had never really looked that deep.
"The Hayashi Yuto you're familiar with is just the surface you chose to see," Yuto continued, his smile never wavering. "Is it possible that… that version of me never actually existed in the first place?"
"Why…" Shizune whispered, the fight draining out of her, replaced by a hollow ache. "Why would you do this?"
"Don't you find it amusing?" Yuto's grin widened, taking on a cruel, cynical edge. "These nobles. They posture and preen, convinced of their divine right to rule. But when death stares them in the face, they beg and weep and soil themselves. They become less than animals. It's a far more honest performance than their usual theatrics, don't you think?"
"You… you despise them? That's your reason?" Shizune was aghast. "Even if that's true, Yugao was innocent! She was your friend! Her eyes… they always followed you. She admired you! How could you… how could you bear to hurt her?!"
"Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding," Yuto stated flatly, as if reciting a clinical fact. "Besides, she told me she didn't know what she'd do without me. It sounded like a problem. So, I simply… solved it for her."
"You monster…" Shizune's lips trembled, tears of fury and grief finally welling in her eyes.
"HAYASHI YUTO! I'LL KILL YOU!"
A raw, grief-stricken roar echoed through the hall. Gekko Hayate, his face a mask of tear-streaked rage, burst into the room, his long sword already drawn. He had heard everything. He charged, a direct, furious lunge aimed at Yuto's heart.
Thwump.
The sound of steel piercing flesh was loud.
Yuto didn't move. He didn't even flinch. He let the blade run him through.
A moment later.
Schlick. Hayate's shoulder suddenly erupted in a spray of blood.His eyes went wide with shock and confusion, his sword clattering to the floor as his legs gave way. He collapsed beside Yugao, his hand stretching weakly toward her. "How… is this… possible…?"
The Yuto, who had been stabbed, dissolved into white smoke.
From the shadows near the doorway, the real Yuto shook his head slowly, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips. "Hayate-san," he said, his voice calm. "I believe I told you. Never commit to your strike until you are certain it is your opponent's true body you are hitting."
He adjusted his glasses. The lenses flashed, once again hiding his eyes from the world.
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