As Kitsuchi watched Ren and Yugito clashing in the distance, the sheer power of their battle sending shockwaves through the field, a calculating look flickered across his face.
The fight had reached a stalemate with neither side gaining a clear advantage. But for Kitsuchi, that was already a good situation. His sharp eyes swept across the battlefield, taking in the damage, the corpses, the faces of his men, and the distant thunderous collisions between the two monsters fighting at the center.
The Stone had lost people, yes, but compared to the chaos the Cloud forces suffered, it was nothing. Though he said to his men that they lost too many he felt that their casualties were still within an acceptable range. The Cloud, on the other hand, had taken devastating losses. Too many of their shinobi were already dead, and most importantly, they had lost C, one of their top tacticians, a high-ranking member of their command structure.
That single death alone had shaken their morale and organization far more than any number of ordinary deaths could.
'Yugito won't stop now,' Kitsuchi thought, his expression thoughtful. He knew her type well, proud, fierce and loyal to a fault. With C dead, she wouldn't retreat no matter what happened. Her anger would drive her to fight until either she or Ren stopped breathing. And that was something he could use.
If she was going all in, then this was the perfect chance.
If he stepped in now, joined forces with her, the pressure on Ren would multiply instantly. Even for someone like him, taking on a Jinchuriki and another High S-Rank level commander together would be no easy task. It might even become possible to kill him.
Decision made, he turned sharply and began barking orders to the nearest Stone squads. His voice boomed across the field, heavy and commanding, cutting through the chaos like a hammer.
"Listen up, everyone!" he shouted, his tone leaving no room for hesitation. "Spread out, formation number seven, now!"
Immediately, the remaining Stone shinobi began to move. Boots pounded the earth, hands flashed through seals, defensive lines forming with disciplined coordination.
Kitsuchi continued, his gaze still locked on the fight in the distance. "I'll be joining the battle alongside Yugito. Ren's focus will be split, but don't take that as safety! The moment he shifts toward you, even for a second, activate every defensive ninjutsu you have. All of it! Don't hold back your chakra, don't wait for my command. Just defend yourselves and hold him down for as long as possible!"
He paused briefly, watching the different shades of flickers of blue light in the distance where Ren and Yugito's chakra clashed like storms. "If I get held down and can't intervene… then scatter! Move away and start circling toward the Cloud side. Divert his attention to them and make him fight on multiple fronts if you can and minimize the causalities."
The thought was cold, but necessary. This entire battlefield had already turned into a massacre, and the longer Ren lived, the more people would die and if more people did have to die then it should be cloud shinobi not the stone's.
The Stone shinobi exchanged tense glances, the reality of their commander's words settling in. None of them dared to object. They all knew what it meant, at this point, none of them had any real role left in the main fight. They were far too weak compared to the monsters tearing the battlefield apart ahead. All they could do was prepare and survive.
Kitsuchi took a deep breath, adjusting the headband on his forehead as dust and ash drifted through the air. "Stay sharp," he muttered, almost to himself. "We can't afford another mistake."
Then, without waiting for a single response, he pushed off the ground.
The earth cracked beneath his feet from the sheer force of his jump. In a blur, his massive frame shot forward like a cannonball, heading straight toward the center where Yugito and Ren's battle was raging. The air itself roared as he accelerated, the shockwaves of his movement scattering dust and loose debris in every direction.
Behind him, the Stone shinobi quickly adjusted their formation, spreading out in a wide, layered defense grid. Some crouched behind raised walls of earth, others prepared sealing tags and explosion tags among other things. The air was thick with tension, every one of them knowing that if Ren suddenly appeared among them, none would last more than a few seconds.
Still, they steadied their nerves and followed orders to the letter.
Their commander had gone to fight alongside a Jinchuriki against the boy who had already slaughtered nearly half the Cloud shinobi gathered and killed one of their elite commanders. If nothing else, they owed him their discipline.
~
The ground trembled beneath them as Ren and Yugito clash continued, fists colliding in a burst of violent chakra. The air split apart from the sheer pressure with shockwaves rippling through the scorched field, scattering dust and debris. Sparks of different shades of blue chakra crackled around them like a storm contained in human form.
Their fists exploded apart and both figures shot backward, sliding across the broken terrain before blurring forward again in the same instant. Yugito's claws gleamed with the demonic blue chakra of the Two-Tails, her movements were savage and fluid with wild power wrapped in deadly precision. Ren met her head-on, his body already thrumming with raw energy.
Yugito swung a claw at his neck; Ren ducked, countering with a crushing uppercut aimed at her ribs. She twisted midair, tail of chakra swatting his strike aside before spinning into a kick that Ren blocked with his forearm. The impact cracked the ground beneath him.
Each blow carried enough power to kill most jonin outright, yet Ren stood his ground, parrying, striking, dodging in the same smooth rhythm. Yugito's ferocity was relentless. Every hit she threw was meant to kill, every motion fueled by rage and grief.
She leapt back, hands flashing through seals.
[Fire Style: Cat's Maw!]
Blue flames erupted from her mouth, surging toward Ren in a roaring inferno shaped like a beast's head. Ren's eyes narrowed as his body flickered out of sight. The flames tore through the battlefield, engulfing everything in a sea of azure fire, but Ren had already appeared above her.
His heel dropped like a hammer. Yugito raised her arm just in time to block, but the ground below shattered as she was driven down, forming a crater.
Before Ren could follow through another attack came.
[Earth Style: Continental Pillars!]
The ground beneath him buckled violently and massive stone spires erupted upward, closing around him from every direction. Kitsuchi's chakra was spreading through the terrain like a living thing as he began using the earth style jutsus to disrupt Ren.
But Ren didn't even flinch. His arm shot back, muscles tightening. With a roar of chakra, he punched forward, the Fourth Gate's power was monstrous enough to destroy these pillars.
The stone pillars exploded outward like paper, dust billowing as Ren stepped through the debris, eyes scanning the field.
'So the old man joined in too.'
Before he could reorient, Yugito was already there again. Her claws raked across his arm, sparks flying as she met the hardened chakra around his skin. Ren's foot snapped up in retaliation, kicking her across the side of the face and sending her flying but before he could pursue, the earth under him shifted again.
A sudden wall rose beneath his feet, tilting violently to throw off his balance. Kitsuchi's chakra pulsed once more, and three boulders the size of houses hurtled toward Ren.
Ren gritted his teeth, smashing the first with a single blow, spinning to shatter the second with a backhand. The third caught him mid-motion but his knee shot up, pulverizing it into rubble.
But that brief moment was all Yugito needed.
Her chakra flared wildly as the cloak around her thickened, taking on a bestial form. Two tails of pure blue flame whipped behind her, and her eyes glowed brighter than ever. The ground beneath her melted from the heat alone.
She blurred forward, faster than before. Her claws sliced through the air, leaving glowing trails. Ren barely had time to cross his arms before she slammed into him, forcing him back dozens of meters.
Ren's heels dug into the earth, gouging deep lines. He exhaled sharply, then examined his injuries and smiled.
"That's more like it."
His chakra surged once again.
Fifth Gate : Gate of Limit, open.
Though his injuries were still not fully healed, he had confidence in his body that it can handle this much load, after all if it couldn't then what would've been the point of 6 years of relentless training.
The air exploded outward as green light flooded his body, tearing the dust apart. His aura burned like a storm as his muscles kept vibrating, speed and power doubling instantly. The shockwave alone blasted away the smoke and fire around them.
Yugito snarled and charged again, faster this time but Ren matched her speed effortlessly. Their blows collided midair, producing sonic booms that echoed across the battlefield.
To the watching Stone and Cloud shinobi, it looked like two blurs colliding again and again, each impact scattering clouds of debris.
Ren ducked under a swipe and countered with a brutal punch to her stomach, the blow sent her flying back, but before he could capitalize, the ground beneath him liquefied. Kitsuchi had turned the soil into a pit of quicksand, dragging him down.
"Tch." Ren flared his chakra, the ground around him exploding outward. He shot out of the pit only to see another attack coming.
[Earth Style: Crushing Descent!]
A shadow fell over him.
Kitsuchi had raised an enormous slab of rock overhead which was easily the size of a small mountain and sent it crashing down.
Ren raised his right hand. His arm glowed faintly green as chakra-enhanced strength gathered in his fist.
Then, he punched upward.
The slab shattered like glass, raining fragments around him.
The moment his fist fell back to his side, Yugito reappeared again, her claw already aimed for his neck. Ren twisted aside, the claw grazing past him as he caught her arm and slammed her knee-first into the ground only for her second tail to whip across his ribs, flinging him back.
Ren flipped midair and landed on his feet, blood trickling from a shallow cut on his side. Yugito crouched ahead, panting but wild-eyed, her cloak flaring around her like living fire.
From behind her, the ground surged again as Kitsuchi was still attacking, never letting up. Spikes of hardened stone erupted toward Ren like a volley of spears.
Ren dashed forward, weaving between them, smashing those too close with his bare hands. His movements were fluid and destructive, like a controlled hurricane.
Yugito met him halfway again. Their fists collided, sending another shockwave that cracked the distant terrain.
She clawed, kicked, bit, and roared, her tails slamming into him from every angle but Ren countered each one. His speed and precision were inhuman. Every dodge led into a counterstrike; every counterstrike was meant to kill.
But she didn't stop.
Even as blood dripped from her lip and her body shook from the repeated impacts, Yugito charged again and again, refusing to back down.
From behind, Kitsuchi slammed his hands down once more.
[Earth Style: Great Maw!]
The ground split open beneath Ren, a massive chasm forming like a beast's open mouth.
Ren didn't even look.
His foot slammed down as massive chakra burst outward, stabilizing the terrain beneath him. He shot forward again, closing the gap between himself and Yugito in an instant.
She met him head-on, both fists igniting in azure fire as she screamed and launched herself forward.
Ren's green aura burned brighter as he ducked under her first blow, then twisted and smashed his elbow into her chest.
The explosion of force sent both of them flying backward, the battlefield quaking beneath their power.
As the dust settled, both stood their ground, breathing heavily, eyes locked, their chakra still blazing.
Yugito's cloak flickered, her breathing ragged. Kitsuchi's silhouette emerged from behind her, hands pressed together, ready to strike again.
Ren exhaled slowly, lowering into stance as a smile returned to his face once again.
"Two against one," he muttered. "All of this is finally starting to feel like a challenge."
Then, without warning, he disappeared, his afterimage left burning in the air as the next round of chaos began.
~~~~~
{Yugito has not yet transformed into the full jinchuriki mode for anyone wondering.}
{Break tomorrow, wanted to take one today as my eyes are hurting for some reason but only one chapter was left for this arc on pat so I finished it today.}
{So yeah, if you wanna finish this arc sooner join my pat}
{ h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n }
{You know what else}
{STONES!!!!}
{Break