Following the battle between Rikuto and the Kuroganebi, a cloud of dust dense enough to blind those around hovered above the clattered wasteland.
Somewhere within the polluted wasteland, the Raikage woke up.
He covers his eyes, facing the overwhelming cloud of dust.
'To battle so hard that you would scar the earth itself... I may not like them, but these Uchiha are beyond anyone.' He slowly gets up, injured and tired.
'Still... there's no chance of Rikuto Uzumaki surviving this battle.'
As Ay looks ahead, he sees two glowing red eyes, cutting through the dust and widens his eyes.
"What!? How is it possible that you survived this battle?!"
"Hahaha..." a lady-like chuckle echoes from the shadow.
"Yui Uzumaki." He says with a hint of bitterness. Her survival was both an unpleasant and welcome surprise.
"Hahaha. You oaf." As Yui walks closer, her visage becomes clearer; she was smirking as if something about the chaos she brought on was amusing." Were you scared?" She mocks.
Ay, clinching his fist, grits his teeth. "Uzumaki scum, is it in your nature to strut around with so much arrogance?"
Yui turns her back, still smirking and says, "Come now, Raikage. You're going to miss the execution of Rikuto Uzumaki. And the beginning of a new era."
Ay, still wounded, cursed and gritting his teeth, he stated, "Though your motivations are of no consequence to me, I will offer one piece of advice, not as an ally, but as someone who wants to win. Among the shinobi I have witnessed from Konoha, none are to be underestimated or forgotten. The shinobi world can be unforgiving and cruel. Tread carefully against them."
For one moment, it seemed like Yui was listening, as if, for once, her pride would not be in the way; that was until she smirked at the Raikage's comments, walking past him, his words meaningless.
Yui and Ay weren't the only ones converging on Rikuto. Konoha's reinforcements had arrived, a blur of motion cutting through the clouded wasteland; Three figures pierced through, moving quickly and carefully not to make a sound.
Itachi, Shisui, and Might Guy sprinted, a determined glint in their eyes.
"Unbelievable," Shisui muttered, his gaze sweeping across the ravaged landscape. "Rikuto-san was always formidable, but this level of destruction..."
"Indeed," Guy chimed in, his voice echoing the surprise in Shisui's tone. "In the shadow of Ryuu's power, Rikuto's own strength has been underestimated."
The ground trembled beneath them, an ominous rumble that halted their advance.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"
"Above!" Shisui shouted, flickering upwards as a massive boulder hurtled towards them. With a swift slice of his blade, the rock shattered into harmless fragments.
As the dust settled, a figure emerged from the sky – Ōnoki, his weathered face set in grim determination. Giant boulders levitated around him, a silent threat.
Ōnoki scowled. 'I couldn't catch them off guard.' He formed a series of hand seals, summoning a legion of mud clones to his side.
"Go," Shisui commanded, his voice a steel blade. "I'll hold him off."
Ōnoki's hand signals intensified. "Earth Style: Rock Finale!"
Shisui gritted his teeth as the boulders surged towards him, a deadly wave of stone. 'I was hoping to conserve chakra, but...'
In a blink, he vanished – a whirlwind of motion blurring into a single phrase: "Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Reappearing in a burst of flame, Shisui unleashed a torrent of compact fireballs, each one colliding with a boulder in a series of blinding explosions.
As the smoke cleared, Shisui caught sight of Itachi and Guy disappearing over the horizon.
"Good," he breathed, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes before turning back to face the remaining mud clones.
Ōnoki's mud clones pressed their advantage, a relentless tide of earth and stone. Shisui darted and weaved, each flicker a testament to his mastery of the Body Flicker Technique. But even his speed had its limits.
"You fight well, young Uchiha," Ōnoki's voice boomed through the air, a gravelly echo of his confidence. "But against the Tsuchikage, you've reached a dead end!"
Shisui spun, deflecting another attack with a swift kick. "Don't get cocky, old man," he retorted, a defiant grin spreading across his face. "You haven't seen anything yet."
Ōnoki chuckled, his eyes glinting with a knowing light. "Fighting an Uchiha of your calibre, I'd be a fool to underestimate your Sharingan. That's why I've never once met your gaze." He gestured towards his mud clones. "Pressure is the key to victory. I'll overwhelm you with numbers until you slip up."
Shisui's grin widened, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "Clever strategy," he conceded. "But you've made one crucial mistake."
Before Ōnoki could react, the boulders surged forward, a deadly wave of stone aimed directly at Shisui. It was the perfect opportunity. He didn't even try to dodge.
The moment the first boulder connected, Shisui's form erupted into a swirling vortex of black feathers. Crows scattered in every direction, their caws echoing through the air.
Ōnoki's smile faltered, a cold dread creeping into his heart. He whirled around, his eyes frantically searching for any sign of the Uchiha.
Shisui's voice materialized behind him, a chilling whisper that sent shivers down Ōnoki's spine. "You were saying something about never meeting my gaze?"
Ōnoki spun, his eyes widening in shock as he found himself face to face with Shisui, a crimson Sharingan blazing in each eye.
The realization hit him like a lightning bolt. He'd been caught in a genjutsu from the very beginning. The mud clones, the relentless pressure, it had all been an illusion.
Shisui's voice hardened, a steely resolve replacing the playful amusement. "Ryuu-sensei will deal with you all when he returns. Until then," his Sharingan pulsed with power, "I'll keep you alive."
With a final flicker, Shisui vanished, leaving Ōnoki alone on the ground, a cold sweat beading on his brow.
Rikuto stumbled back, blood seeping through the tears in his tattered clothes. The last remnants of his Susanoo flickered and faded, leaving him exposed and vulnerable. His chakra was all but drained, his body wracked with pain. The monstrous Kuroganebi towered over him, its grotesque form pulsating with dark energy.
'It's over... I managed to take at least one of them, but...' He closes his eyes.
'This is it for me.'
The beast lunged, its maw dripping with caustic saliva. Rikuto braced for the impact, his eyes filled with grim resignation.
But the blow never came.
A blur of motion intercepted the Kuroganebi's attack, a figure clad in Konoha green deflecting the beast's strike with a bone-jarring kick.
"Hold on, Rikuto-san!" Might Guy's voice rang out, a beacon of hope in the desolate landscape. "The Green Beast of Konoha has arrived!"
Itachi Uchiha materialized beside him, his Sharingan blazing with analytical precision. "We're here to lend a hand," he said calmly.
Rikuto's eyes widened in disbelief. "Itachi... Guy..." Relief washed over him, but a surge of guilt quickly replaced it. "You shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous."
Guy grinned, his teeth flashing in the dim light. "Youthful exuberance fears no danger!" he declared. "Leave this overgrown lizard to us!"
Rikuto nodded weakly, collapsing to his knees as the two shinobi stepped forward.
"Roooaar!!!"
The Kuroganebi, momentarily stunned by the sudden intervention, roared in fury. And then suddenly, its body contorted, morphing into a more compact, muscular form. Dense muscles rippled beneath its scaled hide, radiating raw, unbridled power. It almost looked human.
Itachi and Guy exchanged a glance, their expressions hardening. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Aaaah!" Guy's battle cry echoed through the wasteland as he unleashed a whirlwind of taijutsu, his fists and feet a blur of motion. Itachi moved in perfect synchronization, his Sharingan ablaze, predicting the creature's movements and exploiting every opening with precise katana strikes.
Their teamwork was flawless. When Guy's lightning-fast kicks narrowly missed, Itachi's blade would flash, leaving a searing gash across the Kuroganebi's scaled flesh. As the beast attempted to retaliate, Itachi would seamlessly evade, his foot snapping out to knock it off balance, creating an opening for Guy's thunderous punch.
Rikuto watched from the sidelines, clutching his wounded ribs. 'They don't understand,' he thought grimly. 'It's not just reacting or strength; it's learning, adapting. This new form... It's growing stronger with every blow.'
The initial flurry of attacks seemed to stagger the Kuroganebi, but the illusion of victory was short-lived. Wounds that would have killed lesser creatures closed with unnatural speed. Its movements, once sluggish in its new form, became increasingly fluid and efficient. Punches that would have once landed solidly were now effortlessly deflected, kicks that would have staggered it were absorbed with ease.
A sense of dread settled over Rikuto. Itachi and Guy fought valiantly, but their efforts seemed futile against an enemy that evolved faster than they could strike. The beast's dark energy pulsed with renewed intensity, its eyes glowing with an insatiable hunger for battle.
With a thunderous roar, the beast unleashed a devastating shockwave —a pulse of pure, repulsive force that sent Itachi and Guy flying backwards, their bodies slamming into the ravaged earth.
They both struggled to their feet, wincing in pain.
"This creature... It's learning," Itachi muttered, his eyes narrowed in concentration, analyzing the beast's rapid evolution.
Guy wiped a trickle of blood from his lip, a determined glint in his eyes. "Then it's time for us to get serious," he declared, his body crackling with newfound intensity. "It's time to open the gates."
The air around Guy warped as he began to release the limits on his chakra flow, a dangerous but powerful technique. The Kuroganebi, sensing the rising power, turned its attention to the duo, its eyes gleaming with predatory anticipation.
The battle was far from over, but the stakes had just been raised.