THUD!
Han's steel-toed boot landed flush against Hiruko's torso. Both the one kicked and the one kicking were stunned.
Huh? Dude just standing there on the side, you're not even going to try to block? Just gonna watch your comrade—your martial uncle—get launched?
Betrayed. Utterly betrayed!
Hiruko's body folded under the impact, limbs snapping. He flew through the air like a ragged sack, a look of profound grievance on his face mid-flight.
Skrrrt—
Han landed, boots digging into the earth to arrest his momentum. Steam erupted from his back once more as he pivoted to deal with Qianyu.
Whoosh!
But Qianyu was already a streak of white light, paper wings fully extended. He appeared beside the still-airborne Hiruko, scooped him up, and put distance between them and Han.
No choice. That kick had sent even Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Naruto flying. He stood no chance head-on. Selling out his teammate to buy an opening was the only play.
Besides, Uncle was already messed up. A little more damage wouldn't matter. And surely, his dear elder wouldn't want his precious junior getting hurt, right? Right?
"Uncle, now!" Qianyu barked, unraveling the Eight Trigrams Seal on his body. He actively expelled the two Eight-Tails tentacles stored within.
"Ch-Chimera Technique!"
Hiruko, kicked senseless and more dead than alive, managed to latch onto that shout of "Uncle." With a monumental effort, he pushed past the haze and unleashed his signature technique by sheer instinct.
BOOM!
The two tentacles, freed from Qianyu's body, began to swell instantly. But before they could regain their full size, they were engulfed by a massive sphere of flesh that Hiruko had become.
THUMP!
The meatball became impossibly heavy, plummeting straight down. Qianyu let go just in time, narrowly avoiding being dragged to the ground with it.
"???"
Qianyu stared, dumbfounded, at the giant sphere now resting on the earth. He'd been considering evacuating Hiruko temporarily… Scratch that! Evacuate his ass!
By the time he managed that, Han might already be halfway back to Iwagakure, broadcasting Qianyu's deeds to the entire shinobi world!
Can't let Han contact the outside. Pin him down. He dies here. Qianyu's thoughts were venomous, his eyes never leaving Han for a second.
"That's… Eight-Tails chakra?!"
Though it all happened in a flash, Han on the ground had sensed it. His perpetually calm expression fractured for the first time.
These two maniacs… They'd actually targeted the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki? And succeeded?!
No wonder they wanted to "devour" him!
"These two are a direct threat to all Jinchūriki! Kokuō, lend me your strength!"
Han's face turned grave. He instantly elevated Qianyu and Hiruko to his own level. No more holding back.
WHOOSH—WHOOSH—WHOOSH—!
Five-Tails chakra erupted from him in torrents. Han's body crouched low. Five tails sprouted from his back. A dark red beast cloak enveloped him completely.
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
To face this extreme danger, Han entered a full partial transformation and unleashed his ultimate attack as a Jinchūriki.
His face contorted by chakra, Han opened a fanged maw. A swirling sphere of purple-black energy solidified before him, power coiling for release.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Qianyu's gaze hadn't wavered. The moment Han began gathering the Tailed Beast Ball, his hand was already spinning. He hurled the Rasenshuriken with all his might, aiming to strike before the beast ball launched.
BOOOOM!
The shuriken's cataclysmic storm swallowed Han's figure in a deafening roar.
But Qianyu didn't relax. He knew a Rasenshuriken alone couldn't cripple a perfect Jinchūriki like Han.
"Should still do some damage, though…" he muttered.
FWOOSH!
Yet, before the storm even dissipated, the partially transformed Han leaped out. Smoke wisped from his jaws. He looked… barely scathed.
"You are strong," Han said, his voice cold. "A shame you met me. Underestimating my power… is a troublesome mistake to make."
"This guy…!"
Qianyu's expression tightened. Han was far tougher than he'd imagined. The Rasenshuriken hadn't even pierced the beast cloak!
"Eight Gates! Third Gate: Gate of Life, OPEN!"
Hands crossed over his chest, Qianyu unleashed the Third Gate without hesitation. And pushed for the next.
"Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain… OPEN!"
After his recent training, breaking through to the Fourth Gate came naturally. He stepped out of the Gates' final "safe zone" and into true, dangerous territory.
"GRAAGHHH—!"
A searing pain flooded his veins. His skin flushed red. Sweat evaporated into steam the moment it surfaced.
SHOOM!
A crimson afterimage. Qianyu shot toward the transformed Han. He had to buy time for Hiruko. Couldn't let that Tailed Beast Ball fire.
BOOM!
They charged each other, speed tearing the air.
With four Gates open, Qianyu's speed and power underwent a qualitative leap. He could finally match the partially transformed beast.
"Boil Release: Unmatched Strength!"
Han roared. Chakra within him boiled. Fists the size of cooking pots rained down like a meteor shower.
"Dance of the Shikigami!"
Qianyu pushed the Dance of the Shikigami's agility to its limit. He weaved and dodged with his paper wings, a lone leaf navigating a typhoon. Parts of his body scattered into paper to disperse force.
He'd rather endure the sear of Five-Tails chakra than take a direct hit from that monstrous strength. Han's raw power was top-tier in the entire world.
Rustle… Rustle…
With the Dance of the Shikigami and the Gates, Qianyu barely held his ground against the storm of blows. But paper scraps flew everywhere with each impact. Wounds accumulated.
Hiruko, you screwed me! 'I'll swallow whatever they send'—you didn't say it'd take this long!
Qianyu cursed internally. If not for the reserve of Eight-Tails chakra, using the Yin Healing Wound Destruction to patch himself up intermittently, he'd be a bloody stain already.
Swoosh!
After a frantic exchange, Han realized he couldn't end Qianyu quickly. A feint created an opening. He broke away, steam jetting him straight toward the giant meatball behind them.
"Earth Grudge Fear: Tentacles!"
Qianyu reacted, black tendrils shooting from his back. A fraction of a second too slow. They missed their target.
Helpless, Qianyu could only watch, eyes wide with fury, as Han—propelled by steam—descended like a starving tiger upon the immobilized Hiruko.
"NO! UNCLE—!!!"
The thought of his lost rewards and future tool-person made Qianyu's roar one of pure, heart-rending agony. It had the same desperate energy as Shikamaru crying out for Asuma.
"Third Assimilation: Swift Release!"
But then, Hiruko's voice cut through clearly. The giant sphere of flesh contracted violently. Vanished in an instant.
[Ding! Treatment successful. Host awarded 'Storm Release'!]
The system's chime echoed in Qianyu's mind.
"(òwó?)! Nani?!"
The whiplash of events left him reeling.
The now-child-sized-again Hiruko appeared beside him, hopping up to pat his head with a grin. "Nephew. You seemed… quite worried about me?"
Thanks to the outrageous effects of the Chimera Technique, devouring those two tentacles had fully restored Hiruko. Qianyu's "special medicine" had been perfectly administered, earning the system's reward.
"Your concern is noted. The rest of this fight, leave it to your Uncl—"
THWACK!
Before he could finish, Han—having pounced on empty air—blitzed back in a flash. A spinning kick sent Hiruko sailing once more.
Dammit! If you can't play the game, give me the controller! With stats this high, you can't even beat a B-rank?
Qianyu cursed internally, spreading his wings to intercept Hiruko mid-air. He absorbed the momentum, landing them both safely.
"Truly, two troublesome opponents."
White steam billowed from Han's mouth. His massive, oppressive form advanced on them.
"Nephew, he attacked suddenly! I was careless, didn't dodge…" Hiruko explained, even as his hands flew through seals, furious. "Storm Release Secret Technique: Storm Demon Dragon!"
Hitting him right in front of his nephew? Did Han think Hiruko had no face to lose?!
RUMBLE—!
Thunderclouds once again blotted out the sky. Hiruko's chakra control seemed sharper. The technique formed rapidly. He shot toward Han, leading the charge.
…
Meanwhile, at the foot of Mount Sumeru.
About twenty minutes later, several Iwa-nin finally arrived, panting.
"Huh? There's a Suna-nin here too? Dead or alive?" One spotted Pakura, bending down to check.
"Forget her! Look at the sky!" another shouted, pointing upwards. "What is that? A jutsu? Or just weather?"
They all looked up. The leader's face paled. "That's no natural phenomenon. That's a large-scale Lightning Style jutsu."
"Damn it, how strong are the enemies?! Move! Lord Han might need our help!"
"Right!"
Under their leader's order, they abandoned all else, sprinting up the mountain with everything they had.
Han might seem aloof, but he had a kind heart. He'd help fellow villagers with a stoic face. Everyone liked their "big guy" lord.
So even knowing the danger, for Lord Han's sake, they'd gladly charge in.
…
At the summit of Mount Sumeru.
Three figures clashed, locked in a fierce stalemate. With Hiruko in the fight, Qianyu's pressure eased immensely. Han's expression grew darker.
Hiruko's Steel Release tanked his monstrous strength. Dark Release absorbed his ninjutsu. Swift Release matched his speed. And that Storm Release was brewing something terrible in the sky above.
"What kind of monster are you?!" Han growled, watching Hiruko desperately try to prove himself to Qianyu.
Han, called a monster his whole life, felt for the first time that a being like this was the real abomination.
Not a Jinchūriki. No Tailed Beast. How could he possibly wield such power?!
"I am no monster," Hiruko stated flatly. "I am merely an ordinary man, striving to catch up to you… you who were born powerful."
Qianyu and Hiruko moved in sync, their assault growing fiercer, slowly gaining the upper hand. Han was forced on the defensive. All traces of his initial composure were gone.
Damn it! Can't keep playing their game. If this continues, I might actually…!
It was laughable. The proud Han had never imagined being cornered not by another village's Jinchūriki, but by two… "ordinary" men.
Against their bizarre array of releases, his vaunted strength was useless. His limited ninjutsu arsenal was either absorbed or dodged…
His mind made up, Han's focus turned inward, to the presence within.
"Kokuō!"
"Understood!"
The Han they were fighting suddenly distorted. Before Qianyu or Hiruko could react, a surge of chakra exploded outwards. In his place stood a colossal white beast, dozens of meters tall.
A dolphin-like head. A body of a mighty steed. Five pristine, snow-white tails. This was the full, majestic form of the Five-Tails, Kokuō!
CRASH!
Kokuō's hooves slammed down. Earth shattered. Dust plumed. The entire mountain shuddered.
Qianyu and Hiruko, right beneath those hooves, were thrown completely off-balance by the seismic force.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Both instinctively flared their wings, darting and weaving beneath the stomping titan. By a hair's breadth, they avoided being pulped, shooting up into the air.
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
Han hadn't expected to crush two opponents who seemed to shrug off physical attacks. His full transformation had one goal: an unimpeded shot.
Kokuō's maw gaped open. A sphere of purple-black energy, magnitudes larger than before, coalesced within.
Han would end them both, and that ominous thundercloud above, in one apocalyptic blast.
"Not good! Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Qianyu's heart plummeted. He was too far. At this distance, his Adamantine Sealing Chains couldn't hope to bind something as massive and agile as Kokuō.
He spun another Rasenshuriken, hurling it at the behemoth below, hoping its speed could connect with that colossal target.
"First Assimilation: Storm Release: Thundercloud Shockwave!"
Hiruko's hands formed seals. A lance of lightning shot from his fingertip toward the Five-Tails.
Swoosh!
But Kokuō, deceptively agile for its size, leaped aside with ease, avoiding both attacks. The Tailed Beast Ball in its mouth swelled larger, on the verge of release.
"Damn it!!"
Desperation clawed at Qianyu. The Tailed Beast Ball's blast radius was enormous. With no time left to stop it… how were he and Hiruko supposed to survive what came next?
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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