"Damn brat, I'm going to kill you!"
Kinkaku was clearly infuriated by Renya's taunting words, and at this moment, he wished he could tear the boy before him into a thousand pieces!
He roared in fury, his six tails lashing violently against the ground as he tried to charge again.
In his Tailed Beast transformation, his attack speed had greatly increased. This time, he was confident he could get close and snatch the fan back.
As long as he could reclaim the fan, the tide of battle would turn in his favor.
"Whoosh—"
Kinkaku turned into a red streak of light and charged in once again.
"You see? You're rushing again." Renya swung the Banana Palm Fan once more, and Kinkaku was sent flying again.
At first, he had been unfamiliar with how to use the fan, but after a few attempts, he finally understood why Kinkaku had grown so fond of it.
This thing was absurdly powerful.
With the Banana Palm Fan, there was no need to form hand seals to cast ninjutsu anymore.
Just one wave of the fan was enough to handle everything!
Even a Tailed Beast-transformed Kinkaku couldn't hold up against it...
The Six Paths ninja tools were simply insane!
Sure, ninja tools became less effective in the later stages—below Six Paths level, they couldn't hurt a Six Paths powerhouse, and those powerhouses wouldn't bother using ninja tools anyway.
But in the early stages, Six Paths tools were undoubtedly divine artifacts!
Renya stowed the Banana Palm Fan away and gripped the katana in his hand tightly.
Killing Kinkaku with the Banana Palm Fan was a bit difficult—his Tailed Beast cloak had incredibly strong defenses. Cold weapons were still necessary.
Kinkaku's eyes lit up the moment he saw Renya putting away the fan.
Although he didn't know what Renya was up to, this was a golden opportunity for him!
He turned into a red streak of light, appearing before Renya in the blink of an eye.
"Die, brat!"
His claws tore through the air, scarlet Tailed Beast Chakra trailing behind him like a red comet.
"Renya, watch out!" Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura shouted in warning.
Just as the strike was about to land, Renya suddenly raised his katana to block. Sparks exploded from the clash of blade and claw.
"Clang!"
"Impossible?!" Kinkaku's pupils shrank.
The last time they fought, this Uchiha brat had needed help from his teammates and the Banana Palm Fan just to hold him off, but now...
He had actually blocked Kinkaku's full-force strike without being blown away by the impact?!
"You seem... surprised?" Renya said calmly, as if he had expected this outcome.
The constant life-or-death battles had pushed his strength to another level—he had now reached the level of an elite jōnin.
He hadn't noticed it at first, only realizing it in the heat of battle.
With his current strength, dealing with Kinkaku was still difficult, but earlier, the damage dealt by the Banana Palm Fan had significantly weakened Kinkaku.
That was why Renya could so easily block his strike now...
With a Six Paths ninja tool like the Banana Palm Fan, he could handle nearly any enemy.
"No way, absolutely not!" Kinkaku sped up his attacks, his twin claws and six tails assaulting Renya with blinding speed.
Renya's Three-Tomoe Sharingan predicted every single one of Kinkaku's attack trajectories.
"Left side."
"Right flank."
"Lower body."
As the words fell from his lips, each of Kinkaku's attacks landed precisely where Renya had predicted, and all of them were blocked without fail by the katana.
Before, his eyes could see the attacks, but his body couldn't keep up.
Now that his strength had grown, his body's reaction speed had improved—he could defend himself in time.
His blade struck back like a viper, stabbing out from impossible angles. Kinkaku's proud Tailed Beast speed was rendered completely useless!
"Clang clang clang—" The sounds of metal clashing rang out continuously.
"You're too slow."
Renya blocked another attack and then slashed at Kinkaku's neck. However, it was stopped by the Tailed Beast cloak and couldn't pierce through.
Kinkaku was enraged. He hadn't expected to be suppressed by this damned brat, and all six tails lashed out at Renya at once.
"Boom—!"
The ground exploded, smoke and dust rising high into the air.
But in the next instant, Renya burst out of the smoke, his blade stabbing straight at Kinkaku's throat.
It was a familiar attack—one that reminded Kinkaku of the time he'd nearly been killed. He instinctively used his tail to bat the sword away.
"Damn you! You think I'd fall for the same trick twice?!" Kinkaku roared furiously.
Just as he spoke—
Mitokado Homura slammed both hands onto the ground. A wide crack over ten meters long opened beneath Kinkaku's feet.
Before Kinkaku could regain his balance, three shuriken shot rapidly toward his back.
Due to the prolonged battle, the defensive power of his Tailed Beast cloak had weakened. One of the shuriken pierced straight through the chakra cloak and embedded itself into his back.
"Splurt—"
The sound of blade meeting flesh rang out, and Kinkaku felt a sharp pain surge through his back. He staggered, nearly falling into the fissure.
"We got him!" Koharu Utatane's excited voice rang out.
The two of them hadn't acted earlier—they had been waiting for this very moment...
Kinkaku glared at Koharu and Homura with venom in his eyes. If looks could kill, they would have died hundreds of times by now.
"Kinkaku-sama!" Raiga and Tetsuzan saw what happened and ignored the ongoing battle, rushing to his side.
"Kinkaku-sama, you're hurt!" The two of them looked visibly worried.
Kinkaku remained silent, his face grim. Not only had he failed to kill the Uchiha brat to avenge his brother, but he had also been suppressed and even wounded by a sneak attack!
This outcome was completely unacceptable to him...
The brat's strength was growing far too quickly. He couldn't be allowed to continue getting stronger.
Who knew how much stronger he'd be next time?
No matter what, Kinkaku had to find a way to kill him early!
But for now, it was obvious he couldn't defeat Renya.
He would have to retreat and figure out a plan later...
Raiga and Tetsuzan seemed to sense Kinkaku's thoughts and gritted their teeth.
"Kinkaku-sama, we'll cover your retreat!"
The two returned the Seven Stars Blade and the Gold Rope to Kinkaku, then pulled kunai from their tool pouches, turning to glare warily at Renya's group of six.
Kinkaku didn't say a word. He shot Koharu and Homura a venomous glare, then turned and vanished from the battlefield in a flash of red light.
Just as the others were about to give chase, they were stopped by Raiga and Tetsuzan.
Renya watched Kinkaku disappear into the distance and let out a helpless sigh.
"Another one we failed to kill..."
If only Koharu had the habit of poisoning her kunai, the battle would've ended much earlier.
Once they returned, he needed to reinforce training in that area.
If the weapons had been coated with deadly poison, the fight wouldn't have dragged on like this.
"Kill them."
Renya waved his hand.
He had originally thought they might be able to seize two more Six Paths ninja tools, but who would have thought those two would return the weapons to Kinkaku?
The five of them rushed forward and quickly eliminated Raiga and Tetsuzan.
Renya took a porcelain vial from his tool pouch and tossed it to Koharu.
"Next time, remember to coat your weapons with poison."
"Got it, Renya-kun." Koharu lowered her head in shame. Kinkaku's escape was indeed partly her fault.
Everyone felt it was a pity that Kinkaku got away, but no one blamed Koharu out loud.
...
...
A/N: Damn, I just remembered that the Third Raikage died in the Third Great Ninja War. When I was writing this, I subconsciously assumed he died in the Second, so I made him appear early... I just noticed from the comments and realized it's too late to fix it... Just pretend he's in his thirties, okay? Sob sob.