The sensory barrier lit up with a massive chakra spike. The Leaf jonin recognized it instantly.
That overwhelming pressure. That world-ending force. It was the same as the jinchuriki he had fought recently.
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed the weakest member of his team and smashed through the window without bothering with the door. The rest of his squad reacted just as fast, bursting out of the building and sprinting away from the outpost.
A second later, half-transformed Killer B finished forming a Tailed Beast Bomb. The purple-black sphere screamed across the distance and slammed into the center of the outpost.
The defensive barrier flickered once and shattered. The explosion erased the entire outpost in a blinding flash. Nothing remained but a smoking crater.
In the forest, the Leaf jonin coughed up blood. Even with the trees shielding them, the aftershock had still hit hard. He forced himself up and looked at the young chunin he had thrown clear at the last second. The kid was staring at the destroyed outpost in shock.
"It's gone… the whole outpost is just gone. Captain, what the hell was that?"
"That was a Tailed Beast Bomb. We need to move. Cloud will be here any second."
"What about the others? Sakura, Tanoya—they're still inside!"
The jonin pulled out a flare and fired it into the sky. It was the emergency retreat signal. Anyone who saw it would know what to do. Anyone who didn't… there was nothing he could do for them now.
He grabbed the young chunin and started running west. They hadn't gone far before they heard someone moving fast through the trees behind them.
"Let's see who's stupid enough to fire a flare at a time like this."
A Cloud jonin wreathed in lightning stepped into view. He casually whipped lightning around like a lash, tearing through the underbrush and forcing anything hiding to show itself.
The Leaf jonin watched him, jaw tight. The guy moved like a jonin. On a normal day he would have been confident in a fight, but his body was wrecked and he could feel the jinchuriki getting closer.
Before he could decide whether to stay and buy the kid time, two more Leaf shinobi burst out of the trees on either side of the Cloud jonin.
"We'll hold him! Run!"
It was the two chunin from his squad. They had seen the flare and chosen to give the others a chance instead of running.
The Leaf jonin's Sharingan spun open on its own, three tomoe blazing red.
"We can't save them. Don't waste what they're giving us. Move."
He yanked the young chunin forward and ran.
The Cloud jonin laughed as he cut the two chunin down in seconds. Lightning punched straight through their chests. Then he activated Lightning Release: Muscle Activation and took off after the fleeing pair at double speed.
The two Leaf shinobi heard him coming again. The young chunin looked at his captain, eyes wide with fear but ready to stay behind.
"You run. I'll hold him."
The kid froze.
"Those two only stayed because they had no choice. I'm not letting a junior die for me. That goes against the Will of Fire… and against my own way. Go. I'll buy you as much time as I can."
The captain turned to face the approaching Cloud jonin without another word. The young chunin sprinted past him, tears in his eyes. When he looked back, the captain raised one hand in a final wave.
The Cloud jonin caught up moments later.
"Well, well. I figured the brat would be the one stalling me. Didn't expect an actual jonin to stay behind."
He didn't bother answering. He reversed his kunai and used Body Flicker, Sharingan already active, hoping for one clean surprise attack.
The Cloud jonin was no amateur. The second he saw the red eyes, he dropped his gaze and retreated while raising his own kunai to block.
They clashed four times in a single pass.
When they separated, a bead of sweat ran down the Cloud jonin's temple.
"Didn't think I'd run into an Uchiha out here. Tell me your name. You've earned the right to be remembered."
"Uchiha Kagen. You're not good enough to kill me."
"Uchiha Kagen, huh? My name's Uesugi Shin. Make sure you tell them in the afterlife who sent you."
Shin attacked first, lightning-enhanced kunai flashing faster and faster. Kagen's Sharingan tracked every movement, but his body was already failing. Every clash sent fresh pain through his organs.
He forced Shin back and stopped holding back. Both hands flew through seals.
Fire Style: Great Fireball.
Except this wasn't a normal Great Fireball. Kagen had modified it into something closer to a rapid-fire barrage. Multiple massive fireballs exploded around Shin in quick succession, forcing him to dodge desperately.
"That's a neat trick. Never seen someone use Great Fireball like that before."
"You know you're going to die here, so you're trying to take me with you? Too bad you can't even hit me."
"That kid who ran earlier? He's probably dead by now. You didn't really think I came alone, did you?"
Kagen's barrage faltered for half a second. Shin took the opening.
Lightning Style: Lightning Pillar.
A thick column of lightning blasted forward. When the smoke cleared, Kagen was slumped against a tree, one arm blackened and bleeding heavily. Blood dripped from his mouth.
"Thought the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha didn't get along. Funny how much you seem to care about your comrades."
Kagen spat blood and glared at him. "Maybe we don't. But that doesn't change what I believe in. The village and the clan both matter to me. Someone like you wouldn't understand."
"You're about to die and you're still talking. Let me put you out of your misery."
Shin formed seals and launched another lightning sphere.
Kagen sighed internally. The man was too cautious to get close. He loosened his grip on the explosive tag hidden behind his back. If he couldn't take Shin with him, at least he had done his part.
The lightning sphere was almost on him when a kunai dropped from above. A figure appeared in a swirl of leaves, short blade wrapped in golden flames, and cut the sphere apart in one swing.
Taiichi landed and immediately turned to check on Kagen. He recognized the Uchiha jonin from camp.
He created a shadow clone to start emergency treatment without even glancing at the Cloud jonin.
Shin's face twisted.
"Matsushita Taiichi… you arrogant bastard."
He finished his seals and fired another lightning pillar.
Taiichi answered with Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. A massive golden dragon roared forward and overpowered the lightning, continuing straight toward Shin.
"I wasn't even looking for you today. You should've counted yourself lucky. Instead you came after my people. Looks like I've been too soft on you lately."
Taiichi stepped forward, blade in hand, as Shin barely dodged the remnants of the fire dragon.
"Taiichi, be careful! Killer B is here too, and he brought more jonin with him."
Kagen's warning made Taiichi's eyes narrow. So Cloud had changed tactics. The number of distress calls these past two days suddenly made sense.
He pushed the thought aside. He had to deal with what was in front of him first.
As Taiichi advanced, Shin kept backing up. Taiichi's reputation had spread through Cloud's ranks over the last month. Even jonin who hadn't fought him directly were wary.
Once Taiichi had driven Shin far enough away, he exploded forward. His blade came down with monstrous strength and sent the Cloud jonin flying.
Before Shin could recover, Taiichi was already on him again, blade raised for the finishing blow.
A thick octopus tentacle shot out and wrapped around Shin, shielding him completely. Taiichi's sword only managed to slice partway through before the wound closed.
He stepped back and looked toward the source of the tentacle.
Killer B and six other Cloud shinobi were walking toward him.
"Killer B. Has Cloud really fallen this low? You need seven people just to fight one of us?"
Taiichi's voice was cold. He had spent the entire day running from one crisis to another, watching too many Leaf shinobi die. His mood was already foul.
Running into an old enemy only made it worse.
"This is war. It's ugly. You're still too naive, you bastard. Dumbass. Yeah!"
Killer B danced in place as he spoke, hands moving in that ridiculous rhythm.
Taiichi's eyebrow twitched. He hated that stupid way of talking.
He threw three kunai in different directions and vanished, charging straight into the group.
"Since you want to play dirty, I can do it better."
He reappeared beside one of the Cloud chunin. His fist, enhanced with monstrous strength, drove straight into the man's chest.
The chunin flew backward like a broken doll and was dead before he hit the ground.
"Bullying the weak? I'm even better at it."