Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki executed a swift tactical retreat as Gato's furious energy continued to surge.
"Be extremely cautious," Itachi whispered, his voice laced with uncharacteristic tension. The source of Gato's strength remained utterly foreign and alarming.
"Understood," Kisame replied, immediately forming a complex sequence of hand seals. Despite his aggressive posturing, his innate professionalism forbade him from underestimating an opponent who had already broken through his defenses.
Itachi also prepared for combat, his mind racing to classify this unknown threat.
But then, Gato's clothing violently tore open along his upper back, revealing two new, densely muscular arms that erupted from his shoulder blades.
"What?!"
Even the normally unflappable Kisame Hoshigaki let out a rare exclamation of sheer surprise.
Gato was no longer a man; he was a mutated beast with four heads and four operational arms!
—Four Demon Fists!
This was an ability directly adapted from the Dragon Ball world—specifically, Tien Shinhan's technique. Shen Mo had implemented it as a raw, physical skill. The two extra arms were visibly thicker and more potent than Gato's original limbs.
Itachi Uchiha's eyebrows furrowed, his crimson Sharingan narrowing. This grotesque form immediately brought to mind Orochimaru's forbidden experiments on the human body. He briefly wondered if this power was somehow connected to the rogue Sannin.
However, Gato allowed no time for reflection. With a crazed, desperate expression, he lunged directly at Kisame Hoshigaki.
Kisame instantly understood the devastating efficiency of the four arms. Before he could react fully, the two newly sprouted limbs clamped down with terrifying force, binding the arm that held Samehada. The crushing grip was so immense that Kisame's face tightened with genuine strain.
"Die!" Gato roared maliciously, unleashing the exact same devastating technique that had wounded Kisame before—a rapid-fire barrage of fists—now delivered with exponentially increased pressure from two free arms.
It seemed Kisame Hoshigaki was entirely trapped, unable to avoid the crushing blows.
But a whisper of wind announced Itachi Uchiha's arrival directly behind his partner.
Genjutsu!
In Gato's vision, Kisame Hoshigaki was now suffering the full force of the attack. Blood sprayed with every punch, holes appeared in his torso, and the pungent, coppery smell of blood filled Gato's nostrils.
We won! Gato's face twisted with delirious, savage joy. The Jar's power is supreme!
"Do you truly believe that is the end?" Kisame Hoshigaki's illusionary body, chest cavity shattered and leaking blood, still smiled unnervingly. The blood from the phantom wounds began to spread, slowly contaminating Gato's own form.
"Ahhh!"
The sheer horror of the scene caused Gato to scream hysterically. The non-Chakra energy within him suddenly fluctuated violently, the shock involuntarily disrupting the illusion.
In that instant, the Genjutsu shattered.
Gato was face-to-face with the very real Kisame Hoshigaki, whose hand was reaching out—attempting to capture him alive.
Terrified, Gato flailed backward.
"Itachi-san?" Kisame Hoshigaki was genuinely startled. The raw power of Itachi's Genjutsu was legendary; no one had ever broken it through sheer force of will alone.
"The energy within his body..." Itachi Uchiha's expression was now grave. "It is entirely foreign—a force distinct from Chakra."
"What?!" Kisame exclaimed again. A separate, non-Chakra energy source?
"I cannot be mistaken," Itachi stated with absolute certainty.
Breaking Genjutsu typically required a disruption of one's own Chakra flow. But Gato's disruption was caused by an entirely different energy that was violently rejecting the Genjutsu's influence. Itachi could dimly sense this other power—it felt overwhelmingly dominant and possessed an inherent destructive potential completely unlike the familiar, pliable nature of Chakra.
"Hehe." Gato understood their realization. He tightly clenched a fist, the air around it crackling with raw, focused energy. "This magnificent power, granted by that Lord, is something you ninjas cannot even begin to comprehend."
Gato, fundamentally a bully, was ecstatic. The terror in the faces of these supposedly superior beings gave him a feeling of power he'd never known.
"Mr. Itachi, this matter requires full investigation," Kisame Hoshigaki said grimly, looking at the transformed Gato. As a man who shared Obito's radical vision, any external power system that threatened the current world order was a priority.
Itachi Uchiha nodded, accepting the new directive.
Kisame Hoshigaki charged, Samehada raised, while Itachi swiftly performed hand seals, weaving Ninjutsu to cut off Gato's escape routes. If Genjutsu failed, crippling him and dragging him back was the only option.
"Since you refuse to leave me be! I'll take you all down with me!" Gato's desperation morphed into pure, savage madness. He was now a cornered animal.
He deployed his ultra-high speed movement again.
Afterimage Punch!
The velocity was so extreme that it created perfect visual duplicates. Even Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō-level reflexes struggled to distinguish the real body, or perhaps both bodies were currently real.
"Such frightening speed, yet it only generates afterimages?" Itachi was momentarily stunned.
Under normal circumstances, even the Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin) wouldn't create such a lasting, convincing afterimage; this required repetitive, high-frequency movements, demanding an immense level of physical mastery that should allow the user to easily evade attacks simply through speed.
I must test its durability.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
Flames erupted from Itachi's mouth, spreading like a scattershot of blazing embers. They tracked Gato, deliberately avoiding Kisame Hoshigaki.
Gato could not fully evade.
Boom! Boom!
After a rapid series of explosions, Gato screamed and recoiled, his body covered in black soot and fresh burns.
However...
"Only superficial damage?" Itachi Uchiha's surprise was evident.
Despite the devastating visual effect, Itachi immediately assessed that Gato had suffered minimal damage.
"His body is not made of mere flesh and blood," Kisame Hoshigaki spat out saliva mixed with blood. "My Water Dragon Bullet didn't cause any real damage earlier... I have never encountered such an incredible, resilient physique."
Shen Mo, observing the battle, allowed a faint smile to cross his face.
The martial arts of the Dragon Ball world—built upon the foundation of "Ki"—granted masters phenomenal, intrinsic physical enhancement.
Unlike Taijutsu-specialist ninjas, whose explosive power relied heavily on Chakra infusion, Ki-based martial artists achieved bodies as durable as steel simply through cultivation.
Even the highly durable Third Raikage relied on the Lightning Release Armor, a Ninjutsu-Taijutsu combination, while Gato's strength was inherent to his transformed physique. His durability was astronomically higher than any normal ninja's.