Killer Bee was the first to move.
He knew he was at a disadvantage. If he failed to seize the initiative, he would have no chance at all.
Relaxing his body for a split second, he then tensed every muscle at once. Seven blades spun around him like a raging hurricane.
Acrobat!
Using every part of his body in conjunction with his taijutsu, Killer Bee wielded seven blades with astonishing flexibility. Lightning Release chakra flowed through each weapon, enhancing their sharpness while generating high-frequency vibrations that granted them piercing power surpassing even Wind Release.
The spinning blades circled around him like twin serpents chasing their tails, forming two parallel rings as he charged directly at Hayashi.
Hayashi shifted two steps to the right.
The moment the overhead strike descended, he dodged effortlessly and drove a punch into Killer Bee's chest before his feet could even touch the ground.
Bang!
Killer Bee was sent flying more than ten meters away.
Crimson chakra immediately surged from his body, rapidly repairing the fractures in his chest.
As soon as he landed, he launched himself forward again with overwhelming momentum.
While charging, Killer Bee gathered the red chakra throughout his body and concentrated it into one of his short blades.
A crackling red Lightning Release gathered at the tip of the weapon.
With a flick of his wrist, the attack descended violently.
A Rasengan instantly formed in Hayashi's hand.
The spinning sphere smashed aside the red lightning racing toward his face. At the same time, he pressed down on the blade's hilt, halting its upward momentum before sweeping a powerful roundhouse kick toward Killer Bee's neck.
Killer Bee abandoned the blade and raised his elbow to block.
The force of the kick spun him completely around Hayashi before sending him flying once more.
As for the redirected Lightning Release, Hayashi paid it no attention.
It simply wasn't fast enough.
Compared to his own speed, the attack moved at a crawl.
At some point, a short blade had appeared in Hayashi's hand.
Killer Bee now possessed only six.
Looking down at the weapon made from an unknown material, Hayashi applied a bit of force with his fingers.
Crack.
The blade snapped cleanly in half.
Killer Bee's expression darkened.
Against a shinobi known as Konoha's Lightning Flash, he had already gone all out from the very beginning.
Yet not only had Hayashi kept up with his speed effortlessly, he had even stolen one of his blades without him noticing.
That meant his taijutsu held no advantage whatsoever.
Taking a deep breath, Killer Bee gripped his remaining six blades.
A bolt of lightning as thick as a dragon's torso shot straight toward Hayashi's chest.
Hayashi spread his fingers.
The chirping sound of Chidori erupted in his palm.
With a horizontal slash, he struck the incoming lightning beast.
Lightning Release against Lightning Release.
The lightning beast exploded before him in a dazzling flash.
At that exact moment, Hayashi planted his feet and leaned sharply to the right.
A streak of light passed through the spot where his heart had been an instant earlier before detonating over a hundred meters away with a deafening roar.
Lightning Release: Super Sonic Vibrating Lightning Blade!
Killer Bee had thrown all six short blades, coating them with Lightning Release chakra to maximize their cutting power.
In another battle, Kisame's Samehada had absorbed the chakra from a similar attack.
Hayashi dealt with it in a much simpler manner.
He simply stepped aside.
Yet almost simultaneously, Killer Bee appeared directly in front of him.
Wrapped in Tailed Beast chakra and carrying monstrous strength, he launched his attack.
Liger Bomb!
The distance between them was short.
But it was still a distance.
The Hayashi standing before Killer Bee suddenly vanished.
In Sage Mode, combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique, Killer Bee had no chance of landing such an attack.
The moment he disappeared from sight, Hayashi appeared beside a marked Flying Thunder God kunai.
Then he vanished again.
An instant later, he reappeared behind Killer Bee at the location of another Flying Thunder God kunai.
To Hayashi, even Killer Bee's incredible speed seemed frozen in place.
Gripping the kunai in his left hand, he formed a brilliant blue Rasengan in his right.
The kunai thrust toward the back of Killer Bee's neck.
The Rasengan pressed against his back directly over his heart.
A gigantic octopus tentacle suddenly erupted behind Killer Bee, attempting to strike Hayashi.
Hayashi released the kunai.
A Chidori Sharp Spear instantly formed in his left hand and pierced straight through the Eight-Tails' tentacle.
Countless battles had already proven one fact.
The flesh of a Tailed Beast was insignificant before the Chidori Sharp Spear.
With a sharp upward motion, Hayashi severed the tentacle at its base.
"ROAR!"
The Eight-Tails roared in fury.
An immense surge of chakra erupted from Killer Bee's body.
Soon, a colossal ox-headed beast with seven octopus tails emerged within the Cloud-Thunder Gorge.
Its eighth tail had already been cut off.
"So he's fully transformed into a Tailed Beast."
Hayashi had several methods available to restrain Killer Bee. Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains scroll would have been particularly effective.
However, he chose another approach.
Forming hand seals, he summoned a series of massive gates.
The sound of rattling chains echoed through the gorge.
Rashomon Gates descended from the sky one after another and slammed onto the Eight-Tails' enormous body.
Five Rashomon Gates pinned five separate parts of the Tailed Beast directly into the ground.
Although Hayashi did not know the Sage Art: Gates of the Great God, he used the Rashomon Gates in a similar fashion.
The results were immediate.
The crushing weight prevented the Eight-Tails from moving.
Hayashi landed atop one of the gates.
Chidori illuminated his hand once again.
Above the Cloud-Thunder Gorge, thunderclouds constantly filled the sky.
For Hayashi, it was the perfect battlefield.
Guided by the Chidori, thunder rumbled through the heavens.
A beast-like roar echoed from the clouds.
Lightning Release: Qilin!
A gigantic bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the Eight-Tails' tail area.
The Tailed Beast let out a miserable scream.
After that, it could no longer struggle.
Hayashi had intentionally avoided its vital points.
Otherwise, the Eight-Tails might not have survived the attack, and Killer Bee would have died as well.
There was a reason for his restraint.
The larger the disturbance here became, the more Hidden Cloud shinobi would be drawn to the area.
And the more destruction he could unleash when he invaded the Hidden Cloud Village shortly afterward.
Jumping down from the Rashomon Gate, Hayashi landed atop the Eight-Tails' head.
He patted it as though it were a giant pet.
"Good boy. I won't kill you. I'm only taking a little chakra, so be a good boy."
The semi-conscious Eight-Tails could not resist.
Internally, however, it was cursing Hayashi with every insult it knew.
Even if Hayashi had known, he would not have cared.
After all, the ancestor of this body could be traced all the way back to the Sage of Six Paths himself.
The Eight-Tails possessed the greatest chakra reserves among all Tailed Beasts except the Nine-Tails.
Even after extracting a substantial amount of chakra, its size barely changed.
Noticing Hidden Cloud shinobi rapidly approaching from the distance, Hayashi decisively stopped.
The next moment, he vanished.
Instantly, he reappeared within the Hidden Cloud Village.
In a secluded corner, a Flying Thunder God kunai remained embedded in the ground.
The falcon he had sent earlier had carried two marked kunai.
One had been thrown into the Cloud-Thunder Gorge.
The other had been left inside the Hidden Cloud Village.
Hayashi took out a scroll marked with the character for "Three."
Inside was the Three-Tails.
When Fugaku had attacked Konoha, the Three-Tails had been left behind. The Hidden Mist Village had never reclaimed it.
Since the Akatsuki would eventually target it, keeping it inside Konoha was inconvenient.
So Hayashi decided to gift it generously to the Hidden Cloud Village.
Didn't they always want another Tailed Beast?
Undoing the seal, he released the Three-Tails.
The massive turtle-like shell emerged from the scroll.
Looking at the noticeably smaller Three-Tails, Hayashi smiled.
Then he vanished once again.
...
June, Year 41 of Konoha.
Two months after Danzō became a rogue ninja, the Fourth Raikage led a force of one thousand shinobi across the Land of Hot Water, preparing to provoke another war.
Under tremendous pressure, Konoha's Lightning Flash invaded the Hidden Cloud Village alone.
There, he released the Three-Tails.
The resulting chaos destroyed nearly half of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Faced with such losses, the Fourth Raikage immediately withdrew his forces.
Overnight, the Hidden Cloud Village's military power suffered a devastating blow.
Konoha once again secured its position as the dominant force of the shinobi world.
Hayashi's prestige reached unprecedented heights.
The entire ninja world trembled.
One month after the Hidden Cloud incident came to an end, the Third Hokage announced his retirement.
Hayashi, whose fame now rivaled that of the God of Shinobi himself, successfully inherited the position of the Fourth Hokage.
A new era for Konoha had begun.