Chapter 422 – Extraordinary Shinobi (Part 1).
As the smoke cleared, the land revealed a scene of utter devastation.
The ground was riddled with craters and fractures.
Not a single patch of earth remained intact.
The jet-black Susanoo stood in the middle of the wasteland.
It looked somewhat damaged.
The clash moments earlier had unleashed an overwhelming amount of energy.
And since Uchiha Kei had faced that explosion head-on—even with his fourth-stage Susanoo protecting both himself and Hyūga Ayaka—the Susanoo itself couldn't escape the damage.
Lowering his gaze, Kei inspected the giant construct around him and shook his head slightly.
Both arms of the Susanoo had been completely obliterated by the explosion.
One of its legs was broken, and cracks ran across its chest like shattered glass.
Still, none of that truly mattered.
As long as chakra could fix it, the damage wasn't a real problem.
What Kei was actually thinking about was something else—
If his Susanoo had already reached the complete fifth stage, things would probably have turned out much better.
But after thinking it through, he suspected that even a Perfect Susanoo might not have been able to fully block that explosion.
"Though if it were the fifth stage," Kei thought quietly,
"I could simply fly and avoid the blast."
Perfect Susanoo possessed flight capability.
Just look at Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke decades later.
If he could fly, he wouldn't have needed to stand there and tank the explosion head-on like he just did.
After all—
He was still a living person.
Even with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he could still die.
Unlike Edo-Tensei Uchiha Madara decades later, who was practically immortal.
Madara could toy with the Five Kage however he pleased and then casually wipe them out with a single slash once he got bored.
If Edo Tensei hadn't been undone at the perfect moment—
The Five Kage might have been replaced entirely that day.
"But I'm getting there," Kei thought.
He lifted his eyes toward the enormous Eight-Tails in the distance.
"Before I start using senjutsu chakra… there's still the Eight-Tails' chakra I can collect."
Gathering tailed-beast chakra into Susanoo had become one of Kei's main objectives.
Of course, it was a long process.
He knew it wasn't something that could be done overnight.
Fortunately, he wasn't in a hurry.
In fact, he had a strange feeling—
That rushing this process would be dangerous.
Who knew what would happen after merging the chakra of all nine tailed beasts?
If his own strength wasn't sufficient to control it, an accident could cost him everything.
---
"Your power… is actually this terrifying."
Ayaka's voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Her normally calm tone carried a trace of hoarseness.
Clearly—
Even she had been shaken.
"It's not that bad," Kei replied calmly, forming a hand seal.
Chakra surged through his body.
"It's the Eight-Tails. And it fired a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"We were too close."
"But Susanoo protected us. You're alright, right?"
"You said it yourself—Susanoo protected us," Ayaka replied, shaking her head.
"I'm fine."
"My physical condition is actually better than yours."
"You mean physical strength," Kei chuckled.
"I really don't understand why a girl needs that much toughness."
"What's wrong with being delicate?"
"Planning to grow eight-pack abs or something?"
"Are you jealous?" Ayaka replied coolly.
"Among the three of us, your physical durability is the worst."
"But my coordination is better," Kei shot back.
"And I'm more flexible. That's enough."
While they spoke, the Mangekyō Sharingan in Kei's eyes spun rapidly.
Combined with his chakra, the shattered Susanoo quickly regenerated.
The towering hundred-meter giant stood again like a demonic war god, its chilling aura spreading across the ruined battlefield.
Kei fixed his gaze ahead.
The smoke finally cleared.
The massive body of Gyūki, the Eight-Tails, appeared once more.
The Eight-Tails was not in great shape either.
Several of its thick tentacles had been severed, and large gashes covered its body from the explosion.
However, as a being composed primarily of chakra, it was already regenerating.
Still—
Its recovery speed was far slower than Kei's.
His Susanoo had already fully restored itself.
And that was perfectly fine with him.
Kei had never believed in giving opponents fair chances.
Being fair to others usually meant being unfair to yourself.
"And beating a drowning dog is something I'm very good at."
Kei's eyes sharpened.
The Susanoo raised its sword and slashed directly at the Eight-Tails' head.
Even though it was severely injured, the Eight-Tails was still primarily controlled by Killer B.
At the moment the blade descended, the Eight-Tails instantly raised its hands and clasped them together—
Like someone praying before a Buddha statue.
The enormous sword was caught firmly between its palms.
In an instant, the already shattered earth split open even further.
A violent shockwave blasted outward again.
The Eight-Tails grimaced.
Although it had stopped the blade, the immense force still hurt.
But it remained calm.
The moment it blocked the strike, it launched a counterattack.
Its tentacles whipped forward, sweeping toward the Susanoo.
Kei frowned slightly.
Then a cold smile appeared on his face.
His eyes had already traced the exact trajectory of the incoming tentacles.
The fourth-stage Susanoo had extremely high synchronization with Kei.
Their movements were practically unified.
And unlike earlier stages, this form could move freely.
Though its size made it slightly clumsy, compared to the massive Eight-Tails—
It was incredibly agile.
With its free hand, Susanoo grabbed one of the tentacles.
At the same time, the sword in its hand ignited with black flame-like energy.
"Oh? You like catching blades with your bare hands?"
"Then try this—Amaterasu Blade."
The Eight-Tails immediately sensed the danger.
Before the black flames could fully erupt, it violently twisted its arms and threw the sword aside.
At the same time, it yanked its trapped tentacle backward and threw a massive punch at the Susanoo.
But the Susanoo released the tentacle at that exact moment.
Its left arm raised and blocked the punch—
Then the colossal black chakra giant delivered a brutal kick.
The Eight-Tails had no way to block it.
Despite its huge size, the Susanoo moved with shocking agility.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact echoed across the forest.
The Eight-Tails was kicked into the air and slammed violently into the ground.
Mountains trembled.
The earth cracked apart.
The massive beast skidded across the ground, carving a deep trench before finally coming to a stop.
Its face had grown serious.
Kei's kick had been devastating.
The pain still hadn't faded.
Looking up at the towering Susanoo that stood like a god of war, Killer B's eyes widened.
A chill rose from the depths of his heart.
"What… is this guy?" Killer B muttered.
"Is he even human?"
"That's the Uchiha clan," the Eight-Tails' deep voice echoed inside his mind.
But even Gyūki sounded tense.
"The eyes that man possesses… have reached an unimaginable level."
"You know about him?" Killer B asked quickly.
"Tell me everything. I need to know how to fight him."
"All I can say is that technique is called Susanoo."
"You already know that."
Gyūki paused.
"But this Susanoo is a high-level form."
"Its destructive power and combat strength rival a tailed beast… perhaps even surpass it."
"And…"
"And what?"
"Decades ago, a man named Uchiha Madara used eyes like his."
"He easily defeated the Nine-Tails… and enslaved it."
Defeated the Nine-Tails.
Controlled it.
Killer B's expression darkened even further.
No matter what this mysterious enemy ultimately wanted—
It definitely wasn't something good.
And the danger this man posed had already exceeded anything he had imagined.
Where did this monster come from?
Why is he hunting jinchūriki… or the tailed beasts themselves?
None of it made sense to Killer B.
No matter how much he thought about it, Killer B understood one thing—
He could only stay and fight.
Retreat would normally be the best choice.
But now that he had fully transformed into his tailed-beast form, he could clearly sense the presence of the enemy's companion.
The man who had fought him earlier—the one who used space-time ninjutsu.
That person had already gone to intercept the Cloud shinobi, preventing any chance of B escaping.
Whether he could escape or not was another matter.
As a shinobi of Kumogakure, Killer B had things he had to protect.
Even if he wasn't the Raikage, he still had reasons worth fighting for.
---
Uchiha Kei paid him no mind.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes rotated slowly.
The massive Susanoo suddenly raised its sword with both hands.
The motion didn't look particularly fast—
Yet it gave Killer B the eerie feeling that the attack was impossible to block.
He immediately gathered chakra.
Deep down, a voice told him that resisting this strike might be futile.
"Unfortunately," Kei said calmly from within the crystal cockpit of the Susanoo.
"I can't simply control the Eight-Tails with genjutsu."
"After all… it's a jinchūriki."
Hyūga Ayaka turned her head toward him.
"But if I can't control it directly—"
"Then I'll just crush it."
The moment his words ended—
The Susanoo swung its sword.
The blade swept upward in a devastating arc.
For an instant, the world itself seemed to lose color.
The already shattered earth was split open once more.
The attack was sudden.
Overwhelming.
And completely beyond Killer B's expectations.
He had thought the previous strike represented the monster's true strength.
But now it was obvious—
That earlier attack hadn't even been close to the limit.
Facing the descending blade, Killer B felt a strange sense of helplessness.
He couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this.
If he had been alone, perhaps he could have retreated.
But behind him was the Cloud camp.
He had no choice but to stand his ground.
Since becoming the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki and forming a true friendship with Gyūki—
This was the first time he had felt such intense pressure.
---
Surrender was never an option.
Killer B gathered chakra wildly.
By nature he was impulsive and somewhat reckless.
Even though fear had crept into his heart, it didn't paralyze him.
Instead—
It filled him with fury.
Because the chakra was being concentrated so rapidly, faint cracks began appearing across the Eight-Tails' body.
Old wounds tore open again, releasing mist-like bursts of blood.
But almost immediately, white steam rose from the injuries.
Under the influence of massive chakra, the wounds began healing rapidly.
The Eight-Tails raised its head high.
Black chakra condensed violently.
A Tailed Beast Bomb.
And this time—
It was unleashed without restraint.
Earlier, the Susanoo's kick had blasted the Eight-Tails far away.
That distance now gave Killer B just enough time to form the attack.
But even so—
He knew time was short.
The sword slash was coming far too quickly.
The dark sphere of chakra, glowing faintly with crimson sparks, formed instantly.
The Eight-Tails' chakra was simply too enormous.
This Tailed Beast Bomb was far larger than any he had ever fired before.
The scale alone foretold how catastrophic the collision would be.
With a roar, the Eight-Tails launched the attack.
The Tailed Beast Bomb, more than ten meters in radius, shot toward the Susanoo.
Moments later—
The two forces collided in midair.
BOOM!
A blinding flash erupted across the sky.
A deafening explosion followed.
Smoke and dust blasted upward like a pillar reaching the heavens.
Deep ravines rapidly carved themselves across the land, stretching outward at terrifying speed until they vanished into the distance.
The shockwave spread in every direction.
Even the Konoha camp, stationed inside the Land of Fire, was caught in the aftermath.
---
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Uchiha Fugaku had already activated his Susanoo.
The moment he sensed the terrifying surge of chakra, he knew something disastrous was about to happen.
He rushed to the very front of the camp and immediately began forming defensive techniques.
Amplified by Susanoo's chakra-enhanced hand seals, the earth itself responded.
The soil beneath his feet hardened and surged upward.
Within seconds, a massive earthen wall rose into the sky.
The wall stretched like a mountain range, forming a defensive barrier in front of the Konoha camp.
Fugaku continuously poured chakra into it, strengthening and expanding the structure.
But when the devastating shockwave finally reached the camp—
Cracks instantly spread across the gigantic wall.
Even Fugaku's Susanoo was forced to step backward from the impact.
At that moment—
He truly understood just how terrifying the battle ahead had become.
---