“You two, stay back!”
Kai spoke without turning around.
Spiral Zetsu and Yūyū retreated to a distant mountain peak.
Whoosh!
The Explosive Blade: Shibuki emerged from the Kamui vortex.
Kai gripped the sword and charged toward Killer B.
Killer B.
The greatest swordsman in the Naruto world.
Let me see what you’ve got.
Facing Kai’s charge, Killer B continued rapping to himself.
“Hmm~ sword in your eyes~”
“Nothing else in sight~”
“Without a word~”
“You charge at me outright~”
“Out of nowhere~”
“Blood boiling everywhere~”
“Stupid guy~”
“Damn guy~!”
The Explosive Blade came crashing down.
BOOM!
The earth beneath them collapsed from the impact.
When the dust cleared, Killer B had actually caught the Explosive Blade barehanded.
His palm had precisely avoided the explosive tag wrapped around the blade’s tip, instead gripping the unsharpened section close to the spine.
The explosive blade was less than a centimeter from his forehead.
As the saying went—
Only someone with extraordinary skill would dare be this fearless.
“OH~ Explosive Blade Shibuki~”
“Swallowing spit~”
“A difference of a hair~”
“Can mean a thousand miles~”
“Stupid guy~”
“Damn guy~!”
“Take this~!!”
Killer B suddenly twisted his massive hand.
The Explosive Blade was ripped from Kai’s grasp.
B caught the falling sword and immediately swung it toward Kai.
“Looks like I’m really not suited for using swords.”
Kai smiled faintly and took a step backward.
He reached behind his back and grabbed Madara’s Gunbai.
Bracing his palm against the back of the fan, he raised it above his head.
Clang!
He blocked Killer B’s downward strike.
Uchiha Reflection!
BOOM!!
The explosive blast was reflected by the Gunbai.
Killer B was sent flying.
After getting back to his feet, he looked at his battered appearance and fell into thought.
Then he began singing again as he rose.
“It’s a killing blade~”
“Also a death warrant~”
“Enemy weapons~”
“I don’t want, don’t want~”
“Low-key elegance~”
“What’s done is done~”
“Regret comes too late~”
“Eight-Tails Killer B~”
“Is about to begin~”
“Showing off in style~!”
“Stupid guy~”
“Damn guy~!”
(Sorry, I’m not very good at writing rap lyrics. Just bear with it.—Author.)
Clang!
Killer B tossed Shibuki aside.
The eight swords on his back shot into the air.
When they came down, two were clamped between his arms, two were tucked beneath his armpits, one was held against his hip by his thigh, one was caught behind his knee, one was held between his neck and shoulder—
And the final sword was clenched between his teeth!
Killer B’s Eight-Sword Style!
On the Distant Mountain Peak
“What… is that stance?”
Yūyū’s mouth fell open in shock.
“As expected of a sword technique that only a monster could master.”
“Even the Sharingan might not be able to see through it.”
“Kai… are you going to use Kamui’s phasing ability to avoid it?”
“Or…?”
Spiral Zetsu muttered.
I could simply use my phasing ability to avoid his attacks.
But someone like Killer B, a swordsman of this caliber, may never appear again in the shinobi world.
This is an extremely rare opportunity.
I’ll use it to train my Sharingan’s dynamic visual perception.
Kai made his decision in an instant.
“Dance~”
“Dance like a butterfly~~~~”
Killer B began spinning, jumping, and twisting through the air.
Strangely enough, those eight swords seemed as though they could fall away at any moment.
Yet each one remained mysteriously attached to his body.
The eight blades descended upon Kai.
The assault was like a violent storm.
Kai swung the Gunbai to intercept them, while the Sharingan beneath his mask rotated rapidly, desperately tracking the trajectories of all eight swords.
I can’t see them!
They’re too fast!
Kai struggled to keep up.
Several cuts opened across his shoulders and arms.
This was the first time Kai had been injured in battle since arriving in the Naruto world.
But he had deliberately chosen to use this battle to train his perception.
He wouldn’t care about paying such a price.
Kai caught an opening and flipped backward into the air.
Killer B immediately followed.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The two exchanged more than a dozen blows in midair.
Kai landed first.
Killer B immediately launched three swords toward him.
Kai rolled along the ground to avoid them.
The moment B landed, he recalled all three swords and launched another assault.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
“Eight-Tails~”
“Sting like a bee~~~”
Killer B changed his posture while controlling all eight swords.
His movement itself never slowed.
He appeared constantly—
In front of Kai.
Behind him.
At his sides.
Above his head.
The swords moved so quickly that afterimages remained in the air.
This swordsmanship was simply too powerful.
Kai couldn’t help but marvel at it.
It wasn’t a Kekkei Genkai.
Yet even the Sharingan couldn’t copy it.
This was the ultimate sword style that only Killer B could use.
Borrowing a phrase from martial arts novels—
Killer B had reached the realm of “man and blade as one.”
Even without the Eight-Tails, Killer B would still possess genuine Kage-level combat ability.
But being unable to copy it didn’t mean Kai couldn’t see through it.
His pupils trembled.
Blood vessels began appearing in the whites of his eyes.
The speed at which his eyes moved had already reached its absolute limit.
Under such extreme strain, finally…
The chaotic trajectories of the eight swords gradually became clear in Kai’s vision.
Killer B launched another assault.
“I can see them!”
Kai’s free left hand flicked out.
A kunai appeared between his fingers.
The eight incoming swords arrived simultaneously.
Kai instantly avoided four.
He blocked three with the Gunbai.
Then he used the kunai to intercept the final sword that he couldn’t evade.
Lightning Release chakra wrapped around the kunai.
Crack!
The kunai collided with the sword.
The one that broke—
Was the sword.
At the same time, the kunai slashed across Killer B’s chest, leaving behind a long bloody wound.
“Hm?”
Killer B stared at the blood floating before him in surprise.
Boom!
Kai spun and drove his foot heavily into Killer B’s chest.
BOOM!!
“You dare play with Lightning Release~?”
“I’ll chop you into pieces~!”
“Stupid guy~”
“Damn guy!”
Killer B erupted with fury.
Lightning Release chakra wrapped around seven of his swords.
He threw them toward Kai one after another.
Kai activated his Sharingan’s perception to its fullest.
He swung the lightning-infused kunai in his hand.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
One after another, he knocked the swords out of the air.
Crack!
After knocking away three swords, the kunai in his hand broke.
Half remained in his hand.
The other half fell toward the ground.
Kai didn’t panic.
He threw the half in his hand forward and knocked away another sword.
Then his body leaped into the air.
He remained suspended horizontally as two swords flew past—
One just above his chest.
The other just beneath his back.
The seventh sword was already upon him.
Kai had no way to dodge while suspended in midair.
At the critical moment, his hand moved like lightning.
He caught the other half of the kunai before it reached the ground.
Clang!
He struck the seventh sword and knocked its trajectory aside.
The entire sequence appeared slow.
In reality, it had happened in the blink of an eye.
This was the ultimate expression of the Sharingan’s dynamic perception.
Only when one’s visual perception had reached its absolute limit could such an incredible feat be performed.
Kai landed and calmly stood.
“Impressive~!!”
Even Killer B, who was normally focused entirely on his rapping, was stunned by what he had just witnessed.
“No choice…”
Gurgle…
Translucent red Tailed Beast chakra seeped from Killer B’s body.
It transformed into a Tailed Beast cloak.
Eight tails swayed behind him.
Killer B lowered his center of gravity.
Then—
He exploded forward.
The ground cracked beneath the force of his acceleration.
“You’re strong.”
“But I’m the Eight-Tails’ Killer B!”
“Lariat!!”
BOOM!!
His powerful arm wrapped around Kai’s chest.
This was the very technique that had once sent Sasuke’s internal organs flying.
BOOM!!
Kai was sent flying backward.
He smashed through a section of the mountain wall.
Dust filled the air.
“WEEEEEE~~~~!!!!”
Killer B threw his arms toward the sky in celebration.
“YAHOO~!”
Then—
A deep voice emerged from within the dust.
“I see.”
“So he uses Tailed Beast chakra to amplify his strength and speed before performing a taijutsu-ninjutsu hybrid technique.”
“The power really is extraordinary…”
Killer B’s rapping stopped abruptly.
He adjusted the frame of his sunglasses.
Behind the lenses, his eyes stared intensely at the cloud of dust.
Unbelievable…
Other than Brother, someone else actually endured my Lariat…
Kai emerged from the dust.
Susanoo covered his body.
Behind his colorful mask, his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotated with dazzling brilliance.
His deep voice carried an unmistakable sense of authority.
“Then the warm-up ends here.”
“Let’s begin the real battle.”
“Killer B…”
“No.”
“Eight-Tails.”